Teams of students in grades 7 to 9 follow the engineering design process to create, construct, test, and improve model solar sails made of aluminum foil to move cardboard tube satellites through “space” on a string. During the process, they learn about Newton’s laws of motion and the transfer of energy from wave energy to mechanical energy. 

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades 9-12, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Solar Sails: The Future of Space Travel

Tags: Aerospace, Class Activities, Design, energy transfer, Engineering Design Process, forces and motion, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Lesson Plan, Newton, Newton's Laws, NGSS aligned activity, solar sails, space exploration, spacecraft, teachengineering

Celebrate the contributions of science and engineering on World Space Week October 4 to 10 with hands-on classroom activities and global events!

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, K-12 Education News, K-12 Outreach Programs, Special Features, Web Resources | Comments Off on World Space Week 2022

Tags: Aerospace, Internet Resources, NASA, Resources for Teachers, space exploration, Sustainability, United Nations, weather satellites, World Space Week

To support parents everywhere and provide access to hands-on STEM activities, the American Society for Engineering Education’s P-12 Commission is offering online summer camps for students in grades K-8. Check out these and other virtual summer STEM programs!

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, K-12 Outreach Programs, Special Features, Web Resources | Comments Off on ASEE Virtual STEM Summer Camp

Tags: ASEE P-12 Commission, California Science Center, Class Activities, Engineering Design, Events, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, Internet Resources, NC State The Engineering Place, Stanford University Math Camp, STEM education, Summer Camps & Programs (Students), virtual summer STEM camps 2020, Web Resources, Worcester Polytechnic Institute summer camps

With schools closed during the Covid-19 pandemic, ASEE members and other engineering and technology educators are posting daily design challenges, hosting teacher meetups, and creating ways to engage students in STEM learning at home.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, Grades K-5, K-12 Outreach Programs, Lesson Plans, Special Features, Web Resources | Comments Off on STEM @ Home Resources

Tags: American Society for Engineering Education, Class Activities, COVID-19, Curriculum, digital libraries, distance education, home schooling, Internet Resources, Lesson Plans, remote instruction, Resources for Teachers, STEM education, Web Resources

Middle school students measure how much dust, pollen, and other particulate matter is present in the air around them by placing “pollution detectors” in various locations and then examining the captured air particles to determine which places have more or fewer airborne particles. In a companion activity, they engineer methods of removing contaminants.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on I Breathe WHAT?!

Tags: air pollution, data, Environmental Engineering, investigation, measurement, NGSS aligned, pollen

In this lesson from Newton’s Apple, students learn about the engineering behind air bags, including the concepts of momentum and force. They then conduct a related experiment, cushioning the “crash” of a raw egg.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12 | Comments Off on Activity: Airbags and Collisions

Tags: Automotive engineering, Class Activities, design constraints, Egg drop, Ethics in engineering, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Safety engineering

Students in grades 6 to 8 follow the engineering design process while combining mechanical engineering and bioengineering to create a new wristwatch face for a visually impaired student at their school. Teams present their designs to the class and construct prototypes of a watch face that doesn’t rely on sight to tell time.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Wristwatch Design for the Visually Impaired

Tags: accessibility, assistive devices, bioengineering, Class Activities, Engineering Design Process, Grades 6-8, Human-centered design, Lesson Plans, Mechanical engineering, NGSS aligned activity, teachengineering, visually impaired students, wristwatch

This simple catapult activity for students in grades 4 – 8 teaches them how energy is transferred when a plastic spoon is pulled back, then released, rocketing its payload — a single marshmallow.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Activity: Catapult Marshmallow Launch

Tags: catapult, Class Activities, Energy, forces and motion, Fun & Games, Grades 4 - 8, Grades K-5, Newton's Laws, NGSS, Physical Science, Physics, trebuchet

Just as athletes “learn from the game,” the annual NCAA March Madness basketball competition offers students a timely, engaging way to hone their STEM knowledge and skills. eGFI has compiled some bracket-busting resources to pep up your math and science classes.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans, Special Features, Web Resources | Comments Off on March Madness STEM Resources

Tags: basketball, bracketOdds, Class Activities, Curriculum, Engineering, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, hoops, Internet Resources, Lesson Plans, March Madness, NCAA, Physics, Resources for Teachers, Sports, STEM education, Teacher Resources