Announcements
"Save the World Through Science & Engineering” Video Contest - The Kavli Foundation is challenging Grades 6-12 students across the world to brainstorm and share their ideas!
Accept the Biology Challenge: Become part of the USA Biology Olympiad
The USA Biology Olympiad (USABO) is the premiere US biology competition for high school students at http://www.usabo-trc.org.
Annual National STEM Video Game Challenge for Students and K–12 Teachers
is now open for entries and is accepting submissions of original video game concepts and designs from students and educators in four categories – middle school, high school, collegiate, and educator. Deadline: March 12, 2012.
April 27-29, 2012
USA Science and Engineering Festival
The 2nd USA Science & Engineering Festival will inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers with school programs and nationwide contests throughout the 2011/2012 school year and a finale Expo in Washington DC on April 27-29, 2012. JMU is a Titanium Sponsor of the USA Science and Engineering Festival.
Grade 5-12 STEM Education Program Opportunity for School District and School Communities
An 8-week experiment design competition in the community, held Spring 2012, will allow grade 5-12 student teams to design real microgravity experiments vying for their community’s reserved mini-lab slot on ISS.
News
Pivotal Items for High School Mathematics
The Center for STEM Education and Outreach at James Madison University brought together experts in the field of mathematics education to develop sets of higher-level questions for use in Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry courses. These questions are aligned with the 2009 Standards of Learning. We describe these items as "pivotal questions" because they serve a vital and critical role in unveiling student understanding and misconceptions in ways that knowledge-recall questions do not allow. Teachers can access these pivotal questions from the Center's website under "Curricular Resources". Read More >>
JMU Well-Represented at First USA Science and Engineering Festival
The USA Science and Engineering Festival was held on the National Mall in Washington, DC on 23-24 October and JMU was very well-represented. The Center for STEM Education and Outreach hosted a booth featuring First Lego League robotics, a hands-on exhibit on hydrogen-fueled cars and a display of geospatial technologies. Read More >>
A Revolution in Geographic Education: Virginia's Geospatial Semester
National Geographic has highlighted the Geospatial Semester in an article called "A Revolution in Geographic Education: Virginia's Geospatial Semester." The Geospatial Semester, a course developed by Dr. Bob Kolvoord at JMU, has been taken by more than 1,000 high school students across Virginia since it's start in 2005. Follow the link to the full text.
http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/spring10articles/a-revolution.html
The Story Behind STEM Sell
Last semester two Physics professors found a new medium for bringing scientific discussion to students’ attention – through their own radio station.
Playing on JMU’s acronym for departments housed under Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, the radio show STEM Sell is the brainchild of professor Dr. Mark Mattson, who came up with the idea for this relatively recent invention while driving.
Read More >>
