Students create and analyze composite materials with the intent of using the materials to construct a structure with optimal strength and minimal density. The composite materials are made of puffed rice cereal, marshmallows and chocolate chips. Student teams vary the concentrations of the three components to create their composite materials. They determine the material density and test its compressive strength by placing weights on it and measuring how much the material compresses. Students graph stress vs. strain and determine Young's modulus to analyze the strength of their materials.

This task applies reflections to a regular hexagon to construct a pattern of six hexagons enclosing a seventh: the focus of the task is on using the properties of reflections to deduce this seven hexagon pattern.

This task applies reflections to a regular octagon to construct a pattern of four octagons enclosing a quadrilateral: the focus of the task is on using the properties of reflections to deduce that the quadrilateral is actually a square.

Students design and construct electromagnets that must pick up 10 staples. They begin with only minimal guidance, and after the basic concept is understood, are informed of the properties that affect the strength of that magnet. They conclude by designing their own electromagnets to complete the challenge of separating scrap steel from scrap aluminum for recycling, and share it with the class.

This task is intended for instruction and to motivate "Building a general quadratic function.''

What does the brain look like? As engineers, how can we look at neural networks without invasive surgery? In this activity, students design and build neuron models based on observations made while viewing neurons through a microscope. The models are used to explain how each structure of the neuron contributes to the overall function. Students share their models with younger students and explain what a neuron is, its function, and how engineers use their understanding of the neuron to make devices to activate neurons.

Students use their knowledge of tornadoes and damage. The students will work in groups to design a structure that will withstand and protect people from tornadoes. Each group will create a poster with the name of their engineering firm and a picture of their structure. Finally, each group will present their posters to the class.

Student pairs are given 10 minutes to create the biggest box possible using one piece of construction paper. Teams use only scissors and tape to each construct a box and determine how much puffed rice it can hold. Then, to meet the challenge, they improve their designs to create bigger boxes. They plot the class data, comparing measured to calculated volumes for each box, seeing the mathematical relationship. They discuss how the concepts of volume and design iteration are important for engineers. Making 3-D shapes also supports the development of spatial visualization skills. This activity and its associated lesson and activity all employ volume and geometry to cultivate seeing patterns and understanding scale models, practices used in engineering design to analyze the effectiveness of proposed design solutions.

In this activity, the students test the shelters they built in Lesson 3, Activity 1 for durability and water resistance.

We are surrounded everyday by circuits that utilize "in parallel" and "in series" circuitry. Complicated circuits designed by engineers are made of many simpler parallel and series circuits. In this hands-on activity, students build parallel circuits, exploring how they function and their unique features.

Everyday we are surrounded by circuits that use "in parallel" and "in series" circuitry. Complicated circuits designed by engineers are composed of many simpler parallel and series circuits. During this activity, students build a simple series circuit and discover the properties associated with series circuits.

Athletes often wear protective gear to keep themselves safe in contact sports. In this spirit, students follow the steps of engineering design process as they design, build and test protective padding for an egg drop. Many of the design considerations surrounding egg drops are similar to sports equipment design. Watching the transformation of energy from potential to kinetic, observing the impact and working under material constraints introduces students to "sports engineering" and gives them a chance to experience some of the challenges engineers face in designing equipment to protect athletes.

In this task students determine the number of hundreds, tens and ones that are necessary to write equations when some digits are provided. Students must, in some cases, decompose hundreds to tens and tens to ones.

Students conduct a simple experiment to see how the water level changes in a beaker when a lump of clay sinks in the water and when the same lump of clay is shaped into a bowl that floats in the water. They notice that the floating clay displaces more water than the sinking clay does, perhaps a surprising result. Then they determine the mass of water that is displaced when the clay floats in the water. A comparison of this mass to the mass of the clay itself reveals that they are approximately the same.

Students bury various pieces of trash in a plotted area of land outside. After two to three months, they uncover the trash to investigate what types of materials biodegrade in soil.

This task operates at two levels. In part it is a simple exploration of the relationship between speed, distance, and time. Part (c) requires understanding of the idea of average speed, and gives an opportunity to address the common confusion between average speed and the average of the speeds for the two segments of the trip. At a higher level, the task addresses N-Q.3, since realistically neither the car nor the bus is going to travel at exactly the same speed from beginning to end of each segment; there is time traveling through traffic in cities, and even on the autobahn the speed is not constant. Thus students must make judgements about the level of accuracy with which to report the result.

This task provides a good entry point for students into representing quantities in contexts with variables and expressions and building equations that reflect the relationships presented in the context.

8th grade student will apply Newton’s Laws to design, test and evaluate materials to create the most protective helmet for an activity of their choice. Students will use force sensors and Vernier software to analyze the force reduction for their helmets. The culmination of this project is for students to write and present a sales pitch to promote their helmet to their peers at an annual "conference."

Statistics is the study of variability. Students who understand statistics need to be able to identify and pose questions that can be answered by data that vary. The purpose of this task is to provide questions related to a particular context (a jar of buttons) so that students can identify which are statistical questions. The task also provides students with an opportunity to write a statistical question that pertains to the context.

This is a task where it would be appropriate for students to use technology such as a graphing calculator or GeoGebra, making it a good candidate for students to engage in Standard for Mathematical Practice 5 Use appropriate tools strategically.