Engineering
Featured Engineering Projects -
Curling and Snowboarding Projects -
To celebrate the Winter Olympics students created their own curling and snowboarding projects and field tested them in the classroom!
Design a Parachute -
Design a Parachute - Visit the Teach Engineering website to learn how to design your own parachute!
Zip Line Design Squad -
Here are the hosts of Design Squad Nation, Judy Lee and Adam Vollmer, doing the Zip Line challenge. The goal is simple... Design and build something that can carry a Ping-Pong ball from the top of a zip line string to the bottom in four seconds (or less!).
Engineering -
What is engineering? Engineering is the art or science of making something or applying knowledge of pure sciences such as physics and chemistry in the building of bridges, buildings, engines and many other things.
There are many different kinds of engineering. The six main categories of engineering are Mechanical, Chemical, Civil, Electrical, Management, and Geotechnical. There are many sub-branches of engineering.
We are very fortunate that our local high schools have engineering pathways. An Engineering Pathway will help your child to prepare for a career as an engineer. Visit West Forsyth High School's Engineering Pathway. Other high schools in our area have engineering pathways too - Central, Denmark, Lambert, North Forsyth, and South Forsyth High Schools.
"RUBE GOLDBERG (1883-1970) was a cartoonist, an inventor, and the only person ever to be listed in Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary as an adjective..." For more information about Rube Goldberg visit the website dedicated to his memory.
Check out Sawnee Elementary Students' Rube Goldberg Challenges!
Engineering STEAM ideas -
Straw Bridge -
Straw Bridge is a Science Olympiad event but it is also something that you can do at home with your kids. Science Olympiad Straw Bridge Rules: Students will be given fifty plastic straws and 1 meter of masking tape. They are to construct a suspCension bridge that spans the greatest possible distance and be able to support at least one chalkboard eraser placed in the center of and at a right angle to the bridge The bridge must support the eraser for 10 seconds. No sting or other materials may be used. The bridge will be suspended on two similar supporting structures, example two chairs or tables. No straw may touch the floor or other supporting structures. Straws may be crimped and slipped together. The bridge spanning the greatest distance supporting the eraser for 10 seconds will be declared the winner!
Straw Egg Drop -
Straw Egg Drop is another Science Olympiad (SO) event. The kids always have fun doing this event. You can get creative at home and use different materials or you can follow the guidelines and rules that have been setup by SO. These are the Science Olympiad rules for Straw Egg Drop: Each pair of students will make a device of straws and masking tape to hold a large, raw egg. The device containing the egg will dropped from a fixed height to a target. Each student will be provided with 20 plastic straws, one meter of masking tape, scissors and one raw egg. Students will have 20 minutes to construct a device to cushion the egg and prevent it from cracking or braking. They will have 10 minutes to drop the device from a height of 2 to 3 meters onto a target, no tape may be attached to the egg. There will be 1 drop per team from the prescribed height. Plumb lines will not be allowed during the competition. Teams whose egg is unbroken after the drop will be ranked ahead of all teams whose egg is broken. Teams whose egg is broken during the drop will be ranked after all teams whose egg is unbroken. Teams whose egg is broken before the official drop will drop the empty container and be ranked after all teams whose egg is broken during the drop. Tams in each of the three groups will be ranked by the distance measured from the center of the bulls-eye to the farthest edge of the container or the farthest edge of the any parts thrown from the container (not the egg). The winning team will be the team whose egg does not crack or break and is the closest to the target. In the event of a tie, construction time for building the containers will be the deciding factor.
Penny Bridge -
Creating a bridge out of pennies is fun. You can use other coins too but it's easier to stack if you use all the same size coins. Try all sorts of designs then see what works best.
Catapult -
To make an easy Popsicle stick catapult you will need at least 8 Popsicle sticks and five rubber bands. Start by stacking 6 Popsicle sticks together then tie each end of the stack together with rubber bands. Next, take 1 Popsicle stick attach it to the 6 stack in the center with 2 rubber bands. Then stick the last Popsicle stick on the bottom and use a rubber band to secure one end of both sticks. You can also watch this video to see how to make one!
Barge Building -
Barge Building is a Science Olympiad (SO) event. You can follow the rules set out by SO or make up your own! The purpose of this event is to construct a barge using aluminum foil that can support a cargo of the largest number of objects without getting them wet. SO Rules: Each team of two persons will be given a 15 x 15 cm piece of aluminum foil by the event supervisor. Each team will be given 10 minutes to construct their barges and turn them into the supervisor. No other materials may be used in building the barge. Each team will then be given 5 minutes to load their barges. The event supervisor will inform each team of the average mass of each cargo piece before they begin their construction. The cargo may be pennies, washers, paper clips, marbles, or other similar objects. The cargo will not be known until the time of the competition. The student barge captain and his partner must predict the number of pieces of cargo that the barge will hold. The barge must then be loaded until it sinks. The piece that caused the barge to sink will not count in the total cargo. Sinking occurs when water enters the barge. The event supervisor will provide the barge captain with the cargo to be loaded. Each piece must be loaded one at a time while the barge is floating in a pan of water. The winner will be the team with the highest score. The score will be determined by the following formula: Amount of cargo held x 10 minus the difference between predicted amount and actual amount. For example: if the team predicts their barge will hold 70 pieces and it sinks at 57, their score will be 57 x 10 minus the difference between 70 and 57 which is 570-13=557 points. Ties will be broken by accuracy of the prediction. If the judges determine that a contestant intentionally sinks his/her boat at or near the predicted number, that team will be disqualified and receive participation points only.
Mystery Architecture -
Mystery Architecture is another Science Olympiad (SO) event. This event is designed to test the student's ability to think on their feet. You can use any household materials to build your tall tower. If you want to follow the SO rules read on.... :They will be given a bag of materials to build a freestanding tower as high as they can. The tower should be constructed to support a tennis ball at its top. Each team of two students will be given a bag of building materials. All teams will receive exactly the same materials. The materials might include: straight pins, paper cups, drinking straw, paper clips, tape, string, paper, etc. This list is only an example; the actual materials may be anything that the supervisors feel are appropriate. Each team will have a maximum time of 20 minutes to construct a tower to support the tennis ball at its highest point. The top of the tennis ball must be higher than any part of the structure. Only those materials supplied in the bag, and the bag itself, may be used to construct the tower. No other materials or adhesives may be part of the the finished tower. Students may bring scissors, a ruler, and a pair or pliers, which they will provide, to use as tools while building the tower. Each team may bring their own tennis ball to use while building their tower, however, all towers will be measured using the same tennis ball (regulation size and weight) provided by the event supervisor. The students are to inform the judges when they finish their tower. They will place the tennis ball provided by the event supervisor on the top of their tower. The tower must remain standing long enough for the height and base to be measured. The tower must be completely free standing. It cannot be attached to the tabletop, floor, wall or ceiling. No coaching of the students will be allowed during the competition. Remember, we are assessing the student's ability to think on their feet. The height of the tower and the width of its base will be measured as precisely as possible by the judges. Since no building materials are to extend above it, the top of the tennis ball will be considered the highest point of the tower. The width of the tower will be measured at its base. The larges diameter of the base will be recorded. All towers that support the tennis ball will be ranked above those that do not. The towers in each of these groups will be ranked according to their height. Tallest tower first, the shortest tower last. IN the vent of a tie, the winner will be the tower with the smallest base measurement.
The Incredible Machine -
Want to play an online game that improves your engineering skills! Try Virtual Build! The Incredible Machine.
Lego -
"The Lego Group began in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen (1891–1958), a carpenter from Billund, Denmark, who began making wooden toys in 1932. In 1934, his company came to be called "Lego", derived from the Danish phrase leg godt [lɑjˀ ˈkʌt], which means "play well"."
You can watch seeds grow! Not only will you use your engineering skills to build a tiny seed house but you will use your "green thumb" to grow seeds into tiny plants! For this project you will need:
4 plain sponges
scissors
toothpicks
hot glue gun {optional but makes construction quick}
plate
seeds {wheat berries, chia, or alfalfa seeds sprout quickly}