December 2014

Yuletide illuminations have come a long way since Edison decorated his Menlo Park Lab with a string of bulbs in 1880. Serial lights made once-unaffordable "festoons" a holiday mainstay, though one bad bulb spoiled the show. Today, LEDs turn whole neighborhoods into wondrous displays. Your electrical engineers will get a charge from this month's activity. Happy holidays!

Activity: Squishy Circuits

In this fun activity created by St. Thomas University engineering educator AnnMarie Thomas, students of all ages learn the principles of electricity by building circuits out of play dough, LEDs, and batteries. No soldering needed!

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RELATED LESSONS

Brown Bag Electricity (Grades 1-5)

Holiday Lights and Circuits (Grades 4-8)

Dance Pad Mania (Grades 4-7)

Plasma Globes & Electricity (Grades 3-5)

MORE LESSONS:

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

Feature: Bye Bye, Blues?

Millions of people get SAD - seasonal affective disorder - during the winter. Current treatment requires shining a light in the sufferer's face for up to two hours a day, but a Finnish start-up has a better idea: directing light into sufferers' ears.

Read More

RELATED FEATURES:

Student Invents Projecting Bike Light

Beams of Electricity to Extinguish Fire

Electricity, Borne by Giants

A Life in Darkness

Blue LED Beams Nobel Fame

Spotlight: Next Generation STEM Lessons

TeachEngineering, a searchable online library of 1,352 free, teacher-tested activities, just got a makeover. Improvements include aligning lessons with Common Core math and Next Generation science standards, and "Sprinkles" - abbreviated versions of classroom activities for use in after-school programs.

Announcements

Find Your Green Career. -- Green360 has interest inventories, career coaching, and other tools to help students discover their future in sustainability fields. Learn more.

Engineering 4 U. -- Submit a short video to the National Academy of Engineering about achieving the "Grand Challenges" by March 2 for a chance to win $25,000. Learn more.

2015 Rube Goldberg Machine Contest. -- Middle and high school students compete to build the cleverest contraption that can erase a chalkboard. Deadlines vary. Learn more.

Internet of Things. Young women 13 to 18 design ways to improve the world by harnessing the power of connected technologies. First round is March 2015. Learn more.

SMART Competition. -- High school students apply their knowledge of science, math, and physics to design an intelligent building. Register by January 16, 2015. Learn more.

Explore Our Site: Helpful Links for Teachers

	Prepare your students for engineering school with these 10 Essential Steps.
	Change your students' perceptions of engineering students.
	Introduce your students to young engineers who are already making a difference in the world.
	Stay up-to-date with cool engineering innovations.
	Find out about the engineering design process.
	Learn about the different types of engineering.
	Read our magazine online.
	Check out all the items in our online store, including copies of the printed eGFI magazine.
	Explore lesson plans and class activities.
	View our archive of past newsletters.

Check Out the eGFI Kids' Book

It's never too early to learn about engineering. Along with our 5th Edition magazine and classroom cards, Engineering, Go For It offers an engaging children's book in its collection of learning materials.

"If I Were an Engineer," from the American Society for Engineering Education, is a fun, 40-page rhyming book that introduces engineering to kids 5 to 8 years old. It includes a parent page that explains the various engineering disciplines.

Price: $7.95

Now available in our store.

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.

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eGFI Wins Award

Our January 2014 e-newsletter, Olympic Engineering, took top honors in the 2014 APEX competition for publication excellence.