Power / Energy
Alternative Energy Vehicles: The Commuter Scooter
Using a small electric motor, acrylic chassis, model airplane wheels and other small components, students produce a mini working model of an electric car.
Calculating
Home Electricity Consumption
Students gain greater awareness of
their personal use of electricity and get some excellent experience with the
practical application of mathematics through study of their families’
consumption of electricity.
Cookin'
with Sun—Design and Build Solar Cookers
Hot dogs and marshmallows anyone? Bring together math, science
and technology in an activity that teaches students about designing products
that address human needs, along with issues related to health and the environment.
Energy
Conservation
Teach kids how to save
energy—and money—before they’re paying the bills! A light
bulb energy calculation activity, a home energy efficiency test, and lots
of tips and info on how to be a wise energy consumer are included.
Ground Effect Vehicles
Students study hydrofoils, aerofoils and hovercrafts—vehicles designed to skim across bodies of water while transporting people and things. Project culminates in students building a tabletop hovercraft.
Hero’s Steam Engine
This project for middle schoolers demonstrates the difference between internal and external combustion engines; explains concepts of propulsion, energy conversion and the conductivity of materials; and teaches soldering. Complete with bill of materials, construction procedures, assembly figures, testing procedures, vocabulary test and steam turbine test.
Hydrodynamics
The study of motion as it relates to fluids—like water, oil and air—is studied in two flight activities that test for the effects of weight, drag, lift and thrust.
Fire as Technology
A one-week activity gives students ample research and design practice and shows the life-or-death importance of technological creativity and persistence.
Katapultos: Teaching Basic Statistics with Ballistics
Heads up, Binny! This technology project increases math, science and technology correlations within the classroom while giving students a fun way to collect and apply measurement data.
Mini
Solar Race Car
Here’s a miniature solar-powered electric car that students
can construct, plus background on how transmissions work and advice on sources
of information on solar cars.
Pneumatics
Background on the use of pneumatics in industry, along with an introduction to the components of a pneumatic system (regulator, pressure gauge, valve and cylinder). Plus procedure for constructing a durable pneumatics mockup board and a pneumatic-circuit-design activity for students.
Power: Gyroscopes
After introducing middle schoolers to principles of inertia, momentum and centrifugal force, students build a simple gyroscope and an inertial navigation course.
Power: Magnetic Levitation
Introduce your middle schoolers to the principles of magnetic levitation and build a Maglev train! Includes test questions, directions for assembling a Maglev train and Maglev train evaluation questions.
Robotics: The Manipulator
Building and operating a remote manipulator from simple components (syringes, screws, nuts, wood, plastic tubing) teaches students how robots function, as well as the principles of hydraulics.
Skateboard Park
Introduce middle schoolers to the concepts of potential and kinetic energy and pendulums and their periods by having them design, construct and test a skateboard park. Includes test and project evaluation questions and directions for constructing eight different skateboard park components.
Solar Energy Collector
Explore the basics of passive solar energy by creating a functional model solar collector.
Solar Energy Experiments
Background on solar energy and its uses, plus six engaging activities.
Turbines
Build a simple turbine engine and teach your students about the uses for and principles behind water, steam, gas and wind turbines.
Vacuum Cannon: A Demonstration of the Power of Atmospheric Pressure
A teacher-made and operated shop-vac-based “cannon” is used to demonstrate the principles of propulsion, then students experiment with design of their own projectiles, which the teacher can test.
Wind Power & Wind Turbines
In this project for middle schoolers, students learn about torque, build and test their own wind turbines, learn to calculate kilowatts per hour and measure the power of their wind turbines.
Subject Codes:
- A — Applied Academics
- B — Building Trades / Construction
- C— Communication
- D — Drafting / Design / CAD
- E — Electricity / Electronics / Computer Technology
- G — Grading / Assessment
- M — Manufacturing
- PE — Power / Energy
- P — Problem Solving / Pre-Engineering
- S — Great for Substitutes
- T — Transportation
- W — Woodworking
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