Category: Science

Engineers Week Feb. 18-24

This week, February 18-24, 2024, is DiscoverE’s Engineers Week. Their tagline:

“A week-long event, a year-long commitment”

Do you wonder why anyone would be passionate about engineering? Forbes published three good reasons:

  • The U.S. has approximately 1.6 million engineering jobs that pay $42 per hour in median.
  • Job growth from 2010 to 2014 was in the double digits in several engineering occupations.
  • Since 2007, the number of engineering grads nationwide has shot up 33%.

Overall, engineering offers a combination of intellectual challenge, real-world impact, and opportunities for personal and professional growth. By pursuing a career in engineering, students can contribute to meaningful projects, solve complex problems, and make a positive difference in the world.

What is Engineers Week?

Engineers Week, also known as EWeek, is an annual event celebrated in the United States typically during the third or fourth week of February, this week: February 18-24, 2024 dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation of engineering.

During Engineers Week, engineering societies, universities, companies, and other organizations organize workshops, competitions, seminars, outreach programs to schools, career fairs, and networking events. The goal is to inspire the next generation of engineers, showcase the importance of engineering in solving global challenges, and recognize the achievements of engineers and encourage young people to pursue careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).

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We Landed on the Moon July 20 1969

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong was the first man to place foot on the moon. Commemorate that this year with an exciting collection of websites and apps that take your students to the Moon. Here are some you’ll like:

  1. Apollo 11: Countdown to Launch via Google Earth
  2. Apollo 11 VR
  3. Google Moon–see the Moon in 3D with your Google Earth app
  4. How we are going to the Moon–video
  5. If the Moon Were Only One Pixel…
  6. JFK Challenge — takes kids to the Apollo 11
  7. NASA Educator Guide to the Moon (for teachers)
  8. NASA’s Musical Playlist–88 million viewers of 188 songs
  9. Moon Phase Simulation Viewed from Earth and Space (interactive, elementary and middle school)—and associated Lesson Plan
  10. Observing the Moon in the Sky (interactive, elementary)
  11. Moonrise to Moonset (media gallery, elementary)

More on space

  1. DIY Sun Science
  2. Earth Song (video)
  3. GoSkyWatchP–Easily and quickly identify and locate stars, planets, constellations and more by simply pointing to the sky
  4. Mars
  5. Mars is a Real Place–visit via VR
  6. NASA Kids Club
  7. NASA Selfies
  8. Planet sizes–compared
  9. Samorost—problem solving
  10. Satellites—build a satellite
  11. The  Scale  of  the  universe
  12. The Size of Space
  13. Solar system
  14. Solar system–3D
  15. Space–explore it
  16. Space sounds
  17. Space station game
  18. Space Websites
  19. Space—write your name in galaxies
  20. Spacesuits–clickable
  21. Stardate Online
  22. The Flame Trench via Google Earth (when a rocket launches)
  23. To Scale: The Solar System–a video
  24. We Are Go for Launch via Google Earth
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Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

How to Become a Citizen Scientist

Citizen scientists come from all walks of life and have made invaluable contributions to scientific knowledge and understanding. Consider:

  1. Charles Darwin: Darwin often relied on the observations of amateur naturalists and enthusiasts during his research
  2. Mary Anning: a fossil collector in the early 19th century
  3. William Herschel: an astronomer who discovered the planet Uranus
  4. E. O. Wilson: an influential biologist and conservationist who promoted citizen science initiatives such as the “School of Ants”
  5. Margaret and Geoffrey Leaney: husband-and-wife team who developed methods for rearing insects

Are you interested? Here’s what you should know:

Becoming a Citizen Scientist: What You Should Know 

Human scientific endeavors have consistently expanded in scope and complexity over the last two centuries. From pondering over simple natural processes such as the transitions between day and night to complex genomic studies, science has come a long way. 

Apart from careful studies conducted in complex laboratories, science also runs on data collection, observations, and statistical analysis. The extension of scope has led to larger experiments that need vast groups of individuals to be involved in the process. This is where citizen science comes in. 

Scientists are often strapped for time, they are cognitively overloaded and stretched thin due to the already demanding nature of their professions. They often require extra sets of eyes to help them carry out a variety of scientific tasks such as data collection, data processing, collation, and even statistical studies. 

Citizen science allows the common public to participate in important scientific studies, partnering with scientists and helping them with work crucial to the enhancement of human knowledge. It allows participants right from young children to retirees to participate in important scientific work. A classic example of teamwork, citizen science is a community effort that brings together both professionals and novices to help bring about change for the greater good. 

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13 Online Bridge Building Resources

The popularity of bridge building as a school activity has fluctuated over the years, once a right of passage for 8th graders and then avoided. Recent years have seen a resurgence for some great reasons:

  • Problem-solving skills: Bridge building requires you to identify and solve problems, such as how to make a bridge strong enough to support a certain weight or how to make a bridge that is aesthetically pleasing.
  • Critical thinking skills: Bridge building requires you to think critically about the different factors that affect the design and construction of a bridge, such as the materials used, the forces acting on the bridge, and the environment in which the bridge will be built.
  • Teamwork skills: Bridge building is a team sport, and you will need to work effectively with others to design, build, and test a bridge.
  • Communication skills: Bridge building requires you to communicate effectively with others, both verbally and in writing. You will need to be able to explain your ideas to others, listen to their feedback, and work together to solve problems.
  • Creativity: Bridge building requires you to be creative and come up with new ideas. You will need to be able to think outside the box and come up with innovative solutions to problems.

If you’re having a bridge building lesson at your school, here are great links to support that:

Bridge Building (hands-on)

  1. Bridge Constructor (app)
  2. Bridge Designer by SourceForge
  3. Open Bridge Modeler (software download)
  4. Structural Bridge Design by Autodesk (free)

Basics (resources, info)

  1. Bridge basics
  2. Bridge building contest
  3. Building Bridges
  4. How to Build a Bridge (an infographic and more)
  5. Model bridge Design
  6. World’s Strangest Bridges!!

Competitions

  1. DiscoverE Bridge Building Links
  2. Mississippi Department of Transportation Bridge Building Competition
  3. National Society of Professional Engineers

–images from Deposit Photo

Copyright ©2023 askatechteacher.com – All rights reserved.

Here’s the sign-up link if the image above doesn’t work:

https://forms.aweber.com/form/07/1910174607.htm


Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

Earth Day Class Activities

 

Every year, the world celebrates Earth Day on April 22nd, a day the United Nations recognizes as International Mother Earth Day. It is a day to remind ourselves of the importance of clean air, fresh water, and unlittered land. It’s when we can all participate in making that happen rather than accepting the trash-filled oceans, the smoggy skies, and the debris-laden land that is becoming the norm in our lives.

Despite the questionable health of our world, we have made progress. Back in 1970, when Earth Day was first celebrated, trucks spewed black smoke as they drove down the highways, toxic waste was dumped into oceans with no repercussions, and the general opinion was that the Earth took care of itself. That changed when U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson, Earth Day’s founder, witnessed the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara California and decided it was time for someone to do something. When he looked around for that “someone”, it turned out to be himself. He started with a “national teach-in on the environment” with a simple goal: Encourage people to recognize the importance of protecting the Earth:

“It was on that day [Earth Day] that Americans made it clear they understood and were deeply concerned over the deterioration of our environment and the mindless dissipation of our resources.”

Here are online resources (click for updates) to help you share the importance of Earth Day with your students:

  1. Breathing earth– the environment
  2. Breathing Earth YouTube Video–of CO2 use, population changes, and more
  3. Conservation Game
  4. Earth Day—NASA Ocean Currents
  5. Ecotourism Simulation–for grades 4 and above
  6. The Four Seasons – An Earth Day Interactive Children’s Storybook (app)
  7. Green Kitchen (app)
  8. iRecycle (app)
  9. My Garbology
  10. Starfall — Every Day is Earth Day
  11. Storyboard That! Earth Day lesson plans

How effective is Earth Day

In the 49 years since the inception of Earth Day, there have been more than 48 major environmental “wins”. Here are some of those:

  • The U.S. Clean Air Act was passed, a comprehensive federal law that regulates air emissions.
  • The U.S. Clean Water Act was passed to regulate the discharge of pollutants into U.S. waters.
  • The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was passed.
  • The U.S. Endangered Species Act was passed to protect animal species that are disappearing.
  • The Acid Rain (what happens when normal rain becomes loaded with offensive chemicals and scalds the skin) Program obtained emission reductions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.
  • The importance of the ozone layer to the health of the Earth is better understood.
  • The consequences of too much plastic in the Earth’s oceans is coming home to roost.

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Invention Convention 2023 is coming

Invention Convention Worldwide is a global K-12 invention education curricular program mapped to national and state educational standards that teaches students problem-identification, problem-solving, entrepreneurship and creativity skills and builds confidence in invention, innovation and entrepreneurship for life. Signups for the annual Raytheon Technologies Invention Convention US Nationals (2023) start March 31st.

Here are websites to help you and your students learn about the excitement of inventions:

  1. A Guide to Inventions
  2. Famous Inventors
  3. How Inventions Change History (video)
  4. How the popsicle was invented (a TEDEd video)
  5. Invented by accident I
  6. Invented by accident II
  7. Inventions from the Military –crazy ones

Check back here for updates on this list.

More about inventions

Copyright ©2023 Askatechteacher.com– All rights reserved.

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.