UMass Amherst Online Summer Courses

Summer, Virtual/Online

UMass Amherst is offering online summer courses for high-school students, including these STEM-related courses:

  • Creative Coding and Data Visualization, July 12-30
  • Equine Science Intensive: Horse Pregnancy & Foaling, July 12-16
  • Foundations of Data Science, July 26-August 6
  • Kinesiology: Pathway to the Medical Professions, July 12-23
  • Modern Astronomy, July 12-30
  • Pre-Veterinary Medicine (FULL), July 29-July 2 or July 12-16
  • Programming for Aspiring Scientists: Python with Applications to Physics, June 28 – July 9
  • Research Intensive in Psychology (several different labs), June 29 – July 30
  • Veterinary Technology, July 12-16 or July 19-23

Lincoln Labs’ Science on Saturday: Aviation Engineering, June 5

Events, Virtual/Online

MIT Lincoln Laboratory is offering its Science on Saturdays programs virtually this year, and registration is NOT required. The programs are free and designed for children aged 5-17, their parents, and teachers. On Saturday, June 5 at 10AM, the program will be Aviation Engineering, featuring a discussion of how Lincoln Laboratory develops aviation technologies including unmanned air vehicles (drones).  Click here for the Zoom link at the time of the event..

WPI’s TouchTomorrow Virtual Festival, June 6-12

Events, Virtual/Online

Worcester Polytechnic Institute and WGBH will present the annual TouchTomorrow festival of science, technology, and robots virtually this year,  June 6-12. It’s family-friendly, fun, free, and open to all ages — with a particular focus on what’s interesting for middle- and high-school students. Programming includes hands-on interactive challenges (games, math modeling), exhibits, presentations (Disney Imagineers, LEGO brick designer, cancer research, Mars exploration, and the Magical STEM Show), and STEM Pathway discussions about STEM education opportunities. Register here.

Letters to a Pre-Scientist: STEM Professional Pen-Pal Program for Grades 5-10

Opportunities, Recommendations

Letters to a Pre-Scientist (LPS) is a non-profit initiative to facilitate one-on-one, pen-pal conversations between students in Grades 5-10 in low-income communities and STEM professionals in order to humanize STEM professionals, to inspire students to explore a future in STEM, and to demystify STEM career pathways. STEM professionals sign up in July-August and are matched with students in September based on shared interests. Students and their STEM professional partners exchange at least four letters during the school year. Entire classrooms of students participate in the program, each led by a teacher recruited by LPS and committed to the program. Started by one teacher in 2010, LPS has grown to other schools. Tax-deductible donations are appreciated.

Museum of Science Reinstates Live Presentations

Opportunities

Boston’s Museum of Science has returned to offering live presentations, including Lightning in the Theater of Electricity and Science Live explorations of super-cold science, live animals and ecology, archaeology, and other topics. Live presentations are included in the cost of museum admission. Arrive at the presentation location at least 10 minutes prior to the show. Virtual presentations continue online on Tuesdays, 2:30PM-3PM, and you can register for the May 18 Virtual Planetarium show here.

Mass Insight’s Free, Virtual Summer AP STEM & English Bridge Program

Summer, Virtual/Online

Registration is now open for the virtual AP Summer Bridge Program offered free by Mass Insight Education and Research to all students in Massachusetts public and charter schools to help prepare for AP courses next year. Students can register at the following links for up to two courses (one 8:30AM-11:15AM and one 12:15PM-3PM) in each of two separate weeks:  July 26-30 and August 2-6. STEM-related courses include introductions to these AP courses:

  • July 26-30:  Morning: Biology, Computer Science A, Statistics.  Afternoon: Environmental Science, as well as Science Study Skills.
  • August 2-6:  Morning: Calculus, Chemistry. Afternoon: Computer Science Principals, Physics 1, as well as AP Study Skills for All.

Blue Hill Observatory Webinar: Five-Hundred-Year History of America’s Hurricanes, June 10

Events, Virtual/Online

On June 10, 7PM-8:30PM, the Blue Hill Observatory will host a webinar, A Furious Sky: The Five-Hundred-Year History of America’s Hurricanes, in which local historian Eric J. Dolan will discuss his book of that title. To support the nonprofit work of the observatory, there is a registration fee ($10 for BHO members, $15 for others). Register to make a donation, get sign-in credentials for the webinar, and optionally buy a copy of his book.