Self-healing roads and Tick Tock, a Lyme disease-protection wristwatch that not only alerts wearers to the presence of ticks but sprays bug repellent are among the winners of the National Academy of Engineering’s 2018 EngineerGirl essay competition.

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Filed under: K-12 Education News, K-12 Outreach Programs, Special Features | Comments Off on EngineerGirl Essay Winners 2018

Tags: Competitions for Students, Contest, EngineerGirl, engineering grand challenges, Essay Competition, infrastructure, literacy, STEAM, STEM education

Students learn about the Great Pacific garbage patch, research the extent and impact of plastics pollution on oceans, and present that information as a short, eye-catching newsletter suitable to hand out to fast-food restaurant customers. 

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Ahoy! Plastic in the Ocean

Tags: Class Activities, Common Core State Standards, data analysis, ecosystem, Environmental Engineering, environmental stewardship, GIS, Grades 6-8, graphic design, great ocean garbage dump, Lesson Plan, literacy, Mapping, Marine Science, Pollution, Research, STEAM, Videos, water cycle, writing

“Engineering for your Community” is the theme of the National Academy of Engineering’s 2018 EngineerGirl! Essay Contest. Girls and boys in grades 3 to 12 can win up to $500 for writing pleas to persuade local or national officials to improve such infrastructure such as roads, trash collection, and the 9-1-1 emergency response system.

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Tags: Competitions for Students, Contest, EngineerGirl, Essay Competition, Essay Contest, literacy, National Academy of Engineering, writing

Elementary students act as civil engineers to design and build a house that the big, bad wolf cannot blow down. If time allows, they can redesign and test their structures.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades K-5 | Comments Off on Three Little Pigs Design Challenge

Tags: Civil Engineering, Class Activities, Design, design challenge, ELA, Engineering Design Process, forces, Grades K-5, literacy, materials, NGSS, structures, three little pigs, wind

Students in grades 5-9 learn about urban planning as they assess the environmental health of their community, taking a walk around their neighborhood. They construct a map that identifies both positive and negative features and then recommend improvements.

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Filed under: Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Lesson: Map the Green Space

Tags: Community Awareness, ELA, Engineering Design, Environmental Engineering, Environmental science, Grades 5-9, Grades 6-8, Lesson Plan, literacy

“Engineering and Animals” is the theme for the National Academy of Engineering’s 2017 EngineerGirl! Essay Contest. Students in grades 3 to 12 are asked to choose an endangered animal – like this black-footed ferret – and consider how engineering might improve life for that species. Submissions are due Feb. 1, 2017.

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Tags: animals, communications, Competitions for Students, Conservation, Contest, Engineering Girl Essay Contest 2017, Environmental Engineering, girls in STEM, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, literacy, wildlife, writing

In this activity, students in grades 5 – 7 learn how motion capture technology (mo-cap) enables computer animators to create realistic effects. They learn the importance of center of gravity in animation and how to use the concept in writing an action scene.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Lesson: That (Motion) Captures It!

Tags: action, Avatar, computer animation, Computer Engineering, film engineering, literacy, mo-cap, motion capture technology, movie technology, Puss 'N Boots, writing