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Educator Resources
Educators are amazing! To support you and your team on your Tech Challenge adventure, we have compiled some helpful resources.
What do students learn from The Tech Challenge?
Students learn the engineering design process, communication, teamwork, critical thinking and more! The engineering design process is the way engineers approach problem solving. It involves a variety of skills/steps including defining the problem, developing models and using them, investigating, analyzing and interpreting data, applying mathematics and computational thinking, determining solutions, optimizing and looking at trade-offs.
2024 Tech Challenge Lessons
Interglactic Interview
Grades 4-12
Students will practice their interview skills by pitching an ordinary Earth item to a panel of alien investors. Groups will take turns acting as both the design team and the panel as they build skills in giving and receiving feedback.
Lesson: 120 minutes (Two 60 minute sessions)
On Your Mark, Get Set, Roll
Grades 4-12
Students will explore how to create triggers by building a device that releases a ball when activated. Their design will need to include a trigger that can be activated from three or more feet away from the device.
Lesson: 60 min
Other lessons that can be used with this year’s Tech Challenge
Shipwreck Shelters
Work in teams to build structures that can withstand a natural hazard. Visit three “islands” (stations) and build a structure with only two or three materials.
Engineering Journals
Practice writing and documentation skills, whether in-person or virtual, with this journaling lesson.
Brainstorming Ideas
Teams brainstorm and conceptualize a device that expands.
Count the Seconds
Design a device that can track a specific amount of time and indicate when that time has passed with a sound or visual signal.
Circle of Pong
Students use their knowledge of energy and forces to place a ball in the center of a 6 foot diameter circle.
Standards
The Tech Challenge aligns with the engineering design standards.
Here’s a shortened version of those standards, along with their corresponding sections, for quick reference:
21st Century Skills
The Tech Challenge helps students build 21st century skills such as critical thinking, communication and teamwork. To learn more about 21st century skills, click here.
Vocabulary
Past Tech Challenge Lessons
Click here for past Tech Challenge lessons.
Check Out Activities
Want some short engineering challenges just for fun? Check out the Tech Challenge mini activities.
Adviser Information
For more adviser information, check this out!