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 have to use technology developed on Earth in order to…
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In October 2012, a parachute jumper took a leap of science and stepped off a platform from an altitude of close to 24 miles above the Earth’s surface, breaking the 1959 space jump record. The parachute jumper’s team helped him to reach these heights with a helium balloon attached to a space gondola/capsule. Because air…
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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 diagrams to communicate…
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Student teams are challenged to create an energy-free speaker system for any hand-held device. In order to effectively complete the design challenge, students will explore the wave behaviors and transfer of energy in a sound wave. Students will also analyze the volume of the device and the speaker system as solid figures. Students will study…
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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 layered soil arrangement (soil…
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Student teams engineer a computer program that sorts rocks bas 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, generating a…
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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. When groups ship materials overseas,…
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Student teams utilize the engineering process to build an eco-friendly, cost-effective packaging prototype for shipping products. In order to effectively complete the design challenge, students research recyclable packaging options for diminishing the amount of waste that ends up in the landfill. Teams follow the engineering design process to design a prototype, and utilize a Decision Analysis…
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