http://teachers.egfi-k12.org Blog about the growing role of engineering in K-12 education. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:21:19 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, Pa. seeks to inspire learning and curiosity by connecting science and technology with everyday life. By making science both relevant and fun, the Science Center’s goal is to increase science literacy in the region and to motivate young people to seek careers in science and technology. ]]> http://teachers.egfi-k12.org/carnegie-science-center/ Two online webinars and a workshop that will provide information about the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, including how to prepare Letters of Intent and proposals for the upcoming deadlines, will be held Feb. 15, 16, and 21, respectively. The deadline for registration is Monday, Feb. 13, 2012. The program seeks to encourage talented STEM majors and professionals to become K-12 mathematics and science teachers.]]> http://teachers.egfi-k12.org/webinars-workshop-noyce/ The National Youth Science Camp (NYSC) is a free residential science education program for young scientists the summer after they graduate from high school. Students from around the country are challenged academically with hands-on studies and lectures, and they have voluntary opportunities to participate in an outdoor adventure program.]]> http://teachers.egfi-k12.org/national-youth-science-camp/ In this lesson, pairs of students in grades 4 to 7 will learn about the engineering design process and electrical circuits by building a dance pad that sounds a buzzer or flashes a light when stepped on.]]> http://teachers.egfi-k12.org/lesson-dance-pad-mania/ The James Dyson Foundation offers several educational resources online and through loans to teachers. Among them, the Engineering Box, designed to teach reverse engineering, can be borrowed for four weeks at a time for free. The Box's items, which include a Dyson DC26 vacuum cleaner, are used in combination with the Foundation's Teacher's Pack and Product Analysis resources.]]> http://teachers.egfi-k12.org/dyson-educational-materials/ The Blended Learning Open Source Science or Math Studies (BLOSSOMS) initiative, a new project from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, creates videos with a STEM focus for use in high school classrooms. The program features a library with around 50 math and science lessons, available free for download or as streaming video, and also by request as DVDs and videotapes.]]> http://teachers.egfi-k12.org/mit-blossoms/ Nearly half the nation's public schools failed to meet federal benchmarks this year, up from 39 percent in 2010 and marking the largest washout rate since the No Child Left Behind Law took effect a decade ago, a new national report calculates. That's still well below the 82 percent failure rate that U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan predicted earlier this year, but the nonpartisan Center for Education Policy's findings still indicate an alarming trend.]]> http://teachers.egfi-k12.org/nearly-half-of-schools-failing/ In this activity, students in grades 7-9 explore the sound-dampening capability of materials by designing and prototyping model sound booths. They learn about how sound is reflected and absorbed, and how it travels through various materials, providing an overview of sound dampening propagation in the context of engineering.]]> http://teachers.egfi-k12.org/sound-booth-construction/ How do top-scoring science students in New England stack up against their counterparts in the mid-Atlantic or South? Not very well, according to a new analysis of state science assessments by Change the Equation. That's because states set the bar for proficiency at widely varying levels.]]> http://teachers.egfi-k12.org/state-science-proficiency-varies/ In this activity, teams of kids in grades 4-7 follow the engineering design process to invent a holder for six cans that's animal-safe, sturdy, convenient, and easy to carry. They learn why discarded plastic rings can be a problem for wildlife and brainstorm animal-friendly ways to package six cans. They then build, test, and redesign their system and discuss what happened.]]> http://teachers.egfi-k12.org/harmless-holder/