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It's the Year of the Dragon - and not just in the Chinese zodiac. On May 25, SpaceX ushered in a new era of exploration when its Dragon spacecraft (above) became the first commercial vehicle to successfully attach to the International Space Station. Other space entrepreneurs are developing capsules, rockets, and even suborbital taxis. Meanwhile, in June, three Chinese astronauts docked their spacecraft manually with an orbiting module.This month's activity will launch your enterprising aerospace engineers on a voyage of discovery. Happy landings!
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| Activity: Straw-Rocket Aeronautics
 In this short, fun activity, students of all ages learn about rocket stability by constructing and flying small "indoor" paper rockets, then analyzing flight data and interpreting the results.
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RELATED LESSONS:
How High Can You Fly (Grades K-5)
Satellite Tracker (Grades 6-8)
MORE LESSONS:
Grades K-5 | Grades 6-8 | Grades 9-12
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Feature: Enter the Dragon
 When the Space Shuttle Discovery made its final flight May 12 and landed at the Smithsonian National Air and Space annex in northern Virginia, it marked the end of one era and a segue to the next. A few short weeks later, a spacecraft named Dragon made history as the first commercial vehicle to successfully berth at the International Space Station.
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RELATED FEATURES:
Trailblazer Ayanna Howard, NASA robotics
Space Junk Clean-up Crew
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| Spotlight: 'Engineering a Difference' Video
 If clean drinking water flows from your tap, thank the engineers who design, maintain, and upgrade the complex systems that deliver life's most vital fluid. Indeed, engineering is all about tackling society's urgent problems--as your students will see in "Engineering a Difference," an award-winning series of videos sponsored by the National Science Foundation.
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| Announcements
Museums of the World -- No funds for field trips? Take your students on a virtual tour of top museums, curated by BestEdSites along with other STEM education resources. Learn more.
Real-World Design Challenge -- Registration is now open for the 2012-13 competition in which high school teams work on a real-world engineering problem. Learn more.
Next Generation Science Standards -- The first public draft drew tens of thousands of comments. Will you weigh in on the next draft? Learn more.
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What do the blockbuster "Avatar," high-performance sports gear, Angry Birds phone app, and pollution-eating bacteria have in common? They are among a host of cool innovations developed by engineers and featured in the new fifth edition of the American Society for Engineering Education's Engineering, Go For It magazine. The kid-friendly magazine is part of ASEE's campaign to inspire more K-12 students, particularly young women and underrepresented minorities, to pursue engineering majors and careers. The new edition just won a Silver Award of Distinction from the Communicator Awards and caught the eye of Wired magazine blogger GeekDad. Now available in our store and on Amazon.com! |
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