Good News for Science in the Huffington Post:


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-sten-odenwald/more-good-news-for-scienc_b_6152000.html?goback=%2Egde_750257_member_5940229002701611012

http://www.space.com/27472-partial-solar-eclipse-this-week.html?adbid=10152407400106466&adbpl=fb&adbpr=17610706465&cmpid=514630_20141020_34055207

Partial Solar Eclipse to Darken US Skies This Week

Nearly all of North America will experience the solar eclipse. People who live east of a line running from roughly Quebec City to Montauk Point, New York, will miss out, since the sun will set before the dark disc of the moon begins to encroach upon it.

SPACE.COM

At our recent RESET Volunteer Seminar, it was mentioned how gratifying it is when you pass by a group of your former RESET students at a school and they are so excited to see you.  I had that happen yesterday at Amidon Elementary in SW DC.  My students from last fall were in line in front of the entrance to the cafeteria.  As I walked by, they broke their single file ranks and ran towards  me. The first boy jumped up into my arms - luckily I was able to catch him.  The rest of the class surrounded me and gave me a mob hug.  Then one student said "You got old."   So I got both affirmation and a laugh line...

ReSET Volunteer Leanora Hernandez responds to an inquiry from Volunteer Bob Hauptman about this past semester's  Curiologie program at Shaw Center City public Charter School in NW DC, below.  

If we have a Saturday meeting with a full class of 20+ students, we usually break the kids up into five groups of 5-7 students with 1-2 volunteers leading a small group discussion/experiment. The students tend to sit with other kids in the same grade, so usually everyone is grouped by grade/age. This allows us to tailor our lesson to the age group. With the 8th grade group we have the chance to go more into more complexities, and with the younger groups we are able to give a broader foundation to understand the lesson. When younger siblings attend they usually opt to sit by their brother/sister, but it works out fine because the older sibling usually mentors the younger one - it is truly a joy to watch. Also, many of the younger kids are less afraid of asking more basic questions, so it seems to benefit the group in terms of gaining a broad understanding. 

Although our volunteers work in biomedical science, our program tries to cover all areas in STEM - this year we've done experiments in engineering, physics, earth science, chemistry, physiology, and general biology. I'd love to hear more about what you have had success with in the classroom - maybe we can adapt your ideas to fit our age group. In our hands-on approach we use models and specimen samples. We design our experiments in a way that allows each student pair (or small group) to have their own experimental set up. In organizing things this way, we have the opportunity to guide the students through a protocol, gather data, and analyze the results. We like to wrap up our sessions with a group discussion to give the students an opportunity to compare results just like real scientists do.  I think this has been very beneficial for the students because they get a chance to practice science instead of just observe or hear about it. This approach also enables us to go beyond what our teacher is able to do during school hours since we have more time and more volunteers. 

If we have a Saturday meeting with a full class of 20+ students, we usually break the kids up into five groups of 5-7 students with 1-2 volunteers leading a small group discussion/experiment. The students tend to sit with other kids in the same grade, so usually everyone is grouped by grade/age. This allows us to tailor our lesson to the age group. With the 8th grade group we have the chance to go more into more complexities, and with the younger groups we are able to give a broader foundation to understand the lesson. When younger siblings attend they usually opt to sit by their brother/sister, but it works out fine because the older sibling usually mentors the younger one - it is truly a joy to watch. Also, many of the younger kids are less afraid of asking more basic questions, so it seems to benefit the group in terms of gaining a broad understanding. 

Although our volunteers work in biomedical science, our program tries to cover all areas in STEM - this year we've done experiments in engineering, physics, earth science, chemistry, physiology, and general biology. I'd love to hear more about what you have had success with in the classroom - maybe we can adapt your ideas to fit our age group. In our hands-on approach we use models and specimen samples. We design our experiments in a way that allows each student pair (or small group) to have their own experimental set up. In organizing things this way, we have the opportunity to guide the students through a protocol, gather data, and analyze the results. We like to wrap up our sessions with a group discussion to give the students an opportunity to compare results just like real scientists do.  I think this has been very beneficial for the students because they get a chance to practice science instead of just observe or hear about it. This approach also enables us to go beyond what our teacher is able to do during school hours since we have more time and more volunteers. 

If you are interested, I think squishy circuits could work for four year olds. We had some younger siblings at this session, and they had a ton of fun! I have some supplies if you ever want to borrow them (I have 10 sets of batter packs and about 60 LEDS). With squishy circuits you can make the lesson as simple or complex as you like. For the younger siblings we stuck to a simple circuits and described the polarity of the LEDs as having left and right shoes. We explained that the only way to make the LED light up is to complete the circuit by putting correct "foot" (leg of the LED) in the correct "shoe" (conductive/inductive dough).  

For our brain experiment we had both a plastic brain model and actual brains of mice, sheep, and pig. We fixed the brains in solution and gave the students gloves and face masks so they could touch a real brain. As they were looking at the specimens we asked them to guess what animal the brain came from, and to identify at least one lobe of the brain and what it was used for. Many of the students had good questions, especially about brain size and processing power. It was really fun to see them making connections from things that we taught earlier in the day. I've attached a copy of the lesson plan that we made for the brain experiment. 

As far as field trips, we went on two this year. For the first, we took the group to the USA Science and Engineering Festival. I believe it is only held every two years, but it was a lot of fun. There were demos, hands on activities, presentations, and many other things geared for all ages levels. This was nice for our group because our school is about a 5 minute walk away from the Convention Center in downtown D.C. We had so much fun! The second field trip was on a Living Classroom boat. The students went kayaking, collected and analyzed water samples, and performed bivalve dissections. The students who were able to attend had the time of their lives! Our teacher said they were so excited to share the experience with their classmates on Monday. John actually helped to set this up so the our students didn't have to pay to participate - I think it was through a grant that Living Classrooms has to bring more minority or low income students on board. I highly recomps. 

Washington Post on July 1, 2014:  The DC Area is Brimming With STEM Jobs and They're Hard to Fill

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/the-dc-area-is-brimming-with-stem-jobs-and-theyre-hard-to-fill/2014/06/30/3a5726cc-006d-11e4-b8ff-89afd3fad6bd_story.html

 Excerpt from the 624/14 STEMCONNECTOR, below.  I found the drop in computer science degrees for women both notable and disappointing. I wonder if it is connected to the growth of computer gaming and the large gender disparities associated with that.  I read recently that game developers are trying to attract a more diverse user base.  John

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Diversity in STEM Chelsea Clinton: Schools Need to Support Girls in STEM (TIME)  “In my math and science classes, the teachers usually always picked boys to answer questions, which really bugged me because I knew the answers,” a Colorado student told Chelsea Clinton and an all-female panel during a discussion about getting girls interested in STEM on Monday. In 1984, 37% of computer-science degrees went to women. Now only 12% of computer science graduates are women. This divide explains why the Clinton Foundation’s No Ceilings initiative wants to find a solution to one of the largest remaining gender gaps in America. “We’re looking from 1995 until 2015 as to where women and girls have gained in terms of rights and opportunities around the world and in the United States and where gaps still persist. And STEM around the world but acutely here in the U.S. is an area where not only the gap remains but the gap has widened in the last 20 years,” Clinton told TIME. It

From Education Wee's June 24 2014 Issue, Six Characteristics of a Great STEM Lesson by Anne Jolly (former middle school teacher):

http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2014/06/17/ctq_jolly_stem.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS2

ReSET volunteer Bob Hauptman shares his thoughts about his pre-K volunteer program at Georgian Forest Elementary in Montgomery County, MD, below.  

Regarding our brief discussion about my experience with the three and four year olds:  I never in my wildest dreams could have anticipated what I am going through.  These children are just transitioning from being babies into being students.  Although they are restless, they are thoroughly delightful, enjoyable, courteous, imaginative, curious, fun to be with, and eager to get into things and learn first hand by doing.   I do believe that I am accomplishing my two primary objectives: that the children have fun and that they are motivated to learn more about science.  For frosting on the cake, I am overjoyed to see them so excited and to respond to me so positively...More than ever, I believe that's how to get the most bang for the buck.  I would be happy to discuss this with our volunteers, and to have them witness my class first-hand.  However, it does require a change in thinking, that we are not there to teach, but to stimulate and motivate.  My success, such as it is, is due largely to the participation of the two terrific teachers.   Bob Hauptman


The value of introducing children to science before Kindergarten is becoming increasingly recognized. ReSET volunteer shares his thoughts about working with 3 and 4 year olds below.  If you know of anyone who may be interested in volunteering with this age group, please let me know.  ReSET offers both direct programs for children and programs that train pre-K teachers in how to lead hands-on science sessions with the children.  ReSET can order science kits for volunteers that have been designed for this age group.

Women in STEM

Rebel Toy Company Launches New Quest to Turn Princesses Into Engineers (Wired) 
When GoldieBlox tried to launch its line of engineering and building toys for girls, Lindsey Shepard says she heard one thing over and over from the rest of the toy industry: “Girls don’t want them.” It seems that someone forgot to tell those girls. In the past seven months, GoldieBlox has raised more than $285,000 on Kickstarter, garnered millions of views for a video about its toys, pre-sold more than a million dollars’ worth of products, and parlayed that groundswell of support into winning a contest for a Super Bowl commercial slot. Its toys are stocked by big retailers like Toys R Us and Target, even expanding into the United Kingdom and Australia. And now, it’s filming the follow-up to the original video—which is where Shepard and I are sitting at right now. 
From STEMconnector

ReSET volunteer Jenny Tsao shares information below on an on-line training course, free of charge, starting April 7.  While it's oriented towards middle and high schools, I'd like to start a dialogue among ReSET'ers who take the course on ideas for adjusting the content and presentation for elementary schools.  JOhn 

Hi John,

I just wanted to pass you a note that may be of interest to current/future volunteers. I don't know if you've heard of Coursera, but it is a site that offers free online courses on various subjects.

I am enrolled in a course that starts April 7th entitled: Re-Engineering Your Science Curriculum, taught by Exploratorium Teacher Institute.

More info here: https://www.coursera.org/course/teachengineering

It is free of charge and there is no obligation to complete the course or even participate. Just thought you might want to pass along information.

That's all!

Jenny

STEM on Steroids

Wow - I didn't know this was happening.  I had to check to make sure it's not April Fool's Day. Feedback?

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/03/03/140303fa_fact_khatchadourian