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September 2012

Helping Hands              

rescue    

They design evacuation routes as well as highways. Their skyscrapers withstand earthquakes. And when disaster strikes, engineers rush to the rescue. Specialized structural engineers, for example, stabilize rubble so victims can be freed. Others lead search teams like this one (above) helping Hurricane Katrina survivors. Our lesson, below, marking National Preparedness Month will jolt your disaster engineers into action. Shake a leg!  

 

Lesson: Shake It Up with Seismographs

 

seismographStudents in grades 3 - 12 explore how the development of seismographs has helped save lives worldwide by working in teams to design their own seismograph from everyday items, test its ability to record a simulated classroom earthquake, evaluate their results, and report to the class.

 

View Lesson

RELATED LESSONS

Save Our City (Grades 3-5)

Build an Earthquake-proof Structure (Grades 6-12)

Tippy-Tap Hand Washer (Grades 10-12)

MORE LESSONS:

Grades K-5  |  Grades 6-8  |  Grades 9-12

 

Feature: Engineering Students to the Rescue

   

haiti aid Earthquake-shattered Haiti is a world apart from America's grassy college campuses. Yet for a growing number of U.S. engineering undergraduates, the country serves as a living classroom where they can apply their knowledge and skills to help real people - half a million of whom still live under tarps or tents - recover from one of the worst natural disasters of modern times.

 

Read More    

 

RELATED FEATURES:

Engineers Respond to Disaster in Japan

Oregon State's Tsunami Shelter Test Tank 

Engineering Students Invent Emergency Medical Clinic

 

Spotlight: Humans in Space Art Contest


art contestHow will humans use science and technology to explore space, and what mysteries will we uncover? What scientific and technological tools must we create to explore the solar system and beyond? NASA's second international Humans in Space Art asks students ages 10 - 18 to answer those questions through art. The deadline for submitting musical, literary, visual, or video artwork is midnight U.S. Central Standard Time, October 21, 2012.

 

Read More 

 

 

Sponsored Content: eCYBERMISSION


eCYBERMISSIONeCYBERMISSION (eCM) is a free web-based STEM competition for students in grades 6-9. Teams, under the guidance of a Team Advisor, work to solve problems in their community and can compete for state, regional and national awards, with potential winnings of up to $8,000 (maturity value) in US Savings Bonds. Team advisors can be teachers, coaches, counselors or leaders in youth organizations, with interests in STEM and education.  

 

eCYBERMISSION, sponsored by the U.S. Army, is an excellent teaching tool to help all students learn the real-life applications of STEM and can be incorporated into classroom or home school curriculum or used as an extracurricular activity. The competition encourages self-discovery, giving students the opportunity to learn in a way that will benefit them the most. Teams must select a Mission Challenge, identify a real problem in their community, use scientific inquiry to propose a solution and submit a Mission Folder, the official write-up of their project. Mission Challenges include Alternative Sources of Energy, Environment, Food-Health-Fitness, Forces & Motion, National Security & Safety, Robotics, and Technology.  

 

eCYBERMISSION will hold a series of webinars that will give you the tools to integrate eCYBERMISSION into your classroom/curriculum, show you how eCYBERMISSION aligns with the National Science Education Standards, and detail the benefits of introducing eCYBERMISSION to your students. We will continue to update this list of webinars throughout the fall.  

 

Students that are registered by September 30 will receive a free STEM Research Kit! Team registration closes on December 14 and Mission Folders must be submitted by March 1, 2013.  

 

For additional information about the eCYBERMISSION competition, please contact Mission Control by e-mailing [email protected].

 

Explore Our Site: Helpful Links for Teachers

Cynthia Breazeal Wants You to Make Friends with RobotsJetman: Flying Soon to a Landmark Near YouUnderwater Scooters are the New SCUBAEbone Pierce - Mechanical Engineering StudentTurning Air into WaterVertical Forest Coming Soon to Milan
bulletPrepare your students for engineering school with these 10 Essential Steps.
bulletChange your students' perceptions of engineering students.
bulletIntroduce your students to young engineers who are already making a difference in the world.
bulletStay up-to-date with cool engineering innovations.
bulletFind out about the engineering design process.
bulletLearn about the different types of engineering.
bulletRead our magazine online.
bulletCheck out all the items in our online store.
bulletExplore lesson plans and class activities.
bulletView our archive of past newsletters.

   

Announcements

 

National Hispanic Heritage Month. -- Americans of Latin descent have made notable contributions to science, engineering, innovation, and education. In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, Sept. 15 - Oct. 15, ASEE presents a diverse group of high achievers.  Learn more.

 

USA Mathematics Talent Search-- Responses to the first round of this free mathematics competition for all U.S. middle and high school students are due Oct. 22. Learn more.

 

Webinar on NSF's K-12 Programs-- Learn about NSF's Discovery Research K-12 program, as well the recently released DR K-12 solicitation to support projects that develop and study resources, models and technologies for STEM education. Learn more.

  

We've Been Busy! -- This newsletter won the 2012 APEX Award for Excellence in the E-mail Newsletters category. And the fifth edition of eGFI magazine won three awards this year: The Association of Educational Publishers Award for Whole Publication Design; the Communicator Silver Award of Distinction for a Special Edition Magazine; and the APEX Grand Award for One-of-a-Kind Publications, Nonprofit. See what all the fuss is about. 

  


cover 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.

 

Price: $6.95  

 

And check out If I Were an Engineer, a fun book for kids ages 5 to 8 ($7.95).

 

Now available in our store and on Amazon.com!  

 

About the eGFI Teachers' Newsletter

 

Delivered each month to your email inbox, our newsletter is packed with lesson plans and activities, resources, feature stories, and the latest developments in K-12 engineering education. eGFI is part of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), a non-profit organization committed to enhancing efforts to improve STEM and engineering education.   


American Society for Engineering Education 

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