Building better communities with you MENU Engineering Activities for Students Engineering Activities for Students How can we help you today? If you’d like to receive our event invitation each year, don’t forget to sign up for our Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day mailing list by clicking here. Kudos “It was incredibly inspiring to me to see the boundless diversity of female engineers and the impacts they have on the world around them, whatever their chosen field. In what is often thought of as a “man’s profession,” these incredible ladies are endlessly and fiercely questioning, inventing, brainstorming, and managing. These women were and continue to be role models for me and I aspire to be such a role model for today’s future female engineers.” - Kaitlyn Tradd, MIT Class of 2009, Research Engineer in the Advanced Engineering Lab at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day Participant, 2004) Over the many years that Nitsch Engineering has been hosting Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, we’ve researched and modified dozens of activities that help middle- and high-school students gain hands-on experience with concepts connected with a specific type of engineering. Below, we’ve provided downloadable activity packages or links for some of our most well-reviewed activities – each would be appropriate for use at home or in a classroom! Learn by Doing: Engineering Activities Please note that most of the activity packages linked below contain references to working as part of a team; we’ve prioritized this at our events because collaboration and teamwork are critical elements for success in any field. However, each activity can be performed by an individual as well! In addition, because Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day is focused on addressing the gender imbalance in engineering fields by getting more girls interested in engineering, the packages generally refer to the students as girls. Of course, the lessons learned in each activity are appropriate for all genders! Engineering for Coastal Resilience Students will build a waterfront property, learn how wave action impacts the site, and design ways to mitigate property damage and improve the site’s resilience! Type of engineering: environmental and civil engineering Download the activity package: Engineering for Coastal Resilience More topic information: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Website Engineer a Water Purification Filter Students will design a water filtration system that will clean dirty water – a major issue for communities around the world. Type of engineering: environmental and civil engineering Download the activity package: Engineer a Water Purification Filter More activity information: Sciencing Website Design Your Own Speaker Students will use various common materials to build a working speaker. Type of engineering: acoustical and electrical engineering Download the activity package: Design Your Own Speaker More activity information: The Exploratorium Website Learn to Code Students have the opportunity to learn to code using fun online programs. Nitsch Engineering modified the popular maze activity for our 2016 Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, but the resources from Code.org, linked below, make more sense for sharing. Type of engineering: computer engineering Online activities: Code.org Website Classic maze activity More online activities that teach coding Activities that only require a smartphone, not a computer Off-line activities: CS Unplugged Website Design and Build a Prosthetic Leg Students will design and build a prosthetic leg out of common materials. Note that the materials list in this package identifies materials Nitsch Engineering had on hand for our in-person event; this list could be modified for at home use, without requiring the purchase of any additional materials, by using only materials that are already on hand. Type of engineering: biomedical engineering Download the activity package: Design and Build a Prosthetic Leg More topic information: How Stuff Works Website More activity information: Teach Engineering Website Design a Boat Challenge Students will design and build boats out of aluminum foil, with the goal of supporting as much weight as possible before they sink. Nitsch Engineering modified the activity linked below for our 2014 Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, but the website linked below makes more sense for sharing. Type of engineering: materials engineering and marine engineering Online activity: How Much Weight Can Aluminum Foil Boats Float Design and Build a Bridge Students will design and build the longest, strongest, and tallest bridge out of common kitchen items. Type of engineering: structural engineering Download the activity package: Design and Build a Bridge More topic information: How Stuff Works Website Resources for Other Activities In our research to find great activities for our annual Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, we revisit some websites every year because they have such great resources. We invite you to look around these sites and consider an activity from one of them! Turning Green Classroom: This site has a range of activities focused on environmental education; in honor of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, they are rolling out a new activity each day of April 2020. EcoRise At-Home Learning Resources: This site provides STEM and sustainability lessons to engage students from Pre-K through 12th grade. We particularly like the Personal Water Eco-Audit activity! PBS Design Squad Global: This site has tons of activities that put your engineering and design skills to the test! We particularly like those in the Build section, which we’ve linked here, but encourage you to check the entire site! DiscoverE: The activity section of this website has lots of options for activities to sharpen engineering skills. They also have a page with engineering design challenges that require minimal materials. Teach Engineering: This site has a lot of activity ideas and lesson plans for K-12 teachers. Most of the materials are a bit more in-depth than typically used at home, but the depth of information is great! They do have a small section with homeschool activities that are easy to implement at home. Museum of Science Family STEM Activities: Boston’s Museum of Science has instructions for fun, hands-on projects that require minimal materials for students from ages 5-10. PRINT PAGE © 2021 Nitsch Engineering A Women-owned Business Enterprise info@nitscheng.com Site by Clockwork Design Group, Inc