Students reinforce their understanding of rocks, the rock cycle, and geotechnical engineering …
Students reinforce their understanding of rocks, the rock cycle, and geotechnical engineering by playing a trivia game. They work in groups to prepare Jeopardy-type trivia questions (answers) and compete against each other to demonstrate their knowledge of rocks and engineering.
Students are presented with a challenge question that they must answer with …
Students are presented with a challenge question that they must answer with scientific and mathematical reasoning. The challenge question is: "You have a large rock on a boat that is floating in a pond. You throw the rock overboard and it sinks to the bottom of the pond. Does the water level in the pond rise, drop or remain the same?" Students observe Archimedes' principle in action in this model recreation of the challenge question when a toy boat is placed in a container of water and a rock is placed on the floating boat. Students use terminology learned in the classroom as well as critical thinking skills to derive equations needed to answer this question.
By making and testing simple balloon rockets, students acquire a basic understanding …
By making and testing simple balloon rockets, students acquire a basic understanding of Newton's third law of motion as it applies to rockets. Using balloons, string, straws and tape, they see how rockets are propelled by expelling gases, and test their rockets in horizontal and incline conditions. They also learn about the many types of engineers who design rockets and spacecraft.
Students investigate the critical nature of foundations as they learn differences between …
Students investigate the critical nature of foundations as they learn differences between shallow and deep foundations, including the concepts of bearing pressure and settlement. Using models representing a shallow foundation and a deep pile foundation, they test, see and feel the effects in a cardboard box test bed composed of layers of pebbles, soil and sand. They also make bearing pressure calculations and recommendations for which type of foundations to use in various engineering scenarios.
Students explore the basic physics behind walking, and the design and engineering …
Students explore the basic physics behind walking, and the design and engineering of shoes to accommodate different gaits. They are introduced to pressure, force and impulse as they relate to shoes, walking and running. Students learn about the mechanics of walking, shoe design and common gait misalignments that often lead to injury.
Students use their understanding of projectile physics and fluid dynamics to find …
Students use their understanding of projectile physics and fluid dynamics to find the water pressure in water guns. By measuring the range of the water jets, they are able to calculate the theoretical pressure. Students create graphs to analyze how the predicted pressure relates to the number of times they pump the water gun before shooting.
Students will focus on neutral buoyancy and how it plays a role …
Students will focus on neutral buoyancy and how it plays a role on a ketchup packet in a bottle of water an apply knowledge obtained to astronauts in space.
This simulation lets you see sound waves. Adjust the frequency or volume …
This simulation lets you see sound waves. Adjust the frequency or volume and you can see and hear how the wave changes. Move the listener around and hear what she hears.
This simulation lets you see sound waves. Adjust the frequency or volume …
This simulation lets you see sound waves. Adjust the frequency or volume and you can see and hear how the wave changes. Move the listener around and hear what she hears.
To understand the challenges of satellite construction, student teams design and create …
To understand the challenges of satellite construction, student teams design and create model spacecraft to protect vital components from the harsh conditions found on Mercury and Venus. They use slices of butter in plastic eggs to represent the internal data collection components of the spacecraft. To discover the strengths and weaknesses of their designs, they test their unique thermal protection systems in a planet simulation test box that provides higher temperature and pressure conditions.
Watch different types of molecules form a solid, liquid, or gas. Add …
Watch different types of molecules form a solid, liquid, or gas. Add or remove heat and watch the phase change. Change the temperature or volume of a container and see a pressure-temperature diagram respond in real time. Relate the interaction potential to the forces between molecules.
The Tippy Tap hand-washing station is an inexpensive and effective device used …
The Tippy Tap hand-washing station is an inexpensive and effective device used extensively in the developing world. One shortcoming of the homemade device is that it must be manually refilled with water and therefore is of limited use in high-traffic areas. In this activity, student teams design, prototype and test piping systems to transport water from a storage tank to an existing Tippy Tap hand-washing station, thereby creating a more efficient hand-washing station. Through this example service-learning engineering project, students learn basic fluid dynamic principles that are needed for creating efficient piping systems.
In this activity, students learn how engineers design faucets. Students will learn …
In this activity, students learn how engineers design faucets. Students will learn about water pressure by building a simple system to model faucets and test the relationship between pressure, area and force. This is a great outdoor activity on a warm day.
This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by …
This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:
"It might seem like something straight out of comic book fantasy, but this self-healing material is all real. Able to repair itself in mere minutes—with practically no external input—this new class of polymer could hold the key to making plastics nearly invincible. To be sure, self-healing materials aren’t all that new. Scientists have discovered that the lime mortar used in Ancient Roman structures like the Colosseum forms tiny plate-like crystals that fill in cracks that develop over time. And researchers long ago cracked the chemistry that enables polymer networks to zip back up after damage. These materials, however, typically involve expensive and sophisticated designs. Many require complex chemical reactions to function or ionic or electronic interactions found only in a small subset of polymers. On top of that, repair often requires an external source of energy, typically in the form of heat, light, or pressure..."
The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.
Students learn about Pascal's law, an important concept behind the engineering of …
Students learn about Pascal's law, an important concept behind the engineering of dam and lock systems, such as the one that Thirsty County wants Splash Engineering to design for the Birdseye River (an ongoing hypothetical engineering scenario). Students observe the behavior of water in plastic water bottles spilling through holes punctured at different heights, seeing the distance water spurts from the holes, learning how water at a given depth exerts equal pressure in all directions, and how water at increasing depths is under increasing pressure.
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