Category: Outreach

High school students in Detroit & Wayne County will have the opportunity to explore environmental science & engineering majors at Michigan Tech this summer.  This will be the 3rd consecutive year that this program will be offered to up to 20 students selected to participate.

Students will participate in many outdoor activities during their 6 day trip to the UP, including: ID and measure trees, collect frog data, sample aquatic life aboard a Lake Superior research vessel, examine plankton, drive a ROV, design a process to clean water and touring the campus of MTU.

The program will be held from June 26 – July 1 and the deadline for students to apply is March 20th.

How to apply

• Complete application form online 2017 Michigan Tech-Upper Peninsula Trip Application
• Describe what you hope to gain from the experience and your previous experience with natural resources and/or engineering
• Email or mail 2 letters of recommendation (from non-family members; one from a teacher) to:

Joan Chadde jchadde@mtu.edu

115 GLRC – Michigan Technological University

1400 Townsend Drive

Houghton, MI 49931

Coordinated by Michigan Tech Center for Science & Environmental Outreach

Joan Schumaker Chadde (CEE/GLRC) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $47,556 grant from Wayne State University. The project is titled “FACTs & Careers: A Scalable Place-Based Educational Program at a Public Aquarium to Increase STEM Career Choices.”

This is the first year of a potential 2-1/2 year project totaling $146,375.

There will be six after-school science and engineering classes held for grades 1-8 at Michigan Tech. The classes will be from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Oct. 24 through Dec. 7. There will be no sessions during Thanksgiving week.

These classes offer hands-on explorations taught by Michigan Tech science and engineering students in the GLRC.

Grades 1-2: “Forest Fun!” Wednesdays

Students will engineer seed get-aways, investigate animal tracks, play bird migration games, examine leaf characteristics and create leaf art, and discover the many ways that animals survive the winter.

Grades 3-5: “Wild About Michigan Wildlife!” Mondays

Explore bats and spiders, follow a salmon upstream, investigate the characteristics of wolves and discover what an owl eats by dissecting a little regurgitation.

Grades 6-8: “Investigating Chemistry” Tuesdays

Find out how chemistry affects our daily lives as you delve into food reactions, tie-dye fabrics, crime scene investigation and designing the best bubble solution to create the longest lasting bubble.

Cost is $75 per student. Register by Friday (Oct. 21). Payments can be made by credit card by calling 7-2247. Your space is not reserved until payment has been received.

A Houghton school bus will drop off students at the GLRC by 3:45 p.m.

Contact Joan Chadde at 7-3341 with questions.

By Joan Chadde.

Thirty middle-school students, plus two science teachers, and two chaperones from Brimley Area Schools visited Michigan Tech and the Keweenaw Peninsula from Sept. 28-30, hosted by Ted Bornhorst, executive director, A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum and Joan Chadde, Director of the Center for Science & Environmental Outreach.  The Brimley Area Schools student population is 54% Native American and 51% low income. Students participated in a half-day of STEM activities on campus with Brian Barkdoll and “Kiko” de Melo e Silva, faculty and research scientist, respectively, in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Dr. Sarah Sun in Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics.

“We were pleased to provide this unique opportunity for the Brimley students that may spark their interest to pursue a STEM degree at Michigan Tech,” explained Bornhorst.

“This was a great group of students,” observed Chadde. “We plan to work with them to make this an annual visit.”

Water and the City of Flint have garnered plenty of headlines this year. This week, 13 teachers from the Flint area are on the campus of Michigan Tech for a four-day teacher institute focused on water and water issues.

The special interdisciplinary teacher institute will focus on three specific areas: Flint River Watershed; Drinking Water Treatment; Wastewater Treatment. The event is coordinated by the Ride the Waves program, Martin Auer (CEE) principal investigator and the Center for Science and Environmental Outreach.

Read more at Tech Today, by Joan Chadde.

Flint Teachers visit U.P. to learn about good water quality

Flint’s population continues to try and recover from their water crisis and these lessons will help deal with those lingering issues. Hamaday Middle School Science Teacher Arleatha Bryant said, “I’ve had at least seven children tell me they were tested positive for lead, and so we’ve been doing a lot of research on different foods you can eat and things you can do to try and alleviate some of the issues that may occur with this situation.”

And most importantly to educate people so such a situation doesn’t happen again. MTU Civil & Environmental Engineering Professor Martin Auer said, “These are the people that are going to change the lives that need to get this work done over the next several decades. If we can reach these teachers, then we can stimulate a process that’s going to engage the young people and that’s where the future is.”

Read more and watch the video at ABC 10 UP.