Category Archives: Resources

edX: Free, Challenging Online Courses for Interested Students

Resources

edX — a multi-college partnership that includes MIT, Harvard, UC Berkeley, and other schools in the U.S. and abroad — offers several exciting online courses in various STEM disciplines.  All courses are free to the participants, and those who complete a course receive a certificate.  Courses are rigorous and fun, with active discussion forums.

Check out their offerings at https://www.edx.org/course-list/allschools/allsubjects/allcourses.  Use the drop-down menu to search for courses in: Continue reading edX: Free, Challenging Online Courses for Interested Students →

Project Lead the Way Conference, Oct. 24 at WPI

Events, Resources

Project Lead the Way is a nationwide, non-profit provider of STEM curricular programs for middle and high schools.  It focuses on hands-on classroom activities supplemented by mentorships with STEM professionals and workplace experiences in local industry.  The PLTW curriculum is provided free of charge to participating schools, is endorsed by the Massachusetts Governor’s STEM Advisory Council, and is aligned with Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards.  Harvard’s Graduate School of Education calls it a “model for 21st century career and technical education.”

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), the Massachusetts affiliate university for PLTW, certifies and supports PLTW schools, provides summer professional development, and hosts conferences, including the Massachusetts PLTW Conference, to be held on October 24, 8:30AM-2:30PM, for school counselors, curriculum specialists, principals, teachers, district administrators, and interested business and industry professionals.  Conference details will be posted at www.wpi.edu/+pltw by late September.  For more information, contact WPI PLTW Program Manager Terry Adams (tadams@wpi.edu, 508-831-5198).

Innovation Institute: After-School and Weekend STEM for Ages 5-15

Resources

The Innovation Institute in Newtonville is an after-school and weekend academic enrichment program in science and engineering for ages 5-15.  Scientists and education specialists are teamed in a classroom with a maximum of ten students to provide in-depth learning and inspiration that is designed to complement day-school offerings.  Classes are two hours, once a week, with a focus on joyful and rewarding learning, critical and creative thinking skills, freedom to create and innovate, and mastery of core STEM concepts.  Spaces are available for Fall 2013 classes.  For more information, visit theinnovationinstitute.org or call 617-340-9907.

Top Banana: New Classes in Info-Tech for 7th/8th Graders

Resources

Top Banana Education Foundation, on Winchester Street in Newton, will offer new Sunday classes in information technology and computer science this fall.  Designed to be rigorous, age-appropriate and fun, the classes will include theory and lab practice in topics such as computer components, operating systems, how the Internet works, computer security, algorithms and programming structures, data structures, pattern recognition, and regular expressions.  Top Banana offers a range of weekend and after-school classes in math (K-8 grade) and physics (7-8 grade).  Classes start September 9.  For more information email aseriy@topbananaeducation.org or call 617-795-1557.

Maker Camp: Free Virtual Summer Camp for Teens

Events, Opportunities, Resources, Summer

There’s one more week in this summer’s free, online Maker Camp, sponsored by Google+ and Make: magazine.   Teens build daily projects at home or with friends, share them on Google+, and then join daily Google+ hangouts to learn project tips and tricks and go on virtual field trips on Fridays.  This week’s projects are all about do-it-yourself music, and this weekend’s project is an LED Color Organ.  Next week’s projects focus on special effects in movies.  Join Maker Camp to particpate for one or more days.  Videos of all Google+ hangouts, as well as instructions for all previous projects, are available online.

Brilliant.org — A Challenging Online Math/Physics Environment

Opportunities, Resources

Brilliant.org aims to bring a challenging intellectual, online environment to everyone with high aptitude and interest in math and physics.  It offers weekly olympiad-style problem sets that are “rigorous, competitive, whimsical, and edifying” and scaled by level of difficulty.  You can join online to find your level and then work on new weekly problems, review practice problems, and discuss solutions.  Points you earn can be exchanged for e-books and a Brilliant T-shirt.  In a recent TEDx talk, Brilliant’s CEO explains how Brilliant aims to scout worldwide for intellectual talent in STEM.

NASA Exploration Design Challenge: Radiation

Opportunities, Resources

NASA’s Exploration Design Challenge invites students from kindergarten through 12th grade to learn more about space radiation — one of the biggest challenges in sending humans beyond low-Earth orbit.  Participants will learn about radiation and its effects on humans and hardware destined for asteroids, Mars, or other deep space locations.  NASA’s Orion vehicle for these space destinations will make its maiden test flight in 2014.

  • Grades K-4 will complete NASA education activities related to radiation. Upon completion, a teacher or other adult may submit the students’ names to be flown on the 2014 Orion flight.
  • Grades 5-8 will do the same and also will design and develop a radiation shield prototype using instructions provided.
  • Grades 9-12 will form teams to design a radiation shield prototype that meets established criteria and constraints. The top five designs will be tested in a virtual radiation simulator, and the winning team will travel to Florida for Orion’s launch and have its design flown aboard.

MassBioEd Launches STEM Education Website

Resources

The MassBioEd Foundation has launched a new website, massbioed.org, to support STEM education in Massachusetts through school programs, workforce training, and lifelong learning.  The site invites: