Design an Ion Engine

Learn about ions and then design an ion engine to maximize thrust in this interactive activity adapted from NASA.

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 Puff Mobile

The air you exhale can power a puff mobile. Watch as the ZOOM cast races their air-powered designs to see which design features are the most successful.

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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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Detecting Life on Other Planets

In this video from NOVA scienceNOW, learn how scientists detect potential signs of life on distant planets.

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Developing the Periodic Table

This video excerpt from NOVA: "Hunting the Elements" looks at how early chemists developed the periodic table of elements.

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Diamonds: The Science Behind the Sparkle

This illustrated essay from the NOVA Web site explains why the atomic structure of a diamond slows down light and produces a sparkle more brilliant than from any other colorless substance.

Disappearing Milk

A magician pours milk into a glass, but when he turns the glass upside down, nothing comes out. How does he do it? Discover the science behind the "magic" in this video adapted from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Discovering Air

Our understanding about the air we breathe has changed dramatically through time. This illustrated timeline from the NOVA Web site tracks the changing thought on air and the creation of the Periodic Table of the Elements.

Dissolving Salts in Water

In this interactive activity adapted from Iowa State University, design and carry out an experiment: dissolve salts in water, see how different ionic compounds produce different reactions, and observe the resulting changes in temperature.

Do Materials Get Tired- Do Rubber Bands Get Longer During Use? (MS)

This lesson plan allows students to determine what happens to materials as they get tired. Will rubber bands slowly deform when a constant force or displacement is applied to them?

Do Materials Get Tired? Creep

This video explains that materials will deform slowly or “creep” under the right conditions, when constant force is applied. “Strain” is illustrated with rubber bands and we learn that engineers can calculate creep strain as a function of time.

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Do Materials Get Tired? Do Rubber Bands Get Longer During Use? (HS)

This lesson plan investigates how materials slowly deform when constant force is applied to them. By testing the strain of weights on rubber bands, students will mimic engineers who measure the maximum stress a material can withstand before it fails.

Do Materials Get Tired? Fatigue

This video explains how the strength of a material can be measured in the laboratory and used to design structures, like bikes, airplanes, and even chairs. We see a controlled lab experiment that applies precise force to a paperclip until it breaks.

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Do Materials Get Tired? How Long Will a Paperclip Last? (MS)

This lesson plan investigates how materials fail or break under prolonged stress, using paperclips as an example. Engineers run careful experiments so that they can be sure that things will not break due to fatigue while you are using them.

Do Materials Get Tired? How Long will a Paperclip Last? (HS)

This lesson plan investigates how materials fail under prolonged stress. By rotating the angle and type of paperclips, students mimic tests done by engineers who make sure that things will not break due to fatigue while you are using them.

Do Materials Get Tired? Intro

This video explains matter is made up of atoms that dictate the properties of materials. Mechanical engineers measure the stress a material can take until it breaks. Their ultimate goal is to make a material that will repair itself.

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Don't Mess with Mercury

Learn about the dangers of mercury in this short video from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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Dust-Proofing a Mars Rover

Enter the lab of NASA scientist Dr. Carlos Calle to see how systems are being developed to keep planetary rover solar panels dust-free, in this video from NASA EDGE.

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Dust Explosion

In these videos adapted from the Journal of Chemical Education, observe how a material that is usually hard to ignite becomes very flammable when its particles are suspended in air.