More than 13 constructive course projects in high school engineering courses

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By the time young scientists arrive in high school, they know the basics of engineering. It is time to apply these fundamentals to projects that model real-world problems and prepare high school students for knowledge and experience to create innovations that change the world we know. (Also, the engineering project is very interesting!)

Find new curriculum projects for high school engineering courses to challenge and inspire teenagers this year. These projects reinforce important engineering concepts and motivate senior students to create their own projects with low prep resources and ideas for individuals, groups and full-class assignments.

1. Build a radio from scratch

Teens may be more accustomed to online playlists than radio stations, but building broadcasts from scratch will never get out of date! Whether you are using a set of radio kits or having senior students use circuit and air gap capacitors, this high school student’s engineering program is an interesting way to use electrical and mechanical engineering in a class.

2. Use the sun to power the invention

Solar energy is not only a popular high school science fair idea (although so). This is a step into the future, it does not rely on non-renewable resources, and for your students, it is probably one of the most common ways to power cars and heated homes. Order a set of solar panels for your classroom, allowing high school students to invent different ways to use it for everyday applications, whether it’s a solar computer, a vehicle, or an entire home system.

3. Design your own mobile phone

Do your high school engineer know how your phone actually works? They will design their own phones afterwards! Use computer and electrical engineers to facilitate students’ designs of brand new phones. They may not be as advanced as smartphones in their pockets, but in the long run, the project will be just as valuable.

Design Mobile Projects | STEM, Entrepreneurship, Gate & Teamwork’s PBL
By the teacher’s resources
Results: Fifth to 10th
Topic: Engineering

An innovative engineering project makes teens more interested in their favorite property: their cell phones! Students use printable workbooks and guided project pages to design, model and push their original mobile phone invention to their peers.

4. Driving past a body of water

Making a boat is an ancient engineering exercise! Using limited materials and a range of challenges such as distance races and weight, students created boats that can withstand the test of time and the trend of small wading pools.

Aluminum Foil Boat Stem Engineering Challenge – High School Science
Through teaching with Fergy
Results: 9-12
Topic: Physics Science
Standard: NGSS HS-ETS1-1, 2, 3, 4; PS2-1, 2, 3, 4, 6; HS-PS3-2

This high school engineering project is in line with NGSS, allowing young scientists to challenge the captain’s boat with only two sheets of aluminum foil. They added more and more weight to test their boat and perfected the design as needed to keep it floating.

5. Building a piezoelectric generator

A piezoelectric generator project, also known as an energy harvester, provides students with front seats to make how pressure or vibrations produce changes in electricity. Study how these generators are used in everyday electronic devices, including medical devices and roads, and encourage students to build energy harvesters that they can use in their daily lives.

6. Use bridges to build interdisciplinary connections

There is no better way to make friends and learn science than building bridges in engineering classes! After studying bridge construction for different types of bridges including trusses, suspensions and arch bridges, students worked together to create bridges that were spread across wide areas and would not collapse under weight pressure.

Balsa Wood Bridge Project Stem
By physical burn
Results: Seventh to 12th
Topic: Engineering, Physics
Standard: NGSS HS-ETS1-1, 1-3; PS2-1, PS2-2

Integrate physics and engineering into classic bridge construction activities that include video instructions and a 7-day pacing guide. After writing a research paper and designing a blueprint for the bridge, the team built a bridge model using Balsa Wood, Wax Paper, Glue and Pins.

Bridge Engineering STEM Challenge – Women in STEM History Activities (Digital)
By vivid stems
Results: 6th to 12th
Topics: Applied Mathematics, Engineering, Physical Sciences
Standard: CCSS 6.GA1, 2, 3, 4; 7.GB4, 5, 6; 7.ee.B.3, 4; 6.RP.A.1, 2, 3; 7.RP.A.1, 2, 3

High school students learn about innovation and the foundations of tension and compression through the hands-on bridge design process. With a lesson plan for math and editable digital student handouts with CCSS, you will have everything you need to host this memorable engineering project in your classroom.

7. Design school rain garden

When assigning Yuhua, environmental engineering is included in the science course. Let small groups adopt different elements of the garden, including irrigation and drainage systems, ideal plant and rock placement, and find a small part of the campus to implement these ideas. As a bonus, you will beautify part of your school website for free!

8. Manufacturing fireproof buildings

Building a building is one thing, but preventing it from being destroyed is another. Assign an individual or group project where students build a building that can prevent specific natural disasters, such as earthquakes, wildfires, tornados or hurricanes. Extra praise for students who consider more than one disaster during the design and modeling process!

9. Built from propelled racing car

If your high school students think driving school is fun, wait until they design their own car in engineering class. Using balloons, carbonated water, rubber bands, or any other self-advocacy mechanism, students work alone, or work in groups to create the fastest cars. Contests are held at the end of the project and engineering medals are distributed!

Mouse Trap Racing Stem Challenge (Potential and Kinetic Energy, Simple Machine)
Midwest Science
Results: 6th to 10th
Topics: Engineering, General Science, Physics

Using mouse traps and other items found around the house, students follow step-by-step guides to create their dream cars. The new lab version of this course allows students to lead and document their design process in more detail.

10. Manufacturing water filtration systems

Bring a filtration engineering project for high school students to learn more about community water needs and drought relief. Using carbon filters, activated carbon and water bottles, students have developed the best ways to ensure that the water is as clean and drinkable as possible.

11. Rubber band helicopter hovering in class

If you tell your high school student that helicopters are making during class today, you will get everyone’s attention. Apply the concept of force and motion to innovative helicopter projects made from rubber bands, paper clips, wooden sticks, and any other material students can think of to successfully hover over the classroom with a rotating propeller.

12. Use simple machines to solve complex problems

During your engineering process, go back to the basis of levers, pulleys, tilted aircraft and wedges. Tip your engineering majors to use these simple machines in real-world applications to get the most creative results. Will they build food distribution systems based on pulley systems or a series of wedges with long distance loads? The limit is their imagination!

13. Float object with ultrasonic levator

Can you make the object use only sound suspension? Have high school students experiment with the activity of creating ultrasound or sound suspension agents. After understanding the sound waves and frequency, students work alone or together to create ultrasonic suspensions that create standing waves when facing each other.

Quick course projects for high school engineering courses

Some engineering projects are favorites for a reason! If you are looking for projects that students can complete in one or two classes, check out these ideas that will learn a lot to a short time.

• Rube Goldberg Machine: Use classroom materials to send marble to a series of simple machines and paths.
• Egg Drops: Design a protective cover that keeps the egg intact when dropped from a distance.
• House of Cards: All you need is the card cards for each group to show students the importance of structural integrity and architectural design.
• Wind Turbine: Which group of wind turbines that produce the most electricity?
• Three little pigs: Three groups use materials from famous folk tales (straw, sticks, bricks) to see which house can really be the strongest.

Find new ways to solve the old problems of TPT

When it comes to classroom projects in high school engineering courses, your course should be as creative as the final product. Use these ideas and more high school engineering resources to inspire young scientists to solve problems using new solutions. For differentiation opportunities or ways to use more engineering ideas in the classroom, check out the course projects for the secondary engineering courses!