When natural disasters strike, it can be difficult to reach the affected areas since roads may be blocked or destroyed. Supplies can be dropped from aircraft, but this has its own challenges. The Force and Motion Engineering Internship allows students to apply knowledge that they’ve learned about forces and collisions to an authentic problem—designing an emergency supply drop pod. The unit assumes that students know about gravity, a force that causes objects to fall to the earth. Through readings and a hands-on model, students learn that mass of the object does not affect its velocity at impact, but does affect the amount of impact force the object experiences when it hits the ground. The velocity of a falling object can be reduced by adding air resistance, which will result in lower impact force. The materials from which the object is made can extend the amount of time over which the collision occurs, which also reduces the impact force. Reading about these topics, along with an exploration of the properties of various physical materials, helps students apply their understanding of forces and motion to a fictional but realistic problem. Students work as mechanical engineering interns at Futura Engineering to design a supply pod that will deliver humanitarian aid packages to people in disaster-stricken locations. Specifically, they learn about engineering practices and deepen their understanding about collision forces. They explore how to manipulate mass and falling speed in the design process, using the SupplyDrop Design Tool to run iterative tests and collect data. They then focus on data analysis, noting the structure and function of different design features, in order to design a pod that survives the impact of colliding with the ground. Students strive to meet the design criteria: minimizing cargo damage, maximizing shell condition, and keeping costs low. By the end of the unit, students are able to explain the features, trade-offs and science behind their optimal design in a written proposal.