Cognitive and Learning Sciences News

Registration is open for 2015 Summer Science Camps at Michigan Tech’s Great Lakes Research Center. There are two sessions, one for grades one through three and another for grades four through six.

Grades 1-3: Wonders of Space

Explore the earth and its place in the solar system, investigate the planets, moons and other celestial objects in our galaxy, plus types of stars and other aspects of space–nebulae and black holes. Marvel over the history of space exploration and launch a rocket. Always lots of hands on activities.

Grades 4-6: Science All Around

Investigate a variety of science topics from chemistry to geology, wolf and moose to ecology. Take a trip on Michigan Tech’s research vessel Agassiz to learn about fresh water ecology, visit a limnology lab and engage in many exciting activities. Instructors include Michigan Tech faculty, staff and students.

Sessions are June 16, 17 and 18, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (students bring their own lunch).

Cost is $120 and space is limited to 20 students. Pay by credit card, space not reserved until payment is received.

Register Online. For more information call 7-3341.

Sponsored by the Western Upper Peninsula Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education.

Joan Chadde, coordinator of the Michigan Tech Center for Science and Environmental Outreach is taking part in six Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative placed-based education program this week.

Activities involve Dollar Bay Elementary, Jeffers High School, Houghton Middle School and the Washington Middle School, and take place at the Great Lakes Research Center, Marsin Center, Calumet Waterworks Park and onboard the research vessel Agassiz.

From Tech Today.

Learning in the field
Students learn about nature’s essence

LAKE PERRAULT – Jeffers High School students spent Monday learning out of the classroom.

Olivia Johnson, a ninth-grader at Jeffers, said her favorite part was measuring water quality and temperature.

“You get to actually work with the sensors and tools to learn how to do it,” she said.

Read more at the Mining Gazette (subscription required), by Garrett Neese.

Middle School students to hold Open House on stewardship projects at Calumet Township Park June 3

Each year WMS students show off their stewardship projects as presenters to parents and community partners at the township beach and School Forest areas. These place-based projects are a part of the Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative (LSSI) in conjunction with community partners Calumet Township, BHK Great Explorations, Keweenaw National Historical Park, The Alliance for the Great Lakes, and Michigan American Water Company.

Read more at Keweenaw Now.

Photos: Lake Linden-Hubbell students learn stewardship, birding, more near Torch Lake

LAKE LINDEN — Students from Lake Linden-Hubbell High School biology and English classes spent an afternoon of hands-on science activities, combined with a game of disc golf and poetry writing, on May 15, 2015, at the Lake Linden Sands Superfund site, where vegetation now covers stamp sand — a waste product left by the copper industry.

Read more at Keweenaw Now, by Michele Bourdieu.

Outdoor STEM experiences for local schools

On Monday, June 1st through Thurs June 4th, local school students were introduced to various STEM education and Career opportunities. Dollar Bay Elementary School had scientific excursions on the RV Agassiz, and saw science projects at 102 GLRC, and 104 GLRC. The program is funded by General Motors Ride the Waves program.

Read more and watch the video at the College of Engineering Blog.

Joan Chadde, director of the Michigan Tech Center for Science and Environmental Outreach, was a participating scientist for a bio-inventory for the Keweenaw Land Trust Marsin Monitoring Project, conducted by the Lake Linden-Hubbell High School tenth-grade biology class. The event was held yesterday at the Marsin Center. The students monitored amphibians and insects and brainstormed native landscaping ideas for the KLT.

From Tech Today.

High School students can visit a variety of science, engineering, and computer labs at Michigan Tech now through May 15.

The students in grades 9 – 12 can participate in presentations and hands-on activities led by Tech students, engineers and scientists to kick start students’ planning for careers in science, technology, engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Nearly 200 students from Bessemer, Baraga-L’Anse Alternative School, Copper Country Christian, L’Anse, Lake Linden-Hubbell, Watersmeet, Dollar Bay, Nah Tah Wahsh, and Jeffers High Schools are planning visits.

Select Topics / Labs to Visit

• Green Building & Low Impact Design
• Stream Mechanics Lab
• Remotely Operated Vehicles
• Computer Science
• Materials Science & Engineering
• Civil Engineering Concrete TestingLab
• Fishy Great Lakes
• Transportation Engineering
• Geology & Mining Engineering
• Human Monitoring Devices / Driving Simulator
• Forest Insects

For more information, contact:

jchadde@mtu.edu or office: 7-3341

Made possible with funding from the Michigan STEM Partnership and coordinated by the MTU Center for Science & Environmental Outreach and Western U.P. Center for Science, Math and Environmental Education with assistance from the Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering

From Tech Today, by Center for Science and Environmental Outreach.

High School Students Learn About STEM Careers

This week, nearly 200 high school students from nine schools in the western UP are spending a day at Michigan Tech, exploring science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers. They will visit labs and learn about green building and low-impact design, human monitoring devices, forest insects, steam mechanics, remotely-operated vehicles, computer science, materials science and engineering, civil engineering/concrete testing, Great Lakes fish, transportation engineering and geology and mining engineering.

Yesterday, students from Jeffers High School in Adams Township spent the day at Tech learning about STEM careers. Students from Nah Tah Wahsh Public Academy in Wilson will be on campus today, and on Friday the University will host students from Watersmeet High School.

From Tech Today.

Amy Marcarelli Receives NSF CAREER Award

In the world of aquatic biology, it’s a long-held belief that what goes up, must come down. As human activity causes nitrogen loads to go up along the banks of rivers and streams, nitrogen levels go down through another process. Amy Marcarelli, a Michigan Technological University associate professor in biological sciences, has received a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study this nitrogen conversion balance.

The CAREER awards are prestigious grants from the NSF to young faculty who effectively integrate research and teaching. Marcarelli was awarded a 5-year, $794,661 grant to continue her research into nitrogen fixation and denitrification.

Not only will her research look to affirm, or disprove, long-held beliefs, but also to create a more ecologically-savvy citizenry by integrating ecosystem ecology techniques into K-12 and undergraduate education.

The construction and operation of a mobile lab is a key part of both the research and educational components of the CAREER project. Marcarelli says accurate rates of nitrogen fixation and denitrification using common assays are dependent on accurate estimates of gas concentrations.

“To reach local (K-12) students, I will identify several classes where teachers are interested in introducing their students to field-based ecology. Before our departure, we will visit these students in their classrooms to introduce ourselves and our project,” Marcarelli says.

She plans to work with Joan Chadde, educational program coordinator at Michigan Tech’s Western Upper Peninsula Center for Science Mathematics and Environmental Education.

Read more at Michigan Tech News, by Mark Wilcox.

Solarize Houghton
May 2 & May 16, 2015
1:00-5:00 pm
104 Great Lakes Research Center
Presenter: Abhilash “Abhi” Kantamneni, author of Michigan Solar Guidebook and Calculator

Open to ALL 9th – 12 Grade Students

Hands-on training, tour of local solar installations, assistance of local community members.

Eat Pizza! Earn a certificate of participation.

Register for 2015 Solarize Houghton

Coordinated by the Western UP Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education and the Keweenaw Community Foundation.