CSRecititations (5 Michigan Drive in Natick) will offer in-person classes as well as private and semi-private online options this summer. Contact them for online options or register here for these in-person classes:
Congratulations to Newton’s dual-high-school robotics team, the LigerBots! The team competed well in its two regional qualifiers, securing a spot in the upcoming New England District Championships to be held in Springfield, April 13-16.
Last week, at the Greater Boston Qualifier held at Revere High School, the LigerBots received the Engineering Inspiration Award, recognizing the team’s excellence in rookie training and community outreach events. Previously, the team had won FRC’s Gracious Professionalism Award. In both Regional Qualifiers, the team made it to playoffs but lost in the semi-finals — but nevertheless accumulated enough points overall to secure a spot at District Championships. More photos here.
The Ligerbots team does so much for STEM in Newton through its many community outreach programs — mentoring FIRST LEGO League teams, hosting FLL competitions, and participating enthusiastically in a wide variety of local STEM events. The Newton community now has a wonderful opportunity to return the favor: This team needs to raise funds to support its multi-day trip to Springfield for the District Championships. You can help the Ligerbots continue to succeed by donating here! Thank you!
Today the Bowen Elementary School PTO held its 7th annual Science Day, an event that usually takes over the school gym but for the second year was held — very successfully — on Zoom. About 100 students presented the results of their science projects, undertook engineering challenges, and conducted experiments together online in six half-hour sessions. The students’ projects are available to the Bowen community on Flipgrid for the next week.
Bowen parent Diane Gomez was part of the founding committee that created Science Day seven years ago and has recruited and developed a terrific team to carry on as her daughter moves on to middle school next year. Along with Diane, Betty Wang, David Walend, Elizabeth Stover, Janna Greene, Lena Smolensky, Michelle Manne, and Young Lim organized the event — and thanks to Melanie Hildebrandt and Larissa Gordon for facilitating today. The team has curated a helpful list of online resources. Also contributing to today’s success were:
The organizers encourage other Newton PTOs to host Science Days, and their advice: “Start small, keep the rules loose, and don’t formally judge it. Encourage kids to be excited and curious about science and feel empowered to share that curiosity with their community. We are so proud of every single one of these students. It takes so much courage to share your work!” For more information or advice, contact scienceday@bowenpto.org.
Empow Studios will host a free Open House in its Newton location on April 9, 1PM-3:30PM, so parents and students can meet the Empow team and learn about Empow’s award-winning, project-based STEM classes and camps. Tours will start every 30 minutes. Register here for the Open House. Empow Studios encourages self-confidence, curiosity, creativity, and collaboration through the design and creation of animated movies, video games, 3D-printed objects, and other projects. Enrollment is now open for summer camps and after-school classes, both in-person and online.
The Broad Institute will host a free, public, virtual event in its Science for All Seasons series, A Personal Journey to Understand and Overcome Prion Disease, on April 19, 12PM-1PM. Sonia Vallabh and her husband, Eric Minikel, will describe how they have helped to redefine the nature of prion disease — a progressive, degenerative, and currently untreatable disorder — and built a community of scientists, patients, and families addressing this challenge. Register here.
The Newton Free Library will host another virtual session of its STEM series for ages 6-9: Little Lab Coats: The Human Body! on April 19 at 6PM. This one-hour program will talk about respiration, digestion, and other complex systems that use important organs such as the brain, heart, and lungs. Registration is required, and there are only a few seats left available. A Zoom link will be sent to registrants before the program.
The Christa McAuliffe Center at Framingham State University will host a one-day April vacation program on April 21, 1PM-4:30PM. The program includes the Earth Odyssey space mission simulation in the Challenger Learning Center, the full-dome planetarium film Habitat Earth, and hands-on activities related to Earth Day. The cost is $35. Register here.
The Clean Tech Competition, sponsored by the Center for Science Teaching & Learning, is a research and design competition in which teams of 1-3 students (ages 15-18), assisted by a parent/teacher/mentor, identify a problem involving sustainability — and impacts on environmental conditions, human health, and/or the economy — and then develop an original solution. Learn how the competition works and register by April 22. Finalist teams will prepare prototypes and presentations for a $7,000 grand prize. The contest is sponsored by the Center for Science Teaching & Learning.
“e” inc.’s annual fundraiser, the Wild & Scenic Film Festival, will be virtual this year, on April 30, 6:30PM-9PM. It’s designed to raise awareness of environmental issues globally and to inspire activism in the greater Boston area. You can purchase all-access passes now for $25 to view any of nine films: Vet in the Wild, Shaba, Finding Salmon, It’s Bean Too Hot, Hidden Wild, El Mago Georges, Cormie the Pick Pocket, Community Not on Our Soil, An Alaskan Fight, A Flyfishing Refugee, A Fire for All, and The Bat Woman and Bat Man of India.
The New England Sci-Tech (NEST) STEM education center will offer these in-person programs: