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Showing page 1 of 4 pages. Viewing records 1-10 of 36 records returned.
| Weather and Atmosphere |
In this unit, students learn the basics about weather and the atmosphere. They investigate materials engineering as it applies to weather and the choices available to us for clothing to counteract the...
...moreIn this unit, students learn the basics about weather and the atmosphere. They investigate materials engineering as it applies to weather and the choices available to us for clothing to counteract the effects of weather. Students have the opportunity to design and analyze combinations of materials for use in specific weather conditions. In the next lesson, students also are introduced to air masses and weather forecasting instrumentation and how engineers work to improve these instruments for atmospheric measurements on Earth and in space. Then, students learn the distinguishing features of the four main types of weather fronts that accompany high and low pressure air masses and how those fronts are depicted on a weather map. During this specific lesson, students learn different ways that engineers help with storm prediction, analysis and protection. In the final lesson of this unit, students consider how weather forecasting plays an important part in their daily lives by learning about the history of weather forecasting and how improvements in weather technology have saved lives by providing advance warning of natural disasters.
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8 (6-8) |
Subject Areas: 2
Lessons: 4
Activities: 4
Details |
| Up, Up and Away! - Airplanes |
The airplanes unit starts with a lesson on how an airplane creates lift. This involves a discussion of air pressure and how a wing uses Bernoulli's Principle to change the air pressure. Following th...
...moreThe airplanes unit starts with a lesson on how an airplane creates lift. This involves a discussion of air pressure and how a wing uses Bernoulli's Principle to change the air pressure. Following the lessons on lift the students explore the other three forces acting on an airplane, which include thrust, weight, and drag. Following the lessons on the basics of an airplane the students learn how a airplane is controlled and use paper airplanes to demonstrate these principles. The final lessons deal with the societal and technological impact airplanes have had on our world. Students will learn about different kinds of airplanes and then have a chance to design and build their own balsa wood airplane based on what they have learned throughout the unit.
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5 (4-6) |
Subject Areas: 1
Lessons: 10
Activities: 12
Details |
| The Force of Friction |
In the first of two lessons of this curricular unit, students are introduced to the concept of friction as a force that impedes motion when two surfaces are in contact. They work in teams to use a sp...
...moreIn the first of two lessons of this curricular unit, students are introduced to the concept of friction as a force that impedes motion when two surfaces are in contact. They work in teams to use a spring scale to drag an object such as a ceramic coffee cup along a table top or the floor; the spring scale allows them to measure the frictional force that exists between the moving cup and the surface it slides on. By modifying the bottom surface of the cup, students find out what kinds of surfaces generate more or less friction. They also discover that both static and kinetic friction are involved when an object initially at rest is caused to slide across a surface. In the second lesson of the unit, students design and conduct experiments to determine the effects of weight and surface area on friction. They discover that weight affects normal friction (the friction that results from surface roughness), but for very smooth surfaces, the friction due to molecular attraction is affected by contact area.
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7 (6-9) |
Subject Areas: 2
Lessons: 2
Activities: 3
Details |
| Surgical Device Engineering |
This unit focuses on teaching students about the many aspects of biomedical engineering (BME). Students will see that it is a broad field that relies on concepts from each of the other disciplines of...
...moreThis unit focuses on teaching students about the many aspects of biomedical engineering (BME). Students will see that it is a broad field that relies on concepts from each of the other disciplines of engineering. They will also begin to understand some of the special considerations which must be made when dealing with the human body. Activities and class discussions will encourage students to think as engineers to come up with their own solutions to some of the basic medical problems that have been solved throughout the history of BME. A great deal of class time will be spent brainstorming and presenting ideas to the class for discussion. Specific activities may include examination of the material properties and functions of surgical instruments and prosthetics, a simulation of the training experience of a surgical resident, and an investigation of the properties of fluid flow in vascular tissue.
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7 (6-9) |
Subject Areas: 1
Lessons: 2
Activities: 2
Details |
| Students As Scientists |
This curricular unit contains two lessons that let students actually do the work of scientists as they design their own experiments to answer questions they generate. In the first lesson and its asso...
...moreThis curricular unit contains two lessons that let students actually do the work of scientists as they design their own experiments to answer questions they generate. In the first lesson and its associated activity, students conduct a simple test to determine how many drops of each of three liquids can be placed on a penny before spilling over. The three liquids are water, rubbing alcohol, and vegetable oil; because of their different surface tensions, more water can be piled on top of a penny than either of the other two liquids. However, this is not the main point of the activity. Instead, students are asked to come up with an explanation for their observations about the different amounts of liquids a penny can hold. In other words, they are asked to make hypotheses that explain their observations, and because middle school students are not likely to have prior knowledge of the property of surface tension, their hypotheses are not likely to include this idea. Then, they are asked to come up with ways to test their hypotheses, although they do not need to actually conduct these tests. The important points for students to realize are that 1) the tests they devise must fit their hypotheses, and 2) the hypotheses they come up with must be testable in order to be useful. In the second lesson, students chew bubble gum until it loses its flavor, and after allowing the chewed gum to dry for several days, they determine the amount of mass lost. From the mass lost, they calculate the percentage of sugar that was in the gum originally. This teacher-led activity causes students to generate new questions about the varieties of chewing gums and their ingredients, and it also points out the need for controls. Students then design and execute new, controlled experiments based on their own questions. When students ask their own questions and devise ways to answer them scientifically, they begin to truly understand and appreciate the scientific method.
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7 (6-9) |
Subject Areas: 1
Lessons: 2
Activities: 2
Details |
| Spectroscopy |
Students learn how using a spectrograph helps us understand the composition of light sources. Using simple materials and holographic diffraction gratings (available online at a variety of sites, inclu...
...moreStudents learn how using a spectrograph helps us understand the composition of light sources. Using simple materials and holographic diffraction gratings (available online at a variety of sites, including Edmund Scientifics and the Rainbow Symphony Store for ~50 cents each), students create and customize their own spectrographs - just like engineers. They gather data about different light sources, make comparisons between sources, and theorize about their composition. Before building spectrographs, students learn and apply several methods to identify and interpret patterns, specifically different ways of displaying visual spectra. They also use spectral data from the Cassini mission to Saturn and its moon, Titan, to determine the chemical composition of the planet's rings and its moon's atmosphere.
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7 (6-8) |
Subject Areas: 1
Lessons: 0
Activities: 6
Details |
| Sound and Light |
The Sound & Light unit provides students with an understanding of sound and light waves through the theme of the "Sunken Treasure," a continuous story line throughout the lessons. In Lessons 1-5, stud...
...moreThe Sound & Light unit provides students with an understanding of sound and light waves through the theme of the "Sunken Treasure," a continuous story line throughout the lessons. In Lessons 1-5, students learn about sound, and in Lessons 6-10, they explore the concepts of light. The first lesson introduces the concepts of longitudinal and transverse waves. Students then move on to the concepts of wavelength and amplitude in transverse waves. In the third lesson, students learn about sound through the introduction of frequency and how it applies to musical sounds. Next, girls and boys learn all about echolocation — what it is and how engineers use it to "see" things in the dark, or deep underwater. The last of the five sound lessons introduces acoustics, during in students learn how different materials reflect and absorb sound.
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3 (3-5) |
Subject Areas: 1
Lessons: 8
Activities: 8
Details |
| Solar System! |
An introduction to our solar system: the planets, our Sun and our Moon. Students begin by learning the history and engineering of space travel. They make simple rockets to acquire a basic understandin...
...moreAn introduction to our solar system: the planets, our Sun and our Moon. Students begin by learning the history and engineering of space travel. They make simple rockets to acquire a basic understanding Newton's third law of motion. They explore energy transfer concepts and use renewable solar energy for cooking. They see how engineers design tools, equipment and spacecraft to go where it is too far and too dangerous for humans. They explore the Earth's water cycle, and gravity as applied to orbiting bodies. They learn the steps of the design process as they create their own planetary rovers made of edible parts. Students conduct experiments to examine soil for signs of life, and explore orbit transfers. While studying about the International Space Station (ISS), they investigate the realities of living in space. Activities explore low gravity on human muscles, eating in microgravity, and satellite tracking. Finally, students learn about the context of our solar system, the universe, as they learn about the Hubble Space Telescope, celestial navigation and spectroscopy.
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3 (3-5) |
Subject Areas: 1
Lessons: 9
Activities: 16
Details |
| Simple Machines |
In this unit, students learn about the six simple machines and are introduced to compound machines. In the first lesson, students learn about work as defined by physical science and see that work is ...
...moreIn this unit, students learn about the six simple machines and are introduced to compound machines. In the first lesson, students learn about work as defined by physical science and see that work is made easier through the use of simple machines. The second lesson introduces students to three of the six simple machines used by many engineers: the inclined plane, the wedge and the screw. Also, students become familiar with each machine's mechanical advantage and how it makes work easier. The third lesson introduces students to the final three of the six simple machines used by many engineers: the lever, the pulley and the wheel-and-axle. In the fourth lesson, students expand upon their understanding of simple machines with an introduction to compound machines — a combination of two or more simple machines. Also, this lesson encourages students to critically think about machine inventions and their role in our lives. In the fifth and final lesson of this unit, the cartoons of Rube Goldberg are introduced to engage the students in critical thinking about the way his inventions make a simple task even harder to complete. This lesson helps students evaluate the importance and usefulness of the many machines around them.
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7 (6-8) |
Subject Areas: 1
Lessons: 5
Activities: 5
Details |
| Rockets |
This unit teaches students how and why engineers design satellites to benefit life on Earth as well as allows students an opportunity to explore motion, rockets and rocket motion. Students discover th...
...moreThis unit teaches students how and why engineers design satellites to benefit life on Earth as well as allows students an opportunity to explore motion, rockets and rocket motion. Students discover that the motion of all objects including the flight of a rocket and even the movement of a canoe is governed by Newton's three laws of motion. Space exploration is a huge consideration for aerospace engineers, and this unit introduces students to the challenges of getting into space for the purpose of exploration. The ideas of thrust, weight and control are covered, allowing students to fully understand how and why rockets are designed with these concepts in mind. Also, students learn about the engineering design process and re-engineering as they design and build their own rockets after learning how and why the experts make specific engineering choices. Lastly, students explore the concept of triangulation that is used in navigation satellites and global positioning systems designed by engineers. And, by investigating these technologies, they learn how people can determine their position or the location of someone else.
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4 (K-5) |
Subject Areas: 3
Lessons: 6
Activities: 10
Details |
Showing page 1 of 4 pages. Viewing records 1-10 of 36 records returned.
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