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Cupcake Delivery
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In this design challenge, learners will create wind-powered contraptions to transport a load, such as a cupcake or another small object, and test to see if they work.

How Far?
To learn how friction affects motion, learners build a measurement tool from a rubber band and other simple materials.

Hovercraft Racers!
Learners build a simple hovercraft using air from a balloon to levitate a craft made from a compact disc (CD).

Parabola Basketball
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners build mini-basketball courts and explore the laws of physics. Learners discover that everything you throw or shoot on earth travels in a parabola.

Action-Reaction Rocket!
Learners construct a rocket from a balloon propelled along a guide string.

Blow-and-Go Parachute
Learners make a skydiver and parachute contraption and launch it. They see that the drag created by air resistance slows the descent of skydivers as they travel back to Earth.

Building Bridges
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In this activity, learners explore the engineering design process and the basic mechanics behind building bridges as they build one themselves using gumdrops and toothpicks.

Speedboat
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In this activity, learners build a speedboat using paint paddles, a propeller, and film canister. Learners attach a simple circuit and motor to the boat to power the propellers.

Egg Bungee
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Learners attach an egg to a rubber-band bungee cord and drop the egg.

Air Cannon
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In this activity, learners create air cannons out of everyday materials. Learners use their air cannons to investigate air as a force and air pressure.

Build A Dome
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In this activity, learners explore the structural strength of triangles by creating their own free-standing geodesic dome out of plastic straws.

Leaning Tower of Pasta
Learners build structures from spaghetti and marshmallows to determine which structures are able to handle the greatest load.

Swing in Time
Learners build and investigate pendulums of different lengths. They discover that the longer the string of the pendulum, the longer the time it takes to swing.

How Do Things Fall?
Learners engage in close observation of falling objects. They determine it is the amount of air resistance, not the weight of an object, which determines how quickly an object falls.

Skateboard Disaster
Learners examine collisions between two skateboards carrying different masses. They learn about conservation of momentum in collisions.

Solve The Fall
Source Institutions
In this twist on a classic design challenge, learners will try to stop a bouncy ball from bouncing as they explore how to control the fall of an object.

Simple Spinner
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners create a tiny electric, motorized dancer. Learners use the interactions of magnetism and electric current to make a wire spin, while displaying the Lorentz Force in action.

Breaking Beams
Learners investigate stress and strain by designing, building, and testing beams made from polymer clay.

Magnetic Free Fall
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners use a pencil, magnets, and mat board to illustrate Newton's Second Law.

Rubber Band newton Scale
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners make a simple spring-like scale using a rubber band instead of a spring, and calibrate the scale in newtons (N).