Feed the Birds In this unit, students will think about what they do when they get hungry. When they get hungry, they must find food. This is exactly what animals do to meet their basic needs. Have students ever wondered how birds eat? Birds are in most schoolyards and can easily be observed by 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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Up, Up and Away In this series of investigations, students will develop an understanding of how magnets can be used to move large payloads such as an airplane. The unit will begin with a career connection activity. Next, students will investigate the properties of magnetism through station activities. Data collection and analysis software will be…
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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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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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Eco-Shipping 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…
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“Fish-y” Gardening In this 7th grade unit, student teams design and construct a small/micro-scale symbiotic aquaponic system that can be used by populations lacking natural resources needed to provide and cultivate a sustainable, nutrient-rich food source. This unit engages students in participating in an engineering design challenge in which they create a viable farming method…
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Bending Light to Communicate Lasers can be used for many purposes such as targeting and communication. Light is refracted (“bent”) as it travels from one medium to another. This can be demonstrated by a straw appearing to be “bent” when placed into a glass of water. Throughout this inquiry STEM lesson, student will have students…
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Fire Safety Impact Systems In this unit, students will explore the relationships between force, motion, and gravity as they team up with Underwriters Laboratories to create a prototype for use in emergency situations, such as a house fire, to break a person’s fall. Teams of students will work collaboratively to employ the engineering design process…
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Engineer a Ball Launcher Given specific constraints, students investigate and apply knowledge of forces of motion, expressions, and analyzed data to design a ball launching mechanism. Teams of students collaborate to help enable a quadriplegic owner like to “throw” the ball to his or her service animal. Students employ the engineering design process as they…
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