Welcome to City Technology!

We are a collaboration of college faculty in Engineering and Education, public elementary teachers and children. Our goals are to engage children in exploring the designed world, and in designing new things themselves. Design is the key activity in engineering and technology, just as inquiry is at the core of science. When you design something, you learn not only the processes and concepts of engineering - you also draw upon your entire repertory of knowledge and abilities. In other words, engineering design provides contexts for integrating engineering, math, science, literacy and art.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. 0096627, 046232, and 0733209. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Stuff that Works develops ideas for teaching technology in the elementary grades based on everyday problems and artifacts. You can learn about the five Books, download the Guide for Professional Developers, or view other Project Ideas related to each topic.
The Kids Page provides activities that upper
elementary students can learn about
and perform independently. Using these web resources, you can learn how to make a pop-up, a flip toy, a wind-up, a jumping paper frog or a sail car.
Force and Motion is part of Physical Science Comes Alive! There are four curriculum units, which develop mechanical concepts through design of cardboard and paper mechanisms:
Mech-a-Blocks (Grades K-1), MechAnimations (Grades 2-3), ArithMachines (Grades 4-5) and Pop-ups (Grades 4-5).
Energy Systems is part of Physical Science Comes Alive! There are four curriculum units, which develop energy concepts through design of toy vehicles and hidden circuits:
Invent-a-Wheel (Grades K-1), Fantastic Elastic (Grades 2-3), EnerJeeps (Grades 4-5) and ElectroCity (Grades 4-5).