November 2016 
Land of Plenty
From cranberry sauce to pumpkin pie, most traditional  fare includes a hefty helping of agricultural engineering. Farmers are using sensors and smartphones to coax more crops from precisely watered micro-plots, while genetic engineers have developed pest-resistant grains.Your budding green team will dig into this month's hands-on activity. See who harvests the most learning!

In this three-part activity, students in grades 5 to 7 act as agricultural engineers, learning about and testing the effectiveness of a sustainable pest-control technique that uses organic waste and sunlight rather than toxic compounds to reduce weeds.

RELATED LESSONS
   
A Tasty Experiment  (Grades 3-7)
Eyewitness to Evaporation (Grades 5-7)
Package Those Foods (Grades 6-8)  
Snack Attack  (Grades 6-8)  
Digest This!  (Grades 6-8)
Way to Flow - Irrigation (Grades 6-12) 
 
 

Iowa State agricultural engineer Amy Kaleita

From the air or highway, America's fruited plains present a uniform vista of vast abundance. Not to Amy Kaleita. The Iowa State agricultural and biosystems engineer sees a "somewhat chaotic" array of micro-plots, each ripe with opportunities for smart technology to enhance both sustainability and food production using "precision conservation."


Design roller coasters? How about audio systems for rock bands?  STEM Jobs,a free quarterly magazine, helps middle and high school students explore such engineering career options through fun features and a "STEM Type" quiz. 

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math workshop
K-12 News:  U.S. Students Lag in STEM

Despite years of White House science fairs and a national emphasis on STEM education, American fourth and eighth graders still trail their global peers in math and science, a major international exam reveals.

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Announcements

Computer Science Education Week. Join millions worldwide from December 5 to 11 in celebrating computational thinking with an Hour of Code or other activity. Learn more.

Vernier Engineering Contest. STEM teachers can win up to $5,500 in cash, tech, and funds to attend the ASEE or NSTA annual conference. Apply by Feb, 15. Learn more.

EngineerGirl! Video & Essay Contest. Responsible Engineering is the theme for this year's contest for boys and girls in grades 3-12. Enter by Feb. 1.  Learn more.

eCybermission 2017. In this Internet-based science fair, students in grades 6 to 9 can play real super-spy detectives. Entries are due February 22. Learn more.

MIT THINK Scholars. High school students receive seed funding, trip to MIT, and mentoring to turn project ideas into finished products. Deadline January 1. Learn more.

engineering trailblazers
Explore eGFI: Helpful Links 

eGFI Magazine Wins Top Award

ASEE's latest edition of  Engineering, Go For It  recently won a 2016 APEX Grand Award for Publication Excellence. 

See what the buzz is all about - and h elp inspire the next generation of innovators.
  Filled with engaging features, gorgeous graphics, and useful information about engineering colleges and careers, eGFI is sure to get your students fired up about learning - and doing - engineering!
   
Price: $6.95 

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  About the eGFI Teachers' Newsletter
 
 
Delivered each month to your email inbox, our free newsletter is packed with  lesson plans and classroom 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  nonprofit organization committed to enhancing efforts to improve STEM and engineering education.   
 
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