This spring, you’re on assignment for National Geographic. It’s time to test your creative ingenuity and engineering smarts with a brand new, hands-on program from National Geographic—the National Geographic Kids Engineering Exploration Challenge! Students ages 6-18 worldwide are invited to design, build, and test solutions to real-world problems that National Geographic explorers face in the field every day. Submit your solution to National Geographic by May 1, 2014 for a chance to be featured in a Google+ Hangout, and see your solution tested live on air by National Geographic Engineers!

Pick your challenge. Try one, two, or even all three!

Challenge 1: Animal-Proofing

How do you keep a camera safe from the jaws and paws of animals? Design, build, and test a camera that can withstand an attack from an animal.

Challenge 2: Eye in the Sky

How do you get a camera up high while you stay low? Design, build, and test a system that can raise a camera at least 10 feet in the air and get the camera back down safely.

Challenge 3: Wearable Power

How do you power electronics in the field? Design, build, and test a wearable way to generate 1 watt of electricity without the help of an electrical outlet.

Design, Build, and Test Your Solution

Use the engineering process to solve your selected challenge. Use the Engineering Exploration Challenge Engineering Process workbook or the Engineering Process handout.

For Educators

Whether you’re a parent, an informal educator, or a classroom teacher, this Educator Toolkit will be useful to you in guiding your students or kids through the Engineering Exploration Challenge. It includes suggested timelines and materials lists, warm-up activities, and many other tips and tricks. Download it here.

For instructions on how to submit your solution to National Geographic, visit NatGeoEd.org/NGX.

The National Geographic Kids Engineering Exploration Challenge is generously funded by Oracle.

Written by Samantha Zuhlke, National Geographic Education