Design Challenges What is engineering? “I had a problem and I fixed it by…” building materials! wood, steel, concrete… math calculations science physics Engineering: the art or science of making practical application of the knowledge of pure sciences, as physics or chemistry, as in the construction of engines, bridges, buildings, mines, ships, and chemical plants.

Let’s Build! Build a box that will keep a small bag of marshmallows from being squished. A heavy book will be dropped onto the box to test it. force: push or pull on an object gravity: the force that attracts everything downwards Activity is described in “Marshmallow and Lego Box Lab.doc” force: the push or pull on an object resulting from the objects interaction with another object. In this case the heavy books are a force that are pushing down the marshmellows. gravity: the force that attracts a body toward the earth or a physical body. In this case the earth is pulling the book down towards it causing the book to push the marshmallows.

Let’s Build velocity: speed mass: weight pressure: force on an object velocity: rate of change of position of an object, equivalent to a specification of its speed. Velocity measures direction; speed does not. mass: A measure of the amount of matter contained in or constituting a physical body. For example I have a larger amount of mass than a grain of sand. pressure: physical force exerted on an object. An example would be me pressing down a marshmellow on the ground with my shoes.

Let’s Build - Video

Egg Drop You will receive a hard boiled egg. physical vs. chemical change Build a structure to encase the egg. Place the egg inside the structure, and drop the structure. gravity mass You don’t want the egg to break! Activity is described in “Egg Drop Lab.doc” physical change: a change in which the chemical substance changes, but not the composition. The hard boiled egg went throught a physical change. chemical change:change in which the chemical composition changes. gravity: gravity is pulling down the egg to the earth.

Egg Drop - Video

Three Little Pigs Build a house out of any materials provided. Each material costs a certain amount. economics A fan will try to blow your house down. The goal is to prevent your house from falling down. Activity is described in “Three Little Pigs.doc” economics: social science that studies the behavior of individuals when they use scarce resources. Here kids are using economics because of the limited supplies along with its pricing.

Three Little Pigs - Video

Foil Boat Build a boat out of foil. The boat has to hold up to 10 pennies without sinking. buoyancy density structure Activity is described in “Foil Boat Lab.doc” buoyancy: upward force exerted by a fluid that opposes the weight of objects. The water causes force as the boat grows heavier. density: mass divided by volume. The more dense something is the more it will sink. So more mass added to the boat will give it more density and will make it sink. structural engineering: field of engineering dealing with analysis of strucutres. Building the boat deals with making the right structure.

Foil Boat - Video

Marshmallow Catapult Build a structure to launch marshmallows. potential energy kinetic energy acceleration distance angles Activity is described in “Marshmallow Catapult Lab.doc” potential energy: energy that is being stored. This is energy before the catapult is shot. kinetic energy: Energy in movement. This is when the catapult is shot. acceleration: the rate at which the velocity of an object changes over time. The acceleration of the marshmellow will be higher at the beginning of being shot. distance: the amount on object travels from its startign point. The amount of feet the marshmallow is from when it is shot off. angle: The amount of turn between two straight lines that have a common end point.

Marshmallow Catapult - Video

Vocab Overview engineering distance chemical change angle economics density potential energy kinetic energy distance angle force gravity mass pressure

Challenge Words physical change structural engineering buoyancy velocity