Blog – Page 9 – Margaret Mohr-Schroeder

June 6, 2016June 6, 2016

Week 1 Day 1 is successfully in the books!

We had beautiful weather to kick off the first of our two weeks of 2016 UK See Blue STEM Camp! We are very excited to welcome 216 campers over the course of the next two weeks. Seventy-two of them started today. Registration went very well this morning and we really appreciate everyone’s patience in getting all the forms UK requires turned in. You all are awesome!

Just a note about the consent and assent forms that we ask for every year. Our camp is subsidized by an NSF grant that requires research and reporting to the agency. The purpose of the research is to develop a camp model that promotes STEM careers to adolescents and can be replicated. We also look at students attitudes towards STEM and the impact of our activities. We do not collect test scores or anything similar for your students nor do they have to be a Fayette County student to participate. Without this grant and consent and assent to participate the camp simply would not exist. We never report any names or any individual data…it’s always aggregated together!

We will post a blog post each night this week with some highlights from the day and some conversation starters. The conversation starters are meant to help you get over the “What did you learn today?” “Nothin’” or <shrugging the shoulders> we often see at the adolescent age. We’ll also post a link to the photos we are taking throughout the week. If at any time you want a photo removed that is of your child, please let us know and we’ll be happy to take it down.

Today the students split up and 1/2 saw Dr. Bruce Walcott and the other 1/2 saw Dr. Isabel Escobar. (If you like TED talks, you can view hers here https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-wbHD77kMWE) In both sessions students were immersed in the wonderful world of engineering…using their hands to build and explore just as engineers do.

In robotics, students started by engineering their robots. They got to build their robot and get to know it. They always love this part, but we’re eager to continue moving them on to basic programming challenges. We have some exciting new challenges planned for them this week!

In their words… Each day we’ll post some excerpts from the students’ reflections of what they learned each day at the STEM Content session.

Dr. Walcott – What I learned today…

We used a slinky as a demonstration of sound waves.
I learned that the first woman that graduated from engineering helped invent AC.
I learned that weight matters less than volume when it comes to making boats.
I would like to be an engineer.
The testing of new designs.

Dr. Escobar – What I learned today…

That if you mix a type of powder and water and turn whatever you put it in upside down it will not spill.
I liked that we did hands-on things instead of just talking about it.
You got to play and touch it and experiment with it.
I liked that we got to learn things chemical engineers get to experience.
I want to learn more about the powder and water because it was really cool watching the powder form into a solid.
I liked that we got to do the experiments that went with the lesson.

Conversation Starters… We know that your child is getting to the age where it might be like pulling teeth to get them to talk about their day beyond “It was fine.” “It was fun.” Each day we’ll post some suggested conversation starters centered on camp activities or STEM-related themes.

Dr. Walcott:

Tell me about how you assembled your robot. Did you follow instructions? Did you just try to figure out what parts went together?
Is there a particular field of engineering that you think might interest you?
How many pennies did your boat hold? If you could build it again, what would you do differently?

Dr. Escobar:

What happened when you mixed the powder and water and turned it upside down?
What does a chemical engineer do?
Is there a particular field of engineering that you think might interest you?

Photo of the Day… Each day we’ll post a camp highlight. Clicking on the picture will also link to all of the pictures taken at camp – It’s not working right now because I forgot to bring the camera home to download the pictures. Please note that we try to capture pictures of all the campers, but we cannot guarantee that we will get every single one. We try our very best to though! Also we are STEM teachers and not full time photographers, so our pictures are not perfect and we leave them unedited, so if you love to edit photos…feel free! (We did not do too well at taking pictures today with it being day 1, but we promise to do better tomorrow!)

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter to get live updates throughout the day! https://twitter.com/SeeBlueSTEMCamp

June 13, 2015June 13, 2015

Materials Science, DNA modeling, and challenges…what better way to end a great week of camp?!!

Wow…what a great ending day to an awesome week of camp this year! This has definitely been one of our best years yet!

The yellow and green groups take to take an up close look at DNA with Dr. Park-Sarge from the College of Medicine. How up close? They were able to extract their dna was a sample swab they took of themselves. I have to say, it was one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a while!

The red and blue groups explored and learned about materials science today with Dr. Brett Criswell, a science education faculty member in our Department of STEM Education. He kept them very busy the entire time, conducting mini experiments, testing their hypotheses, discovering electrical properties of different mediums via squishy circuits, and even got to make their own gak! The gak recipe was sent home with your child(ren)…it’s a pretty easy and safe recipe to make and it’s actually not quite as messy as play-doh. The students really enjoyed learning about different properties and felt like “real scientists” since they wore goggles when they were conducting their experiments.

In robotics, both groups had their final days with their Green City and Space Challenges. There were so many successes, it’s hard to talk about all of them! Mark Evans, our head of robotics for camp, made some changes to the robotics curriculum this year and we were really pleased with the end result. All of the groups got through at least one challenge on the mats on Friday, and most got through 2 or more. This year’s students were really into robotics more than any group we’ve ever had. On top of the knowledge they gained with basic programming, they really increased their communication and teamwork skills this week!

Looking back, the directors felt this was one of our most successful weeks in the 6 years the camp has been in existence; this is in large part thanks to your efforts as parents and guardians. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to bring your child and pick them up from this unique opportunity! So many students left with positive attitudes towards STEM, an appreciation for STEM, and with a spark of interest in a STEM career.

In their words…

Yellow/Green Group: What did you learn about today that you did not know before?

– I learned that DNA results can be found using these steps that we used today
– Certain things can make cells burst
– the DNA bases, how they related to each other, how to look at my cells
– I learned that double helix ladders can only be right handed because if somebody had a left handed they wouldn’t even exist
– the all cells have 46 chromosomes, also mostly every organism has right hand DNA

What did you like about what you learned today?
– how we were able to see in a test tube what are DNA looked like
– I liked extracting the DNA and making the DNA necklace
– It’s interesting! I like the subject of biology
– I liked that I got to learn what the names of the letters like A, T, C, G

Red/Blue Group: What did you learn about today that you did not know before?
– I learned about lots of different strengths of plastics
– I learned how to test plastic
– how to make silly puddy and ooblick
– I learned that scientists use weights from heights to test certain types of materials
– that bulletproof glass was plastic

What did you like about what you learned today?
– I liked to learn about how to make things
– it was very hands-on
– I liked making the materials
– making ooblick

Conversation Starters…

Yellow/Green Groups:

How did you find out what your own DNA was? What did it look like?
What kinds of things can make a cell burst?
What is DNA made of?
What challenges did you work today in programming your robot for the Space Challenge?

Red/Blue Groups:

What is materials science? What makes it special?
You did an experiment with several different types of sand today…what were you trying to figure out? Did your results match your hypothesis?
What is so special about the Gak/ooblik you made…and wait, you made that!!??
What challenges did you work today in programming your robot for the Green City Challenge?

Photo of the Day… Click here to view the photos and click here to view the videos we’ve been able to get uploaded. Don’t forget to glance through the Twitter feed (no sign in needed!) to view pictures and videos from the week!

June 11, 2015June 11, 2015

Make your own gak, anechoic chambers, and new challenges!

Thursday was another eventful day at See Blue STEM Camp. The students are really engaging well with the content and material and the loudness of the chatter is increasing exponentially, which we view as a good thing. They usually come in pretty quiet and reserved at the beginning of the week, and as they get more comfortable with their groups, the structure of the camp, etc., they really start to come out of their shells. STEM Camp has a knack for bringing out the smiles and voices of even the ones who don’t usually talk!

The Blue and Red groups got to explore the wide and wonderful world of engineering today with Dr. Bruce Walcott, a professor in electrical engineering and one of the co-founders of STEM Camp. The students dove deeper today into the design engineering process they learned about on Monday and got to apply it further through small investigations. From a lesson on buoyancy to building small generators to looking at how sound waves move, many were inspired to consider a career in engineering. They got to tour the engineering complex and several of the laboratories where the UK students and faculty really get to build and test their ideas. They got to talk to the UK students and faculty; our students asked them some great questions! The favorite on the tour again today was the anechoic chamber!

The Yellow/Green Groups explored and learned about materials science today with Dr. Brett Criswell, a science education faculty member in our Department of STEM Education. He kept them very busy the entire time, conducting mini experiments, testing their hypotheses, discovering electrical properties of different mediums via squishy circuits, and even got to make their own gak! If the cornstarch in your pantry goes missing, you might check your child’s room… 🙂

In robotics today, each group started their challenge…red and blue groups started the Green City challenge which focuses on ideas around sustainability and energy. The yellow and green groups started the Space Challenge today which focuses on ideas around physical science and astronomy. Since it was new, there were some frustrations, but as they got the hang of the concept of the new challenges, there was some great excitement in the air. All are looking forward to the final day tomorrow where they will really get to put all of their skills together for some more complex programming.

It’s hard to believe tomorrow’s the last day! We sure have enjoyed having them this week. They are truly a great group this year!

In their words…

Red/Blue Groups

What did you learn about today that you did not know before?

that it is possible to create a room without echos
that slinkies have different sound waves
I learned how a boat floats
that concrete could float
dencity and how it works [sic]
how engineers solve their problem

What did you like about what you learned today?

learning about echolocation
making aluminum foil float
I love engineering!
calculus
how we got to build a genorator [sic]

Yellow/Green Groups

What did you learn about today that you did not know before?

glue+water+Borax = Slime!
I learned about how to make electricity out of playdough, the different sands and how to make goo
That kinetic sand can’t absorb water in any way

that scientists have to catigor things based on structur and characteristics [sic]
what material science is, how to make silly putty, different kinds of sand
that you could make a solid out of water and glue
You can make putty using borax, water, and glue. Also, magic sand is hydrophobic (water resistant)

What did you like about what you learned today?

Getting to make my own gak. An learning about the field of material science
I liked that I got to keep this gooey stuff and you could bounce it
you can turn corn startch into science
I liked making all the slime
the scientists can use the materials to make better modified items to change and solve problems
materials science is awesome. I’d like to learn how to make more mixtures

Conversation starters…

Blue/Red Groups:

What was your favorite part about the engineering tour today?
What is an anechoic chamber?
How many pennies did your boat hold? If you could build it again, what would you do differently? (The red group didn’t have time to get to this today)
Is there a particular field of engineering that you think might interest you?
What challenges did you work today in programming your robot for the Green City?

Yellow/Green Groups:

What is materials science? What makes it special?
You did an experiment with several different types of sand today…what were you trying to figure out? Did your results match your hypothesis?
I heard you watched a really cool video about corn starch…can you tell me about it?
What is so special about the Gak you made…and wait, you made gak!!??
What challenges did you work today in programming your robot for the Space Challenge?

Photo of the Day… (Click here to view the photos and click here to view the videos we’ve been able to get uploaded). Our teacher leaders are rocking the Twitter world this week, so don’t forget to follow us throughout the day!

See Blue STEM Camp was featured on UKNow today…you can read more about it here!

June 10, 2015June 10, 2015

Brains, 3d pens, and robots…oh my!

Day 3 was so intense and great I don’t even know where to start! One teacher leader from the Yellow/Green groups summed up our thoughts pretty well: From programming a robot to handling a human heart: that’s pretty good breadth of experience for a day.

Today the Yellow and Green Groups got to visit Dr. Robin Cooper’s biology laboratory where they were immersed into the world of stereology. They learned about tumor sizes, especially how they determine them from 2-dimensional slices such as from a MRI machine. They also got to practice 3d modeling using Sketchup today. Then they got to handle some human organs, including the brain, use an EMG to discover electricity in their muscles, and talk about the human body in general through the outreach center.

The red and blue groups got to experience the world of mathematical modeling with Dr. Jen Eli today. They heard the buzz about this session yesterday, so many were very excited about today. They first got to work on their mathematical vocabulary and communicating with a partner through a series of short challenges. Then they dove right in to 3 dimensional figures and used 3D pens to create models of figures such as pyramids, tetrahedron, and even some did the dodecahedron! They really enjoyed using the 3D pens and seeing how the world of modeling has opened up with recent technology devices such as the 3D pens coming down in price.

In robotics today, all four groups continued to work on their challenge mats. We had lots of successes today and the students are feeling confident going into their challenges tomorrow. The most favorite mat has definitely been the “K mat” where the students get the robot to spell out C-A-T-S (and when achieved there are lots of “CATS CATS CATS” shouts of joy 🙂 ). Tomorrow, the yellow and green groups will be doing the Space Challenge and the red and blue groups will be doing the Green City Challenge.

In their words…

Yellow/Green Groups

What did you learn about today that you did not know before?

The leg has the most pulses
I learned that they take a picture of different sections of the brain to comoe up with the size of a tumor. [sic]
I learned about different parts of the organ and different diseases.
How the brain works and about the different brain sections.
That there is air and water in ur head [sic]
I learned about the human body, lie detector tests, the brai, and what foods have in it.
Sick hearts actually get larger.
I didn’t know kidey made urine [sic]
I learn about the differences of a healthy heart and a heart that’s sick

What did you like about what you learned today?

I like that I can use this in real life
I liked learning about the human body, also I liked touching the preserved organs.
It is something I could use in my career
I got to play on sketchup and see lots of things
It was fun to hold the organs, and the people were very willing to answer questions. I was never bored.

Red/Blue Groups

What did you learn about today that you did not know before?

I learned about a hexagonal prism.
How to use a 3 dimensional pen and how to draw connected cubes
that you can melt plastic safly [sic]
I learned how to draw 3-D shapes with isonic paper.
That there was more 3d shapes than regular

What did you like about what you learned today?

It was really fun to draw cubes and 3 dimensional shapes on 2d objects
I liked using 3-D pens
how to use math for archutechual things [sic]
it was really hands on

Conversation Starters…

Yellow/Green Groups

How big do tumors actually get? How do they know how big they are?
What was your favorite organ to learn about and touch? Why?
What did you find out when you did the EMG?
What challenges did you work on today in robotics? How comfortable are you with the programming now? What did you get your robot to do today?

Red/Blue Groups

What polyhedra did you build today with your 3D pen?
How successful were you and your partner at communicating during the mathematical challenges today?
What challenges did you work on today in robotics? How comfortable are you with the programming now? What did you get your robot to do today?
What was your favorite part about using the 3D pen?

Photo of the Day… (Don’t forget to click here to see all the camp photos; and here to follow our twitter feed – no account required!)

June 9, 2015

From 2D to 3D…it’s a world of opportunity all around us!

Another fabulous day is in the books! Your students probably came home pretty tired today from all the intense, engaging, excitement they had today! The Yellow and Green groups had the pleasure of one of our alumni coming back all the way from Arizona to present today! She brought with her a slew of mathematical modeling activities, including using our 3D pens! Students had the opportunity to enhance their geometric and spatial reasoning skills in three-dimensions. They also got to work on their mathematical vocabulary and communication as they provided clues in the activities. Of course their favorite part was getting to use the 3D pens (if some are interested, this is the model we purchased and had the most success with – we tested 4 different ones!). They first used the pens to construct polyhedra and then they got to play around with the pen. We had some great and unique creations!

The blue and red groups had a fascinating day with the geocaching (don’t worry I’ll let you ask your student what that is 🙂 ). They got to draw some “old style” maps (aka 2D) and then look at the mapping capabilities of Google Earth and it’s 3D visualizations. They found their houses and then went on a geocaching scavenger hunt on campus.

For robotics today they really dug deep into their beginning programming and challenges. Our robotics instructors created some awesome new mats and challenges this year to help guide them more with the programming, so they had a lot of fun getting their robots to drive through the mazes, knock over (empty) water bottles, and even spell out C-A-T-S CATS CATS CATS! There were lots of successes and we caught many of them on video. We’ll try to get all of those uploaded tomorrow for your viewing fun.

Tomorrow brings more mathematical modeling excitement for the red and blue groups and lear IMG_5730 copy ning about stereology in the yellow and green groups in the biology laboratory.

Your child(ren) will be working in groups all week long. The robotics groups are teams of 2 and will stay the same all week long, while the other groups formed will vary throughout the week. As the “real world” continues to become more team-work oriented, we want to help our students grow in that direction as well. We hope your child gets to work with a variety of students this week and in turn meets some great new friends!

In their words…

Red and Blue Groups:

I learned what longitude and latitude means.
I liked using Google Earth to find places.
I think it was interesting because we got to use fun things with maps.
I would like to learn more about geocaching, because I like being outdoors.

Yellow and Green Groups:

(What I would like to learn more) What other kinds of designs I can do because I would like to do them as my house. [sic]
I learned that 3D pens are the best thing that’s ever happened.
We got to use a 3D pen! (And I got to keep what I made)
We learned how to make 3D figures and made shapes with the 3D pens.

Conversation Starters…

Yellow/Green Groups:

What polyhedra did you build today with your 3D pen?
How successful were you and your partner at communicating during the mathematical challenges today?
What challenges did you work on today in robotics? How comfortable are you with the programming now? What did you get your robot to do today?
What was your favorite part about using the 3D pen?

Red/Blue Groups:

What is geocaching? What makes it different than reading an “old, flat map”?
What did you find in your geocaching scavenger today?
What was your favorite part about working with Google Earth?

Photo(s) of the day… (excited and ready to move on the next part of the afternoon!) Click here to view the rest (our internet is being slow tonight so they are taking a while to load…sorry!)