eGFI - Dream Up the Future Sign-up for The Newsletter  For Teachers Online Store Contact us Search
Read the Magazine
What's New?
Explore eGFI
Engineer your Path About eGFI
Autodesk - Change Your World
Overview E-tube Trailblazers Student Blog
  • Tag Cloud

  • What’s New?

  • Pages

  • RSS RSS

  • RSS Comments

  • Archives

  • Meta

Forest Service Cracks MLB Bat Breaks

baseball bat shatteringWhen wooden bats began shattering at an increasing rate back in 2008, Major League Baseball turned to research engineers at the U.S. Forest Service for solutions. They found the culprit and suggested design changes that has made the nation’s pastime safer even as maple bats grew in popularity.

Read More

Qatar’s Cool 2022 World Cup Venues

design for Qatar World Cup 2022 soccer stadium with artificial cloudQatar, a small country on the Arabian Peninsula that will host the 2022 World Cup, is known for July temperatures that regularly average over 115 degrees. But soccer fans need not to worry. Engineers have come up with ways to keep the stadiums cool – including a fanciful “artificial cloud” to block the sun.

Read More

Student STEM Contest Inspires Teacher

Owensville HS students Paige Tayloe, Jonah Hoffman, and Trey Fisher, plus teacher Kevin Lay react to winning Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2019 contestCompetitions – whether an in-class design challenge or national science fair – can inspire students to pursue STEM. But problem-based learning also can energize and even change teachers, says Owensville (Missouri) High School science teacher Kevin Lay, whose students won top honors and $100,000 at the 2019 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow contest.

Read More

Build a Kicking Machine

PBS Design Squad Kicking Machine iconStudents in grades 4 to 9 learn about projectile motion by designing, building, and testing a machine that can kick a Ping-Pong ball into a cup lying on its side 12 inches away.

Read More

STEM Ed. Report: Teachers Key to Reform

National Academies consensus report on 6-12 STEM educationA major new consensus study from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, underscores the vital role of teachers in creating the hands-on, multidisciplinary STEM education for every student envisioned by the Next Generation Science Standards. The report also calls for more creation and sharing of free educational materials so teachers no longer have to spend hours each week searching for curriculum.

Read More

Edible Rovers

edible rover teachengineeringMiddle school students act as Mars exploratory rover engineers. They evaluate equipment options, determine what parts fit in a NASA-provided budget, and, given a parts list, use these constraints to design, build, and display their edible rover at a concluding design review. Includes link to high-school version of this activity.

Read More

Take a Bite Out of Food Waste

school cafeteria Elsie Whitlaw Stokes PCSEvery day, Americans waste enough food to fill a football stadium. To mark National STEM/STEAM Day on November 8, the STEMconnector’s National Day of Design contest is challenging students of all grade levels to design solutions for eliminating food waste in their school’s cafeteria. Meanwhile the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Agency are hosting food waste and recovery challenges.

Read More

H.S. Engineering Pilot Course

AP Engineering ASEE Prism cover March 2014A 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.

Read More

Lesson: Mineral Mayhem

mineral train mining copper in Ducktown, TennesseeMiddle school students learn about mineral properties and calculate the costs, benefits, and densities in this engineering-driven earth science unit based on the real-world design challenge of salvaging cargo following a train derailment. Students also will strengthen communication skills by creating a presentation to explain their process and justify their decisions to a “client.”

Read More