Discover Engineering Kits
Discover pulleys, levers, and complex machines by constructing functional models with 640+ building elements!
Introduce basic concepts of engineering through hands-on construction of simple and complex machines. This project-based curriculum covers pulleys, levers, power transfer, gear ratios, and more via engaging, student-directed challenges and design projects. Students will collaborate to build trebuchets, cart launchers, and even a transmission model, enhancing learning with tangible evidence of abstract concepts. Unique 3DIC building software includes step-by-step instructions, allowing students to build at their own pace and highlight specific parts of a model for clarification.
Kit accommodates 6 students and includes instructor/student guides, building instructions, 640+ Fischertechnik building elements, and 2 licenses for 3DIC. Set of 5 accommodates 30 students. Set of 8 accommodates 48 student and adds a hardwood storage unit with 4 casters. Elementary and up.
Standards: Aligns with NGSS.
Click here to download a sample of the curriculum manual.
Next Generation Science Standards*:
- MS-ETS1-1: Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.
- MS-ETS1-2: Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
- MS-ETS1-3: Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.
*The Next Generation Science Standards are a registered trademark of WestEd. Neither WestEd nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards were involved in the production of this product, and do not endorse it.
Common Core Math Standards*:
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.NF.A.2: Compare two fractions with different numerators and different denominators, e.g. by creating common denominators or numerators, or by comparing to a benchmark fraction such as 1/2.
*National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers. (2010). Common Core State Standards. Washington, DC: Authors.