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

Activity: Airbags and Collisions

Crash Test Dummy HeadIn this lesson from Newton’s Apple, students learn about the engineering behind air bags, including the concepts of momentum and force. They then conduct a related experiment, cushioning the “crash” of a raw egg.

Read More

Build a Bike Helmet

bike helmetStudents in grades 9 and 10 are introduced to the biomechanical characteristics of helmets and challenged to incorporate them into helmet designs. They come to understand the role of engineering associated with safety products – in this case protecting the brain and neck of a bicyclist in the event of a crash, with the design dependent on the user’s needs and specifications.

Read More

Super Bowl Engineering

NSF Science of NFL Football torqueFrom 360-degree cameras to “green” stadiums, the Super Bowl offers plenty of engineering to cheer about. This eGFI roster of hands-on design activities, videos, and other resources will help your students learn forces, motion, and other gridiron-related STEM concepts.

Read More

Engineering Football Safety

UAB football crash dummiesIn the movie Concussion, Will Smith plays a Pittsburgh pathologist who uncovered a link between repeated concussions and brain damage in professional football players.
Engineers can’t change behavior. But they can design better helmets and other gear to reduce injuries. Some engineering students even play the game!

Read More

Sochi’s Big Olympics Dig

Sochi Olympic constructionIt takes host cities a lot of time, money, and engineering to prepare for the Olympics, and Sochi, the Russian seaside resort that will welcome athletes and fans from around the world this February, is no exception. Along with luge runs and ice arenas, the area’s 218 Olympic projects include a new high-speed rail and seaport.

A recent Businessweek article estimated the total at $51 billion, making Russia’s games the costliest in history

Read More

Lesson: Safety Gear and Helmets

Football HelmetIn this lesson, students in grades 6-8 learn the basic engineering issues related to helmet design, specifically the physics of collisions and the biomechanics considerations of design. Students then identify and solve design challenges, create a poster representation of their solutions, and present them to their peers. Finally, students will learn about the dangers of not wearing a helmet in certain sports.

Read More

Activity: Build an Earthquake-proof Structure

StrawsStudents in grades 6-12 are challenged to build a drinking straw tower that can withstand simulated earthquake vibrations and increasing weight and pressure. Doing so, they learn basic principles of design and earthquake engineering while practicing team skills.

Read More

Lesson: MRI Safety Challenge

Modern MRIThinking like safety engineers, students in grades 11 and 12 examine the potential risks associated with magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI. They gather information by brainstorming, writing in journals, and viewing a video, and then produce a final presentation that concisely summarizes MRI technology and safety precautions.

Read More

Lesson: Egg Drop

EggsThe egg drop is a fun and dramatic way to get students involved in engineering design. After a discussion of safety features, students experiment packaging an egg to produce a design that will allow it to fall from a considerable height without cracking.

Read More