This collection of lessons from the GE Brilliant Career Lab bridges the gap between education and industry, classroom and career, and the economy of the future and the skills of today.
Airplane Mechanic
This lesson highlights an example of “Everyday in the life of an Airplane Mechanic”. What kind of work might an Airplane Mechanic do? Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul aircraft engines…
Wearable Device Designer
The teacher will guide students through the design and engineering process by supporting an environment that allows for trial and error, and celebrates iteration. The series is designed for 6th…
Biomedical Engineer
This lesson reflects on “Everyday in the life of a Biomedical Engineer” What does a Biomedical Engineer do? Biomedical Engineer Conduct research, along with life scientists, chemists, and medical scientists,…
IN THIS COLLECTION
This first-of-its-kind collection of digital fabrication learning experiences is designed to engage and inspire students through STEM career paths. These lessons can be deployed in partnership with teachers in middle and high school classrooms with the resources of a mobile lab. The mobile lab visits each classroom and includes equipment, materials, and an instructor that partners with the classroom teacher.
PROGRAM AND PARTNERSHIP
As part of GE’s $25M Brilliant Boston commitment to empower students to become globally productive citizens by providing access to learning experiences and skills necessary for the workforce tomorrow, the GE Brilliant Career Lab was developed in partnership with the Fab Foundation to enable students to investigate STEM careers through hands on experiences with digital fabrication tools in a mobile lab.
ABOUT THE GE BRILLIANT CAREER LAB
The Brilliant Career Lab is a resource for educators and students, providing curriculum, essential and technical skills development, career assessments, mentoring, exposure to college and career, and access to digital fabrication tools and knowledge. The program pilot started during the 2016-2017 school year In Boston Public Schools (BPS) with Tech Boston and English High Schools. Since then, the Brilliant Career Lab has exposed over 1,500 BPS students to future STEM careers, while supporting 50 teachers in incorporating digital fabrication and career exploration activities in their classroom.
Additionally, in collaboration with the Fab Foundation, Brilliant Career Play is an extension of the Boston Celtics and GE partnership that creates access for middle school students in a mobile lab environment to engage in hands-on, interactive educational experiences. Launched in November 2017, the Brilliant Career Play program has already visited 3 school districts throughout greater Boston, and exposed over 500 middle school students to STEM careers inspired by design and sports. Coupled with the mentoring and online support from Brilliant Pathways (formerly CFES ) and Everfi, students are exposed to STEM careers through a range of online and live experiences.
Brilliant Career Play launch event at the Lilla G. Frederick Pilot School in Boston, MA in November 2017.
STEM DIGITAL FABRICATION LESSONS
From Plastic Bags to Eco-Wallets
Participants explore how everyday choices (like accepting plastic bags at stores) affect our planet. They’ll discover plastic’s journey into oceans and landfills, brainstorm eco-friendly alternatives (e.g., cloth bags), and transform…
June 1, 2025
A Makey Makey Integration for a Transdisciplinary Science Research Project
This lesson focuses on the use of Makey Makey technology as a culminating integration tool to showcase and assess student learning across a transdisciplinary unit on New York State mammals.…
May 29, 2025
The Birds Aren’t Real: A Collaboration Between Shop and Computer
In this interdisciplinary unit, students will create three-dimensional wooden bird sculptures that incorporate basic robotics using the BBC microbit. Inspired by the satirical conspiracy theory “Birds Aren’t Real,” students will…
May 27, 2025
Introduction to mobile robot control using Smart Cutebot and micro:bit
In this activity student will learn the fundamentals of mobile robot control by programming a line follower using the micro:bit microcontroller board and the Smart Cutebot base by Elecfreaks. They…
May 26, 2025
Laser Cut Mobiles: Exploring Balanced Foodwebs
This third-grade science lesson on food webs incorporates a digital fabrication component using a laser cutter. The lesson is adaptable and can be modified to incorporate other forms of digital…
May 24, 2025
Fab-in-a-Box Automata
This lesson introduces learners to the fascinating world of automata; kinetic sculptures powered by simple mechanical systems. Through hands-on fabrication using laser cutters, vinyl cutters, and 3D printers, learners will…
May 5, 2025
Climate Data with AI – مخيم الشتاء: بيانات المناخ باستخدام الذكاء الاصطناعي
Over the course of three days, participants will collect and analyze climate data from various software. The collected data will be analyzed by AI and visualized using graphic software to…
May 4, 2025
Guiding Growth: Training Plants Through Light Mazes
Lesson Summary: “Guiding Growth: Training Plants Through Light Mazes” In this interdisciplinary STEM lesson, students explore how plants respond to their environments by observing and guiding the growth of pea…
May 1, 2025
Fabricating Transparent Bio-Fabric Pots for monitoring plant Systems
Lesson Summary In this lesson, students will explore the basic needs of plants and how their external structures—roots, stems, and leaves—support their survival and growth. Students will identify the environmental…
April 29, 2025
Yikes, the Power Went Out
This activity was devised to provide an experiential, Next Generation Science Standards-based, Project-based, model lesson for preservice elementary teachers on how to design science lessons grounded in making and fabrication…
April 29, 2025
Create an RC car with upper primary.
In this lesson, we will be teaching upper primary school students how to use Micro:bit to program a small robot car. This is a bit of an advanced coding program…
April 24, 2025
Building a simple circuit in a box for matching words or definitions to concepts in a fun way.
The idea of this lesson is to have students build a simple circuit in a box designed to be a simple game of matching words or definitions to concepts. On…
April 24, 2025
Solar power car for primary students
In this lesson, students will learn about renewable energy, circuits, and create a solar power car to combine their learning.
April 22, 2025
Designing and Building a Multi-Function Voronoi Lamp
Students will design and create a Voronoi-style 3D-printed lamp shade using MakeMyVase, model and fabricate a base for the Adafruit Circuit Playground Express, and incorporate components from the Adafruit Electronics…
April 20, 2025
Sensory Circuit Simulation
In this project, students will design and build an electronic circuit that mimics the touch sensory system, exploring how neurons communicate through electrical and chemical signaling. Using 3D-printed neuron models,…
April 10, 2025
Winter 3D snowman
This is a primary lesson that helps students get familiar with Tinkercad for 3D design during the winter season.
April 8, 2025STANDARDS-ALIGNED
Community contributed lessons aligned with Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) offer formal educators innovative pathways to teaching content knowledge. The Fab I Can Statements are a resource to develop technology-literate learning progressions to align with content standards.
FAB TESTED
Periodically lessons are adapted and tested by the Fab Foundation team based on a call for submissions from fabbers, educators, and makers. Our inaugural set of lessons for the SCOPES-DF project were Fab Tested in 2016 and are tagged Fab Tested on the website.
OPEN-SOURCE VALUES
Lessons are distributed under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC license, that permits free use and re-purposing by others.