For her research, Veronika looked at how pine cones close when the weather is wet and open when it is dry. Pine cones do this to give their seeds the best chance of flying far away from the tree so that they can grow into new trees far away. In the rain, the seeds will not fly as far and will end up competing with...

In this activity, from the Institution of Engineering and technology (IET), students investigate a use of electronic systems to improve health care.

They study a case where a Body Centric Antenna (BCA) increases the...

Many different personal attributes can impact on road safety including a person's vision, ability to concentrate, reaction times and mobility. The car of the future should be designed to help people overcome these issues.

This problem features a coil of tinplate being stored on a mandrel. In the first problem, students are presented with the diameter of the mandrel, the height from the floor, the width of the coil and the density of the steel. The problem is to calculate the maximum coil weight. A worked solution is included with...

Concrete Canvas is an example of a deployable structure. It is a flexible, cement-containing fabric that hardens on contact with water to form a thin, durable, waterproof and fire-resistant concrete layer. Essentially, it’s concrete on a roll. Applications include erosion control and building vent walls in mines....

Drinks cans are made by stamping out circular discs from a sheet of tin. Given the dimensions of the sheet of tin and the diameter of the circle stamped out, students are required to calculate the wastage and to investigate whether there is a more efficient method. The problem requires students to be able to...

This interactive online game from Siemens introduces students to the opportunities and challenges presented by different energy technologies. Students are required to implement an energy system that meets the demand to run a farm whilst minimising the cost and environmental impact. 

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This resource explores how 'Euler's characteristic' has had an impact on many aspects of real-life, from computing to the shape of a football. The has been created by the Royal Academy of Engineering in partnership with Tomorrow's Engineers as a STEM club or STEM Ambassador activity, but can also be adapted by...

Students work in teams to design and make a prototype device that can design and make a prototype of a simple device (to be sold in stores like B&Q) that will allow homeowners to remove water from their house during periods of flooding.

In this challenge the device will have to move 100ml of water from...

This resource is designed as an introduction to deployable structures using flowers as an example from the natural world. It has activities associated with nets and density and discussion of a link to symmetry and transformations. There are also various practical suggestions (such as making a party blower).

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This is one of a set of resources produced in conjunction with the engineering company Arconic. The resources are designed to support teaching of key engineering concepts at both key stage 3 and key stage 4, including the new GCSE in Engineering. This resource focusses on the application of maths in engineering....

These materials use the BLOODHOUND SSC land speed attempt as a context for teaching about forces, particularly forward thrust and frictional forces. The BLOODHOUND SuperSonic Car (SSC) land-speed attempt aims to reach a target speed of 1000 miles per hour.

A very large forward driving force is required to...

The RA3 project, provided by the Centre for Science Education, aims to bring parents together with their children and teachers to explore the worlds of science, technology, engineering and maths.

This investigation helps to develop an awareness of green power by designing and making a new fairground ride...

This resource is a set of instructions for groups of six students to make a working umbrella mechanism out of simple materials. It is a completely practical activity with no formal maths content but it is very useful for linking the students’ work on deployable structures to a real piece of engineering that they...

This resource shows how you can successfully lift a person off the ground using two cordless leaf blowers, problem-solving skills and some STEM knowledge: the same knowledge and skills that are used to design hovercraft.

Curriculum links include:

forces ...