The Christa McAuliffe Center at Framingham State University continues its season of free, virtual planetarium AstroNights events for families (ages 6+) with an online presentation, Mars 2021, on February 19 at 7PM. In a 30-minute presentation (followed by Q&A session), learn about MOXIE (the Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment) and view Mars in the night sky. View the presentation on Zoom (registration required) or the Christa McAuliffe YouTube channel, where you can view recordings of previous AstroNights events.
Register Now for WPI Tech Kids (Virtual), Grades 5-6, Mar. 16 – Apr. 6
Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s Pre-Collegiate Outreach program will offer its Tech Kids program virtually this year. It’s designed to encourage students in Grades 5-6 to pursue studies and careers in STEM, and the theme this year is STEM in Everyday Places. It will run March 16 – April 6, 4PM-5:30PM, and cost $150. Register here. For more information email pop@wpi.edu or call 508-831-4900.
Mass. Audubon Online Presentations for All Ages, Feb. 10 & Mar. 3
Mass Audubon’s Habitat and the Belmont Public Library will host these online presentations for all ages. Register at these links:
- Who’s Looking for Love? explores how some animals look for love in February and the myths that surround their quests. February 10, 3:30-4:30PM.
- Making Maple Sugar explores historical, current and revolutionary new practices in harvesting maple sap and turning it into syrup and sugar. March 3, 3:30-4:30PM.
Museum of Science #MOSatHome Events, Feb. 1-5
Boston’s Museum of Science, through its #MOSatHome initiative, offers almost daily programs online, free for all ages. The current week’s schedule has the following for this week:
- February 1, 2PM: What to Look for in the Sky This Month
- February 2, 2:30PM: Virtual Planetarium: Exploring Space
- February 3, 3:30PM: Science in Action: Virtual Birding
- February 5, 1PM: Live Animals: Unique Defenses
2:30PM: Virtual Planetarium: The Sky Tonight
Harvard Museums Online: I ❤️ Science, Feb. 12-15
The Harvard Museums of Science & Culture will present their online I Heart Science festival — four days of live discussions by Harvard scientists and graduate students, at-home activities, and views of museum specimens — February 12-15, 1PM-2:30PM each day. Register at the links below, at least 30 minutes before each event.
- Incredible Evolution: February 12. Meet Harvard researchers studying how brains evolve and how stress can enhance performance. Watch recorded videos by Harvard scientists studying mice behavior or try your hand at comparing bone structures, collecting bugs, and investigating the Giant Moa skeleton.
- Tiny Creatures: February 13. Meet live tardigrades (water bears), watch recorded videos featuring Harvard scientists who study bacterial resistance, ways to test for viruses, and how bacteria grow. Try making a water-drop microscope, comparing communities of microbes, and drawing microbes.
- Love the Earth, February 14. Meet Harvard researchers studying how we can design batteries large enough to power a building and investigate what it takes to save endangered species. Try growing crystals, modeling volcanos, and closely looking at an amethyst geode.
- Faraway Worlds, February 15. Meet Harvard researchers studying how we study the sun and what we hope to learn from missions to Mars. Try investigating light, explore what we know about coelacanths and hear the story behind the museum’s Kronosaurus specimen
Sharon Math & Science Tournament, Grades 6-8, Online, Mar. 27
The 7th annual Sharon Math and Science Tournament (SMST) will be held virtually on March 27, 1PM-6PM. It’s organized each year by a team of Sharon High School students to foster passion for STEM through collaboration and critical thinking. Middle-school students from anywhere are invited to register, individually or in teams of 4-6. For more information, see the flyer, or read the FAQs or email smst.sharonschools@gmail.com.
Various STEM Contests for Students
The American Society for Engineering Education notes the following free, online STEM contests open to students:
- MathWorks Math Modeling Contest: Grades 11 & 12 — up to 2 teams per school, of 2-3 students each — tackle real-world math problems online under time and resource constraints. Register by February 19 at 4PM.
- New York Times STEM Writing Contest: Middle/High school students ages 11-19 write an engaging, 500-word explanation of a STEM-related issue or question of their choice. January 19 – March 2.
- ACTE/NASA Student Video Contest: Students of all ages create videos on the theme of Advancing Space Exploration through Manufacturing. Submit entries by April 1.
- EngineerGirl Writing Contest: Grades 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12 submit essays by February 1(!) about engineering’s role in meeting and defeating the challenges presented by COVID-19.
MSMR Student Competition: Enter a Poster, Essay, or Website
The Massachusetts Society for Medical Research will hold its 29th Annual Student Competition, in which New England students in Grades 7-12 learn about a breakthrough in life sciences and report about it via a poster, essay, or website — as if reporting for the What A Year website for science discovery. Awards of up to $500 will be made in two levels: Grades 7-8 and Grades 9-12, with education grants for the teachers/advisors of the winning students. Entries are due by April 30. See the student packet.
FSU Online: Call for Presenters for Science on State Street, Apr. 12-24
Framingham State University’s Christa McAuliffe Center seeks event presenters for this year’s Science on State Street festival, which will be held April 12-24. Events/exhibits will be mostly online/virtual but may be outdoor and in-person if in accordance with then-current Massachusetts COVID-19 Guidelines. Apply here by March 31. Exhibits may be activities, workshops, discussions, performances, exhibitions, films, nature walks, or guided tours and should be aligned with any of these themes: Climate Change, Energy, Waste Reduction/Recycling/Composting, Ecosystems, Astronomy from Planet Earth, and Learning from Our COVID-19 Experience. For more information, email cmc@framingham.edu.
NNHS STEMentors Offer Free STEM Resources for K-8
STEMentors is an program by Newton North HS students, led by juniors Rachel Kimball and Peter Dukakis and advised by NNHS Chemistry teacher David Bennett, to provide free, engaging STEM lessons to K-8 students through virtual drop-in classes, lessons with NPS classrooms, 1:1 math tutoring, and guest speaker sessions.
The next session in the STEMentors Guest Speaker series will feature Arielle Conti, a sensor systems engineer at MITRE and NNHS alum, speaking online on February 17, 4:30PM-5:30PM, about her career path and a bit about geodesics. The event is free and aimed for Grades 6-8 but open to all. Register here.
STEMentors is also distributing free STEAM Kits for Kids, under the initiative of NNHS sophomore Sabrina Cohen. These kits provide materials for hands-on experiments that may be conducted standalone or in conjunction with STEMentors free, online STEM sessions. They are aimed primarily for Grades 3-5 but others may apply. Sign up for kits here.