Engineering Resources
Explore these files, interactives, and websites for more engineering ideas to share with students.
ICESat-2
ATLAS: Laser Focus
Timing
Deputy Systems Engineer Phil Luers explains how the ATLAS transmitter and receiver
subsystems come together to calculate the timing of photons, which, in turn, measure the
elevation of ice.
Audience: Formal and Nonformal, 10 years old-Adult
ICESat-2
ATLAS: Laser Focus
The Receiver
Opto-Mechanical Engineer Tyler Evans explains how the photons that bounce back from Earth
are received and filtered by the ATLAS telescope.
Audience: Formal and Nonformal, 10 years old-Adult
ICESat-2
ATLAS: Laser Focus
The Transmitter
Opto-Mechanical Engineer Tyler Evans illustrates how the laser is transmitted from the ATLAS
instrument on the ICESat-2 spacecraft.
Ages: 10-Adult
Audience: Formal and Nonformal
NASA eClips
Engineering
Design Packet: Elementary
Use this design packet to introduce students to a formal design process. Students answer
questions about each step of their design process. A rubric is included to assist with
evaluation. This open-ended packet can be applied to any design project and can be used to
enhance existing curriculum.
Audience: Elementary
NASA eClips
Engineering
Design Packet: Secondary
Use this design packet to introduce students to a formal design process. Students answer
questions about each step of their design process. A rubric is included to assist with
evaluation. This open-ended packet can be applied to any design project and can be used to
enhance existing curriculum.
Audience: Middle and High School
NASA eClips
Plant
Growth Habitat Engineering Design Challenge
Learners select a flowering plant and design a prototype plant growth habitat that could be
used on the Moon or anywhere beyond Earth. They will also be challenged to design and build
a pollinator.
GLOBE Mission Earth
Studying
the Instrument Shelter
An activity for all ages (in both formal and nonformal settings) to investigate why an
instrument shelter is designed the way it is.
NASA Earth Science Education Collaborative
Building
a Thermometer
An activity for all ages (in both formal and nonformal settings) to build a thermometer and
investigate how it works.