In this lesson, students will explore the causes of water pollution and its effects on the environment through the use of models and scientific investigation. In the accompanying activities, they will investigate filtration and aeration processes as they are used for removing pollutants from water. Lastly, they will learn about the role of engineers in water treatment systems.

This lab demonstrates Hooke's Law with the use of springs and masses. Students attempt to determine the proportionality constant, or k-value, for a spring. They do this by calculating the change in length of the spring as different masses are added to it. The concept of a spring's elastic limit is also introduced, and the students test to makes sure the spring's elastic limit has not been reached during their lab tests. After compiling their data, they attempt to find an average value of the spring's k-value by measuring the slopes between each of their data points. Then they apply what they've learned about springs to how engineers might use that knowledge in the design of a toy that enables kids to jump 2-3 feet in the air.

To get a better understanding of complex networks, students create their own, real social network example by interacting with their peers in the classroom and documenting the interactions. They represent the interaction data as a graph, calculate two mathematical quantities associated with the graph—the degree of each node and the degree distribution of the graph—and analyze how these quantities can be used to infer properties of the social network at hand.

Students act as chemical engineers and use LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT robotics to record temperatures and learn about the three states of matter. Properties of matter can be measured in various ways, including volume, mass, density and temperature. Students measure the temperature of water in its solid state (ice) as it is melted and then evaporated.

Heat, cool and compress atoms and molecules and watch as they change between solid, liquid and gas phases.

Students work through an online tutorial on MIT's App Inventor to learn how to create Android applications. Using those skills, they create their own applications and use them to collect data from an Android device accelerometer and store that data to databases. NOTE: Teachers and students must have a working knowledge of basic programming and App Inventor to complete this lesson. This lesson is not an introduction to MIT's App Inventor and is not recommended for use without prior knowledge of App Inventor to produce an end product. This lesson is an application for App Inventor that allows for the storage of persistent data (data that remains in memory even if an app is closed). This required prior knowledge can come from other experiences with the App Inventor. Also, many additional resources are available, such as tutorials from MIT. This lesson could also be used as an enrichment project for students who are self-motivated to learn the App Inventor software.

In this activity, students build a water filter with activated carbon, cotton and other materials to remove chocolate powder from water.

Students are introduced to Hooke's law as well as stress-strain relationships. First they learn the governing equations, then they work through several example problems, first individually, then as a class. Through the lesson's two-part associated activity, students 1) explore Hooke's law by experimentally determining an unknown spring constant, and then 2) apply what they've learned to create a strain graph depicting a tumor using Microsoft Excel®. After the activities, the lesson concludes with a stress-strain quiz to assess each student's comprehension of the concepts.

Students learn about contact stress and its applications in engineering. They are introduced to the concept of heavy loads, such as buildings, elephants, people and traffic, and learn how those heavy loads apply contact stress. Through the analysis of their own footprints, students determine their contact stress.

Explore stretching just a single strand of DNA using optical tweezers or fluid flow. Experiment with the forces involved and measure the relationship between the stretched DNA length and the force required to keep it stretched. Is DNA more like a rope or like a spring?

Students act as surgical residents for the day. Working in teams, they use surgical instruments to complete tasks that are inside of a box, hidden from direct view. They are able to see inside of the box with the help of a "laparoscope" (webcam and flashlight). This engaging activity shows students one application of engineered medical instrumentation and gives them first-hand experience in seeing how form fits function. They also learn that an engineer's job does not end with a finished product because s/he must train others to use the device correctly.

Students explore how pendulums work and why they are useful in everyday applications. In a hands-on activity, they experiment with string length, pendulum weight and angle of release. In an associated literacy activity, students explore the mechanical concept of rhythm, based on the principle of oscillation, in a broader biological and cultural context in dance and sports, poetry and other literary forms, and communication in general.

Students measure different types of small-sized beams and calculate their respective moments of inertia. They compare the calculations to how much the beams bend when loads are placed on them, gaining insight into the ideal geometry and material for load-bearing beams.

Students conduct several simple lab activities to learn about the five fundamental load types that can act on structures: tension, compression, shear, bending, and torsion. To learn the telltale marks of failure caused by these load types, they break foam insulation blocks by applying these five load types, carefully examine each type of fracture pattern (break in the material) and make drawings of the fracture patterns.

Students gain experience using the software/systems (engineering) design process, specifically focusing on the testing phase. This problem-based learning activity uses the design process to solve open-ended challenges. In addition to learning about test cases for testing software, students utilize the design process as a vehicle to work through a problem and arrive at a solution.

JUnit is a testing method that is included with NetBeans (Java) installs or can be downloaded from the web and included in the Java build. In this activity, students design tests for a provided Java class before the class methods are constructed using a process called test-driven development. To create a design, the software/system design process, which is a specific case of the engineering design process, is followed. After students create a design, it is implemented and tested and if necessary, the design undergoes editing to make sure it functions by testing the Java class correctly. To conclude the activity, students write the methods in the Java class using their tests to debug the program.

In this engineering unit, students are developing background knowledge on heat, heat transfer and conservation. While this unit can be a stand-alone exercise, it has been designed to provide a way for students to gather data and derive evidence-based conclusions to help them choose the best materials to use in a science class solar cooker project. Students build cardboard houses to explore the movement and conservation of heat energy. A heat source is placed inside the house and students use vernier temperature probes and graphing software to gather and tabulate temperature data. Each house is standard, so that the students understand that we are all gathering data in a consistent way.
Students must calculate percentage of wall space given to doors and windows. Students will compare data from team to team, examining heat loss as recorded by temperature differences as a function of window and door areas. Students will cover doors and windows with various materials, examining different insulating qualities. Students will examine the effect on temperature of different colors of wall surface on the interior of the house. After gathering data, students will work to draw conclusions from the gathering of data. Students will construct charts and tables to tabulate data by hand, then will transfer data to Excel spreadsheets if technology is available.

Prior to reaching households, water is exposed to a variety of treatments designed to render it fit for human consumption and use. One of the first treatment steps is the removal of suspended solids using chemical additives called flocculants. In this activity, students learn about two commonly used flocculants and clean water collected from a local pond or river. They experiment with flocculant, stirring and pH variables.

Students are introduced to the engineering design process, focusing on the concept of brainstorming design alternatives. They learn that engineering is about designing creative ways to improve existing artifacts, technologies or processes, or developing new inventions that benefit society. Students come to realize that they can be engineers and use the design process themselves to create tomorrow's innovations.

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.