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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Flat Pack Farming Help save the Earth! As a third-grade class, discover how and why businesses are continuing to put focus on reducing materials for packing goods. Students will learn firsthand how to reduce and reuse resources to save the Earth, save materials and reduce costs. Students will design a container garden with foldable containers,…
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Mimic Me! In this unit, students will design a new form of technology inspired by living things around the world. Their investigation will include hands-on exploration of different cell parts and their functions; basic block-based, graphical computer coding to present parts of a cell; and biomimicry ideation tools embedded in many of the lessons to…
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Saving Runaway Gramps Students are engaged to consider the challenges faced by people in wheelchairs and develop remedial strategies following engineering design. While modern building designs follow specific regulations to provide safe accessibility to wheelchairs, many older neighborhoods still contain designs inaccessible and dangerous for people in wheelchairs. For example, many ramp designs have slopes…
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(S.O.S.) Save Our Snowman Have you ever wanted to save a snowman and make it last forever? In this unit the question is posed, “Do you want to keep your snowman?” Students explore the physical properties of materials and how matter can change. More specifically, students explore how the physical properties of water change. When…
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The Body Guardian In this unit, students will investigate the effects of an impact force on the human body system, and design a method of protection from harmful contact. Students will apply knowledge of human tissues and genetic disorders, impact forces, and materials analysis to design a protective gear system that can withstand the effects…
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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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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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Space Age Wisdom 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…
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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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