Snowflake Chronicler
Posted on February 16th, 2017 by Mary Lord
No two snowflakes are alike, right? We know this thanks to a Jericho, Vermont, farm boy and citizen engineer named Wilson A. Bentley, who adapted a microscope to a camera and spent 40 years capturing thousands of unique images.
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Tags: Environmental Engineering, Environmental science, Science of Snow, Smithsonian, snowflake, University of Utah, Web Resources, William Snowflake Bentley
When Haiti suffered a devastating earthquake in 2010, Notre Dame engineering researchers created an online system that let students review hundreds of photos and reliably classify the structural damage. The effort is just one example of how “citizen engineers” and “citizen scientists” are advancing research in areas from astronomy to air pollution to penguins. Even snowflakes!
Middle school students learn that ordinary people like themselves can make meaningful contributions to science by reviewing examples of citizen science projects on Zooniverse, an interactive website. They then form “engineering teams” to brainstorm projects for their own community and design conceptual interactive websites that could organize and support them. 
Do you have a great hands-on activity or strategy that incorporates engineering into your STEM or literacy lessons? Share them with engineering educators and classroom teachers at ASEE’s 2017 PreK-12 Workshop in Columbus, Ohio, on June 24!
The National Youth Science Camp, one of the country’s premier science education programs, offers graduating high school seniors from around the country and world a month of outdoor adventure and hands-on projects in the beautiful woods near Bartow, W.V., all travel costs and camp fees paid. Apply by March 1, 2017
Every day, millions of ordinary people young and old help advance knowledge in fields as diverse as astronomy and zoology. These “citizen” scientists and engineers record bird sightings and rainfall amounts, classify stars, monitor lead in local tap water, count frogs, and even discover comets! Here’s a sampling of projects. Where will you or your students volunteer?
Introduce a girl to engineering. Live stream the Future City finals from Washington, D.C. Make slime and other cool stuff. National Engineers Week kicks off Feb. 19 – 25, 2017 and this year’s theme – Dream Big – takes its title from a spectacular IMAX movie about engineering that premieres at big-screen theaters around the country. How will you celebrate?
Students in grades 5-9 learn about urban planning as they assess the environmental health of their community, taking a walk around their neighborhood. They construct a map that identifies both positive and negative features and then recommend improvements.
Want to engage your students while helping scientists get the “big picture” on what’s happening to bird populations worldwide? Grab some binoculars and join the annual Great Backyard Bird Count, which takes place February 17-20, 2017.
