The Biggest Problem We Face Today & The Future of Engineering

Videos

Grades9, 10, 11, 12, APEngineering, Computer Science

Scientist Reviewed

Provided by Crash Course

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What it is

This Crash Course video about engineering discusses the importance of technological advancements and the ways in which engineering can help us sustain and improve the systems we rely on.
It covers topics such as infrastructure, clean water, computers, agriculture, carbon sequestration, and preventing nuclear disasters.

Teaching tips

Positives

This video has nice animations and highlighted text to accompany the narrative.

Prerequisites

You may need to play the video at a slower pace or pause between sections to let students take notes or to recap information.
Students may benefit from having a basic understanding of climate change.

Differentiation & Implementation

This video can be used as an overview of the different fields of engineering.
Social studies classes can use this video to connect why standards of living tend to increase with technological advancements and infrastructure development.
Other resources on this topic include Tokyo's Heat Island Effect, Engineering and Our Planet, and this table of solutions to climate change.
Teachers can focus on the technological advancements for climate change and its impacts. Students can discuss the need for measures that reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the first place before they need to be sequestered.

From the scientist review

The resource explores opportunities for a climate-resilient, secure, and sustainable future driven by engineering works. This transformation plays a key role in reimagining and expanding technologies to solve human problems at present and in the future. This resource is recommended for teaching.

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At a glance

Grades: 9, 10, 11, 12, AP
Subjects: Engineering, Computer Science
Language: English
Location: Earth
Provider: Crash Course
Authors: Crash Course
Published: April 27, 2021
Last updated: July 16, 2026
: Reviewed by our climate scientists How we review

Standards alignment · MS-ETS1-2. + 5 more

Core

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

MS-ETS1-2.Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
HS-ESS3-C.2.Scientists and engineers can make major contributions by developing technologies that produce less pollution and waste and that preclude ecosystem degradation. (HS-ESS3-4)

Michigan Climate Education Hub

Michigan K-12 ELA Standards

SL.11-12.2.Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) in order to make informed decisions and solve problems, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any discrepancies among the data.

Michigan K-12 Science Standards

HS-ESS3-4Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.
HS-ETS1-1Analyze a major global challenge to specify qualitative and quantitative criteria and constraints for solutions that account for societal needs and wants.
HS-ETS1-3Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics, as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.

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