Student teams are challenged to design models of Egyptian funerary barges for the purpose of transporting mummies through the underworld to the afterlife. Planning the boat designs requires an understanding of ancient culture and beliefs so the mummies are transported safely through the perils of the underworld. Students design and build prototypes using materials and tools like the ancient Egyptians had at their disposal. Then they do the same with modern materials and techniques, forming an awareness of the similarities and differences of the barge designs between the ancient materials and tools (technologies) and today's technologies, which are evolved from the earlier ways.

Students are grouped into 3-4 and each given a K’Nex building challenge card. Students first attempt to persuade their “architecture firm” to build their project/challenge. This is the “elevator pitch” of individuals. Each “architecture firm” votes on project/challenge to pursue and then collaboratively builds it. This requires negotiation communication skills within collaboration to get individual ideas to converge into a single build. Then students work through the engineering design process to complete the structure. At the end, students show off and explain their structures to the rest of the class.

Students learn and use the properties of light to solve the following challenge: "A mummified troll was discovered this summer at our school and it has generated lots of interest worldwide. The principal asked us, the technology classes, to design a security system that alerts the police if someone tries to pilfer our prized possession. How can we construct a system that allows visitors to view our artifact during the day, but invisibly protects it at night in a cost-effective way?"

Students research particular types of lasers and find examples of how they are used in technology today. Teams present their findings by means of PowerPoint presentations, videos or brochures. The class takes notes on the presentations using a provided handout. This activity prepares students for the "go public" phase of the legacy cycle in which they solve the grand challenge by designing and producing a laser-based security system.

Using spaghetti and marshmallows, students experiment with different structures to determine which ones are able to handle the greatest amount of load. Their experiments help them to further understand the effects that compression and tension forces have with respect to the strength of structures. Spaghetti cannot hold much tension or compression; therefore, it breaks very easily. Marshmallows handle compression well, but do not hold up to tension.

Spatial visualization is the study of two- and three-dimensional objects and the practice of mental manipulation of objects. Spatial visualization skills are important in a range of subjects and activities like mathematics, physics, engineering, art and sports! In this lesson, students are introduced to the concept of spatial visualization and measure their spatial visualization skills by taking the provided 12-question quiz. Following the lesson, students complete the four associated spatial visualization activities and then re-take the quiz to see how much their spatial visualization skills have improved.

Students learn about one-axis rotations, and specifically how to rotate objects both physically and mentally to understand the concept. They practice drawing one-axis rotations through a group exercise using cube blocks to create shapes and then drawing those shapes from various x-, y- and z-axis rotation perspectives on triangle-dot paper (isometric paper). They learn the right-hand rule to explore rotations of objects. A worksheet is provided. This activity is part of a multi-activity series towards improving spatial visualization skills.

Learn how to make a water filter using materials from around your home or classroom.

Student groups are challenged to program robots with light sensors to follow a black line. Learning both the logic and skills behind programming robots for this challenge helps students improve their understanding of how robots "think" and widens their appreciation for the complexity involved in programming LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT robots to do what appears to be a simple task. They test their ideas for approaches to solve the problem and ultimately learn a (provided) working programming solution. They think of real-world applications for line-follower robots that use sensor input. A PowerPoint® presentation and pre/post quizzes are provided.

Students use latex tubes and bicycle pumps to conduct experiments to gather data about the relationship between latex strength and air pressure. Then they use this data to extrapolate latex strength to the size of latex tubing that would be needed in modern passenger sedans to serve as hybrid vehicle accelerators, thus answering the engineering design challenge question posed in the first lesson of this unit. Students input data into Excel spreadsheets and generate best fit lines by the selection of two data points from their experimental research data. They discuss the y-intercept and slope as it pertains to the mathematical model they generated. Students use the slope of the line to interpret the data collected. Then they extrapolate with this information to predict the latex dimensions that would be required for a full-size hydraulic accumulator installed in a passenger vehicle.

Students are challenged to design and program Arduino-controlled robots that behave like simple versions of the automated guided vehicles engineers design for real-world applications. Using Arduino microcontroller boards, infrared (IR) sensors, servomotors, attachable wheels and plastic containers (for the robot frame), they make "Lunch-Bots." Teams program the robots to meet the project constraints—to follow a line of reflective tape, make turns and stop at a designated spot to deliver a package, such as a sandwich or pizza slice. They read and interpret analog voltages from IR sensors, compare how infrared reflects differently off different materials, and write Arduino programs that use IR sensor inputs to control the servomotors. Through the process, students experience the entire engineering design process. Pre/post-quizzes and coding help documents are provided.

Students use everyday building materials sand, pea gravel, cement and water to create and test pervious pavement. They learn what materials make up a traditional, impervious concrete mix and how pervious pavement mixes differ. Groups are challenged to create their own pervious pavement mixes, experimenting with material ratios to evaluate how infiltration rates change with different mix combinations.

As part of a design challenge, students learn how to use a rotation sensor (located inside the casing of a LEGO® MINDSTORMS ® NXT motor) to measure how far a robot moves with each rotation. Through experimentation and measurement with the sensor, student pairs determine the relationship between the number of rotations of the robot's wheels and the distance traveled by the robot. Then they use this ratio to program LEGO robots to move precise distances in a contest of accuracy. The robot that gets closest to the goal without touching the toy figures at the finish line is the winning programming design. Students learn how rotational sensors measure distance, how mathematics can be used for real-world purposes, and about potential sources of error due to gearing when using rotation sensor readings for distance calculations. They also become familiar with the engineering design process as they engage in its steps, from understanding the problem to multiple test/improve iterations to successful design.

Driving Question: How can we as 7th grade math students use surface area to make a mug that retains heat for the longest amount of time possible?

Mosquito! is a freely available community research guide developed by the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC) in partnership with the InterAcademy Partnership as part of the Smithsonian Science for Global Goals project. These Smithsonian Science for Global Goals community research guides use the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework to focus on sustainable actions that are defined and implemented by students.

Mosquito! is a module broken up into seven parts. Each part contains a series of tasks to complete. Each task contains additional resources to support that task. We have provided a suggested order for the parts and tasks. However, the structure of the guide hopefully allows you to customize your learning experience by selecting which parts, tasks, and resources you would like to utilize and in what order you would like to complete them.

Student pairs experience the iterative engineering design process as they design, build, test and improve catching devices to prevent a "naked" egg from breaking when dropped from increasing heights. To support their design work, they learn about materials properties, energy types and conservation of energy. Acting as engineering teams, during the activity and competition they are responsible for design and construction planning within project constraints, including making engineering modifications for improvement. They carefully consider material choices to balance potentially competing requirements (such as impact-absorbing and low-cost) in the design of their prototypes. They also experience a real-world transfer of energy as the elevated egg's gravitational potential energy turns into kinetic energy as it falls and further dissipates into other forms upon impact. Pre- and post-activity assessments and a scoring rubric are provided. The activity scales up to district or regional egg drop competition scale. As an alternative to a ladder, detailed instructions are provided for creating a 10-foot-tall egg dropper rig.

The original Native American story component lesson was developed as part of an Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and Washington State Leadership and Assistance for Science Education Reform (LASER) project funded through an EPA Region 10 grant. The stories were told by Roger Fernandes of the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe. Mr. Fernandes has been given permission by the tribes to tell these stories.As these lessons and stories were shared prior to the adoption of the Washington State Science Learning Standards in 2013, there was a need to align these stories with the current science standards. This resource provides a current alignment and possible lesson suggestions on how these stories can be incorporated into the classroom. This alignment work has been funded by the NGSS & Climate Science Proviso of the Washington State Legislature as a part of North Central Educational Service District's award.

Using new knowledge acquired in the associated lesson, students program LEGO MINDSTORMS(TM) NXT robots to go through a maze using movement blocks. The maze is created on the classroom floor with cardboard boxes as its walls. Student pairs follow the steps of the engineering design process to brainstorm, design and test programs to success. Through this activity, students understand how to create and test a basic program. A PowerPoint® presentation, pre/post quizzes and worksheet are provided.

For thousands of years, navigators have looked to the sky for direction. Today, celestial navigation has simply switched from using natural objects to human-created satellites. A constellation of satellites, called the Global Positioning System, and hand-held receivers allow for very accurate navigation. In this lesson, students investigate the fundamental concepts of GPS technology trilateration and using the speed of light to calculate distances.

Students learn about two-axis rotations, and specifically how to rotate objects both physically and mentally about two axes. A two-axis rotation is a rotation of an object about a combination of x, y or z-axes, as opposed to a single-axis rotation, which is about a single x, y or z-axis. Students practice drawing two-axis rotations through an exercise using simple cube blocks to create shapes, and then drawing on triangle-dot paper the shapes from various x-, y- and z-axis rotation perspectives. They use the right-hand rule to explore the rotations of objects. A worksheet is provided. This activity is part of a multi-activity series towards improving spatial visualization skills. At activity end, students re-take the 12-question quiz they took in the associated lesson (before conducting four associated activities) to measure how their spatial visualizations skills improved.