During this engineering design/build project, students investigate many different solutions to a problem. Their design challenge is to find a way to get school t-shirts up into the stands during home ...
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During this engineering design/build project, students investigate many different solutions to a problem. Their design challenge is to find a way to get school t-shirts up into the stands during home sporting events. They follow the steps of the engineering design process to design and build a usable model, all while keeping costs under budget.
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In groups of four, have students design an Egyptian funerary barge to transport the mummy through the underworld to the afterlife. The design of the boat is extremely critical in order for the mummy t...
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In groups of four, have students design an Egyptian funerary barge to transport the mummy through the underworld to the afterlife. The design of the boat is extremely critical in order for the mummy to have a chance to reach and enter the afterlife. In planning the design of the boats, students should be aware of the perils of the underworld. The student will be given the materials and tools the ancient Egyptians had at their disposal in constructing the boats. Once the students have determined the design of the boat, ask them to create it using the materials the ancient Egyptians used. The students will then be given the opportunity to use new materials and techniques, which are in fact based on the Egyptians construction technologies. Students must keep in mind throughout this design task the similarity and differences of the design of the boats with ancient Egyptian materials and tools (technologies) and with today's technologies.
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In this multi-day activity, students explore environments, ecosystems, energy flow and organism interactions by creating a scale model biodome, following the steps of the engineering design process. T...
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In this multi-day activity, students explore environments, ecosystems, energy flow and organism interactions by creating a scale model biodome, following the steps of the engineering design process. The Procedure section provides activity instructions for Biodomes unit, lessons 2-6, as students work through Parts 1-6 to develop their model biodome. Subjects include energy flow and food chains, basic needs of plants and animals, and the importance of decomposers. Students consider why a solid understanding of one's environment and the interdependence of an ecosystem can inform the choices we make and the way we engineer our own communities. This activity can be conducted as either a very structured or open-ended design.
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In this activity, students learn about creating a design directly from a CAD (computer-aided design) program. They will design a tower in CAD and manufacture the parts with a laser cutter. A competiti...
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In this activity, students learn about creating a design directly from a CAD (computer-aided design) program. They will design a tower in CAD and manufacture the parts with a laser cutter. A competition determines the tower design with the best strength:weight ratio. Students also investigate basic structural truss concepts and stress concentrations. Partnership with a local college or manufacturing center is necessary for the completion of this project.
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