ProjectCSGIRLS is a non-profit aiming to address the gender gap in computer science through workshops and a national competition. ProjectCSGIRLS and Yahoo will host a free computer-science workshop for middle-school girls on February 18, 10AM-2PM at Yahoo’s Boston office (31 St. James Avenue, Suite 11A, Boston), to kick off a national competition in using computer science to address an imminent social problem. Workshop sessions will include web development, social impact and design thinking, mobile app ddevelopment, game programming, presentation by Yahoo Engineers, ‘Women in Tech’ panel, robotics, and bioengineering. Registration for the workshop is first-come/first-served. Individuals and teams may also register for the competition by February 20., and projects are due April 15.
Category Archives: Opportunities
STEM Programs During February Break, Feb. 20-24
STEM programs during the February school break (February 20-24):
- Math Camp at Mathnasium: Choose any number of days for individualized programs: Addition Mastery, Multiplication Hero, Fabulous Fractions, Decimals, Percents, MCAS practice. Up to 4 students per Instructor; $49 – $63 per day.
- Empow Studios’ Tech & Design Camp: 5 days ($380 half days, $645 full days) at Leventhal-Sidman JCC in Newton and in other locations in Lexington and Belmont.
- Ecotarium in Worcester: Tuesday-Friday. A wide range of science discovery programs, table-top activities, and planetarium shows. Note: This is not a drop-off program.
Free Workshop for ‘Informal Educators’ on Mass. STE Standards, Feb. 27
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary Secondary Education and the Museum of Science will co-host a free workshop at the museum on February 27, 9AM-12PM, for educators in ‘Informal Science Institutions’ to discuss the 2016 Science / Technology / Engineering standards. Register online. For more information, contact Marianne Dunne (Marianne.dunne@doe.mass.edu) or Lesley Kennedy (lkennedy@mos.org).
Summer Training for Mathematicians to be Expert Witnesses on Redistricting and Gerrymandering
Tufts University will run a one-week summer course (August 7-11) to train mathematicians to be expert witnesses for court cases in electoral redistricting and gerrymandering. The course is designed for, but not limited to, those with doctoral training in mathematics. Topics will include the Voting Rights Act, geometric compactness, GIS, being an expert witness, and ideas for including voting and civil rights in mathematics teaching. Some sessions will be open to the public and others will be for official participants. Applications will be available online during February 15-March 31. To get on the mailing list, email gerrymandr@gmail.com.
Mass. Eye & Ear Seeks Athletes, Age 12-18, for Larynx Study
A doctoral candidate in the Voice and Speech Lab at Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston is studying larynx disorders leading to breathing problems during physical activity. The lab seeks research subjects who are athletes 12-18 years old with no atypical breathing problems during exercise. Each selected participant will have his/her larynx examined by a tiny camera. Participants will receive a $50 gift card and be able to experience “science in action” and learn about speech-language pathology. For more information, contact Adrianna Shembel at Adrianna_Shembel@meei.harvard.
Sign Up by Feb. 11 for MIT’s Spring HSSP, Saturdays, Grades 7-12
MIT’s Spring HSSP is a six-week academic program for Grades 7-12, held at MIT on Saturdays, February 18 to April 1 (except March 11), noon to 3PM. All online registrations completed by February 11 will be considered equally in the course-assignment lottery, and registrations after that will be taken first-come/first-served until February 15. The cost is $40 per student (regardless of the number of courses taken) and generous, need-based financial aid is available. Email spring-hssp@mit.edu for more information. The Spring HSSP course catalog covers many academic and non-academic topics, including these STEM offerings:
- Fundamentals of Web Development
- How to make Android Mobile Apps
- Visual Programming
- Introduction to Programming Language
- Making Games with Gameblox
- Search Algorithms:How to get to your destination
- From Pizza to High Tech: the Application of Technical Cost Modeling in Product Development Decisions
- The History of Science
- Relational Databases Before There Were Such Things
- Models of Computation
- Topology
- Introduction to Olympiad Inequalities
- Genetics
- A Brief Intro to Quantum Mechanics
- The Science of Nutrition: A Microscopic to Macroscopic Exploration
- Splitting the Atom: An Introduction to Nuclear Science and Engineering
- Introduction to Organic Chemistry
- Math and Science Lecture Series
Ocean Symposium and Marine Careers, Mar. 10
High-school and college students interested in oceanics and marine careers are invited to the free Oceans Symposium and Marine Careers program, sponsored by the Boston Sea Rovers on Friday, March 10 , 9:30AM to 12:30PM at the Rabb Conference Center at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square, Boston. Register a group of attendees by emailing George Buckley (gbuckley@fas.harvard.edu, 617-998-8597) by February 15, including leader’s contact information.
HMS MEDscience Comes to Newton — and Summer Applications Open Feb. 1
HMS MEDscience is a nonprofit that educates and inspires high-school students of all backgrounds in STEM fields. The main mission of MEDscience is under-served populations, but it also runs in several suburban and private schools. Started in 2008 at Harvard Medical School, it now reaches over 1,000 students a year in semester-long courses in 15 area high schools as well as in nine one-week summer immersion sessions. MEDscience incorporates hands-on, real-life, field-based experiences with intensive instruction. Its Executive Director is Newton resident Julie Joyal, a nurse with a Master’s in Education who developed MEDscience’s semester-long course and has taught it for several years at Brookline HS.
Applications will be open February 1 – March 31 for students currently in Grades 9-12 in public, private, and suburban schools to attend one of nine one-week summer sessions (June 12 – August 25, except August 1-5). It’s a non-residential program (9AM-4PM) on the Harvard Medical School campus, and tuition is on a sliding scale.
Inspired by her own experience in the summer program last year, Newton South HS student Maya Dennis invited HMS MEDscience to present an interactive training session to over 35 students in Aspirations in Medicine, an after-school club that Maya and Senait Efrem started with faculty advisor Suzy Drurey. The session included diagnosis of simulated problems via Q&A with an emergency-room “patient” as well as practicing endotracheal intubation on medical-simulation mannequins. The meeting concluded with Justin Owumi relating his path in health care and his experience in medical school. Justin was a student of Ms. Drurey at the O’Bryant High School in Boston, where she taught at the time. He attended the summer HMS MEDscience program six years ago and is now a student at Tufts Medical School.
Maya’s review of the summer program: “Life-changing, absolutely amazing, never a dull moment. Learned something new every day. Diverse student backgrounds, career-wise and culturally. So many passionate experts to teach us.”
The semester-long MEDscience program offers an engaging way to teach human-body biology and is easily integrated into classes in Anatomy, Physiology, AP Biology, Biology, or Health. There’s a possibility that Newton South may offer this curriculum as a regular class in the future.
And MEDscience is now talking with Newton North HS teacher Jodie Cohen about scheduling a visit for Newton North students to visit MEDscience’s simulation laboratory on the Harvard Medical School campus. Newton North students who have participated in the summer program include Despite Georgiadis, Jake Fallon, and Matt Davis Morin.
Update on Newton South’s DaVinci Program
Newton South HS’s interdisciplinary STEAM program, DaVinci, is in its second year. Its first cohort, now Juniors, started the year with computer design, building models of wind turbines, and they are now moving into engineering to build on their models. Next year, as Seniors, they will undertake longitudinal, year-long, student-driven projects, for which they will present proposals this spring. Last fall, a new group of Sophomores joined DaVinci and has proven to be highly curious and motivated — thus well suited to the program. Next year’s Newton South Sophomores — and their parents — are encouraged to contact Newton South Science Department head Gerry Gagnon (gerard_gagnon@newton.k12.ma.us) to learn more about the DaVinci Program and explore how it may beneficially fit their academic plans.
Science Club for Girls: Sign Up for STEMinistas Club in Newton, Grades 6-8, Starts Feb. 11
Science Club for Girls invites girls in Grades 6-8 to apply for its STEMinistas program, which meets at Pine Manor College in Newton on Saturday afternoons starting February 11. As a club, STEMinistas work together on engineering projects such as analyzing materials, building and promoting a science toy, and creating volcanoes. SCFG (on Facebook) is a nonprofit organization that increases confidence and literacy in STEM for underrepresented girls via free, hands-on learning in out-of-school clubs and interaction with female mentor scientists. For more information, contact Christine Niccoli at cniccoli@scienceclubforgirls.org.