This lesson introduces students to three of the six simple machines used by many engineers. These machines include the inclined plane, the wedge and the screw. In general, engineers use the inclined plane to lift heavy loads, the wedge to cut materials apart, and the screw to convert rotational motion into linear movement. Furthermore, the mechanical advantage describes how easily each machine can do work and is determined by its physical dimensions.

Students are presented with a real-life problem as a challenge to investigate, research and solve. Specifically, they are asked to investigate why salt water helps a sore throat, and how engineers apply this understanding to solve other problems. Students read a medical journal article and listen to an audio talk by Dr. Z. L. Wang to learn more about quantum dots. After students reflect and respond to the challenge question, they conduct the associated activity to perform journaling and brainstorming.

In this lesson, students are introduced to both potential energy and kinetic energy as forms of mechanical energy. A hands-on activity demonstrates how potential energy can change into kinetic energy by swinging a pendulum, illustrating the concept of conservation of energy. Students calculate the potential energy of the pendulum and predict how fast it will travel knowing that the potential energy will convert into kinetic energy. They verify their predictions by measuring the speed of the pendulum.

Students gain perspective on the intended purpose of hydraulic accumulators and why they might be the next best innovation for hybrid passenger vehicles. They learn about how hydraulic accumulators and hydraulic systems function, specifically how they conserve energy by capturing braking energy usually lost as heat. Students are given the engineering challenge to create small-scale models from which their testing results could be generalized to large-scale latex tubing for a hydraulic accumulator. After watching a video clip of an engineer talking about his lab-based model to test the feasibility of using an elastomer as an energy accumulator, they brainstorm ideas about how latex can be used in a hydraulic system and how they could test the strength of latex for use in a hydraulic accumulator. The concepts of kinetic energy and energy density are briefly discussed.

Lecture for the course "CSC 59970 – Intro to Data Science" delivered at the City College of New York in Spring 2019 by Grant Long as part of the Tech-in-Residence Corps program.

Lecture for the course "CSCI 380 - Mobile Application and Product Development" delivered at John Jay College in Spring 2019 by Bhargava Chinthirla and Eric Spector as part of the Tech-in-Residence Corps program.

Lecture for the course "CS 217 – Probability and Statistics for Computer Science" delivered at the City College of New York in Spring 2019 by Evan Agovino as part of the Tech-in-Residence Corps program.

Lecture for the course "CSC 59970 – Intro to Data Science" delivered at the City College of New York in Spring 2019 by Grant Long as part of the Tech-in-Residence Corps program.

Lecture for the course "CSCI 380 - Mobile Application and Product Development" delivered at John Jay College in Spring 2019 by Bhargava Chinthirla and Eric Spector as part of the Tech-in-Residence Corps program.

Lecture for the course "CS 217 – Probability and Statistics for Computer Science" delivered at the City College of New York in Spring 2019 by Evan Agovino as part of the Tech-in-Residence Corps program.

Lecture for the course "CSC 59970 – Intro to Data Science" delivered at the City College of New York in Spring 2019 by Grant Long as part of the Tech-in-Residence Corps program.

Lecture for the course "CSCI 380 - Mobile Application and Product Development" delivered at John Jay College in Spring 2019 by Bhargava Chinthirla and Eric Spector as part of the Tech-in-Residence Corps program.

Lecture for the course "CSC 59970 – Intro to Data Science" delivered at the City College of New York in Spring 2019 by Grant Long as part of the Tech-in-Residence Corps program.

Lecture for the course "CSC 59970 – Intro to Data Science" delivered at the City College of New York in Spring 2019 by Grant Long as part of the Tech-in-Residence Corps program.

Lecture for the course "CSC 59970 – Intro to Data Science" delivered at the City College of New York in Spring 2019 by Grant Long as part of the Tech-in-Residence Corps program.

Lecture for the course "CSC 59970 – Intro to Data Science" delivered at the City College of New York in Spring 2019 by Grant Long as part of the Tech-in-Residence Corps program.

Lecture for the course "CSCI 380 - Mobile Application and Product Development" delivered at John Jay College in Spring 2019 by Bhargava Chinthirla and Eric Spector as part of the Tech-in-Residence Corps program.

Lecture for the course "CS 217 – Probability and Statistics for Computer Science" delivered at the City College of New York in Spring 2019 by Evan Agovino as part of the Tech-in-Residence Corps program.

Lecture for the course "CSC 59970 – Intro to Data Science" delivered at the City College of New York in Spring 2019 by Grant Long as part of the Tech-in-Residence Corps program.

Lecture for the course "CS 217 – Probability and Statistics for Computer Science" delivered at the City College of New York in Spring 2019 by Evan Agovino as part of the Tech-in-Residence Corps program.