GEM GRAD Lab sponsored by MC-STEMP

Getting ready for advanced degrees laboratory - register now

What: GEM GRAD Lab sponsored by MC-STEMP, hosted at Northeastern University
When: Saturday, October 26, 2013 (registration at 8:30 AM, program from 9:00AM–4:00PM)
Where: Northeastern University, John D. O’Bryant African-American Institute, Cabral Center, 40 Leon Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02115
Who: All STEM undergraduate students (especially juniors and seniors) and masters students considering pursuing a PhD
Information: See the National GEM Consortium's website for more information. To register, click here.

The GRAD Lab is a fun, engaging (and free!) symposium where participants will receive full information on the importance of graduate school and what is needed to successfully gain admittance with financial support. The event is designed to inform and motivate students from underrepresented groups in STEM fields to understand the importance of a graduate degree. Continental breakfast and lunch will be included. Speakers will range from current graduate students to University faculty and senior administrators. They are selected from diverse communities and disciplines to present on the following topics:

• "Why Graduate School"
• "How to Prepare for Graduate School"
• "Understanding the GEM Fellowship", and
• "Voices From the Field: Real Life Research and Internship Experiences"

GRAD Lab encourages young people to consider graduate engineering or science education and applying for the GEM fellowship. Focusing on the global importance of research and innovation, life-long career benefits, and real world role models the symposium will help each student envision his or her future as a technology leader, successfully apply for a GEM fellowship, and gain entry to a graduate program.

STEM web application for families

STEM app for families of 3rd, 4th, & 5th graders

What: The Wheelock College Aspire Institute STEM Activity App
How: Sign up to start receiving a STEM activity three times a week for 10 weeks

The Wheelock College Aspire Institute welcomes anyone to sign up for their STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Activity App. All you have to do is click on the link here and sign up to start receiving your STEM Activity 3 times a week for 10 weeks, starting this week! Activities will come to you via email with a link to a web application on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. If you miss a day, don't worry -- you can see past activities in the “All Activities” section.

The STEM Activity App is a web application that provides accessible, engaging activities in the area of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) to families of third, fourth, and fifth graders. The activities are easy and meant to encourage family-student engagement. In addition to receiving the activity, here are some of the other features of the application:

• Click on the “Who Studies This” tab to find out which STEM careers are interested in these types of activities
• Click on the “Take Away” tab and find out how this activity could affects your daily life
• Rate the activity – did you like it?
• Submit a response – what result did you and your student get after doing the activity?

One day left to submit projects for the STEM Summit!

Looking for innovative K-12 projects to present at the 2013 STEM Summit

What: Resource Expo at the 2013 Massachusetts STEM Summit
When: November 13, 2013
Location: Gillette Stadium
To submit: Please send the title of the exhibit and a short description of K-12 innovative project - including grade level and school, names and titles of presenters (students are encouraged to attend and to be presenters if appropriate), and e-mail and phone contact information of the point person - to Alysia Ordway at alysia.ordway@bostonpic.org.
Deadline: September 10, 2013

The 2013 STEM Summit at Gillette Stadium will include a new feature this year: a Resource Expo where students, teachers, and others can display innovative STEM curricula, projects, and activities. This is open to all who contribute to, participate in, or support PreK-16 STEM education. Please consider showcasing and sharing your innovative STEM work with STEM Summit attendees!

The submissions should:

• Feature student- or teacher-created STEM products, activities or curricula (PreK-16)
• Illustrate STEM innovation
• Reflect goals of the State STEM Plan
• Increasing student interest in STEM
• Increasing student achievement of STEM, including college readiness
• Increasing success in post-secondary STEM fields
• Increasing effectiveness of STEM educators
• Aligning STEM education to workforce needs

The submissions should not:

• Be for the purpose of promote or advertising commercial products

NASA Exploration Design Challenge

Become part of space history

What: NASA learning challenge for K-12 students
Information: For details, see the Exploration Design Challenge website
Deadline: The deadline to register students for the virtual crew is March 14, 2014.

In March, NASA launched an exciting new partnership with Lockheed Martin to engage students in America's next phase of human space exploration. The Exploration Design Challenge (EDC) invites students from kindergarten through 12th grade to learn more about one of the biggest challenges NASA faces before sending humans beyond low-Earth orbit: space radiation. Through a series of age-appropriate activities, participants will learn about radiation and its effects on humans and hardware destined for asteroids, Mars or other deep space locations. Orion is the vehicle for these space destinations and will make its maiden test flight in 2014.

The youngest explorers (K-4) will complete NASA education activities related to radiation. Upon completion, a teacher or other adult may submit the students' names to be flown on the 2014 Orion flight as honorary virtual crewmembers.

Those same opportunities are open to students in grades 5-8, but they also will design and develop a radiation shield prototype. Instructions, guidebooks and related content are provided on the EDC website.

High school participants have an even greater challenge – and opportunity! In addition to the activities listed above, teams of students will design a radiation shield prototype that meets established criteria and constraints. Teams will submit their designs, and the top five designs selected will be tested in a virtual radiation simulator. The winning team will travel to Florida for Orion's launch and have its design flown aboard the spacecraft!

This is an exciting, hands-on way to get students inspired and interested in what NASA does now and the grand plans ahead! All the details for the EDC and information on how to participate are on NASA's website.

Siemens Competition in Math, Science, & Technology

Research-based competition for high school students in the United States

Competition: The Siemens Competition seeks to promote excellence by encouraging students to undertake individual or team research projects. It fosters intensive research that improves students' understanding of the value of scientific study and informs their consideration of future careers in these disciplines.
Scholarships: Individuals and teams submitting winning projects will receive scholarships ranging from $1000 to $100,000.
Deadline: Forms and research are due by 5:00 P.M. EST on September 30, 2013.
Information: For further information, see the Siemens Competition website.

In 2012, there was a winning team from Lexington High School - good luck to Massachusetts students aiming to follow in Jonathan and Rohil's footsteps!

Summer learning opportunities: computing & robots

Put computing in your summer

The Commonwealth Alliance for Information Technology Education (CAITE) has collected and posted summer learning opportunities for students and teachers to engage more with computing and robots! Note that summer teacher professional development programs may not be full, even if the deadlines have passed, so please contact the organizers if interested.

Summer Camps for Students

• across Massachusetts and beyond
• for middle and high-school students
• web design, robotics, gaming, and more!

Professional Development for Educators

• workshops in June, July & August for teachers
• for middle, high-school, and community college educators
• programming, app development, and more!

2013 Massachusetts High School Science & Engineering Fair

2013 Massachusetts State High School Fair: May 2-4 @ MIT

The Massachusetts State Science & Engineering Fair (MSSEF) is an experience that lasts a lifetime. Through a science fair program at your school, you can follow your natural curiosity about the world and explore "real world" science and engineering problems that really interest you! Want to make a difference in the world? You can! Students work individually or as a team to investigate everything from discovering what’s in your sports drink to green energy solutions to cancer research.

Patent Awards: You can compete for the "Fish & Richardson Patent Award" that provides for legal expenses to patent your design. Past winners have invented ingenuous ways to help improve the quality of life and condition of the planet.

Building Essential Career & Life Skills: The Science Fair process also builds essential skills for success in 21st century careers, such as critical and creative thinking, communication, teamwork and ethical decision-making.

2013 Massachusetts State Middle School Science & Engineering Fair

2013 Massachusetts Middle School Fair: June 1 @ Worcester Technical High School

The Massachusetts Middle School Science & Engineering Fair is a forum for students in grades 6-8 to explore "real world" science and engineering discovery through hands-on experience. Students also learn about the many exciting and emerging fields of science and technology today, building important life skills-- from reading, writing and math to communications, teamwork and design. It's fun, exciting, and a pathway to a great career!

The first statewide competitive Fair was held in 1999, and since that time, participation has been on the rise. Approximately 300 students now participate in individual and team projects.

Cabot Corporation, the Boston based global specialty chemicals company, is the official sponsor of the statewide middle school fair. Worcester Technical High School, One Skyline Drive, is the official host site of the Statewide Middle School Science & Engineering Fair, and the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester provides administrative facilities and services.

Watch the Middle School vimeo

STEM Spreadsheet Contest

What if Math announces $1,000 in prizes to be given out to the best Spreadsheet Math Experiments on sustainability. The contest is open to all K-12 students in the United States. What if Math is a revolutionary math program built by students for students using spreadsheet-based-projects to help students learn math. It treats spreadsheets as laboratories to experiment on interesting problems, to build models, organize data, and to ask “what if…” The top five Spreadsheet Math Experiments on sustainability developed by students will be published on the What if Math website for other students to perform. Their authors will receive a $200 cash prize!

Join us in developing this new way to learn the math that everyone uses in business today and that every student must learn to prepare for the future. We welcome you to http://www.whatifmath.org as a student and as an inventor. Go to the website to learn more.

What if Math is part of Sustainablearning, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to revolutionizing math education. See website for contest rules.