This is a collection of various projects that I've rotated through over the past years. Some have worked better than other. The coaster projects have gone through many iterations. Sorry I never posted pictures. I didn't want to give current students too many good ideas.

One of the classes I'm involved in is our engineering and design class. A big part of this is the engineering notebook. This is detailed well on "Project Lead the Way." The contests are a way to develop a sense of community when have classes work together against each other. When encourage students to develop a competition plan within the classroom for the best design and product build. Test the parts and build. Have teams trouble shoot different components and then communicate to other teams within the class. (This is an example of systems engineering.) The winners of these competitions usually get my world famous homemade chocolate chip cookies.

We use the contests and projects to give students a purpose and focus while we require the students to use the skills they have learned on the project. Most of the time it is required to design and print a part on a 3D printer or laser cutter. Always, it is about keeping records in their engineering notebooks. We do not require them to buy notebooks, we make them for each student. Click this to find out how was teach the engineering notebook and to get our templates for creating the notebooks.

 

  1. Arduino Projects (Engineering is about solving problems. Many of these projects have a this purpose.)
  2. Bean Bag Bombardier (I'd change this to say, "No K'Nex." They are too light and easy. Supply a standard vehicle made from two axles, four wheels and a wooden base -like a piece of 1/2"x4"x6" wood.)
  3. Box Glider Contest
  4. Breaker Barrier
  5. Carmageddon
  6. Coaster Kingdom
  7. Crash Barrier
  8. Crash Barrier #2
  9. Coaster Design -on paper
  10. Paper Roller Coaster Teacher Setup Hints from 10+ years of experience
  11. Coaster Project #1 (2008)
  12. Coaster Project #2 (paper roller coaster)
  13. Coaster Project #3
  14. Coaster Project #4
  15. Coaster Project #5
  16. Coaster Project #6 (paper roller coaster -cyclone edition)
  17. Coaster Project #7 (paper roller coaster -Arduino edition)
  18. Coaster Project #8 (24 Columns 2016)
  19. Coaster Project #9 (Terror Tower 2017)
  20. Coaster #10 (Thread the Needle 2018)
  21. Coaster #11 (Red Racer 2019)
  22. Coaster #12 (Stupendous Roller Coaster 2020)
  23. Delivery System Contest
  24. Don't Crush Me Bro
  25. Egg Drop Contest
  26. The Flip Flop Drop Op
  27. "Frigit" Custom Marble Track Piece Design Contest
  28. Gravity Powered Vehicle Contest
  29. Haiku
  30. Mobile Straw Launcher
  31. Paint the Canvas
  32. PingPong™ Wrangler #1
  33. PingPong™ Wrangler #2
  34. Rube Goldberg contest #1
  35. Rube Goldberg contest #2
  36. Rube Goldberg contest #3
  37. Rube Goldberg Contest 2014
  38. Rube Goldberg Contest 2015
  39. Rube Goldberg Contest 2016
  40. Rube Goldberg Contest 2017
  41. Rube Goldberg Contest 2018
  42. Rube Goldberg Contest 2019
  43. Turkey Shoot (An annual event I started doing in 1986!)
  44. Water Rocket
  45. vPython: Abandoned for GlowScript
  46. GlowScript Students learn to program and create a physics simulation/question.
  47. Zipline Contest

 


by Tony Wayne ...(If you are a teacher, please feel free to use these resources in your teaching.)

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