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Solar Sails: The Future of Space Travel

LightSail solar sail spacecraftTeams 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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Earth Day Resources

Earth in Our HandsKids love exploring the world around them, and Earth Day offers a great way to introduce them to environmental science and engineering. The following sampler includes activities, lessons, and resources that promote green engineering and science learning.

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Daylighting Design

Hart Senate Office Building atriumHigh school students explore the many ways that engineers provide natural lighting to interior spaces by analyzing various methods of daylighting and then constructing model houses from foam core board based on their observations and calculations of the optimal use of available “sunlight.”
Hart Building atrium photo by the Architect of the Capitol

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STEM @ Home Resources

ASEE P12 Instructors and Parents page kids engineering at homeWith 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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Engineering Ethics: Evaluating Popular Inventions

US Customs and Border Protrection Verisign biometric scan at Dulles airport 2018High school students analyze an assortment of popular inventions to determine their intended beneficiaries as well as who has access to, might be harmed by, and is profiting from them. They then develop and apply class standards for ethical design to re-imagine the devices in a way that would do more good for humanity.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection photo of VeriScan facial recognition tablet at Dulles International airport by Glenn Fawcett

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Redesigning a Classroom for the Visually Impaired

Washington state School for the Blind kids readingHigh school students practice human-centered design by imagining, designing, and prototyping a product to improve classroom accessibility for the visually impaired. The begin by wearing low-vision simulation goggles (or blindfolds) and walking with canes to navigate through a classroom in order to experience what it feels like to be visually impaired.

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March Madness STEM Resources

Basketball MadnessJust 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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Flying T-Shirt Challenge

Astros mascot shooting t-shirtsStudents follow the engineering design process to design and build a usable device to propel school T-shirts up into the stands during home sporting events while keeping costs under budget.

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Disaster Engineering

Hurricane Maria strands PR familiesHurricanes, earthquakes, and other destructive events offer timely “teachable moments” about the role of engineers in improving weather forecasts and reducing the toll from natural disasters. eGFI Teachers’s collection of activities, feature articles, and other resources can help you integrate engineering into your classes – and inspire the next generation of “crisis” engineers.

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