Posted by Jennia Herold on October 1st, 2010 | No Comments »
Photo courtesy of the USA Science and Engineering Festival
The Inaugural USA Science and Engineering Festival will be kicking off the start of two week’s worth of events, exhibits, contests and more on October 10. The festival, held in Washington DC on and around the National Mall, is completely free to all who wish to attend. According to the festival’s official website, their mission is to, “re-invigorate the interest of our nation’s youth in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by producing and presenting the most compelling, exciting, educational and entertaining science gatherings in the United States.”
The highlight of the festival will be the expo taking place on October 23 and October 24. During the expo, there will be over 1500 interactive science activities, more than 75 stage shows and performances, and a number of talks and performances hosted by the many exhibitors.
Even though the festival hasn’t begun yet, there are many ways to already get involved! There are a number of contests to enter, including a Rubik’s cube tournament. You can also choose to purchase a t-shirt, sign up as a volunteer, or find out more from the performance schedule. Be sure to stay up to date by following the blog and signing up for the newsletter.
Will you be there when science takes over the nation’s capital?
Today, scientists, engineers, technologists, and mathematicians from across the country will team up with K–12 schools for project-based learning experiences for National Lab Day. National Lab Day is a long-term program/collaboration between STEM professionals and K–12 classroom teachers.
A coalition of educators, science and engineering associations, philanthropies and other organizations today announced the launch of National Lab Day, a new grassroots initiative designed to reinvigorate science and math education in the nation’s schools and after-school programs and lead to increased U.S. competitiveness.
President Obama applauded the education initiative and others in a speech at the White House. “Lifting American students from the middle to the top of the pack in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) achievement over the next decade will not be attained by government alone,” he said. “I applaud the substantial commitments made today by the leaders of companies, universities, foundations, non-profits and organizations representing millions of scientists, engineers and teachers from across the country.”
National Lab Day aims to inspire a wave of future innovators and foster U.S. competitiveness by improving the quality STEM education in America. A collaboration between government and more than 200 public and private-sector-organizations, National Lab Day will connect students in grades 6-12 to hands-on learning experiences and promote tinkering in laboratory settings.
National Lab Day will promote hands-on learning throughout the year and culminate each year with special events the first week of May. Volunteer science and technology professionals and educators will work together with students to improve America’s science labs and offer inquiry-based STEM experiences in classrooms, learning labs, and after-school programs.
“We wouldn’t
teach football from a textbook,” said John P. Holdren, President Obama’s science advisor. “It is even more important that America’s youth have the opportunity to learn math and science by doing. The President and I strongly support efforts to raise the level of project-based learning, to help cultivate the next generation of doers and makers.”
Jack D. Hidary, chairman of National Lab Day,
praised President Obama’s announcement. “Our children deserve a world class science and math education that includes exciting, hands-on lab experiences,” said Hidary. “Whether you are a Nobel-prize winning scientist, a Mythbusters fan, a tinkerer or a parent, you can help bring students the enjoyment of learning through real challenges.”
The National Lab Day website will automatically match volunteers to requests from educators to participate on the basis of geography and interests. The website also provides resources and ideas for hands-on learning experiments and invites the public to suggest new materials. Read the rest of this entry »
In October, Washington DC will be host to the USA Science and Engineering Festival, the country’s first national science festival. “The Festival promises to be the ultimate multi-cultural, multi-generational and multi-disciplinary celebration of science in the United States.” Two of the fifteen days of the Festival will be an Expo in which over 500 science and engineering organizations will come together to encourage and inspire future scientists and engineers.
With over 500 organizations participating, there will definitely be something for everyone! From building one’s own rocket to finding out if a dog can be smarter than a human, the festival seeks to accomplish it’s mission of re-igniting youths’ interest in science, technology, engineering and math.
There are many exciting ways to get involved with the festival before it begins. Contests to begin preparing for include a jingle contest, a Rubik’s Cube tournament, and a Kavli science video contest.
Stay up to date with the USA Science and Engineering Festival on their blog.
“Will you be there when science takes over the National Mall?”
Posted by Julie Dabrowski on June 10th, 2009 | No Comments »
New research shows that gender disparity in math skills is due to culture, not biology
For as long as girls and boys have been attending co-ed schools, there has been a perceived gender gap in mathematical abilities that has seemingly led to a deficit in the number of women who will go on to study higher levels of math and to pursue careers in mathematically-related fields. This has always been attributed to an innate biological tendency of men to have the capacity to excel at mathematical reasoning, a tendency that was assumed to be lacking in women. However, a recent report from researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison proposes that the reasons for this disparity are in fact purely cultural, suggesting that it may be possible for our society to lessen or even close the gap completely.
Photo courtesy of www.lovetoknow.com
Janet Mertz and Janet Hyde, two Wisconsin professors, were puzzled by the fact that a gender disparity in math skills is not present in certain countries and cultures, particularly those in which a large degree of gender equality exists. In analyzing data from various tests and studies of male and female students at various educational levels, �the Wisconsin researchers document a pattern of performance that strongly suggests that the root of gender disparity in math can be pegged to changeable sociocultural factors. Such factors either discourage or encourage girls and young women in the pursuit of the skills required to master the mathematical sciences.� In other words, society is the cause for any and all disparities in skill level, and the commonly held belief that women are less capable in mathematics is a self-fulfilling prophesy.
Much of the evidence for the argument that boys are naturally inclined to be better at math stems from past studies that show greater variability in the skill levels of males, meaning that they are more likely to exhibit extremely high or extremely low skill levels in the subject. However, Mertz and Hyde prove in their research that this is not the case in some countries, several of which can boast of girls scoring in the 99th percentile in math skills at the same rate that boys do.
In the United States, girls are now performing on par with boys at all levels of math and are just as likely to choose advanced math classes in high school. Moreover, the gap is narrowing between the number of mathematically gifted boys and girls, suggesting that we are perhaps moving closer to achieving the results of those countries with a higher measure of gender equality. The number of female doctoral-level mathematics students has climbed to 30% from 5% in 1950, most likely a result of changing perceptions of the role of women in mathematical and scientific research.
Though hopeful, these results appear dim in comparison to statistics regarding gender disparities as well as overall mathematical skill level in other countries, particularly those of East Asia. Here, girls consistently reach the gifted level just as often as boys do, and both sexes exhibit median scores that are higher than those of the top ten percent of US students. In their report, Mertz and Hyde emphasized that �the future of the U.S. economy depends upon American society doing a better job of identifying and nurturing mathematically talented youth, regardless of gender, race or ethnicity.� Leaving women out of the equation will have devastating effects on the growth and development of the United States and will severely hinder our efforts at achieving global economic competitiveness with those countries which foster mathematical abilities in all their students.
Posted by Julie Dabrowski on May 22nd, 2009 | No Comments »
.
Last week, novice and experienced scientists alike flocked to Reno, Nevada to participate in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. This event is the largest of its kind, affording millions of high school students around the world the opportunity to compete for nearly $4 million in prizes and scholarships. These young scientific minds first enter their projects, which may be focused in one of 17 disciplines, in state and regional competitions. Of the winning participants, 1500 were chosen to showcase their projects at the 2009 exposition and to have their work judged by doctoral-level scientists and engineers. Over 500 of these participants received scholarships and prizes for their outstanding work, and the top three winners were each awarded a $50,000 scholarship by the Intel Foundation.
This years winning projects included development of a biosensor to detect the presence of contaminants in the water supplies of developing countries; the isolation of a gene that can be used to improve the intelligence of a worm and may someday aid in the prevention and treatment of mental disabilities in humans; and the classification of a complex evolutionary relationship between sweat bees and nematode worms. Past winning projects have focused on everything from hydrogen production to cancer research to cracking the brazil nut effect. Toppling the commonly-held belief that male students are more naturally inclined to excel in the sciences, the grand winners of this as well as last years competition have all been women.
Clearly, the above are not your typical science fair projects, but neither are we discussing your typical high school students. These are some of the best and brightest young minds the world has to offer, and past winners have gone on to make substantial contributions to their respective scientific fields. But producing a winning project involves a great deal more than brains and in-depth research. The successful participants must gracefully combine many seemingly unrelated skills into one complete package skills that include writing, statistics and public speaking, just to name a few. Participants learn that science is more than just research and analysis; rather, ones methodology and purpose must be presented clearly and convincingly in order to be accepted by the scientific community and the general public. The process of completing a science fair project yields mature, self-confident, skilled, and competitive young leaders who have career goals and the preparation, discipline, and drive to attain them.
1) Engineering the Future (EtF): Science, Technology, and the Design Process is a laboratory course for the first year of high school science, created to help a broad spectrum of students. EtF is a full-year lab course organized around four projects, each of which is divided into several tasks. The entire course can be implemented on a modest budget.
2) Engineering is Elementary – This project develops curricular materials in engineering and technology education for children in grades K-5 (www.mos.org). Educator support includes lesson plans, assessment materials, and professional development programs that tie into other major content areas, including science and language arts.
3) Project Lead the Way (PLTW) – is a non-profit organization that promotes engineering courses for middle (Gateway to Technology) and high school (Pathway to Engineering) students. The program formally partners with school districts, trains the instructors that will be teaching and implementing the curriculum, and acts as a bridge between educational institutions and private businesses.
Science and Technology Celebrated in Oldham County (newspaper broke link so it has been removed):
In the early nineties, one man, an inventor by the name of Dean Kamen, set out to solve this problem. Dean founded, FIRST: For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, an organization dedicated To transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes. FIRST’s pilot program began in 1992 with 28 teams from New Hampshire competing in one tournament, now the impact of FIRST in the 2009 season is projected to reach over 194,000 students through four different leagues, with competitions all over the world.
There is only one veteran high school FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) team in Kentucky. Fortunately, this year that statistic is changing. Two more Kentucky teams are gearing up to embark on their rookie season. One of these teams is team number 2783, Engineers of Tomorrow (EOT). They are located in Oldham County, Kentucky. EOT has been working since May on various machine shop projects that have helped them gain experience for their upcoming competition season. In November, they were awarded a $6,000 grant from NASA.
The 2009 FRC season will begin on January 3, when teams around the world receive a description of the challenge and a basic kit of parts that will be implemented into their robots. The game is an intense match between two alliances of three teams who work to complete a series of tasks on a playing field during 3 minute rounds. The robots used to compete have a weight limit of 120 pounds. The extreme challenge is that these robots must be designed, built, and tested in just six weeks before being shipped to the team’s regional competition location. In EOT’s case this location will be Purdue University.
Today, REMUS was directed to map several acres of the bay near Fort Hancock and a nearby cove to observe fish habitats. The Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve, headquartered in Tuckerton and managed by Rutgers, decided to use the event as a teaching experience by inviting students from Neptune Middle School, the Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science (MATES) in Manahawkin and the Marine Academy of Science and Technology (MAST) at Sandy Hook.
The students watched as Joe Dobarro, director of underwater operations at Rutgers, and Rose Petrecca, director of marine operations at the university, stood in the frigid bay to launch REMUS [Remote Environmental Monitoring Units]. Then, Douglas Levin, habitat specialist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, took them inside to help them build a prototype from PVC pipe, plastic cosmetic containers, computer fans and stereo speaker wire.
Ana Rubio, Emily Millaway and Amie Wuchter, all 11-year-old sixth graders at Neptune Middle School, thought they had theirs working until Levin pointed out their operating switches didn’t correspond to the appropriate propellers. Their MATES mentor, Priya Uppal, 15, of Bayville, encouraged them to make some changes.
Amie said she initially was intimidated by the task. But her opinion changed halfway through the project. “Now that I’m doing it, it’s not as hard as I thought it would be,” she said.
At University of California San Diegos (UCSD) Canyonview Aquatic Center, teams of students gathered for this years Marine Advanced Technology Education Centers International Student ROV (remotely-operated vehicle) Competition. 650 Students from five different countries came together- including the U.S., Canada, China (Hong Kong), Scotland and Russia to compete. For the competition the students were require to design and build robots that would measure the temperature of an underwater vent (made out of PVC pipe) as well as capture crabs and collect lava samples.Students also presented posters and reports they had made to volunteer judges, who were made up of professional technologists and engineers in marine-related industries. Students compete in two classes, Explorer and Ranger (Explorer class ROVs operate at higher power levels).
The Competition is designed to present students with the types of challenges faced by scientists and engineers working in extreme ocean environments. The tasks students were asked to complete are designed to be similar to tasks scientists and engineers complete when exploring hydrothermal vents. The hydrothermal vents are hot springs located deep on the seafloor near mid-ocean ridges, where the earths tectonic plates slowly spread apart to create new seafloor crust. Vents emit continuous streams of super-heated, mineral-rich water through cracks in the earths crust, creating an ecosystem that supports unique communities.
The MATE ROV competition teaches students about science, technology, engineering, math, and critical thinking skills.They also help students become aware of technical careers in which they can apply these skills.It is a critical step in addressing the shortage of qualified engineers and technical professionals.
The idea to teach science and engineering ideas through cartoons is not new to K-12 teachers (Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land is probably the best example). The Eureka video series is another instance that may have gotten lost over time. Cartoons cater to different learning modalities than typical classroom instruction but some cartoons are better then others. Eureka captures viewers attention with its absent minded characters who demonstrate physics concepts (mechanics) along to a clear and concise narration of the key concepts.
What is especially cool about the Eureka series is that the concert concepts arent lost in the silly animation (but, nevertheless, the animation is very silly).
.
photo from the 
