Curriculum

 From creating their own claymation movie to making a tilt lantern, Techbridge girls learn through engaging hands-on projects. Our curriculum is designed so that girls not only have fun, they also explore scientific concepts and increase their knowledge and love of related careers.

• To place an order, please send an email to info@techbridgegirls.org, including your name, address, and contact information, as well as the units you're interested in ordering. For a pricing list, click here.
• For programs-in-a-box (which include materials), please visit the Science Source.

Curriculum Units

Career Exploration

How does sunblock work? Who designed the iPod? How do bridges stay up during earthquakes? In this unit, kids learn about the people who know the answer to these questions: chemical engineers, computer scientists, and civil engineers and many others in the field of science and technology. From working on goal-setting icebreakers, to creating advertisements for college majors, to designing board games about their roads to careers, kids explore a future in science and technology in ways that fuel their inspiration and excitement.

Chemical Engineering

The activities in this unit introduce kids to chemical manipulation and chemical processes, letting them use their knowledge of chemistry and problem-solving to explore the world of chemical engineering. Basic principles, like the importance of following instructions in a lab, are made fun for kids as they create peanut brittle. Other challenges include discovering the chemical formula for the bounciest ball and creating a chemical combination to launch a rocket into the sky.

Computer Science

In this unit, kids gain an understanding of how computer scientists and engineers write commands for all types of computers, giving insight into the computers that are everywhere in our lives. They’ll learn the basics of programming through a robot workout and a twist on the lunchtime favorite, the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Using programming applications such as Scratch, kids create animated greetings and program devices that make motors spin and lights flash. They also learn how to safely navigate the web and how to create web pages of their own. The curriculum culminates in a final project integrating programming, robotics, and HTML to create fashion-forward robots that compete in a runway show.

CSI

Kids may watch Crime Scene Investigators at work on television, but in this unit they are the forensic scientists. Playing the roles of chemists, biologists, and detectives they learn how crime scene investigations are conducted. The unit allows kids to work on their methodical thinking as they organize and examine evidence found at a crime scene. Experiments include testing stomach contents for the presence of liver, dusting dishes to analyze fingerprints, comparing various inks with chromatography, examining hair samples with a microscope, and determining blood types. Kids not only have a great time playing detective, they gain a further understanding of basic biological and chemical concepts.

Design Challenges

Quick – what can you make with a skewer, a paper clip, a Dixie cup, and push pins?  With limited materials and time constraints, kids are challenged to design and construct structures and products. They learn about mechanical energy and chemical reactions as they design and construct self-propelled cargo boats and bungee jumps for eggs. The Design Challenges unit not only encourages kids to think creatively, it is full of activities for emphasizing the importance of team work.

Digital Media

Lights, camera, animate! The activities in Digital Media invite kids to explore the many features of a digital camera and discover what they can do with digital picture. They’ll experience first-hand the fun and creativity involved in making an animated film as they make their very own claymation film. They’ll be involved in every step of the process from writing the story, drawing storyboards, modeling using clay figures, directing the action and operating a webcamera, to using stop-motion animation software.

Electrical Engineering

Circuitry and electronics are prevalent in everyday life, but the concepts behind them can be difficult to understand. This unit demystifies the world of electrical engineering as kids use Snap Circuits to learn to the basics of building and soldering circuits. They also learn about electron flow, polarity, electrical components, and terminology as they build circuits in both series and parallel. Projects include a light-up LED butterfly, a color-changing lantern, and their own electronic-buzzer game board.

Environmental Engineering

In this unit kids learn how to make the world a better, greener place through environmental engineering. The Green Design Project includes activities that emphasize energy conservation and material reuse while constructing a model “green” home. They also explore and learn other concepts of environmental engineering in projects where they designing a solar powered car and determine the materials needed to filter water. 

Icebreakers

They may seem like simple games, but icebreakers are a way for kids to have fun, get energized, and make new friends. Each icebreaker activity helps kids problem solve, work together as a team, overcome challenges, practice public speaking, and exercise leadership.  

Mechanical Engineering

From playground equipment to cars, mechanical engineers are the ones that help make all the stuff around us work. This unit introduces students to the basic of mechanical engineering through activities based on simple machines. Kids design their own cars, and power them through a variety of energy sources. They also explore the four-stroke engine and review basic care and maintenance of the family car.

Product Design

How does a product go from an idea to the store shelf? In this unit kids explore the world of product design by taking several roles within this process. They analyze existing designs by taking apart hair dryers and other household appliances as well as research, design, and prototype their own toy inventions. Throughout every activity, kids get hands-on learning about the engineering design process and gain an appreciation for utilizing creativity within a structured format.

Structural Engineering

Towers out of spaghetti. Bridges out of straws. Domes out of gumdrops. Building everyday structures from wacky materials brings to life the field of structural engineering. Just like the professionals, kids plan for safety, performance, and cost of materials. They also test important parameters of each structure, such as how fast a marble can roll through their foam roller coaster and how long their craft stick structure stands through an earthquake.