Rockin’ Music Box As Beethoven once said, “Music can change the world.” In this unit, student design teams use the Engineering Design Process to design a musical instrument that can play Hot Cross Buns. This instrument and its associated design are made with the intent of providing access to music for underprivileged children in diverse…
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Sunshades and Shadows Students participate in hands-on inquiry-based centers and guided activities to increase their knowledge of shadows and light. Students explore and manipulate light, using a light source to simulate the sun at various times of day and observe shadows, create and measure shadows, and test how various types of media block light. Students…
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Mars Rover: Can You Hear Me? Can You See Me? As we proceed into the future, space exploration is becoming an essential part of our own growth as humans. Space exploration requires innovative, creative, adaptable people to develop the technology necessary for these grand endeavors into new environments. Specifically, the first settlers on Mars will…
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Pirate Ship Race Teams of student engineers are challenged to design, build and test a prototype pirate ship design. The prototype ship is tested for its ability to float and to sail around obstacles in a baby pool while carrying a load consisting of a crew, food, and a retrieved hidden treasure. Students use force…
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Eco-Park Design In this unit, student design teams create a plan for an Eco Park that achieves multiple goals for their client, the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF). Students gain knowledge about the ecology of various ecosystems and explore both positive and negative ways in which humans impact the environment. They brainstorm solutions for…
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Droppin’ the Beat In this unit, students explore the ways to dampen, mask, or stop a sound wave from propagating into a system (or material) and the surrounding environment. Students research and explore how sound waves are propagated and transmitted through various media. In the engineering design challenge, students will use their acquired knowledge to…
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Little Red(?) Running Vest Students conduct scientific investigations and use the engineering design process to solve a problem related to an adaptation of the story of Little Red Riding Hood. The scientific investigations engage students in gaining knowledge about light and sound, materials, data collection and analysis, and human performance. Students create and test their…
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Stop Stomping on Me Student engineering teams assist a city that is building a new soccer field for the World Cup competition. To protect the city’s precious groundwater, the city requires a field that is as environmentally sustainable as possible but also meets the needs of professional players. Students are challenged to design the optimum…
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Science Rocks Student teams engineer a computer program that sorts rocks based on properties in order to identify a specific rock within a Rock Family. Teams identify properties of rocks, then utilize a dichotomous key to sort them by the properties. Students collaboratively engineer a PowerPoint with guiding questions to identify each rock type; thereby,…
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Can You Stand on Me? Visitors to schools in underdeveloped countries have found that students suffer from a lack of technology. Some students do not even have access to a flat surface on which to write. Service groups and industries in the United States, have shown interest in providing learning materials for students of such schools.…
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