Wilderness Engineers
Posted on July 26th, 2018 by Mary Lord
Their work may be invisible when you visit America’s 758 wilderness areas, but engineers have played a key role in preserving and improving access to the country’s most pristine spots, including “road kill apps” and critter crossings to measure and reduce collisions between people and wildlife.
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Tags: campground, construction, engineers, Environmental Engineering, National Park Service, nature, roads, U.S. Forest Service, UC Davis Road Ecology Center, wilderness, wildlife
Children’s literature is full of memorable wildlife adventure stories, but Deborah Lee Rose and Jane Veltkamp’s Beauty and the Beak may be the first to feature engineers and their role in outfitting an injured eagle with a 3-D printed prosthetic beak. A free education guide with standards-based STEM, STEAM, and literacy lessons accompanies the book, winner of the 2018 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books.
“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.
Students in grades 2 to 4 learn about wildlife habitats, environmental engineering, and the complexities of nest construction by attempting to design and build a nest themselves.
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.
