Designing a Thermostat

Circuits are pervasive in the modern engineered world. Most engineers have a good understanding of electricity and basic circuitry so as to better design everything from cars and houses, to cell phones and computers. Electrical engineers design the circuits that power our houses and appliances. Aerospace and mechanical engineers use their understanding of circuits to design control systems (such as anti-lock brakes), motors, amusement park rides, wave machines and space flight equipment. Other engineers design devices such as thermostats to reduce energy usage and waste.

In this month's activity, Designing a Thermostat, and the associated lesson on circuits students investigate circuits and their components by building a basic thermostat. They learn why key parts are necessary for the circuit to function, and alter the circuit to optimize the thermostat temperature range. They also gain an awareness of how electrical engineers design circuits for the countless electronic products in our world.

The Engineering Pathway Portal to the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) brings together quality engineering education materials from all over the internet allowing teachers to search all of these documents in a single location. Each month during the year in the Pre-Engineering Times, the Engineering Pathway highlights one or more engineering activities available on the collection related to the month's theme. This month's activity is from the TeachEngineering Digital Library, which is a part of the Engineering Pathway.