Make a Water Transport Satellite
Create a satellite that will carry a cup of water — without spilling it.
Overview
With 100 years of innovation experience, Boeing is looking ahead to the next century of possibilities, especially for the next generation of dreamers, builders and inventors. We want to harness their natural sense of curiosity and show them just how astronomical their impact on the world can be.
Boeing engineers worked closely with education partners to develop K-12 resources that focus on applying science to solve tough real-world problems.
Get inspired by our collection of lesson plans, videos, interactive media and design challenges, all of which are intended to increase their interest and aptitude for 21st-century skills.
Design challenges
Iridescent and Boeing engineers joined forces to create more than 20 hands-on, open-ended design challenges that encourage curiosity, creativity and persistence among K-12 students.
Activities take low-cost household materials and turn them into innovative engineering solutions while available mentorship from scientists and engineers offers help along the way.
Design a machine that uses a fluid to move and can lift at least 10 pennies.
Build a wearable device that will detect when your body moves.
Engineer a Safe Stopping Robot
Create a robot that turns itself off when it leaves a safe area.
Build a Plane Painting Machine
Make a machine that uses a marker or brush to paint plane parts.
Engineer an Automated Wrapping Machine
Create a machine to wrap an object the way Boeing wraps carbon fiber fuselages.
Fashion a wing that can support its own weight over a 2-foot span, without blocking airflow.
Build an airfoil that can produce the most lift in a wind tunnel while carrying weight.
Build a Rocket Inspired by SLS
Build a rocket that can carry a pingpong ball as its payload.
Engineer a Fuel Level Detector
Build a sensor that can tell how much gas is left in a tank.
Engineer a Self Deploying Device
Build a device that will launch itself, inspired by the way satellites deploy in space.
Satellites collect solar energy using large solar arrays, which are larger than the satellite body! Design a satellite with a 6-inch body and a larger, foldable solar array.
Engineer an Air-Powered Spinning Machine
Build an air-powered spinning machine inspired by Boeing CST-100 Starliner, a crew capsule that transports up to seven passengers to destinations like the International Space Station.
Build a Plane Powered by Stored Energy
Boeing’s SUGAR project is finding ways for airplanes to fly using less fuel. Make your own airplane that can fly at least 5 feet using stored energy.
Our engineers communicate with satellites through signal waves, which can transmit information over great distances. Design your own device to carry and record a wave’s movement.
Build a Lightweight Airplane Wing
At Boeing, our engineers are always looking for new ways to make planes lighter and stronger. Build a lightweight wing structure that is 12 inches long and can hold up a cup of marbles.
Look, no hands! In this challenge, you’ll design a robotic arm that can move a marble, a straw, and a washer into a cup all by itself.
The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey takes off like a helicopter and converts into an airplane during flight! Learn how to make a helicopter take off by turning stored potential energy into kinetic energy.
Boeing WaveRiders fly faster than the speed of sound by riding on shock waves. Learn how waves work, and build a machine that makes sound waves by vibrating itself and the air around it.
Airplanes use computer networks to send and receive information, so it’s important these are secure. Build a box that only you know how to open and will give an alert if hackers try to open it.
Videos and interactive activities
The Documentary Group collaborated with WGBH to produce a collection of digital resources that bring to life science of flight, aviation history and profiles of aerospace careers. This special collection is available on PBS LearningMedia, which offers pre-K through 12th-grade classrooms a flexible way to integrate media into daily instruction.
Lesson plans
The Teaching Channel and Boeing engineers collaborated with educators to create a series of science units for elementary and middle school students. The 10 units they developed integrate design thinking and problem-based learning into lessons inspired by Boeing science and engineering innovation.
Grades 4-5
Students study the stages of interplanetary travel, identify tasks for a crewed flight to Mars and simulate a rocket launch from Earth to the Red Planet.
Grades 7-8
How do we survive in dangerous places? Students design a suit that balances biological constraints, outside conditions and material limitations.
Grades 4-6
After learning about the generation and propagation of sound waves, students attempt to develop a quieter airplane cabin by modeling a device that helps dampen exterior noises.
Grades 5-6
To understand how satellites function, students create a proposal for a mock CubeSat mission for NASA. Along the way, they also learn principles of force and motion in space.
Grades 7-8
In the process of creating a camera-carrying glider, students learn the engineering challenges associated with the deployment, design and flight of autonomous aerial systems.
Grades 4-5
With a focus on wind power, this unit showcases how motors, generators and other components work together in complex devices.
Grades 6-7
This unit revisits concepts such as mass, volume, density and more, introducing students to polymeric materials through hands-on activities to create biopolymer prototypes.
Grades 5-6
Applying concepts like gravity, force and shock, students devise ways to protect an astronaut during landing by creating models, testing their work and recording data.
Traveling exhibition
Above and Beyond is an interactive, hands-on exhibition for kids that explores the wonder of flight and the marvels of aerospace innovation, design and technology.
Bring the power of innovation into your classroom with the Above and Beyond Teacher’s Guides. These printable resources include lesson plans, a field-trip planner, activities, games and more.