Air Bag Design

Using automobile crash test footage, this video segment adapted from NOVA shows some of the challenges in designing the air bag.

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Arch Bridge

This video segment adapted from Building Big illustrates the strength of the arch in bridge design and construction.

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Automatic Door Opener

In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, watch the design process in action as cast members create automatic door openers to open their bedroom doors while still lying down.

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Balloon Brain: Designing a Helmet

In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, cast members are challenged to design protective headgear for a water balloon using what they know about the properties of the materials available.

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Biodegradation

In this media-rich lesson featuring LOOP SCOOPS videos, students learn about the biodegradation timeline for various biotic and abiotic materials in products, and consider the disposal options that would help reduce waste and pollution.

Blacker Than Black

In this video adapted from NASA, two members of a NASA research team working to produce carbon nanotubes share some background behind this new technology, show examples of how it will be useful, and explain the various tests being performed to ensure readiness for spaceflight.

Breaking Point: Testing Tensile Strength

This video excerpt from NOVA’s "Making Stuff: Stronger" and accompanying demonstration illustrate the toughness and tensile strength of Kevlar® and other everyday materials.

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Building a Cleaner Battery

This video excerpt from NOVA’s "Making Stuff: Cleaner" and accompanying activity guide for grades K–8 introduce students to the design and use of batteries and the rapidly developing science of clean energy and clean materials.

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Building a Dam Like a Beaver

In this video segment from PEEP and the Big Wide World, children make a dam with dirt, sticks, and stones to try to stop the flow of water.

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Building Curiosity: Rover Rocks Rocker-Bogie

NASA engineers test Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory rover, and demonstrate its material properties, its handling and mobility, and its design features in this NASA video.

Building the Channel Tunnel

How do you build a tunnel 32 miles long -- under water? This video segment adapted from Building Big, follows the construction of the Channel Tunnel (nicknamed "Chunnel"), the engineering wonder that connects England to France.

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The Business of Bioplastics

This video excerpt from NOVA’s "Making Stuff: Cleaner" and accompanying demonstration introduce students to the production and importance of bioplastics, or plastics made from plant or animal products.

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Changing Materials Without Touching - Levers, Actuators and Exciting Materials (HS)

In this lesson plan, Changing Materials Without Touching - Levers, Actuators, and Exciting Materials, high school students learn that heating up a material can rearrange its atoms, and change its properties. The change in the material (a nitinol wire shortens due to heat) activates a lever that exerts force.

Changing Materials Without Touching - Levers, Actuators and Exciting Materials (MS)

In this lesson plan, Changing Materials Without Touching - Levers, Actuators, and Exciting Materials, middle school students learn that heating up a material can rearrange its atoms, and change its properties. The change in the material (a nitinol wire shortens due to heat) activates a lever that exerts force.

Clifton Suspension Bridge

This video segment from Building Big illustrates the basic design principles of the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, England.

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Columns: Experimenting with Balloons

Watch the ZOOM cast find out how many balloons filled with air and then with water are required to support the weight of a cast member.

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Columns: Experimenting with Paper Cups

In this video segment from ZOOM, the cast experiments to see if a bunch of paper cups covered by a piece of cardboard can support the weight of a cast member.

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Columns: Finding the Strongest Shape

In this video segment, members of the ZOOM cast experiment by bending and folding sheets of paper into various shapes to see which shape will support the weight of a heavy book.

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Columns: Hillary's Neighborhood

In this video segment from ZOOM, Hillary, from Randolph, MA, takes us on a tour of the columns in her neighborhood.

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Construct an Aqueduct

Think like an engineer and build an aqueduct in this interactive activity from the NOVA Web site.