Spend a day introducing a girl to engineering. Coach or mentor a Future City team. Make slime and other cool stuff.

DiscoverE’s 70th annual Engineers Week is Feb. 16 – 22, 2020 and there are plenty of local events and hands-on activities – including Discover Engineering Family Fun Day at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., Feb. 17 – to raise awareness of what engineers do and how their work makes the world a healthier, safer place.

This year’s theme, Pioneers of Progress, celebrates the diversity of engineers and their work on the frontiers of discovery, like astronaut Tim Kopra in the video (above) from the International Space Station. It also marks the 30th anniversary of E-Week’s first classroom visits by practicing engineers.

Looking for a way to make engineering come to life in your classroom? DiscoverE has a searchable library of free engineering and technology videos, hands-on activities (including 30 activities related to the IMAX movie DREAM BIG: Engineering Our World, a spectacular big-screen odyssey from classic Roman arches to village bridges, towering skyscrapers), and other resources.

Other sources for eWeek activities include Engineering is Elementary, the Museum of Science, Boston’s program. Download a poster showing the EiE Engineering Design Process, or try such fun, hands-on engineering activities as “Guess the Technology,” “Technology Tag,” “Tower Power,” and “Wind-Powered Vehicles.” There’s also an app that let’s you load EiE’s “Technology Flashcards” on your iPhone.

Want to participate but don’t know how to start? Self-guided tutorials with PowerPoint slides and frequently asked questions help educators and volunteers lead kids through a successful engineering experience.

Along with Girl Day (Feb. 20), EWeek 2020’s Global Marathon (March 11 to April 8) also focuses on women in engineering. It features five webcast conversations with female engineers from around the world who shift the focus from the obstacles that prevent girls and women from pursuing engineering to why and how women persist in engineering.

Video: For Engineers Week, eighth graders in Lacrosse, Wisc., public schools participated in a competitive microprocessor activity where they wrote code for a human robot to make a sandwich. Prizes were awarded to the teams with the most complete sandwiches. Students also toured the Trane machine shop, laboratory, and the acoustics facility. Learn more here: http://bit.ly/2lMvmwX

Filed under: K-12 Outreach Programs, Special Features, Web Resources

Tags: Class Activities, Engineering, engineering careers, EWeek 2020, National Engineers Week, Web Resources, Women in Engineering