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.
The Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences (CLS) made important changes that will impact departments and faculty who have offered Teacher Professional Development courses or State Continuing Education Clock Hours (SCECHs) for teachers attending workshops or events.
It is hoped these changes will make things easier for you and your attendees and also provide teachers with graduate credit or SCECHs for their continuing education.
CLS is now accepting online proposals for Teacher Professional Development courses for institutes to be held next summer. These courses provide graduate credit to participants and allow you to pass the handling of course logistics off to CLS’s Teacher Professional Development Coordinator, Rachelle Gariepy. We deal with collecting teacher applications for your course, assuring students are registered as degree seeking or non-degree seeking students, verifying teaching certificates, working with teachers to gain admittance into the Graduate School, arranging housing and meal coordination and assisting with advertising.
Complete the link below to request your educational offering for teachers takes advantage of these services. In addition, if you would like to have your course advertised at the Michigan Science Teachers Association or the National Science Teachers Association annual conferences, course proposals must be submitted prior to Jan. 27. In order to offer a Teacher Professional Development course, you must fill out this proposal.
The CLS department will now be working with the state to offer approved SCECH programs in which teachers are the primary focus. Historically, faculty have worked with the Copper Country Intermediate School District (CCISD) to provide this service. SCECHs are used by teachers to apply toward renewing their teaching certificate or advancing from a provisional to a professional level teaching certificate. If you are interested in applying for a State-approved SCECHs program, contact Gariepy. Be advised that all SCECH proposals submitted to the CCISD in the future will be returned to the CLS department for processing.
If you have any questions about how our Teacher Professional Development programs can assist you in your work with K12 teachers, feel free to contact Gariepy or CLS Department Chair Susie Amato-Henderson.
Ted Bornhorst, executive director, A. E. Seaman Minera Museum land Joan Chadde, director of the Center for Science and Environmental Outreach, hosted a group of 30 middle-school students, two science teachers and two chaperones from Brimley Area Schools Sept. 28-30.
The Brimley Area Schools student population is 54 percent Native American and 51 percent low income. The special field trip was organized by Bornhorst with Brimley teacher Mary-Beth Andrews who was accompanied by teacher Chris Wheatly.
Andrews attended the Keweenaw Mineral Days mineral collecting event held by the museum during the summer which initiated the idea of bringing a group of her students to the Keweenaw Peninsula. She gained permission from the superintendent and school board, and raised all necessary funds, to provide her students with a unique and motivating Earth science and STEM-focused field trip.
“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.”
by A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum
HOUGHTON — The community is invited to the Lake Superior Celebration from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Apr. 26, 2016, at Michigan Tech’s Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC). The event is FREE, family-friendly, and open to all.
The event is sponsored by the Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative, Michigan STEM Partnership, Western U.P. Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education, Michigan Tech Center for Science and Environmental Outreach, Michigan Tech Center for Water and Society, and the Copper Country Recycling Initiative.
Visit the Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative on the web or on Facebook.
Joan Chadde, director of the Center for Science and Environmental Outreach, presented at the Belle Isle State Park Natural Resource Roundtable last Thursday, April 14, 2016. The roundtable was hosted by the Belle Isle Conservancy’s Environmental Conservation Committee and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to share interests and potential collaborations.
Michigan Tech and Wayne State University were the only two universities in Michigan invited to participate, in addition to a dozen government agencies and non-profit organizations.
Chadde has engaged Detroit teachers and students in natural resource stewardship activities on Belle Isle since 2009, supported by three different grants.
Science fairs encourage students to explore
HANCOCK – Through the Western Upper Peninsula Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education, students from the five Western U.P. counties are offered hands-on incentives to explore science, math, engineering and the environment in which they live.
Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Graham Jaehnig (subscription required).
Kids at Dollar Bay Elementary School are putting on performances this week using two robots. The students have been working with Michigan Tech graduate students as part of the school’s Great Explorations program.
The graduate students are supervised by Assistant Professor Philart Jeon, who coordinates the Mind Music Machine Lab. The group is giving children exposure to technology and the arts.
The theatrical performance is taking place after National Robotics Week.
Watch the interview in Michigan Tech Unscripted: Science and Research.
The Lake Superior Celebration is from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 26 at the Great Lakes Research Center.
This event is to celebrate the work of the following 17 Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative (LSSI) school -community teams. Many Michigan Tech departments and faculty serve as LSSI community partners and/or advisors.
Schools involved:
Hands-on Recycling Activities led by Michigan Tech students:
Local Resources:
Celebrate
Sponsored by the Western U.P. Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education, Michigan Tech Center for Science and Environmental Outreach, Michigan Tech Center for Water and Society, Copper Country Recycling Initiative and Funded in part with a grant from the Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative.and Michigan STEM Partnership.
Find out more here.
Chadde Presents in Nashville
Joan Chadde, director of the Center for Science & Environmental Outreach, presented “Engaging Families in STEM” at the National Science Teachers Association conference in Nashville, on April 1 with co-presenters, Tenesha Moore, Detroit Public Schools Office of Science and David Heil, Foundation for Family Science & Engineering.
Chadde shared the Family Engineering: An Activity and Event Planning Guide, the product of a National Science Foundation Informal Science Education grant received by Michigan Tech (Neil Hutzler, PI). Family Engineering actively engage parents and elementary-aged children in hands-on engineering activities in order to create the next generation of problem solvers.
The next session of After School Sciences begins Thursday. The six-class sessions will meet from 4 to 5:30 Thursdays beginning April 7 and running through May 12, at the Great Lakes Research Center.
These hands-on explorations are taught by Michigan Tech Center for Science & Environmental Outreach education specialist, Marcy Erickson.
Physics of Motion (grades 2-5)
Explore motion in our world through investigations involving the principles of physics. Students will construct rockets, roller coasters, aqueducts, and catapults to discover the relationship between energy and motion through engaging, hands-on activities.
Cost: $75/student; pay by credit card by calling Michigan Tech Cashier 487-2247. (Your space is not reserved until payment has been received.) Register online or at wupcenter.mtu.edu. Call with questions to 7-3341 or email Joan Chadde.
Note: Houghton school bus will drop off students at the GLRC by 3:45 pm. Please email Shari Tapani or call 482-0456 to arrange for your child.
After School Programs are coordinated by the Michigan Tech Center for Science & Environmental Outreach.