Updating search results...

Iowa STEM

STEM resources created for and by Iowa educators. 

1587 affiliated resources

Search Resources

View
Selected filters:
The Artificial Bicep
Read the Fine Print
Educational Use
Rating
0.0 stars

Students learn more about how muscles work and how biomedical engineers can help keep the muscular system healthy. Following the engineering design process, they create their own biomedical device to aid in the recovery of a strained bicep. They discover the importance of rest to muscle recovery and that muscles (just like engineers!) work together to achieve a common goal.

Subject:
Applied Science
Engineering
Health, Medicine and Nursing
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
TeachEngineering
Provider Set:
TeachEngineering
Author:
Denise W. Carlson
Jaime Morales
Jonathan MacNeil
Malinda Schaefer Zarske
Date Added:
10/14/2015
Artificial Heart Design Challenge
Read the Fine Print
Educational Use
Rating
0.0 stars

Students are presented with a hypothetical scenario in which they are biomedical engineers asked to design artificial hearts. Using the engineering design process as a guide, the challenge is established and students brainstorm to list everything they might need to know about the heart in order to create a complete mechanical replacement (size, how it functions, path of blood etc.). They conduct research to learn the information and organize it through various activities. They research artificial heart models that have already been used and rate their performance in clinical trials. Finally, they analyze the data to identify the artificial heart features and properties they think work best and document their findings in essay form.

Subject:
Applied Science
Engineering
Health, Medicine and Nursing
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
TeachEngineering
Provider Set:
TeachEngineering
Author:
Angela D. Kolonich
Date Added:
09/18/2014
Art in Engineering - Moving Art
Read the Fine Print
Educational Use
Rating
0.0 stars

Students learn how forces are used in the creation of art. They come to understand that it is not just bridge and airplane designers who are concerned about how forces interact with objects, but artists as well. As "paper engineers," students create their own mobiles and pop-up books, and identify and use the forces (air currents, gravity, hand movement) acting upon them.

Subject:
Applied Science
Engineering
Geoscience
Physical Science
Physics
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Lesson Plan
Provider:
TeachEngineering
Provider Set:
TeachEngineering
Author:
Denise Carlson
Denise W. Carlson
Malinda Schaefer Zarske
Natalie Mach
Date Added:
09/18/2014
Assessing the Situation
Read the Fine Print
Educational Use
Rating
0.0 stars

Finding themselves in the middle of the Amazon rainforest after a plane crash, students use map scales, keys, and longitude and latitude coordinates to figure out where they are. Then they work in groups to generate ideas and make plans. They decide where they should go to be rescued, the distance to that location, the route to take, and make calculations to estimate walking travel time.

Subject:
Applied Science
Engineering
Geoscience
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
TeachEngineering
Provider Set:
TeachEngineering
Date Added:
09/18/2014
An Assistive Artistic Device
Read the Fine Print
Educational Use
Rating
0.0 stars

Students design and develop a useful assistive device for people challenged by fine motor skill development who cannot grasp and control objects. In the process of designing prototype devices, they learn about the engineering design process and how to use it to solve problems. After an introduction about the effects of disabilities and the importance of hand and finger dexterity, student pairs research, brainstorm, plan, budget, compare, select, prototype, test, evaluate and modify their design ideas to create devices that enable a student to hold and use a small paintbrush or crayon. The design challenge includes clearly identified criteria and constraints, to which teams rate their competing design solutions. Prototype testing includes independent evaluations by three classmates, after which students redesign to make improvements. To conclude, teams make one-slide presentations to the class to recap their design projects. This activity incorporates a 3D modeling and 3D printing component as students generate prototypes of their designs. However, if no 3D printer is available, the project can be modified to use traditional and/or simpler fabrication processes and basic materials.

Subject:
Mathematics
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
TeachEngineering
Author:
Kristen Billiar
Terri Camesano
Thomas Oliva
Date Added:
02/07/2017
Asteroid Impact
Read the Fine Print
Educational Use
Rating
0.0 stars

Through this earth science curricular unit, student teams are presented with the scenario that an asteroid will impact the Earth. In response, their challenge is to design the location and size of underground caverns to shelter the people from an uninhabitable Earth for one year. Driven by this adventure scenario, student teams 1) explore general and geological maps of their fictional state called Alabraska, 2) determine the area of their classroom to help determine the necessary cavern size, 3) learn about map scales, 4) test rocks, 5) identify important and not-so-important rock properties for underground caverns, and 6) choose a final location and size.

Subject:
Applied Science
Architecture and Design
Engineering
Material Type:
Full Course
Unit of Study
Provider:
TeachEngineering
Provider Set:
TeachEngineering
Date Added:
09/18/2014
Asteroids
Read the Fine Print
Educational Use
Rating
0.0 stars

In this lesson, students learn some basic facts about asteroids in our solar system. The main focus is on the size of asteroids and how that relates to the potential danger of an asteroid colliding with the Earth. Students are briefly introduced to the destruction that would ensue should a large asteroid hit, as it did 65 million years ago.

Subject:
Applied Science
Engineering
Physical Science
Space Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Lesson Plan
Provider:
TeachEngineering
Provider Set:
TeachEngineering
Author:
Brian Kay
Janet Yowell
Karen King
Date Added:
09/18/2014
Attack of the Raging River
Read the Fine Print
Educational Use
Rating
0.0 stars

In this lesson, the students will discover the relationship between an object's mass and the amount of space it takes up (its volume). The students will also learn about the concepts of displacement and density.

Subject:
Applied Science
Engineering
Physical Science
Physics
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Lesson Plan
Provider:
TeachEngineering
Provider Set:
TeachEngineering
Date Added:
09/18/2014
At the Doctor's
Read the Fine Print
Educational Use
Rating
0.0 stars

In this simulation of a doctor's office, students play the roles of physician, nurse, patients, and time-keeper, with the objective to improve the patient waiting time. They collect and graph data as part of their analysis. This serves as a hands-on example of using engineering principles and engineering design approaches (such as models and simulations) to research, analyze, test and improve processes.

Subject:
Applied Science
Education
Engineering
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
TeachEngineering
Provider Set:
TeachEngineering
Author:
Courtney Feliciani Patricio Rocha
Dayna Martinez
Tapas K. Das
Date Added:
09/18/2014
Audio Engineers: Sound Weavers
Read the Fine Print
Educational Use
Rating
0.0 stars

In this lesson, students are introduced to audio engineers. They discover in what type of an environment audio engineers work and exactly what they do on a day-to-day basis. Students come to realize that audio engineers help produce their favorite music and movies.

Subject:
Applied Science
Engineering
Physical Science
Physics
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Lesson Plan
Provider:
TeachEngineering
Provider Set:
TeachEngineering
Author:
Janet Yowell
Malinda Schaefer Zarske
Michael Bendewald
Date Added:
09/18/2014
Automatic Floor Cleaner Computer Program Challenge
Read the Fine Print
Educational Use
Rating
0.0 stars

Students learn more about assistive devices, specifically biomedical engineering applied to computer engineering concepts, with an engineering challenge to create an automatic floor cleaner computer program. Following the steps of the design process, they design computer programs and test them by programming a simulated robot vacuum cleaner (a LEGO® robot) to move in designated patterns. Successful programs meet all the design requirements.

Subject:
Applied Science
Engineering
Health, Medicine and Nursing
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
TeachEngineering
Provider Set:
TeachEngineering
Author:
Jared R. Quinn
Kristen Billiar
Terri Camesano
Date Added:
09/18/2014
Backyard Weather Station
Read the Fine Print
Educational Use
Rating
0.0 stars

Students use their senses to describe what the weather is doing and predict what it might do next. After gaining a basic understanding of weather patterns, students act as state park engineers and design/build "backyard weather stations" to gather data to make actual weather forecasts.

Subject:
Applied Science
Atmospheric Science
Engineering
Physical Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
TeachEngineering
Provider Set:
TeachEngineering
Author:
Janet Yowell
Lauren Cooper
Malinda Schaefer Zarske
Date Added:
10/14/2015
Bacteria Are Everywhere!
Read the Fine Print
Educational Use
Rating
0.0 stars

Students are introduced to the concept of engineering biological organisms and studying their growth to be able to identify periods of fast and slow growth. They learn that bacteria are found everywhere, including on the surfaces of our hands. Student groups study three different conditions under which bacteria are found and compare the growth of the individual bacteria from each source. In addition to monitoring the quantity of bacteria from differ conditions, they record the growth of bacteria over time, which is an excellent tool to study binary fission and the reproduction of unicellular organisms.

Subject:
Applied Science
Biology
Chemistry
Engineering
Life Science
Physical Science
Technology
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
TeachEngineering
Provider Set:
TeachEngineering
Author:
Janet Yowell
Jasmin Hume
Date Added:
09/18/2014
Bacteria Transformation
Read the Fine Print
Educational Use
Rating
0.0 stars

Students construct paper recombinant plasmids to simulate the methods genetic engineers use to create modified bacteria. They learn what role enzymes, DNA and genes play in the modification of organisms. For the particular model they work on, they isolate a mammal insulin gene and combine it with a bacteria's gene sequence (plasmid DNA) for production of the protein insulin.

Subject:
Applied Science
Engineering
Genetics
Life Science
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
TeachEngineering
Provider Set:
TeachEngineering
Author:
Kimberly Anderson
Matthew Zelisko
Date Added:
09/18/2014
Balancing Chemical Equations
Unrestricted Use
CC BY
Rating
0.0 stars

How do you know if a chemical equation is balanced? What can you change to balance an equation? Play a game to test your ideas!

Subject:
Chemistry
Physical Science
Material Type:
Simulation
Provider:
University of Colorado Boulder
Provider Set:
PhET Interactive Simulations
Author:
Chris Malley
Emily Moore
Kathy Perkins
Kelly Lancaster
Patricia Loeblein
Robert Parson
Date Added:
08/15/2011
Balloons
Read the Fine Print
Educational Use
Rating
0.0 stars

Students follow the steps of the engineering design process as they design and construct balloons for aerial surveillance. After their first attempts to create balloons, they are given the associated Estimating Buoyancy lesson to learn about volume, buoyancy and density to help them iterate more successful balloon designs.Applying their newfound knowledge, the young engineers build and test balloons that fly carrying small flip cameras that capture aerial images of their school. Students use the aerial footage to draw maps and estimate areas.

Subject:
Applied Science
Engineering
Mathematics
Physical Science
Physics
Technology
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
TeachEngineering
Provider Set:
TeachEngineering
Author:
Marissa H. Forbes
Mike Soltys
Date Added:
09/18/2014
Balsa Glider Competition
Read the Fine Print
Educational Use
Rating
0.0 stars

The purpose of this activity is to bring together the students' knowledge of engineering and airplanes and the creation of a glider model to determine how each modification affects the flight. The students will use a design procedure whereby one variable is changed and all the others are kept constant.

Subject:
Applied Science
Engineering
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
TeachEngineering
Provider Set:
TeachEngineering
Author:
Alex Conner
Geoffrey Hill
Janet Yowell
Malinda Schaefer Zarske
Tom Rutkowski
Date Added:
10/14/2015
Balsa Towers
Read the Fine Print
Educational Use
Rating
0.0 stars

Students groups use balsa wood and glue to build their own towers using some of the techniques they learned from the associated lesson. While general guidelines are provided, give students freedom with their designs and encourage them to implement what they have learned about structural engineering. The winning team design is the tower with the highest strength-to-weight ratio.

Subject:
Applied Science
Architecture and Design
Engineering
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Provider:
TeachEngineering
Provider Set:
TeachEngineering
Author:
Benjamin Burnham
Kelly Devereaux
Date Added:
09/18/2014
Basic Physics Second Edition (Student Edition)
Conditional Remix & Share Permitted
CC BY-NC-SA
Rating
0.0 stars

CK-12 Basic Physics - Second Edition updates CK-12 Basic Physics and is intended to be used as one small part of a multifaceted strategy to teach physics conceptually and mathematically.

Subject:
Physical Science
Physics
Material Type:
Activity/Lab
Textbook
Provider:
CK-12 Foundation
Provider Set:
CK-12 FlexBook
Author:
Dann, James
Date Added:
03/20/2010