The Boston Red Sox will host two STEM Days:
Each will have a STEM fair and a panel of speakers, and participants will have a workbook and a ticket for the 1:05PM game. Teachers should contact Seth at 617-226-6834 or sshuman@redsox.comh to reserve space.
The Cambridge Science Festival is the national leader in its field, with over 200 activities and events spanning 10 days, April 13-22, in Cambridge, greater Boston, and beyond. #CambSciFest is too much to keep in your head. You can filter this year’s online schedule of events by date, age (family/teens/adults), cost, venue, day of the week, time of day, or organizer — and then export your filtered events to your personal calendar. Browse the lists of Museum of Science activities and exhibits and week-long youth and family workshops. Some events require pre-registration or tickets, and most are free. Some highlights:
If you can’t make it to Boston University to see the LigerBots compete in the New England District Championship at Boston University, April 13-14, you can view the matches online in real time here or here. You can search for LigerBots’ upcoming events in this championship in their schedule. Other videos of the LigerBots’ competitions are archived here.
Edge On Science will host a free event, Solar Science for Families, for ages 7+, on April 15, 2PM-4:30PM, at St. Benedict Elementary School (2 Pleasant Street, South Natick). View the sun safely with a solar telescope and learn about spicules, prominences, filaments, and sun spots.
Framingham State University will show a free film, Symbiotic Earth: How Lynn Margulis Rocked the Boat and Started a Scientfic Revolution: on April 19 at 4:30PM in FSU’s Dwight Hall Auditorium (map).
The MIT Museum (265 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge) will host its next Teen Science Cafe for high-school students on April 21, 6-8:30PM, focused on the search for habitable exoplanets and how we might survive on them. Admission is free and dinner will be provided. Seating is limited and registration is required. Doors will open at 5:45PM and no one will be admitted after 7PM. The event will include space trivia, hands-on activities, short talks and conversations with scientists, and time to explore the Museum galleries.
The STEM Education Center of Worcester Polytechnic Institute will host two AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers in the 2018-19 academic year to focus on STEM education, WPI and the local education community (including Worcester Public Schools and after-school programs). See the job description and apply by May 25 by sending your resume and cover letter to vista@wpi.edu. Cover letters should answer the questions: “Why do you want to serve with CCNE VISTA?” and “Why are you best suited for WPI’s VISTA position(s)?”. For more information, email vista@wpi.edu.
The Newton LigerBots excelled today at the FIRST Robotics Greater Boston Event at Revere High School, where the team advanced to the finals as part of the second alliance before being eliminated in the final match. The LigerBots ranked sixth out of 42 teams in regular competition play and also took home the event’s Engineering Inspiration Award. One of the team’s student leaders also moved forward as a finalist for the Dean’s List Award. (See photos.)
The LigerBots have now qualified for the New England District Championship at Boston University, April 13-14, based on their robot’s success on the Power Up playing field and garnering the Engineering Inspiration Award and Imagery awards at district-level events. The New England Championship, like all FRC events, is free and open to the public and will be live streamed. Everyone is invited to cheer with the team in the stands and be escorted by a LigerBot on a “pit tour” of all the competing FRC robots.
The Engineering Inspiration Award celebrates the team’s outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering within its school and community. The judges said, “[The LigerBots exemplify] coopertition. With 30 outreach events this year alone, this team sets the standard for not only getting STEM into their local community, but worldwide. From science fairs to 3D printing, fixing school equipment to creating their own internal grant system, this team is truly an inspiration. On top of all that, this team taught us all how to be safe this year with their award-winning animation video.” The LigerBots will be eligible to compete for the next level of this award at the New England District Championship.
In addition to the team-wide awards, outstanding individual LigerBots have received several awards this season. At the Revere event, Newton North HS sophomore and LigerBots CMO Douglas was named a Dean’s List Award District Championship finalist. The Dean’s List Award celebrates outstanding student leaders with exemplary passion for and effectiveness at attaining FIRST ideals. He and Coach Igor, whose nomination for the Woodie Flowers Award was presented in March at the North Shore Event, will be considered for the same awards at the next level at the New England Championship.
If all goes well at the District Championship, the LigerBots will qualify for the FRC World Championship in Detroit, on April 25-28, and will then immediately need to raise significant money for the $5,000 competition fee and travel expenses. The LigerBots are supported solely by corporate sponsors and individual donors. If you’d like to help the team, you can donate online via Paypal or the LigerBots website, which also has information about donating by check.
Let’s Build is a family volunteering initiative bringing engineering into Needham’s elementary schools by training family and community volunteers to support classroom design challenges. Its major fundraiser, the Let’s Build Engineering Extravaganza, will be held April 28, 10AM-2PM at Broadmeadow Elementary School (120 Broad Meadow Rd, Needham) for Pre-K, elementary, and middle-school children and their families. Suggested donation is $5 per family. Scheduled activities include an inflatable planetarium, catapults in “The Real Angry Birds,” visualization of sound, Hot Wheels: Exploring Speed and Distance, the physics of rhythmic gymnastics, Hoppers with Olin College, make a hovercraft and more!
The Massachusetts STEM Summit invites proposals for exhibits, presentations, and workshop for this year’s summit, to be held on November 14 at DCU Center in Worcester. Proposals may address any of these topics: Early Education, K-12, Higher Education, and Workforce and Business. See the site for proposal forms and guidelines. Proposals are due May 4.