Category Archives: Virtual/Online

Blue Hill Observatory Webinar: Taking the Fingerprints of Global Sea Level Change, Mar. 24

On March 24, 7PM-8PM, the Blue Hill Observatory will host a webinar,
Taking the Fingerprints of Global Sea Level Change, presented by Dr. Jerry X. Mitrovica, Professor of Science in Harvard’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” in 2019. To support the nonprofit work of the observatory, a registration fee ($10 for BHO members, $15 for others) is requested but not required. Register to get sign-in credentials for the webinar and optionally make a donation.

Full STEAM Ahead: Career Paths of Women in Architecture, Engineering and Construction, Mar. 9

Professional Women in Construction (PWC) Boston is hosting a free, online event — Full STEAM Ahead: Career Paths of Women in Architecture, Engineering and Construction — on March 9, 3PM-4PM, for high-school and college students (of all genders) to learn about careers in these fields. Register by March 8. Speakers include:

  • Christine Bernard, Marketing Coordinator, Rider Levett Bucknall
  • Chrissy Gabriel, Director of Life Sciences, Siena Construction
  • Ai Kurokawa, AIA, Architect & Principal, Isgenuity
  • Taygra Longstaff, PE, Structural Engineer and Deputy Project Manager, Arup
  • Jamie MacDonald, Construction Project Manager, Capital Projects Management, Boston College
  • Kelsey Rogers, Senior Acoustics Consultant, Acentech
  • Caroline Fitzgerald, New England Client Relations, RMF Engineering

Grades 7-12: Register Now for Virtual Boston College Splash!, Mar. 28

Boston College will hold BC Splash virtually — and free — this semester on Sunday, March 28, 10AM-4:15PM.  Splash is a one-day, student-run program in which undergraduates and graduate students teach mini-courses for students in Grades 7-12. Registration is required, and course selection is first-come/first-served. For more information, email bcsplash@gmail.com. STEM-related classes in the course catalog include:

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

Sign Up by Mar. 8 to Judge the Western Mass. Virtual Science & Engineering Fair

The Western Massachusetts Science & Engineering Fair will be all virtual this year, and judges are needed to evaluate the video submissions from middle- and high-school teams. Judges will attend an online orientation session on March 10 at 5PM and will review video submissions on their own schedules during the following times: March 14-18 for high-school teams and April 11-15 for middle-school teams. Sign up by March 8 to be a judge for either the high-school or middle-school fair.

FSU McAuliffe Center Online: Women in Aerospace: Stories from the Smithsonian Collection, Mar. 17

The Christa McAuliffe Center at Framingham State University and the Smithsonian will c0-host a free webinar, Women in Aerospace: Stories from the Smithsonian Collection, on March 17 at 5PM. The speaker will be Dr. Margaret Weitekamp, Curator and Department Chair of the Space History Department at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. Register here.

FSU Planetarium Online — AstroNights Live: A Star’s Life, Mar. 19

The Christa McAuliffe Center at Framingham State University continues its season of free, virtual planetarium AstroNights events for families (ages 7+) with an online presentation, A Star’s Life, on March 19 at 7PM. In a 30-minute presentation (followed  by Q&A session), learn how stars are born, live, and die. View the presentation on Zoom (registration required) or the Christa McAuliffe YouTube channel, where you can view recordings of previous AstroNights events.

Girl Scouts of Eastern Mass. Virtual STEM Conference, Mar. 20-21

The Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts invite all girls in Grades 4-12 to their Virtual STEM Conference, March 20-21, 10AM-6PM. Choose your schedule among keynote addresses and workshops (Grades 4-5, 6-8, and 9-12). The cost is $30 for members and $40 for non-members, and financial aid is available. Register by March 14 as GSEMA Girl Scout Junior, GSEMA Girl Scout Cadette/Senior/Ambassador, or Nonmember or members of other Girl Scout Council.

Grades 7-8: Register NOW for Virtual MIT Spark, Mar. 13, 20 & 27

This year MIT’s Spark enrichment program for Grades 7-8 will be run virtually over three Saturdays, March 13, 20 & 27 . MIT students run Spark and teach its courses, which may be one-day stand-alone classes or sequences that span multiple Saturdays. Classes will be held each Saturday during 11AM-1PM and 2PM-5PM. The cost is $40 per student regardless of the number of courses taken, and there is generous, need-based financial aid available. Register by March 4 with your course choices to be included in the lottery for course placements. To maximize the number of time blocks in which you have classes, for each time block you should rank at least 3 classes and star at least 6 classes. After the lottery, there will be first-come/first-served registration for remaining spots until March 10. For more information, email spark@mit.edu. Among the 84 classes available are these STEM-related ones:

  • Introduction to MIT App Inventor
  • Introduction to Proof Logic
  • Visual Accessibility with MIT App Inventor
  • Spreadsheets are Cool
  • How To Quickly Prototype an AI Chip
  • Introduction to Computer Programming
  • Create Your Own Conversational AI Agents
  • Siri, self-driving cars, and COVID: what can (and can’t) AI do for you?
  • Random Forests: Introduction to Machine Learning
  • Satellite Engineering
  • What in the world is plasma?
  • Metals & Metallurgists & Manufacturing
  • How To Make Mediocre Furniture
  • Yeeting Rockets
  • Intro to Electronics
  • Tessellations of 2D planes & 3D space
  • Infinities
  • Cellular Automata
  • Information and the Redundancy of English
  • Fractals!
  • Fibonacci Numbers! Featuring Recursion
  • Mod Mathematics and Mod Art
  • Introduction to Number Theory
  • The Science of COVID-19
  • Debates in Bioethics
  • Getting to the Bottom of Things
  • Antiferromagnetism!!
  • How Do We Make Energy?
  • How to Build a Virus
  • Fusion Energy, Climate Change, and Environmental Racism
  • what is DNA, structure and its function
  • mRNA vaccine turning people into mutants? Science behind COVID and vaccine
  • Light and Radiation: The Invisible World
  • The Origin of Everything: Introduction to Cosmology
  • Glow Big or Glow home
  • Active Galaxies & Supermassive Black Holes
  • Introductory cardiology: how the heart beats and breaks
  • Stellar graveyard: black holes, neutron stars and more!
  • Physics of the Extreme!
  • Introduction to Biostatistics and Epidemiology
  • Let’s Talk about the Weather!
  • Seedy Dealings: The Rise of Plants
  • The Microbiome: How much of your body is you?
  • The Science of Happiness
  • Science and Economics of Climate Change: Understanding Environmental Successes and Failures
  • Women’s Health
  • Special Relativity
  • Microbiome 101: What’s in your poop?
  • Nuclear Fusion: Infinite, Clean Energy?

Harvard Museums Online: After-School Animal Encounters–Weird Eaters, Mar. 3

Harvard Museums of Science and Culture will present a free, live, online, family-friendly event, After-School Animal Encounters: Weird Eaters, on March 3, 3PM-3:45PM. Museum staff will introduce live animals and explain creatures’ unusual diets and eating habits. Register here to get a link to the event and to make a voluntary contribution if you wish to support HMSC.