Loathe it or love it, the annual rite of spring cleaning has grown ever easier - thanks to engineers. The vacuum cleaner has been a particular boon, evolving from a cart-drawn British behemoth in 1901 to today's high-tech helpers like iRobot's Roomba (video, above) and Dyson's intelligent vacuum. Your designers will get swept up in this month's activities marking National Robotics Week April 3-11. Count on it!
BONUS: Read a National Center for Women & Information Technology interview with engineer Helen Greiner, cofounder of iRobot and visionary behind the Roomba.
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Students in grades 7 to 9 explore mathematical algorithms and geometric concepts to devise possible solutions to how a robotic vacuum should move to best clean a floor of unknown shape and dimensions. After brainstorming, analyzing, and presenting their best ideas, they are introduced to an elegant solution that involves a random number generator.
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Schools are deploying robotic floor cleaners and other systems to free up maintenance personnel for more critical tasks during the pandemic. Some are even using the autonomous scrubbers to teach coding!
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Learn skills and tools to help you integrate engineering and design in your STEM classes with TeachEngineering's professional development virtual workshops for PreK-12 teachers. ASEE endorsed!
Sign up HERE. Two different workshops occur June 14-17 and again August 9-12.
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Broadway tech, robotics, and racecar engineering are among dozens of engaging, interactive sessions being presented at Awesome Girls: National Girl Scout STEM Festival, a free virtual showcase for K-12 girls - including non-Girl Scouts - and their families. Register by April 9 for the Saturday, April 17 event.
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Celebrate National Robotics Week with robot videos, family code night, or other fun virtual activity designed to inspire the next generation of engineers and roboticists.
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Student Contests & Other Opportunities |
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Discovery Education and 3M invite students in grades 5 - 8 to create short videos describing a unique solution to an everytday problem for a chance to win $25,000 and a 3M mentorship. Deadline: April 27.
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How will a deep space mission affect our DNA? Can we detect alien life forms? Students in grades 7-12 design an experiment using PCR or other tool in the Genes in Space toolkit for a chance to launch it to the International Space Station. See webinar schedule for educator and team guidance. Submit proposals by April 12.
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Have an idea to change the world? T-Mobile and Ashoka invite students from 13 to18 to submit innovative ideas for creating more connected, sustainable, and inclusive communities. The top 15 teams will receive $5,000 and an all-expenses-paid trip to Bellvue, Wash., for a three-day Changemakers Lab in July, with one $15,000 grand prize. Apply by April 8 at 9 p.m. PDT.
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The Apple Developer Program invites students 13 and up worldwide to create an interactive scene in a Swift playground that can be experienced in 3 minutes. Submissions are due by April 18 at 11:59 p.m. PDT.
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Educator Resources, Grants & Opportunities |
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NSTA's Daily Do Playlists are instructional sequences of two or more lessons that help students coherently build science ideas over time. Lessons have been updated to facilitate remote learning.
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The National Energy Educatonal Development Project (NEED) offers free, live virtual energy education workshops and other professional learning opportunities for P-12 teachers in subjects from electricity to climate science to solar, wind, and nuclear energy.
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High school STEM teachers and educators at nonprofit educational organizations can receive up to $10,000 to develop and integrate a year-long, hands-on project into their courses that involves students in planning, teamwork, and invention. Initial application due April 5.
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Teachers can win up to $5,000 for their school to build and equip a top-tier STEM lab. Enter daily through April 30.
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The ASM Materials Education Foundation awards 20 grants of $500 each to help teachers bring the real world of materials science into their classrooms. Apply by May 25.
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Engineering Career-Exploration Resources |
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STEM Careers. -- Show students what engineers do with Discovering You: Engineering Your World, a new video series from NBCLearn, Chevron, and ASEE.
Chemical Engineering Careers. -- YouTube series launched by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation aims to convey the major positive impact that chemical engineers and scientists have on society. Each video includes a proposed lesson for incorporating the cutting edge research into the classroom.
NASA Internships. -- High school, college, and grad students can work with engineers and scientists on sending the first woman to the moon and other missions.
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ASEE-eGFI Engineering Education @ Home |
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Explore eGFI: Helpful Links |
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Whether you seek timely, authentic engineering activities, teaching resources, or professional development opportunities, ASEE's free eGFI Teachers newsletter is your go-to source for STEM! |
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Engineering, Go For It (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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