Category: Teacher Education

CLS and RET

RETResearch Experience for Teachers (RET) Program

Seven middle and high school teachers will arrive at Michigan Tech on July 8 for a 6-week research experience for teachers program, an NSF-funded project run out of the Sustainable Futures Institute and directed by David Shonnard (ChE), Robbins Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering. The focus of the research experience is on forest-based biofuels (Wood-to-Wheels) in three research thrusts.

Teachers will also help develop laboratory exercises and “kits” to take back to their schools and implement in their labs. Other faculty participants on the project include Bradley Baltensperger (CLS) and Kedmon Hungwe (CLS) as well as Shawn Oppliger (CLS), the director of the Upper Peninsula Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education.

Read more at Tech Today.

Youth Can Ride the Agassiz

Agassiz RidesCopper Country Youth Invited to Ride the Waves on Michigan Tech’s Agassiz

Copper Country school students in grades 4-12 are being invited to participate in guided explorations of Lake Superior and its tributaries this summer, on Michigan Tech’s research vessel Agassiz. The program, called “Ride the Waves with GM,” is sponsored by General Motors and Tech’s Great Lakes Research Center.

For more information or to make reservations, contact Joan Chadde, jchadde@mtu.edu, 7-3341.

Read more at Tech Today.

Schoolchildren Ride the Waves on the Agassiz

Schoolchildren in grades 7-12 will get a hands-on look at Great Lakes research during free rides on Michigan Tech’s Research Vessel Agassiz next week. Ride the Waves is a science education project sponsored by General Motors and the Great Lakes Research Center at Michigan Tech.

On Monday, July 1, 9th and 10th graders will ride the waves on Keweenaw Bay, learning about remotely operated vehicles. Four-hour trips will leave the South Entry at 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.

A mine waste remediation and Torch Lake restoration tour is scheduled for Wednesday, July 3, for 7th and 8th graders.

On Friday, July 5, 11th and 12th graders will take two 4-hour Lake Superior Ring of Fire excursions. The Agassiz will leave from Lily Pond at 8:30 a.m. and again at 1 p.m.

Trips are scheduled for 4th, 5th and 6th graders later in July. So are more trips for 7th through 12th graders.

For more information, contact Joan Chadde, jchadde@mtu.edu, 906-369-1121.

From Tech Today.

Brad Baltensperger Tours with Concert Choir

Brad Baltensperger at the Concert Choir 2013Tech choir tours Eastern Europe

The former area of Yugoslavia conjures up images of war and civil unrest for many people, but for some members of the Michigan Tech Concert Choir, the Eastern European region is where many great memories were recently made.

Seeing first-hand the region’s sad history was an eye-opening experience for many choir members, including the 15 student-age singers, many of whom had taken a class prior to going on the trip taught by Tech professor Brad Baltensperger about the region.

“I thought the trip was an absolutely fantastic experience,” said third-year biology major Emily Jarvi, who has been singing with the choir since her first semester at Tech. “We saw a lot of different places and were able to share our music with the people there.”

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Stephen Anderson.

VIDEO PLAYLIST

Stewardship for Lake Linden Students

Chadde with Lake Linden StudentsScience outside
LL-H students turn disc course into a classroom

Lake Linden Elementary School fifth-graders got to learn more about their local environment and apply classroom knowledge in a real-world scenario at the Lake Linden disc golf course Friday afternoon.

“People are going to come here to the disc golf course, so let’s teach them what they’re going to find when they’re here, and how they can be stewards,” said Joan Chadde, Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative co-stewardship project advisor and education program coordinator for the Center for Science and Environmental Outreach at Michigan Technological University.

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Garrett Neese.