Engage your students with interactive computational activities to develop lifelong engineering and computational thinking skills and practices. Choose from single activities or entire curricula to teach your primary and secondary school students.
MathWorks has partnerships with STEM education organizations, such as Youth Engineering Solutions (YES) and Engineering for US All (e4usa), to create computational thinking activities with MATLAB to accompany their curricula. These activities are suitable for you and your students, even if you are new to MATLAB. The activities open and run in your browser with MATLAB Online.
Explore computational thinking activities using MATLAB that accompanies the larger YES Middle School curriculum. You can use these activities individually, as part of the computational thinking module, or alongside YES middle school units. Learn more about YES Computational Thinking in middle school.
User Reviews Analysis
Students use a simple machine learning algorithm to analyze qualitative data collected from slipper users.
Bounce Height Measurements
Students use a computer to collect precise data on how high a ping pong ball bounces on different landing materials.
Heatwave Visualizations
Students visualize heatwave data to identify which regions and people may be most impacted by hot temperatures to help them engineer a medicine cooler.
Exoplanet Discoveries
Students consider how computers can help scientists search space telescope data for exoplanets.
Timer Algorithms
Students improve wearable alert systems by refining algorithms with MATLAB.
Crowd-Sourced Disaster Data
Students learn how to use computers for gathering data on natural disasters.
The activity below accompanies the e4usa high school engineering curriculum. The e4usa curriculum helps students learn and demonstrate engineering skills, principles, and practices while considering local and global engineering design challenges.
Water Filtration Model
This mathematical model of a water filter is intended to accompany Unit 2, Lesson 2.6. Students should complete the research described and then use this model as a last step to help them determine what materials they want to combine to form the water filter prototype that they build and test. Watch an introductory video for this activity.
Wind Turbine Model
This mathematical model of a wind turbine is intended to accompany Unit 2, Lesson 2.8. Students should complete the research described and assemble the base of the wind turbine, and then use this model as a last step to help them determine what design of the blades they want to use to form the wind turbine prototype that they build and test.
Have questions or feedback?
Primary and Secondary Schools
Use MATLAB with K-12 students
