Put a Spark In It! - Electricity
Uncountable times every day with the merest flick of a finger each one of us calls on electricity to do our bidding. What would your life be like without electricity? Students begin learning about electricity with an introduction to the most basic unit in ordinary matter, the atom. Once the components of an atom are addressed and understood, students move into the world of electricity. First, they explore static electricity, followed by basic current electricity concepts such as voltage, resista
Built to Last?
In this activity, the students test the shelters they built in Lesson 3, Activity 1 for durability and water resistance.
Portable Sundial
Students investigate the accuracy of sundials and the discrepancy that lies between "real time" and "clock time." They track the position of the sun during the course of a relatively short period of time as they make a shadow plot, a horizontal sundial, and a diptych sundial. (The activity may be abridged ...
Do as the Romans: Construct an Aqueduct!
In this activity, students work with specified materials to create aqueduct components that will transport 2 liters of water across a short distance in their classroom. The goal is to build an aqueduct that will supply Aqueductis, a Roman city, with clean water for private homes, public baths, and glorious fountains.
An Arm and A Leg
Students will design and build a prototype of an artificial limb using a simple syringe system as an introduction to bioengineering. Students will determine which substance water (liquid) or air (gas) will make the appendage more efficient.
Where's the Water?
In this lesson, the students will conduct an investigation to purify water. Students will engineer a method for cleaning water, discover the most effective way to filter water, and practice conducting a scientific experiment.
Water Filtration
Students will learn about the importance of water and the role it plays in our lives. Students will be exposed to what must occur each day so that they can have clean water.
Designing a Spectroscopy Mission
Students find and calculate the angle that light is transmitted through a holographic diffraction grating using trigonometry. After finding this angle, student teams design and build their own spectrographs, researching and designing a ground- or space-based mission using their creation. At project end, teams present their findings to the class, as if they were making an engineering conference presentation. Student must have completed the associated Building a Fancy Spectrograph activity before
Mixtures and Solutions
This unit covers introductory concepts of mixtures and solutions. Students think about how mixtures and solutions, and atoms and molecules can influence new technologies developed by engineers. The first lesson explores the fundamentals of atoms and their structure. The building blocks of matter (protons, electrons, neutrons) are covered in detail. The next lesson examines the properties of elements and the periodic table one method of organization for the elements. The concepts of physical and
Environmental Engineering
In this unit, students explore the various roles of environmental engineers, including: environmental cleanup, water quality, groundwater resources, surface water and groundwater flow, water contamination, waste disposal and air pollution. Specifically, students learn about the factors that affect water ...
Rolling Blackouts & Environmental Impact: What are our Electricity Options?
The goal is for the students to understand the environmental design considerations required when generating electricity. The electric power that we use every day at home and work is generated by a variety of power plants. Power plants are engineered to utilize the conversion of one form of energy to another. The main components of a power plant are an input source of energy that is used to turn large turbines, and a method to convert the turbine rotation into electricity. The input sources of en
Where Are the MDGs?
By investigating the coverage of the Millennium Development Goals in the media, students learn about both the local and global presence of development issues, as well as gain an introduction to the way the media represents these issues in different parts of the world.
Where Have We Been? Tracing Family through a Timeline of National History
This lesson plan introduces students to examples of how wars and technological developments have impacted the movement of people throughout United States and world history. Students will learn about the effects of political, technological, and geographical issues on the population of one North Carolina community. Listening to oral histories by North Carolinians, students will hear first hand accounts about the impact of wars and road building on Madison County. Using a timeline depicting events
Mass Balance Model With a Leaky Bucket
In this JAVA based online interactive modeling activity, students are introduced to the concept of mass balance, flow rates, and equilibrium using a simple water bucket model. Students can vary flow rate into the bucket, initial water level in the bucket, and residence time of water in the bucket. After ...
Water Quality - Total Dissolved Solids
In this activity, students use a microcomputer connected to a conductivity probe to measure the total dissolved solids in local area water samples. Students then compare their measurements with those of others in their class as well as other standard measurements. On this Starting Point page, users ...
Water Quiz
Pupils will show an understanding of the properties of water, the water cycle and water on earth
Wuthering Heights - Character Quiz
Take this short quiz to test how well you know the characters in the novel.
Separating Solutions Quiz
What you know and don't know on separating solutions.
Adventures of Bobbie Bigfoot
Help Bobbie Bigfoot make everyday decisions that will affect his Ecological Footprint! The Ecological Footprint estimates how much productive land and water you need to support what you use and what you throw away. Ecological Footprints can be calculated for individuals like you, communities, and even countries. Bobbie's feet grow and shrink depending on the decisions he makes with your help. This is a fun and interactive way to introduce the Ecological Footprint to young people. These Ecologica
Assessing Energy's Footprint and Carbon Emissions
This is a a free university web-course module which focuses on the largest single contributor to the global ecological footprint: energy. The Ecological Footprint is a powerful tool for introducing the concept of sustainability to students. The module is designed to teach college students and resource management professionals how to calculate the ecological footprint of energy use and the carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion.
