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Here at The Engineering Place, we have compiled some of our favorite resources for teachers to use in their classrooms. We hope these materials are helpful to your students as they explore the vast field of engineering.

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2026 Summer Research Experience for Teachers

The application window for the 2026 Summer Research Experience for Teachers program is NOW CLOSED!

Exploring Climate Change Through AI and Engineering Research

The NC State College of Engineering offers teachers a hands-on Summer 2026 research experience focused on exploring climate change through Artificial Intelligence (AI) and engineering. From June 22 to July 20, 2026, participants will work alongside students, researchers, and award-winning faculty member Dr. Edgar Lobaton, a distinguished electrical engineer recognized with numerous teaching awards, and his cutting-edge research team. Together, they will explore how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the way scientists study climate change.

Participants will become part of the research team, contributing to the development of a K–12 accessible robotic imaging device. Using state-of-the-art AI tools, this project will launch a citizen science program that empowers students and educators to advance real-world research findings.

The Engineering Place team will serve as the bridge between authentic research and K–12 instruction. Through weekly meetings during the research experience and ongoing academic year support, they will provide the expertise, resources, and guidance needed for teachers and students to thrive in the lab and successfully develop their projects.

Program Outcomes

Teachers and students will achieve comprehensive hands-on expertise by building, testing, and critically evaluating a functional imaging device. They will develop high-quality instructional resources (e.g., videos) to demystify assembly and enhance accessibility. Key technical outcomes include mastering the operation of the imaging system to capture scientific data and gaining proficiency in interpreting, visualizing, and 3D printing microscopic models.

Teachers will gain a deeper understanding of scientific and engineering practices and how this translates into their science and engineering curriculum. Ultimately, participants will serve as program ambassadors, bringing the experience and citizen-science research methodologies back to their schools to empower broader student engagement.

Activity Lesson Plans

Engineering Activities

Feel free to use and modify these lesson plans as much as you like.*

If you have any questions, concerns, or comments please send an email to coe-theengineeringplace@ncsu.edu.

*The materials created by The Engineering Place are free for use but must be appropriately credited to The Engineering Place and cannot be used for commercial purposes.

Engineering Activities
Literacy Integrated STEM Lesson Plans

Other Helpful Sites

The Engineering Design Process

The Engineering Design Process
The Engineering Design Process

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The Engineering Design Process

  1. Ask
    • What is your design supposed to do?
    • How will you know if it is doing what you want? What could keep you from making it do that?
    • How will you test your design?
  2. Imagine
    • Apply knowledge and creativity to brainstorm ideas together.
    • Agree on one to try!
  3. Plan
    • Consider your materials and resources.
    • Sketch/draw the details.
    • Pitch your plan.
  4. Create
    • Follow the plan.
    • Test it out and compare your results to what you wanted or expected.
  5. Improve
    • Analyze your test results.
    • What change would make the biggest impact on meeting your goal?
  • The engineering design process is a series of steps that you repeat to develop or improve a product, process or system. You can start anywhere in the process, however, most engineers begin at ASK or IMPROVE.
  • Failure is always a part of the process … so is learning from failure!

The Engineering Design Process that we use is adapted from the version designed by Boston Museum of Science’s Engineering is Elementary program. The Engineering Design Process is a consistent repetitive series of steps for developing or improving a product or system. Educators are encouraged to explain this 5-step process to students, as well as display it in their classrooms as a reference.

  • The Engineering Design Process Poster (print-ready PDF, 14.22 in. x 10.67 in.)
    Note to Firefox users: The pdf version of the poster may not display properly in Firefox’s built-in pdf viewer. If this happens, you can go to Firefox’s preferences, choose applications and switch to another viewer.
  • The Engineering Design Process Poster (higher resolution image, 11.0 in. x 8.25 in.) The image will open in another window. To download the image, follow your browser’s method of saving the image to your hard drive.
  • The Engineering Design Process Poster (low resolution image) The image will open in another window. To download the image, follow your browser’s method of saving the image to your hard drive.
  • View a text description of the poster.