Posted on October 26th, 2019 by Mary Lord
When 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.
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Filed under: Special Features | Comments Off on Forest Service Cracks MLB Bat Breaks
Tags: baseball bat, Engineering Design, Forest Products Laboratory, Major League Baseball, research engineer, U.S. Forest Service, wood
Posted on June 6th, 2019 by Mary Lord
Qatar, 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.
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Filed under: Special Features | Comments Off on Qatar’s Cool 2022 World Cup Venues
Tags: artificial cloud, Civil Engineering, climate control, Engineering Design, qatar 2020 World Cup Stadium, soccer stadium
Posted on May 20th, 2019 by Mary Lord
Competitions – 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.
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Filed under: Class Activities, K-12 Education News, K-12 Outreach Programs, Special Features | Comments Off on Student STEM Contest Inspires Teacher
Tags: Competitions for Students, Contest, Engineering, Engineering Design, Professional Development, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest, STEM education, Teachers
Posted on May 20th, 2019 by Mary Lord
Students 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.
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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Build a Kicking Machine
Tags: ball, Class Activities, Engineering Design, forces and motion, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Kicking Machine, kinetic energy, Lesson Plan, PBS Design Squad, Physics, projectile motion, simple machines, soccer
Posted on January 10th, 2019 by Mary Lord
A 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.
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Filed under: For Teachers, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, K-12 Education News, Special Features | Comments Off on STEM Ed. Report: Teachers Key to Reform
Tags: Education Policy, Engineering Design, National Academies of Sciences, NGSS, Public Policy, Science and Engineering for Grades 6-12: Investigation and Design at the Center, STEM education, STEM equity
Posted on November 1st, 2018 by Mary Lord
Middle 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.
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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Edible Rovers
Tags: Aerospace Engineering, Class Activities, Engineering Design, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, InSight lander, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Lesson Plan, Mars rover, NASA, Space
Posted on October 1st, 2018 by Mary Lord
Every 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.
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Filed under: K-12 Outreach Programs, Special Features | Comments Off on Take a Bite Out of Food Waste
Tags: Competitions for Students, Contest, Design, Engineering Design, food recovery, food waste, hunger, National Design Day, National STEM/STEAM Day, school cafeteria, STEMconnector, USDA
Posted on September 28th, 2018 by Mary Lord
A 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.
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Filed under: Grades 9-12, K-12 Education News | Comments Off on H.S. Engineering Pilot Course
Tags: Advanced Placement, American Society for Engineering Education Prism magazine, Curriculum, design thinking, Education Policy, Engineering, Engineering Design, Grades 9-12, high school engineering course, National Science Foundation, Professional Development, STEM education, University of Maryland A. James Clark School of Engineering
Posted on September 28th, 2018 by Mary Lord
Middle 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.”
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Filed under: Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, K-12 Outreach Programs, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Lesson: Mineral Mayhem
Tags: Class Activities, Common Core mathematics, Earth Science, Engineering Design, entrepreneurship, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Industrial engineering, Lesson Plan, Mathematics, mineral, NGSS, Purdue University engineering education outreach, scatterplot, STEM integration