Tech Directions Special Offers

All Projects Now $4.95 Or Less!

See them all here.

New Projects

NEW! Design and Build a Kayak from PVC Pipe and Shrink-Wrap
A real-world “sink or swim” challenge for students in grades 9–12. Following the IDEAL problem-solving process, students design and construct a prototype kayak using only PVC piping, zip ties, and shrink-wrap. Then students take
their kayaks for a test run in the school pool. This project appeared in the April 2011 issue of Tech Directions. It has been reformatted for easy classroom use and also includes an evaluation form and a list of standards met. $4.95.

NEW! Teach Energy Savings with Cardboard ‘House’
Practical experiments that require only common household materials give students insight as to how heat is lost through the walls and ceilings of a home plus various properties of insulation. This project appeared in the April 2011 issue of Tech Directions. It has been reformatted for easy classroom use. $2.95.

Project Hot Sellers

Cardboard Chair Design
A five-day unit for middle schoolers, this project teaches kids how to apply different modeling techniques, use several modeling materials, apply modeling as a part of the design process, work in small groups and other skills in technology and critical thinking.

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. Mini project, only $2.95.

Gears
What a gear is, how are they used, how they work and how to figure out gear ratios are all covered in this project. Students then build their own machines and measure the gear ratio of their gear train. Mini project, only $2.95.

Planned Community
You don’t have to look very far to find a planned community nowadays, they’re all around us. In this activity, students individually construct one piece of property, following strict covenants, that together will make up one large planned community. Mini project, only $2.95.

Cereal Box Design
This interdisciplinary activity introduces students to graphic design; basic drawing; sketching and rendering; measuring area, volume and weight; oral and written technical communication; applied problem solving; marketing; consumer research; environmental education; recycling; and considerations of form, function, and aesthetics.

For more projects, click here.