This article presents an interesting design challenge for students, one that will certainly let them integrate subject matter and get a sense of pride for doing something useful in their own community. The author would be willing to bet that the average town or city has some old red brick manufacturing building(s) that have seen much better days.…

To show students how engineering design practices reduce the impacts of a natural hazard, the authors--two science educators and an elementary teacher--taught a three-day 5E lesson that focused on hurricanes. They specifically focused on hurricanes because their students are located near a coastal area and are familiar with the effects of this…

This article invites teachers to let their students' imaginations soar as they become part of a team that will design a whole new kind of living technological museum, a facility that celebrates the world of infrastructure. In this activity, a new two-story building will be built, occupying a vacant corner parcel of land, approximately 150…

This article presents an activity that gives students a practical understanding of how much energy the average home consumes and wastes, and shows how the construction technologies used in home design affect overall energy usage. In this activity, students will outline the cost of a home's electrical system, give a breakdown of how much power the…