They grasp fingers, curl up in your palm, and break wind when their heads are squeezed. Meet Fingerlings, the cute little robotic monkeys that rocketed to the top of the toy charts this holiday season – thanks to engineers.

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Tags: Engineering Design Process, Fingerlings, holiday gift, Mechanical engineering, toy engineering, Wowee Toys

“It started out as a beautiful day, but in a disaster, anything can happen at any time…” So begins Extreme Event, a free, hour-long role-playing game from the National Academy of Sciences’ Marian Koshland Science Museum. The game is latest addition to teacher resources designed to help students and communities use science to address climate change, health, and other problems.

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Tags: chlimate change, Class Activities, Environmental Engineering, Environmental science, game, Health, Internet Resources, Koshland Science Museum, National Academies of Sciences, natural disasters, Public Policy, Resources for Teachers, role playing, Web Resources

Can you muffle the sound of a jingle bell using a variety of Christmas-themed items? Explore your sense of hearing – and learn about the 1965 astronauts who played Jingle Bells in space – in this simple activity designed for preK-5 students.

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Tags: astronauts, Class Activities, design challenge, Grades K-5, jingle bells, Tom Stafford, Wally Schirra

Not comfortable teaching computer science? Join the crowd – but not for long. With well-paying tech jobs across the country going begging, states, local school districts, and the federal government are making computer science education a priority.

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Tags: Computer Science, Computer Science for All, Congressional app challenge, Public Policy, state education policy, STEM education, STEM jobs

Spider-Man’s creator, Stan Lee, finds inspiration in STEM. And he hopes students in grades 6 to 12 will, too, by dreaming up comics or short videos in the National Science Foundation’s Generation Nano: Superheroes Inspired by Science competition. Top entries can win up to $1,500 in scholarships, with $500 stipends for teachers. Enter by January 8, 2018.

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Filed under: Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, K-12 Outreach Programs, Special Features | Comments Off on Generation Nano Superhero Challenge

Tags: comic books, Competitions for Students, Contest, Generation Nano, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, National Science Foundation, scholarships, Stan Lee, STEAM, STEM education, STEM superheroes, USA Science and Engineering Festival 2018, Video contest

Want to inspire your students? Join millions in celebrating Computer Science Education Week – and computer pioneer Grace Hopper’s birthday – from December 4 to 10 this year by hosting an Hour of Code or other fun activity.

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Tags: Class Activities, coding, Computer Science, Computer Science Education Week 2017, hour of code, Internet Resources, programming, Resources for Teachers, Web Resources

What do computer pioneer Ada Lovelace, Hitler’s atomic bomb effort, and the Slinky have in common? All are among the National Science Teachers Association’s inaugural list of 31 Best STEM Books for 2017.

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Tags: Ada Lovelace, ASEE, Benjamin Banneker, Best STEM Books, children's books, coding, Engineering, Jack Andraka, NSTA, Pamela Lottero-Perdue, STEM education, Web Resources

Schools around the country have come to view social and emotional well-being as key to learning. They might want to check with Gina Greco, a fourth grade teacher in Auburn, Wash., who worked with local college students to develop a web-based app that asks students how they feel – and flags those who might need intervention.

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Filed under: K-12 Education News, Special Features | 2 Comments »

Tags: agile development, app design, coding, Computer Science, Gina Greco, Green River College, social emotional learning, software development, software engineering, STEM education, Technology for Learning, technology teacher, Web Resources

Engineering graduate students and new faculty are invited to present at a first-of-its-kind Doctoral Engineering Research Showcase and federal agency/university job fair sponsored by the National GEM Consortium and the American Society for Engineering Education. Apply by Nov. 17 for the January 22-23, 2018 event in Washington, D.C.

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Tags: American Society for Engineering Education, ASEE, career development, Engineering, GEM, minorities in engineering, Research, showcase, underrepresented groups in STEM