Students in grades 6 to 12 learn simple circuitry by creating light-up paper cards using only copper tape, a coin cell battery, a light-emitting diode (LED), and small electronic components. An artistic way to teach the basics of how circuits function—no soldering required!

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Paper Circuits Greeting Cards

Tags: Class Activities, electricity, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, LEDs, Lesson Plan, NGSS, paper circuits greeting cards, Physics, STEAM, Technology

Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow contest, which awards $2 million in classroom technology and resources, aims to promote STEM learning, leadership, and community service in students in grades 6 to 12 through authentic, hands-on problem solving. Register by Oct. 30, 2018.

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Filed under: For Teachers, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, K-12 Outreach Programs, Special Features | Comments Off on Samsung Solve for Tomorrow

Tags: Classroom Technology, Competitions for Students, Contest, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Problem Solving, Project Based Learning, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow, service learning

A five-year effort spearheaded by ASEE’s engineering deans to create a nationally recognized precollege engineering course just got a major boost from the National Science Foundation. The three-year, $4 million pilot is expected to involve 1,400 students in 40 U.S. high schools and includes teacher professional development.

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Filed under: Grades 9-12, K-12 Education News | Comments Off on H.S. Engineering Pilot Course

Tags: Advanced Placement, American Society for Engineering Education Prism magazine, Curriculum, design thinking, Education Policy, Engineering, Engineering Design, Grades 9-12, high school engineering course, National Science Foundation, Professional Development, STEM education, University of Maryland A. James Clark School of Engineering

Students in grades 9 to 12 analyze real-world traffic data to evaluate the efficiency of a section of a public transit system and suggest design improvements. They then evaluate whether the changes make positive impacts on the system’s performance. Includes link to a California Academy of Sciences challenge on designing more energy-efficient, greener buses.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 9-12, K-12 Outreach Programs, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Mass Transit Living Lab

Tags: Class Activities, data, FasTracks, Grades 9-12, graphs, Lesson Plan, mass transit, NGSS, route, Systems Engineering, traffic engineering, transportation engineering, urban planning

High school students design a permanent guest village within the Saguaro National Park in Arizona after studying the desert ecology. Their designs must provide a true desert experience for visitors while emphasizing sustainable design, protecting the natural environment, and conserving energy and resources.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 9-12, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Designing Desert Digs

Tags: bio-inspired design, Biomimicry, Class Activities, cooling, desert, eco-village, ecology, Energy, Engineering Design Process, environment, Environmental Engineering, Grades 9-12, habitat, heat, Lesson Plan, Saguaro National Park, shelter, solar power, Sustainability, tourist village

Teams of high school students learn about energy and energy transformation, then use their knowledge to design and build a paper model of the most fun and exciting roller coaster they can imagine.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 9-12, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Paper Roller Coasters

Tags: CCSS, Class Activities, forces, Grades 9-12, Gravity, kinetic energy, Lesson Plan, Mathematics, motion, Newton's Laws, NGSS, Physical Science, potential energy, roller coaster, vectors, velocity

The Lemelson-MIT Program, located within the School of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is hosting three hands-on professional development workshops this summer aimed at helping middle and high school teachers nurture their students’ creativity and inventive mindsets.
Midwest | July 11-13, 2018 at Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, Wisc.
West Coast | July 25-27, 2018 at California Polytechnic State University in Pomona, Calif.
East Coast | August 1-3, 2018 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass.

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Filed under: For Teachers, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, K-12 Outreach Programs, Special Features | Comments Off on Lemelson-MIT Workshops for Teachers

Tags: creativity, Engineering Design, invention, Lemelson-MIT, professional development for teachers, Programs for Teachers, Resources for Teachers, STEM education, Summer Programs (Teachers)

Students in grades 7 to 9 build model roller coasters using pipe insulation and marbles, then analyze them using physics principles, including conversions between kinetic and potential energy and frictional effects. A class competition using various marbles to represent different passenger loads determines the most innovative and successful designs.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Building Roller Coasters

Tags: Class Activities, forces and motion, friction, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Gravity, Lesson Plan, NASA education, Physics, rides, roller coasters, theme park

Students in grades 9 and 10 are introduced to the biomechanical characteristics of helmets and challenged to incorporate them into helmet designs. They come to understand the role of engineering associated with safety products – in this case protecting the brain and neck of a bicyclist in the event of a crash, with the design dependent on the user’s needs and specifications.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 9-12, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Build a Bike Helmet

Tags: bicycle, bicycle helmet, Class Activities, EcoHelmet, Engineering Design Process, force and motion, Grades 9-12, Lesson Plan, Materials Engineering, NHTSA, Physics, Safety engineering, Sports, video