Source: Secrets of the Dead
Research materials and engineering designs of bridges and construct a model bridge to compare the importance of materials vs. design in bridge strength. Investigate some of the ethical impacts of building the Burma Railway during WWII.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech, Social Studies
Topics: Engineering. Transportation. United States History: 1929-1945.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Ken Burns American Stories
Study the Brooklyn Bridge as a technological achievement representative of late 19th-century innovation and progress and assess the contributions of entrepreneurs and immigrant workers in creating it. Create original artworks based on the bridge.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech, The Arts
Topics: Design & Invention. Engineering. Architecture.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: ThinkTV 16 & ThinkTV 14: Engineering Your Future
Examine the work of chemical engineers, expand your knowledge about this branch of engineering and explore nanotechnology at the nanotechnology laboratory at Stanford University in California.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech, Social Studies
Topics: Engineering. Technological Advances. Careers.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: ThinkTV 16 & ThinkTV 14: Engineering Your Future
Explore the ancient and modern history of civil engineering and examine the work of modern-day civil engineers. Research the "seven wonders of the modern world" and prepare a group presentation.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech, Social Studies
Topics: Engineering. Technological Advances. Careers.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Explore environmental impact of building of a dam in China's Yangtze River on endangered fresh water dolphins. Observe the presence and effects of osmotic pressure, measure and compare sedimentation in a waterway and build a turbine.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech, Social Studies
Topics: Ecology. Engineering. Economics.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Explore the design and construction of the Panama Canal, and create a simple model that demonstrates how locks work. Explore the benefits and potential problems surrounding watersheds.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech, Social Studies
Topics: Engineering. Transportation. United States History: 1890-1930.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Tesla: Master of Lightning
Explore the conversion of energy from electrical to mechanical and back again. Diagram the workings of magnets in a motor, and apply the concepts to understanding the uses of motors in power plants and elsewhere.
Grade Level: 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech
Topics: Energy. Engineering.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Examine the thinking process involved in constructing an earthquake-proof building by building and testing a model.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech
Topics: Engineering. Geology & Natural Disasters. Motion & Forces.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Egypt's Golden Empire
Investigate the structure, function and art of the pyramids, temples and obelisks of ancient Egypt. Design and create a model of a pyramid, temple or obelisk.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech, Social Studies
Topics: Engineering. Religion. World History: 4000-1000 BCE.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Examine the principles that reduce the speed of a falling object by investigating three variables affecting a parachute's rate of descent, and then design a parachute that will descend as slowly as possible.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Math, Science & Tech
Topics: Measurement. Engineering. Motion & Forces.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NewsHour Extra
Examine online articles about the Columbia mission accident and liquid fuel propulsion. Conduct an experiment to determine the best material for insulation.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech
Topics: Atmosphere & Space Science. Engineering.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Compare a tuna's swimming ability and anatomical structure with that of other large, ocean-going fish, and draw a design for a fish or marine mammal. Explore examples of convergent evolution in the animal kingdom and illustrate them.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech
Topics: Animals: Fish. Engineering. Evolution.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Research Viking ship design and the technological innovations they invented to improve transportation. Construct a wind-powered model of a Viking ship and examine the relationship between rudder shape, placement and steering angle.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech, Social Studies
Topics: Engineering. Transportation. Archeology. World History: 300-1000 CE.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: ThinkTV 16 & ThinkTV 14: Engineering Your Future
Explore the job of a robotics engineer and create group presentations on emerging technologies in the field of robotics engineering.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech, Social Studies
Topics: Engineering. Technological Advances. Careers.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Examine the design of suspension cables to determine ways to increase the weight-bearing strength of the cable, and construct suspension cables out of newspaper.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech
Topics: Design & Invention. Engineering. Motion & Forces.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Examine the causes of flooding in Venice and understand the complexity of finding a solution to Venice's floodwater problems.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech
Topics: Engineering. Motion & Forces. Oceanography.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Scientific American Frontiers
Design and build a lighter-than-air vehicle (LTAV) that is solar-powered, self-propelled and self-guided. Explore innovations in solar-powered car designs.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech
Topics: Design & Invention. Engineering. Transportation.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Mathline
Explore the relationship among the amount of weight that can be supported by a spaghetti bridge, the thickness and the length of the bridge to determine the algebraic equation that best represents a pattern modeled by the three variables.
Grade Level: 9-12
Subjects: Math, Science & Tech
Topics: Applied Mathematics. Functions and Algebra. Engineering.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Understand the basic methods for strengthening bridge structures and prevention torsion, including the use of triangulation. Recreate some of the challenges bridge builders face by designing and building a tower structure.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech
Topics: Design & Invention. Engineering. Motion & Forces.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Interpret incomplete information by looking at something that exists to figure out how it works in order to build a simple wheel-and-axle machine.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech
Topics: Engineering. Motion & Forces. Simple Machines.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Examine basic features in structural design, compare architectural features that work and those that don't during an earthquake and explore structural engineering through three design challenges.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech
Topics: Engineering. Geology & Natural Disasters. Motion & Forces.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Examine the ethics of applying revolutionary scientific technologies.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech
Topics: Atmosphere & Space Science. Design & Invention. Engineering.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Understand that planes are often designed for specific purposes, examine techniques for enhancing the flight of simple paper airplanes and design and test a specialized aircraft.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech
Topics: Engineering. Motion & Forces.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Trace the development of how a hypothesis changes based on new evidence.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Reading & Language Arts, Science & Tech
Topics: Critical Thinking Skills. Engineering. Navigation.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Design and construct a simple cofferdam and consider the advantages and disadvantages of modeling.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech
Topics: Design & Invention. Engineering.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: The West
Map the geographical area of a watershed, evaluate watershed use and describe land use practices of the people within one. Investigate the events surrounding the war over the Owens River in California at the turn of the 20th century.
Grade Level: 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech, Social Studies
Topics: Engineering. Geology & Natural Disasters. Geography. United States History: 1890-1930.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: Wild Indonesia
Explain how an organism's adaptations give it advantages in particular environments. Calculate and compare the amount of pressure exerted by the foot of an elephant and a human, and apply that knowledge to an understanding of automobile design.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech
Topics: Animals: Mammals. Engineering. Motion & Forces.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Source: NOVA
Describe the principle of wing warping and test the effects of wing warping by manipulating the leading and trailing edges on the wings of a paper airplane.
Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Science & Tech
Topics: Engineering. Motion & Forces.
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
