Boston College will hold BC Splash on Sunday, November 13, in-person.  Splash is a one-day, student-run program in which undergraduates and graduate students teach mini-courses for students in Grades 7-12. There will be a parallel Parent Program about admissions and financial aid, sample splash classes, student panels, and campus tours. There’s a $10 fee for the day, which includes a pizza lunch. Registration is required and is first-come/first-served. For more information, email bcsplash@gmail.com. Among the courses offered this year are these STEM-related ones:

• Forensics 101
• Infant to Teen Psychology: How We Become Who We Are!
• Let’s Innovate! A Choose Your Own Adventure Game about Technology
• Introduction to Organic Chemistry: Medical and Daily Application
• How useful are quantum computers?
• Math is Weird, Math is Fun
• Psychosocial Epidemiology
• Intro to Programming in Python
• Global Public Health Issues & How We Can Help
• COVID-19: Understanding and Modeling Viruses
• Straws and Turtles: Our Global Plastic Pollution Problem
• Neurophysiology of Timothy Syndrome
• Understanding Cryptocurrency
• Congressional Apportionment
• Cancer: Investigations of Basic Biology and Public Health
• Pre-Dental Info Session
• The Final Frontier: A History of Space Exploration
• Intro to Game Programming
• How to Save a Life
• Want to be an EMT?
• The science behind photography
• Math intersects Art: Tessellations!
• Ethics of Genetic Engineering

A group of Newton South HS students has created M Snake, a new, friendly, in-person math competition to introduce students in Grades 6-8 to the world of competitive math. It’s open to students living in Newton and/or attending NPS schools, and it’s designed for students with little or no experience in competitive math. The problems will be fun, exciting, and intuitive rather than strictly challenging, in order to foster excitement, exploration, and community.

The competition will take place at Newton South HS on November 12, 10AM-4:30PM and consist of two individual rounds in the morning and a collaborative round in the afternoon. Afterwards, students and parents will hear from the guest speaker, mathematics Professor Po Shen Loh, who founded a revolutionary online math education program and coaches Team USA for the International Math Olympiad. Register here, either individually or in teams of up to four (team members do not need to be from the same school). Email msnakecompetition@gmail.com with any questions, concerns, or registration changes.

MIT’s Splash program runs for two days each year on the weekend before Thanksgiving — running in-person this year on November 19-20. Students in Grades 9-12 can take a wide range of mini-courses taught by MIT undergraduates and participate in drop-in activities. This year, Splash! is offering over 300 courses including many in Science, Computers & Programming, Engineering, and Mathematics. The cost is $40 regardless of the number of courses taken, and generous financial aid is available. The first phase of registration is now open, in which students will have until October 29 to register and specify their preferences for classes. Classes will then be filled by lottery, treating equally all those who register anytime in the first phase of registration. After the lottery results are announced, some classes may be available for those registering later, in a subsequent phase of registration. See the Program Details. For more information, email splash@mit.edu.

Brandeis University’s Splash! — a free program of mini-courses taught by undergraduates for students in Grades 6-12 — will be held November 13, Noon-5PM on the Brandeis campus. Take as many 50-minute courses as you wish. Bring or purchase your lunch on campus. Registration is open now until November 11. For more information, email ess-club@brandeis.edu.

MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences and New England Aquarium will co-host a hybrid event, The Ocean’s Natural Way to Stop Climate Change, on October 20, 6:30PM-7:30PM, at the Aquarium’s Simons Theatre (1 Central Wharf, Boston) and online. This event is free and open to the public. Doors open at 5:30PM with exhibits from MIT students and climate scientists in the theatre lobby. Register here for in-person or online attendance.

Local museums are recognizing National Chemistry Week with “Fabulous Fibers: The Chemistry of Fabrics” hands-on activities at these times and locations. Museum admission is required:

• Saturday, October 15: Boston Children’s Museum offers two sessions: 9AM-Noon and 1:30PM-4:30PM.
• Sunday, October 16: Discovery Museum in Acton offers one session: Noon-3PM
• Thursday, October 20: Museum of Science, Boston offers one session: 1PM-4PM.

To kick off Massachusetts STEM Week, the Christa McAuliffe Center at Framingham State University is inviting the public to a free Open House on October 14, 6PM-8PM with exhibitors, stargazing, hands-on activities, and planetarium shows at 6PM, 6:45PM, and 7:30PM. Celebrate the start of the project that will transform the McAuliffe Center into a modern hub for integrated STEM learning, networking, and community action. (Directions)

Harvard Museums of Science and Culture will celebrate International Archeology Day on October 15, 11AM-3PM at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology (11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge). Learn about archeology from graduate students:

• 11AM-1PM: Jack Bishop will examine ancient stone tools for a glimpse into the early domestication of animals and the rise of agriculture in the Middle East.
• 1PM-3PM: Mack FitzPatrick will explain how the ancient Inka of Peru (c. 1400–1532 CE) wrote with string and will show a working replica of a khipu knotted string record-keeping system.

This event is included with regular admission to the museum.