Every year, MIT Sea Grant’s Blue Lobster Bowl relies on 70 community volunteers to run its competitions for student teams from 24 area high-schools. This is a regional competition of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl, and this year it will be held at MIT on March 5. Volunteers must register by February 2. More details on volunteering, including required training and practice sessions, are here and here.
Monthly Archives: January 2016
Girls Who Code: Summer Immersion Program
Girls Who Code will again host its 7-week Summer Immersion Program in Boston (and 17 other cities) for current high-school sophomore and junior girls. This day (non-residential) program includes intensive instruction, speakers, demos, workshops, presentations, field trips, and mentorship for careers and academics. Each Summer Immersion site embeds 20 students in a technology company or university, 9AM-4PM daily. Applications will be available on January 19, and you can sign up now to express interest and be notified of events.
PROMYS: BU’s Summer Math Program for Young (Motivated) Scientists
Applications are now available for PROMYS, a six-week (July 3-August 13) residential summer program at Boston University for strongly motivated high-school students (ages 15-19) to explore in-depth the creative world of mathematics. About 80 students are selected from a nationwide/worldwide pool based on solutions to challenging problem sets, school transcripts, teacher recommendations, and short essays explaining their interest in the program. Financial aid is available as necessary to ensure all who are selected may attend. Applications are due April 1.
Newton Library STEM Events in January
The Newton Free Library offers these STEM activities for kids in January:
CodeCampKids for Grades 6-7 (Wednesdays): CodeCampKidz is sponsoring a free series of classes to introduce students in Grades 6-7 to coding. Start with no experience and learn to build basic applications. Classes will be held on Wednesdays (January 6, 13, 20, 27) at 4:30PM in the Library’s second-floor computer center. Register for all four classes at once.
STEAM Ahead for Ages 3-5 (January 7, 4PM): The Library offers storytime for 3-5 year olds and their care givers to explore STEM and the Arts with children’s books and related activities. Space is limited, and free tickets will be available in the Children’s Room at 3:30PM.
Minecraft Club for Grades 6-12 (January 7, 4PM): Play Minecraft with friends on the Library’s server, with different challenges each session. Grades 6-12. Register online.
KIBO Robots for Ages 7-9 (January 7, 7PM): Children ages 7-9 build their own robots with KIBO, gaining experience with building, programming and decorating. Space is limited, and free tickets will be available in the Children’s Room at 6:30PM.
Teen Tinker Club for Grades 6-12 (January 21, 4PM): Explore STEAM tools such as LEGO WeDo’s and Scratch. Register online.
LEGO WeDo for Ages 7-10 (January 28, 6:30PM): Problem solving and design with LEGO models. Online registration is not yet available.
BostonTechMom’s List of STEM Activities in January
As usual, BostonTechMom provides an extensive list of STEM events and activities for the current month.
Solve Talks at Google: Are We Teaching STEM Wrong?, Jan. 13
There are a few seats left for the free Solve Talk at Google — Are We Teaching STEM Wrong? — at Google’s offices (355 Main Street in Cambridge) on January 13, 5:30-7:30PM. Speakers include Arthur Levine (President, Woodrow Wilson Foundation), Chris Rogers (Chair of Mechanical Engineering, Tufts), Tina Grotzer (Harvard Graduate School of Education). Register online. This is part of a series of talks sponsored by Google, MIT’s Solve Program, and Mass Challenge.
Newton Library’s Coder Dojo Seeks Volunteer Instructors
The Newton Free Library seeks volunteer instructors to lead or co-lead a Coder Dojo club of up to 30 students in Grades 6-12 to explore and develop computing skills. The club will meet in two-hour sessions twice a month and work with Scratch, JavaScript, AppInventor, and HTML/CSS, and open-source hardware. The club will use curriculum selected from The Hardware Laboratory and/or Programming Languages. Instructors must be proficient in at least one back-end programming language, have intermediate knowledge of data structures and algorithms, pass a background screening, and commit to volunteer 2-3 hours every other week. The club will start in late winter and continue through the school year. Contact Teen Librarian Liz Rowland at Liz Rowland lrowland@minlib.net.
MIT Seeks Staff for STEM Outreach to Middle Schools
MIT’s Office of Engineering Outreach Programs has these job opportunities open:
- STEM Program Coordinator: Coordinate STEM outreach programs for local middle-school students, with a focus on the STEM Summer Institute and Mentoring Program.
- Outreach Programs Assistant: Assist in coordinating outreach programs (hiring, logistics planning, implementation, managing evaluation process).
Empow Camps for School Breaks — February, April & Summer
Empow Studios offers two types of week-long school-vacation camps (February and April) in Newton/Needham, Belmont, and Lexington: Tech-Design Camps and Minecraft Camps. Empow also offers a 15% discount on summer camps, in a wider range of locations, if you register by January 31. For more information, call 617-395-7527.