district stem news (middle and high school level

Transcription

DISTRICT STEM EDUCATION PROGRAM
Cherry Creek School District
5416 S. Riviera Way
Centennial, CO 80015
720-554-5605
Summer, 2014
Science, Technology, Engineering and Math
“Tomorrow’s workforce educated today”
A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR
I hope you are all enjoying your summer! This has been a spectacular school year for STEM Education in Cherry Creek. In
this newsletter, we tried to capture some of the many highlights of STEM Education within our district over the past year
and are looking forward to the continued growth of the program.
Students and teachers experienced project-based learning resulting in research in a variety of topics including, water
purification, biomechanics, robotics, high altitude balloon launches and growth of cancer cells research.
STEM Education in the Cherry Creek School District connects principles of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
(STEM) to solve problems faced by individuals and society.
A high school STEM Task Force was formed in the fall of 2013 with the task of creating a comprehensive definition of STEM
education in Cherry Creek. The definition is given below along with student practices in STEM.
STEM-focused teaching and learning instills a deep and extensive understanding of STEM content applied in real-world
contexts.
Students collaboratively engage in:
 Critical thinking
 Scientific inquiry
 Content knowledge application
 Engineering design processes
 Evidence-based reasoning and argumentation
 Effective written and oral communication
This next school year, 2014-2015, we will form the Middle School Task Force with the purpose of aligning program
components with feeder elementary schools and high schools.
We will continue to build key partnerships with Universities and STEM Corporations to ensure that our teachers and students
remain current in a landscape of rapidly changing technology.
In closing, we look forward to another productive year toward the many new STEM experiences for students and teachers.
District STEM Education Program contacts:
Dr. Richard Charles, Director 720-554-5605
Barb Bortz, Administrative Assistant
720-554-5605
Denise Goldin-Dubois, Secondary STEM Coach
720-554-5604
Sherri Dennstedt, Secondary STEM Coach
720-554-5603
Do you have STEM news you
would like to share?
Please email your information to
Barb Bortz, Administrative Assistant
for the District STEM Education
Program @ 1 | P a g e
[email protected]
DISTRICT STEM NEWS
COMMUNITY EVENT
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TALK IS CHEAP MAKE IT HAPPEN – TEDx Cherry CreekED
On March 1, 2014, Cherry Creek Schools hosted TEDxCherryCreekED an
organized TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) event at the Institute of
Science and Technology, located on the Overland High School/Prairie Middle
School campus at 12500 E. Jewell Avenue in Aurora. Thanks to the leadership of Jon Pierce, Instructional Technology
Coordinator, Cherry Creek Schools, who
planned and emceed the event.
TEDxCherryCreekED, a program of
inspirational talks themed around "Talk is
Cheap, Make it Happen”, featured a
dynamic and diverse speaker lineup:
Speakers at the event included:
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Nathan Farbish – A 6th grade
student at the Challenge School
in the Cherry Creek School
District.
Ryan McClintock – A sicence teacher at Castle View High School in Douglas County Schools.
Haley Jacelon – A senior at Smoky Hill High School in the Cherry Creek School District.
Dr. Richard Charles, Director of STEM Education in the Cherry Creek School District.
John Escalante, Sandra Shamis and Samrawit Gezaw, 4th grade students at Meadow Point Elementary School in
the Cherry Creek School District.
Ben Startzer, Chief Information Officer in the Cherry Creek School District.
A speaker for a TEDx event is one
who brings something bigger to the
table, something that will make our
attendees sit up, think and feel the
confidence to make a difference in
their own world. It's important for
everyone to realize that these
speakers are ordinary people doing
extraordinary things.
About TEDx
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to
share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and
connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized
TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are selforganized.
For more information and to view the speeches presented at this event follow this link: http://tedxcherrycreeked.com/
Cherry Creek School District – STEM Newsletter July, 2014
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DISTRICT STEM NEWS
MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL GRADE LEVELS
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Secondary STEM Coaches lead district science and math cohorts
Approximately 60 science teachers and 45 math teachers met several times during the 2013-2014 school year guided by
the science and math STEM Coaches. These meetings involved classroom teachers discussing changes in the CAS
(Colorado Academic Standards) as well as lesson and unit planning. Teachers also had the opportunity to observe each
other’s classrooms in a lab model format. These observations focused on student learning and interaction with the
content. Next school year these numbers will increase and include a leadership group of teachers who have been
participating in the cohort for the past two school years.
Listed below are some of the items these cohorts have been working on either during a professional development
workshop or a lab day:
Sherri Dennstedt
District Science STEM Coach
The Science Cohorts planned and conducted
various projects including:
o Biomedical Engineering
o Designing of solutions to environmental
issues
o Decontamination of well water
o Designing of possible adaptive devices
for genetic disorders
o The Mars project
o Engineering bridges
o Cardboard box challenges
o Teachers are becoming experts in the
NGSS (Next Generation Science
Standards) science and engineering
practices, and are able to use
engineering design in science, as well as
using technologies such as Logger Pro,
Vernier Probeware and Google Sketch
Up.
Denise Goldin-Dubois
District Math STEM Coach
The Math Cohorts focused on: Effective
planning in mathematics that puts student
thinking at the forefront of the learning.
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o
Projects included:
Logo design
Party planning
Probability carnival
Teaching an adult learner about the
Pythagorean Theorem
Song and dance about special right
triangles
Unit Planning
Teachers also had the opportunity to
observe other math teachers in their
classrooms.
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Colorado State University and CCSD – Engineering and Science STEM Poster Session
Colorado State University and the Cherry Creek School’s STEM Education Program along with students and teachers
within the Cherry Creek School District presented the Engineering and Science STEM Poster Session on December 9,
2013 at the Institute of Science and Technology, Overland High School-Prairie Middle School campus. Through a
partnership with CCSD and CSU, graduate fellows and doctoral advisors collaborated with K-12 teachers to make STEM
content using engineering approaches accessible to K-12 STEM education. The participation of industry partners
provided practical experiences for graduate fellows, teachers, and K-12 students in the program.
This inventive program is designed to train a new generation of scientists in biomedical science and engineering while
offering an multi-disciplinary approach in their training. These students and teachers will be better equipped for
multilevel communication across ages (K-12) and fields (engineering, biology, and chemistry), and be better prepared to
take on leadership roles for scientific inquiry and progress into the 21st century.
As part of the interdisciplinary biomedical engineering research project conducted at CSU, CCSD middle and high school
teacher teams consisting of math, science and technology teachers along with their students were able to participate in
this interdisciplinary research project investigating the discovery and understanding of cell communication using wood
ants. Each team of students presented Engineering and Science posters to an audience of Engineering and Science
researchers.
Additional information about this program may be found in the following video link:
http://csu-gk12.engr.colostate.edu/lessons/jrfellowproject.html
There was a great turn out for this event. The students along with their teachers did a wonderful job of presenting and
sharing information regarding their projects to the attendees at the event. Their posters definitely indicated the hard
work they put into this engineering and science project.
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CSU- CCSD
Engineering & Science
STEM Poster Session, continued
Pictured to the right:
Zach Miller and Jordon Ritchie
(Cherry Creek High School)
Pictured to the left:
Alexa Waltman and Daniel Sherman
(Cherry Creek High School)
We would also like to acknowledge Mr. Perry Towstik, science teacher at Cherokee Trail High School. In addition
to Mr. Towstik participating in the above mentioned research project he will also be participating in the CSU
Research Experience for teachers this summer, 2014. This project takes place in the NSF (National Science
Foundation) Engineering Research Center for Extreme Ultraviolet Science and Technology. This experience is a six
week, hands on, paid research experience where teachers will perform research, participate in education workshops
on optics, and develop new curriculum based on their experience. We will look forward to hearing the results of Mr.
Towstik’s research experience.
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DISTRICT STEM NEWS
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STEM – Cyber Camp
CSU’s College of Engineering, Northrop Grumman Corporation, and the Cherry Creek School District teamed
up for the first-annual STEM-Cyber Summer Camp which was held at Grandview High School on July 29 th –
August 2nd, 2013. Students from across Cherry Creek School District as well as other school districts in
Colorado were in attendance. This camp offered students an opportunity to learn about careers in science,
technology, engineering,
mathematics (STEM) as
well as clean energy
technologies and
cybersecurity.
Northrop Grumman
instructors taught students
about computer forensics,
cybersecurity fundamentals
and computer ethics, and
how to prepare for a career
in these fields.
Grandview High School will
be hosting this event again,
July, 2014, during the week
of July 21st – July 25th.
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DISTRICT STEM NEWS
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STEM Cyber Camp, continued
Graduate students from the College of Engineering, Colorado State University, taught the Clean Energy Track
covering clean energy systems, the cause and effect of climate change, relationships between electricity and
magnetic fields, wind power, solar power, hydrogen fuel cells, and energy conservations.
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DISTRICT STEM NEWS
ELEMENTARY & MIDDLE SCHOOL GRADE LEVELS
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2013 First Lego League Competition: “Nature’s Fury”
The South East Metro Qualifier Robotics Tournament was held at Prairie Middle
School on November 9th, 2013. Several schools in our district participated in this
event. In the 2013 Nature’s Fury Challenge, over 200,000 children ages 9 to 16
from over 70 countries explored the awe-inspiring storms, quakes, waves and more
that we call natural disasters. Teams discovered what can be done when intense
natural events meet the places people live, work, and play. Schools in the district
that advanced to the State Tournaments included; Campus Middle School, Thunder Ridge Middle School, and the
Challenge school. The State Tournament was held at Overland High School on December 14, 2013.
The following are the results from the tournaments:
From Campus Middle School
Red Rebels - 2nd place award – Outstanding Project Solution – Best Innovative Solution (Award Category)– Advanced to
the State Tournament
Disaster Strikes - - Advanced to the State Tournament
Thunder Chickens – 3rd place award – Outstanding Project Solution – Best Presentation (Award Category)
Thunderbots – Advanced to the State Tournament
D33P – Advanced to the State Tournament
Purple Bacons – 3rd place award – Robot Performance Award
Challenge School:
Lego Elements – 2nd place - Champion’s Award –Advanced to the State Tournament
Sizzling Serama – 2nd place – Robot performance - Advanced to the State Tournament
Squidpocalypse – 3rd place – Outstanding Core Values Award – Gracious Professionalism Award
Also, Eric Valuyev was nominated Outstanding Young Adult Mentor
Red Hawk Ridge Elementary:
Soaring Hawks – Judges’ Award – Smart App (Award Category)
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DISTRICT STEM NEWS
RECOGNITION OF STEM TEACHERS
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Congratulations Ben Nuebel, Applied Technology, Robotics and Technical Drawing Teacher at Cherokee Trail
High School!
Ben, ITEEA member and Teacher of Applied Technology, Robotics and Technical Drawing
at Cherokee Trail High School, was selected “Star of the Month”, August, 2013, for ITEEA
(International Technology, Robotics and Technology and Engineering Educator’s
Association). Ben was nominated by Christine Archer-Davison, Coordinator of the Preengineering and Technology department at Cherokee Trail High School.
Ben is active in the CTHS community as a football coach as well as one of the Technology
Student Association (TSA) advisors. He is active on the district Perkins SB 191 Task Force
and at the state level on the CDE/CTE Colorado Content Collaborative Cohort
representing STEM. Ben has also served as President of the Colorado TSA Chapter and has
been awarded TSA Advisor of the Year in 2011.
Christine noted “Ben loves what he does and that passion is contagious whenever you are around him”.
Follow this link for ITEEA’s, August, 2013, newsletter edition:
http://www.iteea.org/Publications/STEMconnections/STEMconnections8-13.pdf
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Congratulations Dave Schlichting, Astronomy and Space Science Teacher and HUNCH Project Coordinator at
Eaglecrest High School!
Dave has been chosen by NASA to serve as a MAVEN Educator Ambassador. The
University of Colorado Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) and the
University of California Berkeley have jointly built a new space craft to study the
atmosphere of Mars called MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution
Mission). Dave’s responsibilities as a MAVEN Educator Ambassador will involve
providing workshops for educators, and the public, on the MAVEN project.
Dave also had the opportunity to attend the launch of MAVEN on November 18, 2013
at the Kennedy Space Center.
Follow this link to read more on Dave’s accomplishments:
http://eaglecrest.cherrycreekschools.org/EHSExpress/MarExpress/Pages/Dave-Schlichting-Receives-Award-fromNASA.aspx
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DISTRICT STEM NEWS
HIGH SCHOOL GRADE LEVELS
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Joe Suchman, Aviation Instructor, Cherry Creek School District (Grandview High School & Overland High School)
Jeppesen, a Boeing Company (Air, Water and Land Navigational Innovators), recently wrote
an article titled “Training our future aviation workforce today”. In their article they mention
their prediction that airlines will have to hire 498,000 pilots, about 25, 000 each year to
support all the new aircraft they are expected to add to their fleets over the next two
decades. They will also need 556,000 new maintenance technicians, or about 28,000 per
year. The article also mentions how thousands of pilots are retiring each year and the demand for new pilots is
increasing. They feel that aviation careers have to start in high school. Jeppesen is providing local school districts in
Colorado with products, services and monetary donations to facilitate the training of our future workforce.
Jeppesen mentions, Joe Suchman, Aviation Instructor at Overland High School and Grandview High School, in their
article. Joe, who is an advocate of Jeppesen, uses donated items in his classroom such as a partially built ultra light,
various navigation instruments and propeller blades to supplement lectures. Jeppesen has provided textbooks,
computers and other products to the program over the years.
Joe’s Suchman’s Aviation Technology class helps students to understand and appreciate all of the facets of the aviation
and aerospace industries of today. Students in this program also prepare for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
Private Pilot Knowledge Exam.
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DISTRICT STEM NEWS
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Metropolitan State University and Cherry Creek Schools Partner – Aviation/STEM Pathway
On March 20, 2014, administrators, teachers, students, parents and folks from Metropolitan State University gathered
to celebrate the partnership between Metropolitan State University and Cherry Creek Schools. This event focused on the
importance of Aviation as well as the Aviation/STEM pathway which will provide college credit to high school students
taking this course through concurrent enrollment.
Metropolitan State University of Denver faculty will teach this six credit course at the University’s South Campus in
Greenwood Village two afternoons a week, alternating days in conjunction with the school district’s block schedule.
While Cherry Creek School District is the anchor administrator for the partnership, the program provides an opportunity
for students from Douglas County, Englewood, Littleton and Sheridan to also participate.
This is such a wonderful opportunity for students interested in a career in Aviation.
Speakers from the event, pictured above in front of the Wall of Honor for STEM partners, located in the entryway of the
Institute of Science and Technology, Overland High School campus: Mr. David C. Gordon, Director, State of Colorado,
Department of Transportation, Division of Aeronautics, Dr. Jeffrey Forrest, Department of Aviation and Aerospace
Science Chair, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Dr. Scott Siegfried, Associate Superintendent of Educational
Operations, Cherry Creek School District and Mr. Bill Kennedy, Manager, Pilot Recruiting & Development Administration,
United Airlines.
Follow this link for the article written by the Aurora Sentinel: http://www.aurorasentinel.com/news/cherry-creekmetro-partner-aviation-program-students-aurora/
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DISTRICT STEM NEWS
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The Institute of Science and Technology, Overland High School, hosted the Biomedical Engineering and Sciences
Symposium on October 10, 2013.
Kevin Lear and Brett Beal, from the Colorado State University Biomedical Engineering Program, sparked the interest of
middle and high school students at the Biomedical Engineering Symposium. Students learned about a variety of ways to
impact healthcare through careers in biomaterials, imaging, and biomechanics. Prairie middle school students had the
opportunity to manipulate medical equipment, such as pulse oximeters and stethoscopes. Overland students worked in
teams to create a functioning, prosthetic foot. In addition, professionals from Craig Hospital worked with elementary
students in a hands-on exploration of medical devices, such as sphygmomanometers.
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DISTRICT STEM NEWS
ELEMENTARY, MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL GRADE LEVELS
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Cherry Creek School District celebrates Computer Science Education Week
Cherry Creek Schools celebrated Computer
Science Education week, December 9th –
December 15th, 2013, by participating in The
Hour of Code. Almost 11,000 students
participated in this event. The following are examples of several
announcements that were made to recognize this nationwide
event.
Code.org – President Obama calls on every American to learn
computer science.
Apple.com – An Hour of Code in every Apple store in the US.
KSDK St. Louis – St. Louis school wins $10,000 for teaching Hour of
Code.
Follow this link to read more about this event on the Cherry Creek School District website:
http://www.cherrycreekschools.org/News/Pages/2013ComputerScienceEdWeek.aspx
Thank you to Jon Pierce, Instructional Technology Coordinator Cherry Creek
School District for organizing this event in our district.
For more information, visit www.code.org
Dr. Harry C. Bull, Superintendent
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DISTRICT STEM NEWS
MIDDLE SCHOOL GRADE LEVELS
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GESTEM – Girls Exploring Science, Technology, Engineering and Math
Sixth and seventh grade girls attended a GESTEM event at the Denver
Convention Center in the spring put on by the Society of Women
Engineers. These girls had the opportunity to participate in hands on
learning experiences which involved studying water quality by
examining, inquiring and investigating the microscopic levels of fresh
water. The girls also used engineering principles to design and test
wind turbine systems and used the electricity they generate to power
devices and energy storage systems. They explored aerodynamics by
building their own rocket made of foam and powered by rubber
bands and then launched them towards the moon. They
experienced designing satellites, exobiology, strawberry DNA
extraction and evolution of telephone and data networks plus more.
Thanks to Tami Watkins, Counselor, Prairie Middle School for sharing
this information with us.
For more information on GESTEM follow this link; http://www.swerms.org/gestem.html. Also, follow this link for a youtube video of the event;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLyen27Xv9k
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DISTRICT STEM NEWS
ELEMENTARY & MIDDLE SCHOOL GRADE LEVELS
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2ND ANNUAL SCRATCH DAY – MAY 2014
Thanks to Jon Pierce, Instructional Technology Coordinator for the Cherry Creek School District along
with all the wonderful volunteers, the 2nd Annual Scratch Day event was held at the Institute of
Science and Technology on the Overland High School – Prairie Middle School Campus, CCSD, on May
17, 2014.
The event was a huge success with close to 400 students in attendance as well as the largest Scratch
Day event in the nation.
So, what is Scratch? Scratch, mostly intended for students ages 8-16, is an object-oriented programming language that
makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, and art, and share your creations on the web.
When sharing your creations with the Scratch online community, students are making a shift from consuming from the
internet to being positive contributors to the internet. As young students create and share Scratch projects, they learn
important mathematical and computational ideas, while also learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and
work collaboratively.
Follow this link for more photos from SCRATCH Day:
https://plus.google.com/photos/112354164906923585638/albums/6015526656654827537
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DISTRICT STEM NEWS
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL GRADE LEVELS
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Fox Hollow Science Olympiad Fun Night
Fox Hollow Elementary School hosted it’s 1st Annual Fox Hollow Science Olympaid Fun Night on November 13th, 2013.
This was the first Elementary Science Olympiad hosted in the state of Colorado.
Science Olympiad is a national non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of K-12 science education,
increasing male, female and minority interest in science, creating a technologically-literate workforce and providing
recognition for outstanding achievement by both students and teachers. The goal of Science Olympiad is to create a
passion for learning science by supporting elementary and secondary Science Olympaid tournaments at building, district,
county, state and national levels with an emphasis on team work and a commitment to excellence.
Demonstrations at this event included Raptors (Nature’s Educators), The Coyote Ecology Project (City of Aurora Open
Space and Natural Resources Division), Microbiology of Hand Washing (Kumon of Foxfield), The Human Body (thanks to
a grant from Denver Museum of Nature and Science), Satellites (Raytheon), Bees and Butterflies (thanks to a grant from
Tagawa Gardens), and a variety of exciting Hands-on Science States presented by Liberty Middle School and Overland
High School.
Thank you Amy Vitale, 4th grade teacher, for sharing this information.
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Fox Hollow Science Olympiad Fun Night , continued
Engineering - Marshmallow Challenge
Students in this picture were given the material constraints of using twenty Popsicle sticks, one foot of tape and one foot
of yarn. They had thirty minutes to design and build the tallest free standing structure they could come up with that
could hold a marshmallow at its highest point. As you can see, this team of engineers met with great success.
Other fourth grade students did
this same challenge working with
the constraints of twenty pieces
of spaghetti, two feet of tape and
one foot of yarn. They had
twenty minutes to also design
and build the tallest structure
they could that could stand on its
own with a marshmallow at the
highest point.
While doing these challenges,
students studied the engineering
design process in building tall
structures and buildings.
(Pictured to the left)
Kindergartners learned about the criteria
and constraints in engineering by designing
geometric “vacation homes” for the Three
Little Pigs to use when they need a break
from all that huffing and puffing.
Thank you, Beth Cohen, Fox Hollow, Stem
teacher, for sharing this wonderful news.
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Fox Hollow Elementary School - Science Olympiad Competition, continued
In addition to the 1st Annual Fox Hollow Science Olympiad Fun Night, students at Fox Hollow had the
opportunity to compete in the Science Olympiad Competition held at their school on May 31, 2014.
The competitions included:
Kindergartners and 1st graders: Color Wheel, Science Bowls, Sink or Float, Pasta mobiles, and Pentathlon
2nd and 3rd graders: Hot Air Balloons, Science Bowls, Straw Egg Drops, Can Races and Pentathlon
4th and 5th graders: Rubber Band Catapults, Science Bowls, Bottle Music, Can Races, and Water Rockets
A great time exploring science was had by all!
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Rolling Hills Elementary School – STEM Education Night
Pictured below, fifth grade teacher, Adrian Neibauer, along with students,
working on one of the many projects at their first STEM Education Night
held on May 29, 2014.
STEM Night included:
Hands-on activities for families; students and parents
learned how Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics are integrated at their school, as well as
local companies shared how STEM is used in their
businesses.
Examples of areas of interest included: NASA
Experiments, Robotics (demonstrated by Eaglecrest High
School’s robotics team), toothpick bridges, Scratch, LEGO
We Do, Makey Makey, 3D Printing, Marshmallow
Engineering and Magic Sand.
Thank you to Adrian Neibauer for sharing this information with us.
Follow this link for more information on this event:
http://www.cherrycreekschools.org/News/Pages/ROLSTEMNight.aspx
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STEM Education at Village East:
It has been an exciting first year for STEM at Village East Elementary School. The students have been learning all about
engineering and have had many opportunities to use their imaginations and solve real world problems. Below are some
examples of what the different grade levels have been doing:
Kindergarten: The Three Little Pigs
The Kindergartners were asked to help the three little pigs design their homes. Using new materials, they had to
cover 3D cubes with stronger materials. Their next challenge will be to help the three men stay in their sinking
tub.
1st Grade:
The first graders have been busy working as Environmental Engineers to Save the Ducks! They were presented
with a real world problem; there has been an oil spill at their favorite pond. The local ducks are now covered in
oil. This is not safe for their habitat and must be cleaned up. What can they do to clean up the mess? The first
graders must help design a clean-up system using a variety of materials.
In 2nd, 3rd and 5th grade the students are working with the EiE curriculum, Engineering is Elementary. This
curriculum introduces students to the Engineering Design process in which they are challenged to address real
world engineering problems by asking, imagining, planning, creating and finally improving their designs.
2nd Grade: (Pictured below)
Students in second grade used information learned in first grade about The Great Wall of China. Students were
introduced to Yi Min. As Yi Min works to keep out a pesky rabbit from her garden, the students take on the
challenge of designing mortar and helping Yi Min design a wall to keep the rabbit out.
3rd Grade: (Pictured to the left)
Students in third grade, using their
knowledge of stability, worked on
creating a bridge that can withstand
weight and weather conditions.
Through their curriculum they were
introduced to Javier and his family in
Texas. Javier loves to play at his tree
fort on the island. Unfortunately the
bridge has grown old and unstable
leaving Javier’s parents with the
decision to not allow Javier to visit
his tree house. Javier is upset and
frustrated. He decided to solve this
problem he would restructure a
bridge that is safe and stable.
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STEM Education at Village East, continued
5th Grade: An Alarming Idea: Designing Alarm Circuits (Pictured below)
Students used their knowledge of circuits and electrical energy to construct alarm circuits. Students were
introduced to electrical engineer schematic diagrams and learned about the importance of communicating their
designs. Students extended their knowledge into Lego construction. Through programming and construction,
students learned to problem solve their robots and through simple circuitry made their creations come alive.
4th Grade:
Students in fourth grade are participating in WASP, Wings Aerospace Science Program. In this program students
learn about the Forces of Flight. Students are working to design parachutes that create a large air resistance to
save their paper clip family. Students will further their understanding of aerodynamics by building Goddard
rockets and balsa wood airplanes.
Thank you to Sarah Bowers, Village East Elementary teacher for sharing this information.
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DRY CREEK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
This article was published on the Cherry Creek School District Website.
Dry Creek students “hangout” with “father of Google apps”
The fourth grade students at Dry Creek Elementary were captivated by
the man on the screen who was chatting with them from a conference
room in California. They were captivated partly because he’s known as
“the father of Google apps” and partly because he used to be one of
them.
“I had no idea that he went to Dry Creek. That’s really cool!” said fourth
grader Noah Gallardo, after a recent “Google Hangout” or video
conference with Rajen Sheth, a product manager at Google Enterprise
and a graduate of the Cherry Creek School District.
Sheth attended Dry Creek Elementary, West Middle School and graduated from Cherry Creek High School in 1994,
before going on to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s degree in Computer Science at
Stanford University. He’s been with Google since 2004.
“It all starts in elementary school,” Sheth told the students. “If you work hard and learn about math and science, you
can do amazing things when you grow up.”
Sheth has certainly done amazing things, including creating Google’s Gmail and other office applications, which are used
by more than 5 million businesses worldwide, and Google Chromebooks, laptop computers now being used in school
districts across the country, including Cherry Creek Schools.
“It was really fun and an honor to talk to an inventor,” said Gallardo.
But Sheth, who started learning computer programming at Dry Creek when he was in first grade, told the students he
learned as much from his failures as he did from his successes. He told them he tried invent a time machine and a wind
tunnel while he was at Dry Creek, but neither worked. However, when he was in high school, he built a wind tunnel that
was selected as one of 40 finalists in the prestigious Westinghouse Science Talent Search.
Sheth’s parents, who still live in the Dry Creek area, watched as their son answered questions from the students about
the app he’s most proud of (Gmail), the highlight of his career so far (Google apps and Chromebooks) and how he
decides what apps to create.
“Brainstorming,” said Sheth. “Everyone throws out ideas. The rule is there are no bad ideas. Then we narrow it down to
the best ideas that are useful to people. If they’re useful, then we try to build the simplest possible product.”
Sheth’s mother, Ravindra Sheth, said her son is a good role model for the students, and a perfect example of why
perseverance is important.
“He believed in himself and never gave up,” said Ravindra Sheth. “Believe in yourself to achieve.”
Posted January 27, 2014
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Holly Hills field trip to the Math Midway @ Wings over the
Rockies
Students from Holly Hills Elementary School attended the Math Midway exhibition held at the Wings over the
Rockies in December and had a wonderful time. The Math Midway is a traveling exhibition, created by an
energetic group of math enthusiasts working to establish America’s only museum of mathematics.
The Math Midway exhibition provides an interactive, carnival style, hands-on tour of mathematical concepts.
The individual exhibits include exciting and surprising activities that relate mathematical principles to games
and events you would find at a typical carnival, fair, or circus.
One of the highlights, shown in the picture below, was riding a square wheeled tricycle.
For more information on the Math Midway;
http://mathmidway.org/.
22
DISTRICT STEM NEWS
________________________________________________________________________________________
Near Space Balloon Lauch
On Saturday, May 31, 2014, seven elementary schools in the Cherry Creek School District participated in a Near Space
Balloon Launch event. Students, staff, and parents gathered at Coyote Hills Elementary school beginning at 5:45 a.m. to
witness launching High Altitude Balloons 100,000 + feet into Near Space. Once the balloons were launched, everyone
gathered inside the school at a makeshift mission control to track their locations.
While launching weather balloons is quite common among hobbyists and college engineering projects, it is far less
common and maybe nonexistent in an elementary school with K-5th grade students. These maker labs focused on the
project-based learning activity of launching a weather balloon, videotaping and photography of the earth's atmospheric
limb, recording atmospheric data, and safely landing and retrieving the payload. This demanding project takes STEM to
a whole new level in requiring students, teachers and district leaders to engage in collaboration, research and
instrumentation of this payload. Seven schools
took part in this event.
These seven schools (approximately 200+
students) designed and constructed an
atmospheric capsule to launch a camera high
enough to photograph the curvature of the
Earth and send micro science experiments to
near space with the intention of getting our
questions answered with the hopes of further
explorations. Instead of rockets, boosters and
expensive control systems, the group filled a
weather balloon with helium and designed a
capsule cooler to carry a payload of sensors
and a GoPro camera.
Pictured on the right: Preparing balloons for
launching.
23
DISTRICT STEM NEWS
________________________________________________________________________________
Near Space Balloon Launch,
continued
Jon Pierce, Instructional Technology
Coordinator for the district led this
event. Over the past seven years,
he has been teaching technology
literacy skills to elementary school
students. These students are
learning the higher order thinking
skills necessary to succeed through
HTML coding, web design, 3D scaled
computer aided design, 3D
animation, python programming,
Maker-spaces, and much more. Jon
states “We are constantly
bombarded with the idea that the U.S. is "behind" the rest of the world in STEM education, that our students need to be
able to think critically, problem-solve and
collaborate in order to succeed in the
future they will inhabit. Maker-spaces like
the ones where our Near Space Balloon
project is taking place, provide creative
time and space for people of all ages to
build prototypes, explore questions, fail,
retry and succeed, bounce ideas off one
another and build something together.
These spaces don't always include
technology, since some prototypes and
designs can be built out of anything or
may include various stages of design that
move from analog to digital and back
again, but many do include
technology. What was the first thing you
ever built? Imagine the impact that this
project will have on the lives of our
students. Our goal is to inspire future scientists, technologists, engineers, mathematicians and most of all, dreamers of
the future.”
The following is a list of the schools and teachers that participated in this event:
Aspen Crossing - Carrie Norris
Red Hawk Ridge – Ryan Remien
Coyote Hills – Greg Lindale
Pictured above: (Top) Early morning – Mission
Independence – April Wurtsmith
Control prior to the event taking place. (Bottom) Jon
Challenge – John Wiley
Pierce talking about the balloon path forecast.
Polton – Deb Mcmullen
Walnut Hills – Dustin Vick
Follow this link for more information and to see all the wonderful photos taken at the event:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/105293819199266278059
24
DISTRICT STEM NEWS
________________________________________________________________________________________
Fox Ridge Middle School
Students in Lindsay Chou’s 6th grade science class at Fox Ridge
work on a STEM unit using Knex kits to plan and carry out
investigations about renewable energy. Once their
experiments were completed, they engineered new technology
into their particular renewable energy area and /or improved
upon current technology. Students then wrote CER’s (Claims,
Evidence, Reasoning) and created posters for presenting to a
variety of audiences.
25
DISTRICT STEM NEWS
________________________________________________________________________________
Campus Middle School
Girls in STEM
Several eighth grade girls had the opportunity to Skype with Alex Mass, PhD, an Environmental Engineering graduate
student at the University of Colorado. Dr. Mass Skyped the girls from her research station in Antarctica where she was
doing her third research season on the ice.
In addition to her research, Dr. Mass does STEM education outreaches both locally and internationally talking to kids
about fieldwork in Antarctica.
How exciting for the girls to hear all about her experiences and have the opportunity to ask questions to learn more.
Thanks to Natalie Peitsmeyer, Campus Middle School science teacher for sharing this news.
26
DISTRICT STEM NEWS
________________________________________________________________________________________
Eaglecrest High School
On December 7, 2013, Eaglecrest’s robotics’ team,
“Raptacon team 3200” held a scrimmage with four other high schools, some of which came from Boulder and Conifer.
The cafeteria was alive with the sound of grinding motors and whirling gears as the teams each prepared their robot for
one of the two Labyrinth game mazes.
When asked how they prepared for the scrimmage, one team from George Washington high school replied they
designed and built their robot in only six days! While other teams replied they either spent weeks on their robot or
recycled their robot from last year’s First Robotics Competition. As the game began, teams took turns on the practice
course so they could try their hand at maneuvering the maze and using robotic arms to retrieve flags at the end of the
maze. After several practice runs, the teams went head and head against each other, and ended with Raptacon having
the quickest times and the most wins against the other schools.
The Labyrinth was excellent preparation for introducing new team members to how an actual competition works as well
as teaching them how to assemble a robot. With the game over, the team began working together to assemble a robot
for the First Robotics Competition which will be held in April.
The FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an exciting, multinational competition that teams professionals and young
people to solve an engineering design problem in an intense and competitive way. The competitions are high-tech
spectator sporting events, the result of lots of focused brainstorming, real-world teamwork, dedicated mentoring,
project timelines, and deadlines. Mrs. Marilyn Kemp and Mr. Corey Kesler are the coaches of this program at Eaglecrest.
Thank you to student, Jordan Thomas for this information.
27
DISTRICT STEM NEWS
________________________________________________________________________________________
Eaglecrest High School
Denise Goldin-Dubois, District STEM Coach and
Math teacher at Eaglecrest High School
organized an Algebra Doctoral Defense day
where participating students defended their
thinking to panelists which included; Dr.
Richard Charles, Director, STEM Education
Program, CCSD, Dr. Floyd Cobb, Executive
Director, Curriculum and Instruction, CCSD,
Joanie Funderburk, Secondary Math
Coordinator, CCSD, and Colleen O’Brien,
Director of Teacher Effectiveness Coaches,
Denver Public Schools. The students did a
fantastic job.
*****************************************************************************************
Overland High School
As part of Deb Carnivale’s Biotech class at
Overland High School, students learned
the basics of histology by preserving, cutting, staining, and
mounting animal tissue. Pictured is Brandon Lopez at the
microtome. Brandon is cutting a prepared sample of animal heart
tissue five microns thick, which he will then stain and
permanently mount on a microscope slide.
Overland High School also partnered with the University of
Colorado Research center at the Anschutz Medical Campus to do
a cell culture project with Ms. Carnivale’s class. Dr. Steve
Nordeen, Department of Pathology, worked with the class on
growing live mouse fibroblast cells, which were then treated with
different growth media to observe apoptosis (cell death). This is
one of the first steps scientists take when studying cancer.
Students worked on this project for six weeks and upon
completion presented a cell culture project poster presentation
held at the Institute of Science and Technology on the Overland
High School – Prairie Middle School Campus.
28
DISTRICT STEM NEWS
________________________________________________________________________________________
Pictured below:
Riley Abbott, Olivia Gardner, Thomas Brachtenbach, and Gunner Dickey along with Dave Schlichting (not
pictured), HUNCH Project Coordinator at Eaglecrest High School prepared and launched their rocket payload
along with 16 other college interns and high school groups on July 27, 2013 in Pueblo, Colorado as part of a
United Launch Alliance project.
United Launch Alliance and Ball Aerospace mentors provide guidance for high school students on basic rocket
concepts, payload designs and payload integration with the rockets. The payloads can be almost anything the
team can dream up, within certain constraints.
Follow this link for a wonderful video of their experience on launch day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYlaa6KAhOA
29
DISTRICT STEM NEWS
________________________________________________________________________________________
Eaglecrest High School and Overland High School participate in the NASA
HUNCH Program
(HUNCH - High school students United with NASA to Create Hardware)
HUNCH is an instructional partnership between NASA and high schools and
intermediate/middle schools. This partnership benefits both NASA and
students. NASA receives cost-effective hardware, while students receive
real-world hands-on experiences. A spin-off of this teaming is the inspiration of the next generation of
researchers and space explorers.
NASA provides materials, equipment and mentoring that is required to fabricate the items. NASA also provides
quality inspection oversight during the fabrication of these items.
The school provides technical direction to the students, and provides a safe working environment.
After completing their assignments both Eaglecrest High School and Overland High School staff and students
then traveled in April, 2014 to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX to test their experiments on board the
zero gravity plane. The two investigations involved crystal growth in various container shapes and the inertial
effects of gear lubricants in microgravity.

Follow this link for more information and photos from Overland’s experience:
https://www.facebook.com/OverlandHighSchoolScienceClub

Follow this link for more information and photos from Eaglecrest’s experience:
http://eaglecresthunch.webs.com/
30
DISTRICT STEM NEWS
________________________________________________________________________________________
NASA HUNCH, continued ………….
Below: The Overland and Eaglecrest High School teams
defend their project designs during their Test Reading Review
(TRR).
Above: Jacob Donahue, a student at Overland,
experiencing microgravity.
Left: Mr. Dave Schlichting, HUNCH project
and Astronomy and Space Science teacher
at Eaglecrest, monitoring the data
collection from their experiment.
Right: Mr. Dave Schlichting and Dr.
John Frost, HUNCH volunteer at
Overland along with the First Flight
Crew members board the ZERO-G
plane.
31
DISTRICT STEM NEWS
________________________________________________________________________________________
Overland High School
Twenty Six Overland High School students attended a STEM camp hosted by Xcel Energy at the Lowry Campus of the
Community College of Aurora on Friday, November 8, 2013. They were introduced to the process of applying to college,
financial aid and the FAFSA, walking between buildings as
students on campus, exploring computer and science labs.
A Web Design Professor taught them about the history of
computers,
how fast
technology
is changing
and how to
produce a
family
friendly web
site using existing Apple software. Two students enthusiastically
proclaimed Overland was the best as they learned how to record a
video with a computer mounted Web camera. The students also
learned how to set up pages for photos, family history and current
family events.
A Chemistry Professor taught them about Forensic Epidemiology using
three fluid transfers by pipet from test tubes representing each student’ body fluids. The test tubes were then injected
with a pathogen exposing reagent. The infected student’s test tube solutions turned bright pink. The initially infected
student was determined by identifying the culprit’s primary, secondary and tertiary victims. The students then
extracted their own DNA by swishing Gatorade through their mouth to produce a dead cell slurry they combined with a
diluted sample of dishwashing detergent. They then exposed their DNA solution to very cold rubbing alcohol which
would allow them to extract their own DNA as a precipitate. The students were excited to learn they could then identify
pathogens that might cause epidemics using further DNA analysis techniques.
Students enjoyed the experience of learning as well as spending time on a college campus.
Thank you to Debra Gregg, Technology Teacher and Katie Yvars, Counselor, for sharing these photos and
information.
32
DISTRICT STEM NEWS
________________________________________________________________________________________
Smoky Hill High School recently received funding
to turn a biology classroom into a full-blown
biotechnology lab which will provide STEM
implementation of Biotechnology for their students.
Teachers, Jodi Weeks and Ken Hamner learned how to use the newly purchased biotech
equipment to perform several labs, including a fish protein lab that provides data to show how
the different species of fish are related. Their training will be shared with the other biology
teachers at Smoky Hill so all biology students will have the opportunity to use the equipment
to perform state of the art experiments.
Students will learn biotechnology life skills that will transfer into any biomedical field, a
booming industry. Modern lab protocols will allow students to transform bacteria into “glow in the dark” varieties using
genes isolated from jellyfish bacteria, take DNA fingerprints of themselves to compare with classmates via the famous
polymerase chain reaction (PCR), experimentally derive evolutionary phylogenetic trees using comparative protein
analysis, use antibody probes to track specific proteins of interest and more.
Pictured above; Danielle Ryan, Dylan Powers, Meraud Razzaghi , Justin Kim , Andrew Kim, and teacher’s Jodi
Weeks and Ken Hamner long with Damon Tighe from Bio-Rad. Thank you to Smoky Hill High School’s yearbook
photographer for these photos. Thank you to Mary Bartholomew, Smoky Hill High School chemistry teacher for
sharing this information.
33
DISTRICT STEM NEWS
ELEMENTARY, MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL GRADE LEVELS
________________________________________________________________________________________
Cherokee Trail High School TSA (Technology Student Association) sponsored their first CREATE event – An
engineering competition for elementary school students
“The children of our world are the future, and it is our job to bring them up into a busy world.”
Cherokee Trail’s CREATE (Creative Engineering and Technology Expo) event held on March 15, 2014 was a big success.
The aim of the Creative Engineering and Technology Expo, or CREATE, is to introduce our youth to the world of science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics. Six Cherry Creek School District feeder schools participated in eleven
different events. The students that attended ranged from first to eighth grade. Students loved participating in the
hands-on activities.
Events at CREATE included:
Marshmallow Catapult
Students built a catapult that launches marshmallows, and competed with
others to see whose catapult launched big marshmallows the furthest!
Catapult size limited to 6”.
Photography Showcase
Students submitted three 8x10 print photographs of the cool technology and
engineering tools available at their schools. Students were to be creative!
Video Showcase
Students recorded and produced a 1-3 minute video that told a story about
how technology impacts their everyday life.
3D Design
Students used onsite tools (Sketchup & Tinkercad) at the expo to develop
their own creative 3D promotional item (ex: coffee mug) for their school.
For information on these events, competition results, as well as more information on CREATE, follow this link:
http://ccsdcreate.moonfruit.com
34

district stem news (middle and high school level

Transcription

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