TeachEngineering

Engineers incorporate sensors into machines to make them perform complex, precise, and/or tedious tasks. This challenge helps students improve their understanding of how robots both “see” and "think" and widens their appreciation for the complexity involved in programming robots to do what appears to be a simple task.

🆕 Follow the Line: Programming Robots with Color Sensors: teachengineering.org/activities/view/umo-3044-robot-controller-line-follower-activity

After this collaborative activity, students in grades 5-6 should be able to:

🎨 Explain how a color sensor works

🤖 Develop and explain the logic behind programs that instruct robots to use color sensor readings to make decisions

🆕 Check out this latest high school school addition to our free digital library: Synthetic Biology: New Genes, New Proteins 🧬

This activity introduces students to synthetic biology — the engineering of living organisms by designing and modifying DNA to create new biological functions or solve real-world problems — by having them explore how DNA, RNA, and proteins are connected, and how scientists engineer new biological materials!

For students in grades 11-12: teachengineering.org/activities/view/wst-3033-synthetic-biology-new-genes-proteins-activity

⚡ Design Without Building: Simulating the Process of Engineering Memristor Materials: teachengineering.org/activities/view/uot-3050-memristor-materials-engineering-design-activity

In this 🆕 iterative design challenge, tenth grade students ask and answer the question, “How do materials scientists design memristors by predicting material properties at the atomic scale?” Students research the process of computational analysis, and then are challenged to imagine and plan ways to model memristors — a computer device that transmits and saves information by regulating energy flow — using simple materials available in the classroom

➕ This curriculum aligns with Next Generation Science Standards!

In this interactive activity, students become materials engineers — someone who designs and tests new materials used in everyday products — tasked with designing and optimizing a functional polymer-based material through systematic testing and iteration 🫟

🆕 Activity for students in grades 6-8: teachengineering.org/activities/view/uok-3027-get-slimy-exploring-matter-activity

By studying slime, students practice the same kinds of observations and data-driven decisions engineers use to design safer, more sustainable materials for real-world problems!

🆕 Activity for students in grades 4-6: teachengineering.org/activities/view/eclips-3046-nasa-eclips-shower-clock-activity

NASA eClips Our World: Designing a Shower Clock 🚿

Working in three-person teams and using the design engineering process, students connect water-conservation strategies used on the International Space Station (ISS) to their own lives by designing — then testing, refining, and sharing — a shower clock prototype that accurately measures a five-minute shower.

Fifth grade students use the engineering design process to explore how structure affects strength while also focusing on creative, sustainable ways to repair and reuse materials.

🎒 Unbeweavably Strong: teachengineering.org/activities/view/uot-3045-unbeweavably-strong-structutes-materials-activity

Activity goal: Develop a replacement strap using paper (a weak material) by changing its structure to make it strong enough to hold up to 7 kilograms — instead of throwing away a backpack and contributing to landfill waste ♻️

Cell Membranes and Osmosis and Gummy Bears, Oh My! 🍬

For grades 3-5: teachengineering.org/activities/view/uot-3040-cell-membranes-osmosis-gummy-bears

In this design engineering challenge, students use gummy bears and their own gummy prototype to simulate a cell membrane as they learn how osmosis works in a cell and how water moves down the concentration gradient.

➕ This curriculum aligns with Next Generation Science Standards!

The 2026 starts tomorrow at the University of Colorado Boulder! 🎉

This grassroots gathering will serve as a brain trust to ensure our technical future belongs to everyone: ncwit.org/summit/2026-summit

🧠 Thought-provoking workshops

🏆 Award celebrations

🎤 Galvanizing presentations

🙌🏾 Community for changemakers

Can't attend in person? Follow our YouTube channel for a livestream: youtube.com/ 😊

NCWIT is honored to announce that Marian Croak is the 2026 recipient of the Pioneer in Tech Award! 🏆

Marian is best known for her foundational work advancing Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, helping make internet-based voice and video communication reliable and scalable 📞 We look forward to recognizing her groundbreaking technical contributions, visionary leadership, and enduring impact on communications tech at the 2026 on June 2nd!

▶️ Learn more about her extraordinary journey in the NCWIT Media Hub: ncwit.org/blog/2026-ncwit-pioneer-in-tech-marian-croak

In 1️⃣ week, changemakers from across NCWIT's ecosystem will convene at the University of Colorado Boulder for the 2026 !

This will focus our relationship to technology, and how we can shape our technical future before we are shaped by it: ncwit.org/summit/2026-summit

We all play a role in the future — both within computing education and within the broader workforce — join us! 🙂

➕ Want to tune in remotely? Follow our YouTube channel for a livestream: youtube.com/