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...

This engineering resource, produced by Mathematics in Education and Industry (MEI) for the Royal Academy of Engineering, asks the question: how can a camera, mounted on a helicopter, be used to track the location of a ground-based object? A number of discussion ideas are considered before using 2D and 3D...

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...

In this activity children are challenged to build a bridge 50cm wide to support the weight of a food tin. They must do this using only drinking straws, tape and string. First they investigate different shapes to find out which will be better at absorbing load. They then design and create their bridges and test them...

This resource from Mathematics for Engineering Exemplars shows the application of mathematics in mechanical engineering and construction machinery. Here students encounter the formulae used to calculate the power of the engine which was used to power the JCB Dieselmax LSR car to a world land speed record of 350mph...

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 resource contains a set of achievement certificates for you to print out and award to children. Certificates are for many different subject areas including: science,...

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...

In these activities, pupils are introduced to the idea of controlled or uncontrolled re-entry for satellites. They are challenged to devise a way of reducing space debris by designing alterations to satellites so that they bring themselves back to Earth. In the first activity, the students pretend to be satellites...

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....

This resource, from Mathematics for Engineering Exemplars, shows how to build a mathematical model of liquid draining through a tank and how to use the model to determine the time required for a tank to completely drain. Bernoulli’s conservation of energy equation, which requires integration and differentiation, is...

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 resource, from Mathematics for Engineering Exemplars, introduces mathematical models for the risk assessment of dropped load, which are used to analyse the safety of structures within nuclear power stations. Here students learn about the formulae which engineers use to calculate the maximum dynamic stress and...

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...