This lesson reinforces rockets as a vehicle that helps us explore outside the Earth’s atmosphere (that is, to move without air) by employing the principles described in Newton’s third law of motion.

Students learn about the water cycle and its key components, including the watershed concept and why it is crucial in engineering hydrology.

This lesson works as a logical follow-up for students already introduced to the water cycle. Students learn about human impacts on the water cycle that create a pathway for pollutants, including urban development and surface runoff.

Students determine their carbon footprints by answering questions about everyday lifestyle choices and engineer plans to reduce them.

Students learn how drinking water is exposed to various treatments designed to render it fit for human consumption and that one of the first treatment steps is the removal of suspended solids using chemical additives called flocculants.

Students learn how rooftop gardens help the environment and people, especially in urban areas, and understand how plants reduce the urban heat island effect, improve air quality, provide agriculture space, reduce energy consumption, and increase the aesthetic quality of cities.

Students are introduced to the concept of energy cycles via the carbon cycle. They learn how carbon atoms travel through the geological (ancient) carbon cycle and the biological/physical carbon cycle.

This lesson reinforces rockets as vehicles that help to explore beyond Earth’s atmosphere, employing the principles described in Newton’s third law of motion. Students are introduced to the ideas of thrust, control, and weight—all principles engineers consider when building rockets.

Students are introduced to sound energy concepts and how engineers use sound energy. Through hands-on activities and demonstrations, students examine how we know sound exists by listening to and seeing sound waves.

Students learn about the nature of thermal energy, temperature, and how materials store thermal energy. They discuss the difference between conduction, convection, and radiation of thermal energy and complete activities that investigate the difference between temperature, thermal energy, and the heat capacity of different materials. Students also learn how some engineering requires an understanding of thermal energy.