Group items tagged

Engineering projects 

Collaborative projects with students from around the country/world.

"All students and educators participating in the challenge will have their name flown on the Exploration Flight Test-I mission as a member of the virtual crew. This mission will be unmanned and will launch in late 2014. So, kids can be a "virtual explorer." There are 4 challenges, age appropriate, to help design protective radiation protection for astronauts. We need to get students interest in space travel for a variety of reasons. This is a lovely real world project for students to join. "The goal of the Exploration Design Challenge is for students to research and design ways to protect astronauts from space radiation. NASA and Lockheed Martin are developing the Orion spacecraft that will carry astronauts beyond low Earth orbit and on to an asteroid or Mars. Protecting astronauts from radiation on these distant travels is an important -- and very real -- problem that needs solving. NASA would like your help!"

Description: A cross-curriculum unit of work was developed for Year 8 students, combining elements of the Mathematics and Science Australian Curriculum. The eight-week unit used a Project-Based Learning approach, in which students investigated a fictitious "cold case". The unit was divided into three phases. In the initial phase, students were introduced to skills and understandings which would assist them in completing the learning tasks. However, these were not explicitly linked to the upcoming tasks, requiring that students made connections themselves through a guided discovery process. In the second phase students were presented with a bare bones case file, from which some broad conclusions could be drawn and leads discussed. As students worked through the case, additional packets of evidence were released, as required. The design allowed for students to work at different paces, and in a non-linear manner. Students needed to combine their science understandings with mathematical skills and reasoning to analyze the evidence. For example, previous experiments on rusting were quantified to determine a rate equation, which, by analysis of physical evidence at the crime scene, could be used to determine approximate time of death. During this phase, students kept an ongoing series of Case File Notes, to record their predictions, calculations, analyses and conclusions. In the final phase, students completed their Case File Notes with a briefing for the prosecution lawyer, outlining the case they had built against their chosen suspect. Stepping outside the role play, they also wrote a Research Investigation on the role of science in the criminal justice system and a Reflection, evaluating what they had learned throughout the unit.

I listened to him present this and was absolutely amazed. He's willing to share any and all his ideas/resources.

Become Agents of Change! The Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge is the premier national environmental sustainability competition for grades K-12 students. Through project-based learning, students learn about science and conservation while creating solutions that impact their planet. Beginning August 13, 2013 through March 4, 2014, teams from across the country will be challenged to create sustainable, reproducible environmental improvements in their local communities.

"National Science Bowl - The National Department of Energy offers this unique experience." The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Science Bowl® is a nationwide academic competition that tests students' knowledge in all areas of science and mathematics. Middle and high school student teams from diverse backgrounds are comprised of four students, one alternate, and a teacher who serves as an advisor and coach. These teams face-off in a fast-paced question-and-answer format, being tested on a range of science disciplines including biology, chemistry, Earth science, physics, energy, and math. A featured event at the National Finals for middle school students, the Electric Car Competition, invites students to design, build, and race battery-powered model cars. This competition tests the creative engineering skills of many of the brightest math and science students in the nation as they gain hands-on experience in the automotive design process and with electric battery technology.

Just as it says...maybe be good for classroom demonstrations

If your students investigate bugs, use a microscope, need an authentic purpose for research, I'd like to suggest partnering with Bugscope. You get to collaborate with expert scientists to explore bugs (i.e. looking at a bug's tongue). You would do this all via the internet. It looks amazing! Below is a response from them, with an attachment.  A news-release summarizes a history of Bugscope (http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2011/0729sp_spore.shtml). Bugscope allows teachers everywhere to provide students with the opportunity to become microscopists themselves-the kids propose experiments, explore insect specimens at high-magnification, and discuss what they see with our scientists-all from a regular web browser over a standard broadband internet connection. You sign up, ask your students to find some bugs, and mail them to us. We accept your application, schedule your session, and prepare the bugs for insertion into the electron microscope. When your session time arrives, we put the bug(s) into the microscope and set it up for your classroom. Then you and your students login over the web and control the microscope. We'll be there via chat to guide you and answer the kids' questions. If you would like to see the response from one class who have done this, read Mrs. Krebs' blog post: http://krebs.edublogs.org/2011/09/04/bugscope-session/  If you need any help with this, just let me know. If you end up taking them up on this FREE collaboration, please let me know when/where so I can drop by. This looks fascinating! Kind regards,Tracy