Category Archives: Virtual/Online

NSHS Science Team offers Summer Science Program for Grades 6-10, Jul. 29-Aug. 30

Opportunities, Summer, Virtual/Online

The Newton Summer Science Program offers a series of week-long STEM courses taught by student members of the Newton South High School Science Team to inspire middle school students to explore engaging topics in science beyond the school curriculum. Additionally, the program offers courses in grades 9-10 math and science for high school students to begin the school year feeling prepared.

Online courses will be taught free of charge, and in-person courses at Newton North and Newton South High Schools cost $20 (which goes to Newton Community Education to pay for space and registration costs). 

See the full schedule and full course syllabus, then register here.

The NSHS Science Team also gratefully accepts donations (recommended: $15 per one-week course) that will support the team throughout the school year, to pay for competition fees and study materials. Checks may be written to Newton South High School with “Science Team” in the memo line, mailed to:
NSHS Science Team c/o Gerald Ng
Newton South High School
140 Brandeis Rd.
Newton, MA  02459

Blue Hill Observatory: Solar Eclipse Webinar (Mar. 12) and Viewing (Apr. 8)

Events, Virtual/Online

Blue Hill Observatory will offer a free webinar, Solar Eclipse 2024, on March 12 at 6:30PM, about the solar eclipse coming on April 8. The webinar features host Tim Kelley and climate scientist Dr. Tamara Ledley.

The Blue Hill Observatory will also host an in-person Eclipse Viewing Event on April 8 at 2PM. (donation $30, or $20 for students and seniors).

Register here for either or both events.

Tufts Engineering Design Challenge webinar, Grades K-12, Feb. 21

After School, Events, Virtual/Online

Tufts University’s Center for Engineering Education and Outreach will host a live webinar — Engineering Design Challenge — for students in Grades K-12 on February 21 at 4PM. Register here.

“Kids will be presented with an engineering design challenge to do at home with whatever materials they have around the house (cardboard, string, tape, paperclips, pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, cups, scissors, paper towel rolls, random LEGO bricks, etc). While attendees build, a panel of Tufts undergraduate students and a professional engineer will talk about engineering and their paths to studying engineering.”

Register by June 27 for MIT’s Virtual HSSP — Sundays in Summer for Grades 7-12+

Summer, Virtual/Online

MIT’s Summer HSSP is a weekend academic program (July 9-August 13) for students entering Grades 7-12 (plus those who just graduated high school). Courses are run virtually on Zoom by volunteers on Sundays at various times between 1PM and 4PM. Registration is now open until June 27 on a lottery basis, with equal consideration given to all applicants registering by that deadline. The cost is $50 regardless of the number of courses taken, and generous financial aid is available.  For more information, email summer-hssp@mit.edu.  The course catalog for this summer contains these 17 STEM courses:

  • StudentS’ STEM (S3) — an approach empowering students
  • How to Make a Dragon: Introduction to Synthetic Biology
  • Introduction to Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
  • DIY: Mini Magnetically-Levitated Trains
  • Circuits Analysis 101
  • Modeling Mechanics and Circuits via Differential Equations and JavaScript
  • Introduction to Computational Statistics
  • More Than One Variable? – An Introduction to Multivariable Calculus
  • Developmental Immunology
  • Cancer Warriors: Unleashing the Power of Your Immune System against Cancer
  • From Earth to Space: Introduction to Space Medicine
  • Electrifying Biochemistry
  • Saving the World with the Science of Sustainability!
  • Nuclear Reactors: Science and Operation
  • How the Earth Moves Below the Sea: An Intro to Conducting Marine Geophysical Research
  • Relativity and Black Holes
  •  Everything they don’t tell you about Mathematics

Broad Discovery Series x BroadIgnite: An Evening of Inspired Science, May 24

Events, Virtual/Online

The next presentation in Broad Institute’s Broad Discovery Series of free, public lectures (formerly Science for All Seasons) will be on May 24, 5:30-6:30PM. Five emerging scientific visionaries will talk about their efforts in addressing neurodegenerative and metabolic diseases, sudden cardiac death, infectious disease diagnosis and surveillance, and rare genetic disorders. Register to attend — either in-person (415 Main Street, Cambridge) or virtually. In-person attendees are invited to a reception in the Broad Discovery Center following the talk.

This event is a collaboration with BroadIgnite, a Broad Institute program that partners rising philanthropists with early-career researchers involved in high-risk, potentially high-reward projects.

Lemelson-MIT: Free webinars for inventors, Apr. 10-13

Events, Virtual/Online

Lemelson-MIT will host free webinars for inventors at 7PM, April 10-13:

  • April 10: Sustainability, by Dassault Systemes and SolidWorks
  • April 11: 3D Modeling,  by Onshape
  • April 12: Entrepreneurship, by Slyngshot
  • April 13: Intellectual Property (IP), by a panel consisting of a representative of the U.S. Intellectual Property Alliance, an inventor and professor of engineering education and innovation management, and an InvenTeam teacher who was awarded two U.S. patents with her first two InvenTeams.

MITES: MIT Summer and Semester Programs for Grade 11, apply by Feb. 1

Summer, Virtual/Online

MIT’s MITES (MIT Introduction to Technology, Engineering, and Science) offers two programs for current Grade 11 students:

  • MITES Summer is a six-week (June 23-August 4) residential summer program.
  • MITES Semester is a six-month immersive online experience in two phases: STEM Immersion (June-August, 25-30 hours per week) and College and Career Prep (August-December, 3-5 hours per week)

See the FAQs. Applications are due by February 1, and teachers’ recommendations are due by February 15.

TKS: 10-month online global innovation program, ages 13-17

Opportunities, Virtual/Online

TKS is a ten-month (September-June) global innovation program for ambitious students in ages 13-17. It currently has in-person programs in three cities in Canada and three in the U.S., with future plans for other cities — including Boston at some point. For Boston and the rest of the world outside those six cities, TKS has an online program with weekly online sessions of 2-3 hours each, on weekends or weekdays after school. Tuition is $4,890 and TKS is committed to supporting ambitious students with financial aid on a need basis. Early applications are due February 28, after which applications are accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis until May or until the program is full.