Month: March 2014

Science Fair 2014 Results

The Western UP Center has posted results and photos of the 2014 science fair held at the Memorial Union on March 25, 2014.

View Results, Project Pictures, Festival Pictures, and News

Science comes to life
Fourth- through eighth-graders attend science fair

The 15th annual fair, held at Michigan Technological University, drew 230 fourth- through eighth-graders from across the western Upper Peninsula.

Houghton Middle School students Jonnelle Yankovich and Daryn DuPont measured whether Walmart or Prince rabbit feed would make DuPont’s rabbits gain the most weight. Their hypothesis of Walmart was proven incorrect.

“We thought it would be a good idea to do a project with rabbits, because it was something that we figured a lot of other people wouldn’t be doing,” Yankovich said.

The students got extra credit for their science class, and had fun besides.

“I thought it was cool,” DuPont said of the science fair. “It was exciting.”

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Garrett Neese.

Copper Country students show off their work at regional science fair

Chadde says the Science and Engineering Festival is a way to reward the students for their hard work on their science fair projects and it gives them some fun things to do while they wait for their project to be judged. She added that more than 50 Michigan Tech students from 14 different organizations help make this festival interesting for the children.

“They’re wonderful role models for the younger students that are here. And we help them, items of supplies and organization. But they do it so it’s really a fun event and you can see it’s packed. Parents love it and the kids love it,” she said.

Read more and watch the video at ABC 10 WBUP WBKP, by Mike Hoey.

Science Fair 2014 MUB

Science Fair 2014 Chadde

Science Fair 2014 Demo

Western UP Science Fair

WUP Science Fair 20142014 Western UP Science Fair
Grades 4-8

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Michigan Tech Memorial Union Ballroom
5-6pm Science Fair open to the public
6-8:30pm- Judging of projects.
4:30-7:30pm – Science festival in MUB Commons

The Western UP Science Fair is sponsored by the Western UP Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education, Michigan Tech Chapter of Omega Chi Epsilon Chemical Engineering Honor Society, Michigan Tech Chapter of American Society of Engineering Education and the Carnegie Museum.

15th Annual Western UP Science Fair and Festival Tuesday

Students from sixteen schools in Houghton, Baraga, Ontonagon and Gogebic Counties will participate: Chassell Elementary, CLK Elementary, E.B. Holman School, Houghton Elementary, Barkell Elementary, Lake Linden-Hubbell Elementary, Arvon Township School, Houghton Middle School, Lake Linden-Hubbell Middle School, LL Wright Middle School, L’Anse Middle School, Washington Middle School, Hancock Middle School, Ewen Trout Creek School, Northwoods Christian School and Watersmeet School.

Read more at Tech Today.

Peace Corps Information Session Thursday, March 20

A Peace Corps information session will be held Thursday, March 20, at 6 p.m., in MUB Alumni Lounge B. Peace Corps Volunteers are making a difference all over the world in the areas of education, health and the environment. Stop by this information session to learn more about the benefits of service and how you can live, work and learn overseas after graduation.

View the Flyer

From Tech Today.

Forest Ecology and Global Change Teacher Institutes for Summer 2014

Forest Ecology and Resources
June 23-27, 2014
Deadline: May 5, 2014

Global Change
July 7 – 11, 2014
Deadline: May 5, 2014

Teachers are invited to apply to these summer institutes, which are part of Teacher Professional Development in the Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences.

Both Forest Ecology and Resources (Urban Forest Ecology at Belle Isle) and Global Change are worth two college credits. They are coordinated by the Western U. P. Center for Science, Math & Environmental Education.

Association of Psychology Students on Eating Disorders

Perceived body image affects all members of a society. The desired look present in a culture determines how others will view themselves. In Western cultures, women who are considered beautiful are tall, skinny, have facial symmetry and light skin. Not every member of our society looks like this ideal and it creates problems across the sexes socioeconomic backgrounds.
Darryl Roberts examines our “obsession with beauty” in his documentary “America the Beautiful,” which was screened on Feb. 20 on campus.

Who really benefits from people’s insecurities? That’s what Darryl Roberts is trying to find out. On February 25 there was a showing of his newest installation of the series, “America the Beautiful 3,” as a part of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. This film focuses on “the sexualization of our youth,” and is having its first showing ever here. On February 27, there was free and confidential eating disorder screenings in the MUB Peninsula room conducted by MTU Counseling Services, supported by the Association of Psychology Students.

Read more at the Michigan Tech Lode, by Sarah Harttung.

High Schoolers Invited to Learn to Make a Mobile App

The Western UP Center for Science, Math and Environmental Education, based at Michigan Tech, is offering a four-week class for students in grades 9-12, covering the fundamentals of computer programming for Android mobile devices, graphic design and mobile app development. Students will work in small teams to create a working Android mobile app for a community or school organization.

The class will be taught at Houghton High School, Room 124, from 3:45-5:30 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays, starting March 17. Classes will not meet during the public schools’ spring break. There will be one class on Wednesday, April 9.

The class is free and no experience is required. It will be taught by Chad Norman, a science and technology outreach specialist with Michigan Tech’s Center for Science and Environmental Outreach.

More information is available at 7-3341.

From Tech Today.

NSBE at Alternative Spring Break

Michigan Tech Students Head to Detroit for Alternative Spring Break

Students from the Michigan Tech National Society of Black Engineers will visit seven middle and high schools in Detroit to promote college and engineering. In the evenings, they will conduct Family Engineering Night events at three K-8 schools. NSBE’s Alternative Spring Break is conducted in collaboration with the Detroit Public Schools Office of Science and Detroit Math & Science Center, and funded in part, with a grant from John Deere.

Read more at the WUP Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education.

WXYZ Channel 7 news in Detroit aired a feature story about Michigan Tech student members of the campus chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers, who are spending their spring break working to motivate middle and high school students in Detroit schools to see college in their futures and to study science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

From Tech Today.

The Family Engineering Activities and Presenters were posted by TechAlum Newsletter. The events took place March 11-14, 2014.

Read more at TechAlum Newsletter, by Dennis Walikainen.

Alternative Spring Break

Alternative Spring Break

CLS Grads Receive Travel Grants

Graduate Student Government Travel Grant Award Winners for Spring 2014

Travel grants for spring 2014 have been awarded. Among the Presenting Travel Grants ($ 250) recipients are cognitive and learning sciences graduate students Erich Petushek and Wei Zhang.

The full list of graduate recipients can be accessed online.

Travel grants are awards that help subsidize cost of attending and presenting at conferences. These awards are sponsored by the Graduate Student Government (GSG) and the Graduate School. For more information on travel grants, please visit the webpage.

Should you have any questions, contact the GSG treasurer Jennifer Winikus (jawiniku@mtu.edu).

From Tech Today.

World Water Day 2014

World Water Day is observed on March 22. This year, Michigan Tech is hosting a week of events, March 20, 26-27, 2014. This year’s theme is “Water and Energy.”

Events include a film, lecture, poster session, panel discussion, and art exhibit, featuring the topic of gas from shale hydrofraccing.

Learn more at the Michigan Tech Center for Water and Society.

World Water Day Sponsors:

Center for Water and Society (CWS), Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative (LSSI), Keweenaw Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (KUUF), Keweenaw Land Trust (KLT), Sustainable Futures Institute (SFI), Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC, Visual and Performing Arts (MTU), Finlandia University. Partial funding provided by the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI) through a grant from the Johnson Family Foundation for a Let’s Talk About Water event.