A zip line is a way to glide from one point to another while hanging from a cable. Design and create a zip line that is safe for a hard-boiled egg. After designing a safety egg harness, connect the harness to fishing line or wire connected between two chairs of different heights using a paper clip. Learn to improve your zip line based on data. Attach a motion sensor at the bottom of your zip line and display a graph to show how smooth a ride your egg had!

Students design and construct electromagnets that must pick up 10 staples. They begin with only minimal guidance, and after the basic concept is understood, are informed of the properties that affect the strength of that magnet. They conclude by designing their own electromagnets to complete the challenge of separating scrap steel from scrap aluminum for recycling, and share it with the class.

Earthquakes happen when forces in the Earth cause violent shaking of the ground. Earthquakes can be very destructive to buildings and other man-made structures. Design and build various types of buildings, then test your buildings for earthquake resistance using a shake table and a force sensor that measures how hard a force pushes or pulls your building.

What does the brain look like? As engineers, how can we look at neural networks without invasive surgery? In this activity, students design and build neuron models based on observations made while viewing neurons through a microscope. The models are used to explain how each structure of the neuron contributes to the overall function. Students share their models with younger students and explain what a neuron is, its function, and how engineers use their understanding of the neuron to make devices to activate neurons.

Students are introduced to some basic civil engineering concepts in an exciting and interactive manner. Bridges and skyscrapers, the two most visible structures designed by civil engineers, are discussed in depth, including the design principles behind them. To help students visualize in three dimensions, one hands-on activity presents three-dimensional coordinate systems and gives students practice finding and describing points in space. After learning about skyscrapers, tower design principles and how materials absorb different types of forces, students compete to build their own newspaper towers to meet specific design criteria.The unit concludes with student groups using balsa wood and glue to design and build tower structures to withstand vertical and lateral forces.

Students use their knowledge of tornadoes and damage. The students will work in groups to design a structure that will withstand and protect people from tornadoes. Each group will create a poster with the name of their engineering firm and a picture of their structure. Finally, each group will present their posters to the class.

In this activity, the students test the shelters they built in Lesson 3, Activity 1 for durability and water resistance.

We are surrounded everyday by circuits that utilize "in parallel" and "in series" circuitry. Complicated circuits designed by engineers are made of many simpler parallel and series circuits. In this hands-on activity, students build parallel circuits, exploring how they function and their unique features.

Everyday we are surrounded by circuits that use "in parallel" and "in series" circuitry. Complicated circuits designed by engineers are composed of many simpler parallel and series circuits. During this activity, students build a simple series circuit and discover the properties associated with series circuits.

Athletes often wear protective gear to keep themselves safe in contact sports. In this spirit, students follow the steps of engineering design process as they design, build and test protective padding for an egg drop. Many of the design considerations surrounding egg drops are similar to sports equipment design. Watching the transformation of energy from potential to kinetic, observing the impact and working under material constraints introduces students to "sports engineering" and gives them a chance to experience some of the challenges engineers face in designing equipment to protect athletes.

This unit consists of five lessons covering buoyancy and engineering boats. Each lesson includes goals, anticipatory set, learner objectives, guided practice, procedure instructions, closing activities, and extensions. Student handouts and worksheets are also included.

Lesson 1: Intro to Buoyancy
Lesson 2: Engineer a Barge
Lesson 3: Intro to Sails & Motion
Lesson 4: Engineer a Sailboat
Lesson 5: Final Vessel

NGSS: 3-5-ETS1-1, 3-5-ETS1-2, 3-5-ETS1-3

Lesson 1 materials: empty 2-liter bottles with tops cut off, pennies or other coins, marble, modeling clay, crap wood, rocks, pingpong ball, golf ball, popsicle stick, paper clip, scale, other object for floating or sinking
Lesson 2 materials: for each student - 12" x 12" piece of aluminum foil, 4 popsicle sticks, 2 straws, 12" masking tape; teacher pre-setup - enough pennies for testing (500 pennies per group), pool filled 2/3 with water
Lesson 3 materials: string/yarn, 1/2 straw for each student, 2 different types of paper (tissue & white copy paper), tape, scissors, fan, wooden skewers, 2 popsicle sticks per student, rulers, protractors, stencils.
Lesson 4 materials: 8 popsicle sticks, 1 wooden skewer, 1 straw, masking tape or duct tape, tissue paper or copy paper
Lesson 5 materials: same as Lesson 2

Students conduct a simple experiment to see how the water level changes in a beaker when a lump of clay sinks in the water and when the same lump of clay is shaped into a bowl that floats in the water. They notice that the floating clay displaces more water than the sinking clay does, perhaps a surprising result. Then they determine the mass of water that is displaced when the clay floats in the water. A comparison of this mass to the mass of the clay itself reveals that they are approximately the same.

Students bury various pieces of trash in a plotted area of land outside. After two to three months, they uncover the trash to investigate what types of materials biodegrade in soil.

In this lesson, students will learn about bees and their connection to agriculture. Includes activity instructions, variations, and exentsion activities.

NGSS: 2-LS2-2

Common Core: RL.1.1, RI.7, SL2.5

Social Sciences: K.11

Time: 45 minutes

In the previous lesson, we learnt about the properties of a solid, liquid and gas matter/ material. in this lesson you will learn how some materials can be changed from a solid, liquid and gas by heating or cooling the material.

CK-12 Biology for High School FlexBook® covers core biology concepts and includes PLIX, real world examples, videos, and study guides.

CK-12’s Life Science delivers a full course of study in the life sciences for the middle school student, relating an understanding of the history, disciplines, tools, and modern techniques of science to the exploration of cell biology, molecular biology, genetics, evolution, prokaryotes, protists,fungi, plants, animals, invertebrates, vertebrates, human biology, and ecology. This digital textbook was reviewed for its alignment with California content standards.

The COVID-19 Pandemic is a clear example of how science and society are connected. This unit explores how different communities are differentially impacted by the virus through the lens of historical inequities in society. In the context of decisions their families make, students explore the basics of how the virus affects people, and design investigations to explore how it spreads from person to person, and what we can do to prevent that spread.

The COVID-19 Pandemic is a clear example of how science and society are connected. This unit explores how different communities are differentially impacted by the virus through the lens of historical inequities in society. In the context of decisions their families make, students explore the basics of how the virus affects people, and design investigations to explore how it spreads from person to person, and what we can do to prevent that spread.

This unit is designed to support students in understanding the COVID-19 pandemic, transmission of the COVID-19 virus, and the impacts of the pandemic on communities, especially communities of color. Specific learning targets are listed at the beginning of each lesson and highlight a core idea for the lesson, the science and engineering practice students will engage in, and the crosscutting concept students will use in the lesson. i