This course teaches simple reasoning techniques for complex phenomena: divide and conquer, dimensional analysis, extreme cases, continuity, scaling, successive approximation, balancing, cheap calculus, and symmetry. Applications are drawn from the physical and biological sciences, mathematics, and engineering. Examples include bird and machine flight, neuron biophysics, weather, prime numbers, and animal locomotion. Emphasis is on low-cost experiments to test ideas and on fostering curiosity about phenomena in the world.
This site is dedicated to the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first powered flight and the development of aviation over the past century. It offers aerospace-related products and programs that help connect students and teachers to aeronautics and space flight.
In this stills collage adapted from the National Society of Professional Engineers, see examples of how engineering makes our lives more fun and exciting.
In this video segment adapted from NASA, learn how engineers are transforming the future of flight by designing airplanes based on principles found in nature. In the early 1900s, the Wright Brothers found inspiration for their first airplane in nature. Their "Flyer," which was modeled on a bird's flexible wing design, was steered and stabilized by pulleys and cables that twisted the wingtips. Despite its success, this control strategy quickly vanished from aviation. Instead, stiff wings capable of withstanding the greater forces associated with increased aircraft weights and flying speeds became the standard. In this video segment adapted from NASA, learn how designs found in nature have inspired today's aerospace engineers as they conceive the next-generation of flying machines. Grades 3-12.
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