Tennessee STEM standards: hands-on mechanical engineering activities

Tennessee Standards Mapping

Teachers can use Toyineer projects to address selected Tennessee Science and Mathematics standards through hands-on mechanical construction.

Alignment reviewed October 2026.

Executive summary

Teachers can use Toyineer projects to address Tennessee academic standards by giving learners physical systems they can construct, observe and explain. Grade 2 learners can analyze pushes and pulls between connected objects, compare the effects of force strength and direction, and recognize how multiple pushes and pulls produce movement or non-movement (2.PS2.1–2.PS2.3). Grade 5 learners can test balanced and unbalanced forces, use recurring motion to predict future movement, and explain force patterns within a system (5.PS2.1; 5.PS2.2; 5.PS2.5). The build also supports composite-shape geometry as learners combine individual forms into larger structures (1.G.A.2). The completed toy provides visible, hands-on evidence for classroom discussion of force, motion, patterns, systems, geometry and spatial reasoning. Toyineer projects are hands-on engineering activities that teach mechanics, geometry, spatial reasoning and technical problem solving through the construction of working mechanical toys. Video instruction and clear assembly guides support independent and classroom use while keeping educator preparation minimal.

Standards and evidence.

These alignments use only the ordinary Toyineer construction process. They do not depend on a separate extension activity.

I. Tennessee Academic Standards for Science: Motion and Stability

Grade 22.PS2.1

Analyze the push or the pull that occurs when objects collide or are connected.

Toyineer components are physically connected through joints, levers, followers and push rods. Learners can trace where a push or pull enters the mechanism and how it acts on the next connected part.

Grade 22.PS2.2

Evaluate the effects of different strengths and directions of a push or a pull on the motion of an object.

During ordinary operation, learners can apply pushes and pulls in different directions and with different relative effort and observe the resulting changes in movement.

Grade 22.PS2.3

Recognize the effect of multiple pushes and pulls on an object's movement or non-movement.

Toyineer mechanisms expose opposing forces, contact resistance and constrained motion. Learners can identify why a part remains still or begins moving when the balance of forces changes.

Grade 55.PS2.1

Test the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the speed and direction of motion of objects.

A working Toyineer mechanism provides a direct setting for comparing rest with motion and for observing how applied force changes the direction or amount of movement.

Grade 55.PS2.2

Make observations and measurements of an object's motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion.

Toyineer components move through repeating paths. Learners can observe a motion cycle and predict where or in which direction a rocker, follower, push rod or other constrained part will move next.

Grade 55.PS2.5

Explain how forces can create patterns within a system, including movement in one direction, back-and-forth motion or cycles, and describe conditions that affect how fast or slowly the patterns occur.

Toyineer makes these motion patterns visible in a single mechanical system. Learners can identify linear, rocking, reciprocating and cyclic movement and connect changes in input or resistance with faster or slower operation.

II. Tennessee Academic Standards for Mathematics: Geometry

Grade 11.G.A.2

Create a composite shape and use the composite shape to make new shapes using two-dimensional or three-dimensional shapes.

Learners combine separate cut, folded and assembled components into larger structures and ultimately into one composite mechanical object.

Official standards sources: Tennessee Academic Standards — Science and Tennessee Academic Standards.

Hands-on evidence for standards-aligned learning.

Teachers can use Toyineer projects to address these standards. Students also gain skill in their use of tools and appreciate the importance of accuracy in engineering.

All standards pages