100's Day

What does 100 look like? Sound like? Feel like? In this video from Curious George, explore the many ways to measure 100 things.

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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 a Fence

In this Cyberchase video segment, Harry must build a rectangular fence in his grandmother's backyard using fencing of various sizes.

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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.

Cosmic Origin Spectrograph

This video from NASA features the Cosmic Origin Spectrograph (COS), which allows scientists to use spectrographic analysis to assess the composition of intergalactic material.

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Design: Building a House

This collection of images follows the process of building a house from cutting the trees and making the bricks to finishing construction.

Designing a Paper Bridge

In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, cast members make a bridge from a single piece of paper. Will it be strong enough to hold a hundred pennies?

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Designing Balloon Cars

Can the air in a balloon power a car? Watch students from Weston, Massachusetts, demonstrate their balloon car designs in this video adapted from ZOOM.

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Designing Electric Circuits: Door Alarm

In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, cast members design and build door alarms using a variety of materials, including aluminum foil, batteries, and buzzers.

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Designing Electric Circuits: Steadiness Tester

In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, cast members discover that metal is a good conductor of electricity as they play the steadiness tester game.

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Design: The Right Tool for the Job

Which tool is the right tool for the job? This collection of images features a series of cutting tools performing the tasks for which they were designed.

Easy-Fit Design

In this video produced for Teachers' Domain, Chi-An Wang, a mechanical engineering graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, describes her process when working with New Balance to design a new triathlon shoe.

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Eco Electronics

In this video adapted from DESIGN SQUAD, meet engineers who help protect the environment by recycling and using biodegradable materials.

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Electric Girl

Anna loves electricity. Watch her construct a homemade flashlight and show off her new, electrifying hairdo in this video segment from ZOOM.

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Electronic Gadgets

Two kids learn some surprising facts about the parts in their computer game, in this animated video from LOOP SCOOPS.

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Electrons in Motion

A materials science and engineering professor, Dr. Chris Muhlstein of Penn State University, explains how electrons flowing through a wire can be turned into mechanical work using a motor.

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Erick Ordoñez: Materials Engineer

In this video from Design Squad Nation, NASA materials engineer Erick Ordoñez explains how he makes sure that the materials NASA sends into space are problem-free.

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Funny Boat

In this video segment adapted from FETCH!™, contestants are challenged to use materials from a garbage dump to build a boat that floats, can be steered, and is propelled by something other than oars.

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Glider Boy

Meet 12-year-old Jesse, the designer of dozens of gliders, in this ZOOM video segment. Some of his gliders fit in your hand, while others can only be stored in the garage. Watch his gliders go and learn why they fly.

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Grass Bridge

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, watch residents of the Peruvian Andes build a suspension bridge made entirely of grass.

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Green Chemistry

This audio segment from PRI's The World Science Podcast explores the science of Green Chemistry. Hear about companies that are developing greener chemicals, and learn why they are fast becoming an attractive alternative for the multi-billion dollar chemical industry.

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A House for Teddy Bear

In this video segment from PEEP and the Big Wide World, children experiment with cardboard and build a house for their stuffed animals.

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How Do We Measure 100?

In this media-rich lesson, students explore the value of the number 100. They use a variety of objects in sets of 100 to measure length and to learn about the benefits of using standard units of measurement.

How Do You Keep Lemonade Cool?

This video segment adapted from FETCH!™ shows contestants experimenting with different materials to see which is the best insulator and thus best able to keep the lemonade at their stand cool for customers.

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How Engineering Affects Your Life

Students explore the engineering that impacts their day-to-day life.

How Would You Turn a Bolt in Space?

In this fast-paced NASA Brain Bites™ video, an astronaut demonstrates the impact of microgravity on the use of tools in space.

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Igloo 101

Learn what it takes to build an igloo—from the best kind of snow to the most effective tools—and other little-known facts about these traditional Canadian Inuit structures in this interactive activity from NOVA.

The Impact of Technology: Cars

This video segment adapted from A Science Odyssey looks at the invention of the automobile and the development of mass production.

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Inspector Detector Challenge

In this video from Design Squad Nation, kids design and build magnetic-field detectors and use them to find hidden magnets. They also learn how NASA uses magnetometers to learn what is going on inside a planet or moon.

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Juice Boxes

A kid discovers that an ordinary juice box is surprisingly high-tech and, once discarded, will last for 300 years, in this animated video from LOOP SCOOPS.

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Kid Designer: A Comfortable Cardboard Chair

Follow along in this video segment from ZOOM as 13-year-old Nick explains how he came up with a design, tested materials, and constructed his own cardboard chair.

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Let's Build Something

Children learn about the types of machines on a construction site and the different jobs they do to help us build in this original video from KET.

Let's Build Something Interactive

Children learn about the types of machines on a construction site and the different jobs they do to help us build in this original interactive from KET.

Levers: Raising the Moai on Easter Island

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, a team of archaeologists and engineers explores different uses of the lever by recreating the engineering feats of the ancient Easter Island peoples.

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Lifting with Air

How can you lift a heavy metal table using air? In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, cast members succeed in lifting a table using their own breath and a few plastic bags.

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Lifting with Levers

In this Cyberchase video segment, the CyberSquad figures out how to use a lever to help them remove a stack of heavy objects blocking their path.

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Macro Concerns in a Nano World

Nanotechnology is beginning to play a larger part in our lives. In this video from QUEST produced by KQED, explore how because of mounting environmental and health concerns about exposure to nanomaterials, a growing debate about their possible regulation has been sparked.

Magnetic Microbots

This video excerpt from NOVA’s "Making Stuff: Smaller" and accompanying activity for grades K–8 teach students how materials scientists are building extremely small robots that may be able to travel inside the human body.

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Materials Lab

This interactive activity from the Building Big Web site explores the properties of different types of building materials.

Measuring for an Exact Fit

In this Cyberchase video segment, the CyberSquad must figure out how to construct rectangular lids to fit precisely on two different boxes.

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Motorcycles for Health

In this video segment adapted from Rx for Survival, health care workers in The Gambia learn to use and maintain motorcycles in order to travel to isolated villages with a uniquely designed ambulance attachment that can mean the difference between life and death.

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Moving Atoms

A materials science and engineering professor, Dr. Chris Muhlstein of Penn State University, explains how to rearrange atoms without touching them with your hands.

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Nanowires and the Ever-Shrinking Microchip

This video excerpt from NOVA’s "Making Stuff: Smaller" and accompanying demonstration introduce students to small, thin wires, called nanowires, that may help make computers and electronics even smaller in the future.

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Observe, Make, Measure

There are many ways to get information in the world. This collection of still images features tools that help us observe, make, and measure things.

Off the Grid

This interactive activity produced for Teachers' Domain presents users with three hypothetical scenarios in which they are challenged to design a wind power system that will meet their electrical needs.

Outsmarting Oobleck

This video excerpt from NOVA’s "Making Stuff: Smarter" and accompanying activity for grades K–8 help students investigate some “smart” materials that respond to forces or changes in their environment in unusual ways.

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Physics of Arches

In this interactive activity from NOVA, try your hand at constructing a stone arch and learn about the physics that affect the arch.

Planning Your Future Career in Advanced Technology

In this media-rich, self-paced lesson, students explore the industries that produce and rely on advanced technology and assess how their goals and interests may make them well suited for a career in this cutting-edge sector.

Product Life Cycle

In this media-rich lesson featuring LOOP SCOOPS videos, students think about where materials in everyday products come from, and learn that knowing about product life cycles can help us make decisions that reduce waste and pollution.

Robo Arm Challenge

In this video from Design Squad Nation, kids design and build controllable mechanical arms and use them to lift objects and play games. They also learn how NASA uses robotic arms on many of its missions.

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Shape Shifters: Shape-Memory Alloys and Polymers

This video excerpt from NOVA’s "Making Stuff: Smarter" and accompanying demonstration teach students about revolutionary shape-memory materials.

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Sharing Water Between Dams

In this video segment from PEEP and the Big Wide World, children figure out how to control the flow of water so it supplies two dams.

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The Skyscraper Challenge

In this interactive activity from the Building Big Web site, investigate hypothetical structural emergencies and figure out how to repair them.

Solar City: The Future of Nanosolar

In this video from QUEST produced by KQED, learn how a company, hoping to leave today's silicon solar cells behind, is creating paper-thin solar panels to harness nanotechnology.

Spy Technology

In this video segment from IdahoPTV's D4K meet Kevin Young, an Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory engineer, who designs robots, infrared cameras and hazmat cameras as he describes their many uses. These imaginative creations are valuable for the military, counter terrorism and law enforcement.

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Teens for Safe Cosmetics

In this video adapted from Earth Island Institute's New Leaders Initiative, meet a high school student who worked to enact a state law to make cosmetics safer, after she learned they contained toxic chemicals linked to cancer.

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Telescope Girl

In this video segment from ZOOM, 12-year-old Katy gives people in her neighborhood a glimpse of the moon through a 10-inch reflecting telescope she built herself.

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Strong as Steel: Testing Toughness

This video excerpt from NOVA’s "Making Stuff: Stronger" and accompanying activity for grades K–8 help students investigate the strength and toughness of steel and other everyday materials.

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Testing Insulators: Ice Cube in a Box

Watch the ZOOM cast discover which insulator -- newspaper or aluminum foil -- is better at keeping an ice cube frozen longer.

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Triangles: Designing a Newspaper Chair

Watch the ZOOM cast build a chair out of newspaper by making good use of the strength of triangles.

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The Tunnel Challenge

This interactive activity, from the Building Big Web site, explores tunneling and the tools and methods used to do the job.

Turning Electricity and Magnetism into Mechanical Work with a Simple Motor (MS)

Students will explore what happens at the atomic level when electricity and magnetism interact to create a force. They will watch a video about electrons in motion, build a simple motor, and observe and predict ways to manipulate its operation.

Turning Electricity and Magnetism into Mechanical Work with a Simple Motor (HS)

Students will explore what happens at the atomic level when electricity and magnetism interact to create a force. They will watch a video about electrons in motion, build a simple motor, and observe and predict ways to manipulate its operation.

Velcro

Two children are introduced to biomimicry—design inspired by nature—through the story of Velcro, in this animated video from LOOP SCOOPS.

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Young Inventors

In this stills collage adapted from the National Science Teachers Association/Craftsman Young Inventors Awards, see several inventions by students in grades 4-7 and read about some of the challenges they faced during the design process.