Students learn the basic relationship of Snell's Law, practice applying it to …
Students learn the basic relationship of Snell's Law, practice applying it to a situation, then are given another situation where it "doesn't work."??? This situation turns out to be one in which total internal reflection occurs. Students are then shown what happens with classroom apparatus.
Students randomly select jelly beans (or other candy) that represent genes for …
Students randomly select jelly beans (or other candy) that represent genes for several human traits such as tongue-rolling ability and eye color. Then, working in pairs (preferably of mixed gender), students randomly choose new pairs of jelly beans from those corresponding to their own genotypes. The new pairs are placed on toothpicks to represent the chromosomes of the couple's offspring. Finally, students compare genotypes and phenotypes of parents and offspring for all the "couples" in the class. In particular, they look to see if there are cases where parents and offspring share the exact same genotype and/or phenotype, and consider how the results would differ if they repeated the simulation using more than four traits.
This activity simulates the extraction of limited, nonrenewable resources from a "mine," …
This activity simulates the extraction of limited, nonrenewable resources from a "mine," so students can experience first-hand how resource extraction becomes more difficult over time. Students gather data and graph their results to determine the peak in resource extraction. They learn about the limitations of nonrenewable resources, and how these resources are currently used.
Steganography is the science and art of hiding messages in plain sight …
Steganography is the science and art of hiding messages in plain sight so only the sender and intended recipient know the existence of a message. Steganography can be characterized as security through obscurity. Through this lesson, students experience a portion of the engineering design process as they research steganography and steganographic methods; identify problems, criteria and constraints; brainstorm possible solutions; and generate ideas. These are the critical first steps in the engineering design process, often overlooked by students who want to get to the "doing" phases—designing, building and testing. In computer science, a thorough design phase makes program implementation much easier and more effective. Students obtain practice with a portion of the design process that may be less exciting, but is just as important as the other steps in the process.
A main concern of shoe engineers is creating shoes that provide the …
A main concern of shoe engineers is creating shoes that provide the right amount of arch support to prevent (or fix) common gait misalignments that lead to injury. During this activity, students look at their own footprints and determine whether they have either of the two most prominent gait misalignments: overpronation (collapsing arches) or supination (high arches). Knowing the shape of a person's foot, and their natural arch movement is necessary to design shoes to fix these gain alignments.
After an introduction to the hit show "Shark Tank," students will identify …
After an introduction to the hit show "Shark Tank," students will identify an area of improvement for a product and attempt to sell their idea and/or prototype to potential (mock) buyers in the "Bear's Tank."
This is the beginning of a high school level unit plan applying …
This is the beginning of a high school level unit plan applying Dr. Gholdy Muhammad's five pillars of culturally and linguistically responsive teaching to an inquiry into solar energy.
In this lesson on the brain's neural networks, students investigate the structure …
In this lesson on the brain's neural networks, students investigate the structure and function of the neuron. They discover ways in which engineers apply this knowledge to the development of devices that can activate neurons. After a review of the nervous system specifically its organs, tissue, and specialized cells, called neurons students learn about the parts of the neuron. They explore the cell body, dendrites, axon and axon terminal, and learn how these structures enable neurons to send messages. They learn about the connections between engineering and other fields of study, and the importance of research, as they complete the lesson tasks.
Many food products, toys, and materials are made through the process of …
Many food products, toys, and materials are made through the process of manufacturing. Take a look at the history of manufacturing and conduct some research of your own! Through your research, learn about the history of manufacturing and develop your skills using technology.
In this activity, the students will use wax paper shaped as leaves …
In this activity, the students will use wax paper shaped as leaves and kite string to build a shelter to protect them from the rain. The students will then test the shelters for durability and water resistance.
Students learn about some of the different climate zones in China and …
Students learn about some of the different climate zones in China and consider what would be appropriate design, construction and materials for houses in those areas. This prepares them to conduct the associated activity(ies) in which they design, build and test small model homes for three different climate zones.
Abigail T. Watrous, Stephanie Rivale, Janet Yowell, Denise W. Carlson (This material developed in part during Watrous' China Fulbright fellowship in 2009-10. Sincere thanks to the U.S. State Department and the Fulbright Program for their support.)
Students review the what they have learned throughout the five lessons in …
Students review the what they have learned throughout the five lessons in this unit. This includes a review of many types of engineers, reminding students of the various everyday products, structures and processes they design and create in our world.
This collection of homeworks is used in ECE 255 "Introduction to Electronic …
This collection of homeworks is used in ECE 255 "Introduction to Electronic Analysis and Design" (Purdue University). Students do their work, or sometimes check their work, by using the Spice 3F4 simulator on nanoHUB.org.
This homework assignment is part of ECE 606 "Solid State Devices" (Purdue …
This homework assignment is part of ECE 606 "Solid State Devices" (Purdue University). It contains 5 problems which lead students through a comparison of the depletion approximation and an exact solution of PN junction diodes. Students compute the exact solution by using the PN Junction Lab available on nanoHUB.org.
This homework assignment was created for EE 218 "Introduction to Nanoelectronics and …
This homework assignment was created for EE 218 "Introduction to Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology" (Stanford University). It includes a couple of simple "warm up" exercises and two design problems, intended to teach students the electronic properties of resonant tunneling diodes and carbon nanotubes, and how they can be used as components in real circuits. Students do their work via the Resonant Tunneling Diode Simulator and the MSL Simulator, which are both available online through NanoHub.org
Students further their understanding of the engineering design process while combining mechanical …
Students further their understanding of the engineering design process while combining mechanical engineering and bioengineering to create an automated medical device. During the activity, students are given a fictional client statement and are required to follow the steps of the design process to create medical devices that help reduce the workload for hospital workers and increase the quality of patient care.
Students apply the concepts of conduction, convection and radiation as they work …
Students apply the concepts of conduction, convection and radiation as they work in teams to solve two challenges. One problem requires that they maintain the warm temperature of one soda can filled with water at approximately human body temperature, and the other problem is to cause an identical soda can of warm water to cool as much as possible during the same 30-minute time period. Students design their engineering solutions using only common everyday materials, and test their devices by recording the water temperatures in their two soda cans every five minutes.
Students explore material properties by applying some basic principles of heat transfer. …
Students explore material properties by applying some basic principles of heat transfer. They use calorimeters to determine the specific heat of three substances: aluminum, copper and another of their choice. Each substance is cooled in a freezer and then placed in the calorimeter. The temperature change of the water and the substance are used in heat transfer equations to determine the specific heat of each substance. The students compare their calculated values with tabulated data.
Student teams follow the steps of the engineering design process to meet …
Student teams follow the steps of the engineering design process to meet the challenge of getting their entire class from one location on the playground to the sidewalk without touching the ground between. The class develops a well thought-out plan while following the steps of the engineering design process. Then, they test their solution by going outside and trying it out. Through the post-activity assessment, they compare their problem-solving experience to real life engineering challenges, such as creating new forms of transportation or new product invention.
Students learn the purpose of a fever in the body's immune system …
Students learn the purpose of a fever in the body's immune system and how it protects the body against germs. The students continue to explore temperature by creating a model thermometer and completing a temperature conversion worksheet. They come to see how engineers are involved in designing helpful medical instruments such as thermometers.
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