Agassiz excursions at Strawberry Festival

Agassiz Michigan Tech“How scientists assess the health of Lake Superior” is the focus of free scientific excursions that will be offered at the Chassell Strawberry Festival from 1-5 p.m., Saturday departing from the marina.

The public is invited to sign up for free scientific excursions aboard Michigan Tech’s research vessel Agassiz by calling the Center for Science, Math & Environmental Education at 7-3341 or coming to the Chassell Marina dock on Saturday between 12:30 and 4 p.m. Spaces go quickly. On-site sign-ups begin at 12:30 p.m. with first departure at 1 pm. Half of spaces will be saved for onsite participants.

On each scientific excursion, Martin Auer (CEE) will demonstrate the use of sampling equipment to collect plankton and sediment, evaluate water clarity, temperature and turbidity that tell us about the health of the lake, i.e. Chassell Bay. Participants will investigate the connection between land uses and the health of the Great Lakes.

Scientific excursions will depart from the Chassell marina dock approximately every half hour. Space is limited to 15 persons per excursion (children must be at least 7 years of age and accompanied by an adult). Life jackets are available for all passengers.

Remotely-Operated-Vehicle (ROV) demonstrations will also be conducted from the Chassell Marina dock throughout the afternoon. “Copper Country residents and visitors are encouraged to learn how scientists study the Great Lakes and what factors contribute to a healthy lake,” explains Joan Chadde, education program director. “These scientific excursions for the public have been offered at the Strawberry Festival since 2006 and have been extremely popular. Youth and adults enjoy the opportunity to interact with Great Lakes scientists and get their questions answered.”

The event is coordinated by the Western U.P. Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education and Michigan Tech’s Great Lakes Research Center. This year, the program is funded by the GM Ride the Waves Program putting more than 500 Copper Country youth and adults on the water each year to learn about the Great Lakes and promote STEM careers, along with support from the Michigan Tech Center for Water & Society and the Chassell Lions Club.

From Tech Today, by Joan Chadde.

Jeon Presents at International Conference on Auditory Display

ICAD 2015Myounghoon “Philart” Jeon (CLS/CS) and colleagues presented four research projects at the International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD) in Graz, Austria: “Regulating drivers’ aggressiveness by sonifying emotional data,” “Subjective assessment of in-vehicle auditory warnings for rail grade crossings,” “Exploration of semiotics of new auditory displays: A comparative analysis with visual displays,” and “Cultural differences in preference of auditory emoticons: USA and South Korea.” Jeon also successfully hosted the workshop on “In-vehicle Auditory Interactions” at ICAD. This workshop was partly supported by MTTI.

From Tech Today.

Steven Landry’s (CLS, Advisor: Myounghoon Philart Jeon) research proposal, “Affective Interactive Dancer Sonification” has been selected for the Doctoral Colloquium, “Think Tank“, at the 21st International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD). Landry will receive a travel and registration grant from the National Science Foundation.

From Tech Today.

ICAD 2015 – ICAD in Space: Interactive Spatial Sonification was held July 8-10.

Teachers are Learning This Week at Michigan Tech

Engaging Students14 middle and high school teachers from across Michigan are on the Michigan Tech campus this week as part of the five-day “Engaging Students in Authentic Science Research Teacher Institute,” running through Friday.

The institute is designed to guide teachers in gaining the skills to engage their students in designing and conducting original research, rather than merely conducting “cookbook experiments.” Teachers will learn research design methods and procedures and participate in a variety of research field and lab studies led by Michigan Tech faculty and graduate students. Some of the sessions include: physics of atmospheric science, chromatography, materials science, transportation surveys, insect inventories, aquatic invasive species and visiting local sites to see the types of research local students are conducting. The institute is co-led by Joan Chadde, director of the Center for Science & Environmental Outreach at Michigan Tech and Lauri Davis, Houghton High School science teacher and science department chair. The institute is partially funded by a National Science Foundation grant (Evan Kane, Principal Investigator).

From Tech Today, by Joan Chadde.

Teachers attend Teacher Institute to better teach students

“Authentic research is actually kids starting at ground zero,” says high school teacher and Institute Developer Lauri Davis. “They develop a question to answer, they develop the procedure to do the experiment, to answer the question, to collect the data, they analyze the data and then they present the data in numerous different forms.”

Read more and watch the video at Upper Michigan’s Source, by Aleah Hordges.

Great Lakes Science & Engineering Camp

GLRCBaraga Students Explore the Great Lakes

12 students from Baraga were on the Michigan Tech campus this week participating in a KBOCC (Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College) STEM outreach-funded Great Lakes Science & Engineering Camp at the Great Lakes Research Center. The event was coordinated by Joan Chadde at the Center for Science & Environmental Outreach. The KBOCC program provides free science and math enrichment opportunities to middle and high school students in Baraga County. During the school year the KBOCC department provides after-school and Saturday workshops in music, science, math and engineering.

On campus this week the students participated in a variety of programs with Tech faculty and GLRC personnel.

From Tech Today, by Joan Chadde.

Michigan Teachers Participate in Mi-STAR

Science TeachersTeachers Work on New Ways to Teach Middle-School Science This Week at Three Universities

Middle-school science teachers from across Michigan are back in school themselves this week at Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU), Grand Valley State University (GVSU) and Michigan Technological University, working on a new and better way to teach middle-school science.

They are participating in the Michigan Science Teaching and Assessment Reform (Mi-STAR) program. Learning ways to connect the sciences to each other and to real-world problems, biology, chemistry, physics and earth sciences teachers are working together to create a new kind of science curriculum, one that crosses the traditional boundaries between science subjects and engineering and focuses on solving real-world science problems such as ensuring access to clean water and sustainable sources of energy.

Read more at Michigan Tech News, by Jennifer Donovan.

Learn more about teacher professional development at Michigan Tech.

Michigan Tech hosts gathering for science teachers

“We feel that it’s important for our students to be able to understand that not only science is important in the classroom, but it’s also important in your everyday life,” said Yonee Bryant-Kuiphoff, Kalamazoo science teacher.

Read more at Upper Michigan’s Source, by Aleah Hordges.

Teacher Summer Institute: Global Change CANCELLED

Global Change
Global Change

Global Change
July 13 – 17, 2015
CANCELLED for Summer 2015

This five-day Institute will prepare you to engage your middle and high school students in a real-world study of the effects of global change on ecosystems, including the impacts of climate change, elevated carbon dioxide and ozone levels, nitrogen saturation, acid rain, and invasive species.

Learn more about the Global Change Summer Institute.

Dear Teachers:

I regret to inform you that due to a low enrollment, we will need to cancel the Global Change Teacher Institute scheduled for July 13-17 this summer at Michigan Tech University.
We plan to offer the Global Change Teacher Institute again next summer, so hope you will come then. We have offered the Global Change teacher institute annually since 2005, except for one year. Last year, we had the best teacher evaluations ever!

We do have enough participants to offer the other two teacher institutes listed below, and you are welcome to register for these, even tho the registration deadline was last Friday, June 19.

M-F, July 6-10 ED5601 Engaging Students in Authentic Science Research Teacher Institute
M-F, July 20-24 ED 5640 Designing a Sustainable Future Teacher Institute

Joan Chadde

Detroit High School Students Visit Tech

Monday began an adventure for twenty Detroit high school students, exploring careers in natural resources, environmental science and engineering, forestry, environmental, civil and mechanical engineering and more. Thanks to donations from numerous Michigan Tech departments and offices, students have received free transportation, food and lodging in Wadsworth Residence Hall and an exciting program.

The students are in grades 9-12 and come from eight different Detroit high schools. They successfully applied for this program (first of its kind), which was made possible by the efforts of many people—from help with recruitment in Detroit, to the multiple experts volunteering their time to present to these youth.

Students arrived eager to visit Michigan Tech’s campus, explore future careers and gain new experiences. They began their week participating in a Great Lakes investigation aboard Michigan Tech’s Agassiz research vessel in Lake Superior. They have a full schedule for the rest of the week with various activities including identifying trees, measuring forest plots, inventorying invasive earthworms, visiting the underground rhyzotron, assessing the health of local streams, manipulating underwater autonomous remotely operated vehicles, visiting labs, conducting insect and wetland inventories and exploring nearby state and county parks in the beautiful Keweenaw and Upper Peninsula.

This program was coordinated by Joan Chadde, director of the Michigan Center for Science & Environmental Outreach in collaboration with Detroit colleagues at the Belle Isle Nature Zoo and US Forest Service Urban Connections Program.

The program was made possible with funding from the Michigan Tech School of Forest Resources & Environmental Science, Michigan Tech College of Engineering, Michigan Tech Housing & Residence Life, Michigan Tech Admissions, Department of Civil & Engineering, Pre-College Outreach Initiative, Michigan Tech Transportation Institute and the Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics.

From Tech Today.

Tech tour
Detroit students explore high-tech careers

HOUGHTON – Twenty high school students from Detroit are at Michigan Technological University this week to learn about careers in natural resources, environmental science and engineering.

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

Green Film Thursday

A Will for the WoodsThe 2015 Green Film Series presents, “A Will for the Woods, from 7 – 9 p.m. Thursday, June 18, 2015, in Hesterberg Hall & Atrium in Forestry Building at Michigan Tech. There is no admission charged and free refreshments will be provided by the Keweenaw Green Burial Association which will lead a discussion following the film.

About the film: Musician, psychiatrist, and folk dancer Clark Wang prepares for his own green burial while battling lymphoma, determined that his last act will be a gift to the planet. Documenting one community’s role in the genesis of a revolutionary movement, the film explores the growing movement for green burial. (94 min)

From Tech Today, by Joan Chadde.

Green film June 18, Community Forum June 20 to focus on Natural/Green Burial

In the first event, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 18, in G002 Hesterberg Hall, Michigan Tech Forestry Building, the Green Film Series will screen A Will for the Woods, a documentary about Clark Wang, a musician and psychiatrist who was determined that his last performance would be a gift back to the planet. Viewers will witness Wang preparing for his own green burial and, in so doing, creating that option for others in his community.

Two days later, from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, June 20, at Portage Lake District Library, the KGBA will host a community forum facilitated by Michigan resident Merilynne Rush, a Natural Death Care educator and board member of the Green Burial Council International. Rush will take the audience through an examination of conventional funeral and burial practices, their environmental and social implications, and what green burial is and is not.

Prior registration is not required for either event, and both are open to the public free of charge (donations always welcome).

Read more at Keweenaw Now.

Great Lakes Investigations Aboard Michigan Tech’s Research Vessel Agassiz

Great Lakes Investigations Aboard Michigan Tech’s Research Vessel Agassiz from June 15 to July 15, 2015 for Students in Grades 4‐12 ~ Fun! FREE! Educational!

Ride the Waves with GM invites Copper Country youth in Grades 4‐12 to join scientists from Michigan Tech’s Great Lakes Research Center in the exploration of Lake Superior, Keweenaw Bay and/or Portage Lake.

agassizflyer2

Programs are 3‐4 hours in length—with 1.5‐2 hours on the Agassiz and 1.5 hours in the lab. The Agassiz will accommodate up to 17 youth/
chaperones (minimum of 10 is required).

Aquatic Food Web & Lab Investigation ~ Measure water quality and collect samples to examine in the lab to find out “How Do You Make A Lake Trout?” All ages.

To make reservations, call or email:
Michigan Tech Center for Science & Environmental Outreach
Phone: 906‐487‐3341
Email: Lloyd Wescoat lwescoat@mtu.edu
Joan Chadde jchadde@mtu.edu
Provide number of students and 3 date/time options

From the College of Engineering Blog.