2014 Core Element Summer STEM Institute (Grades 3-9)

Core Element Summer STEM workshops are no cost to teachers in parishes of the Greater New Orleans Region (Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard, St. Charles, Plaquemines). Teachers from schools outside of the region may attend for a nominal charge (please email andrea.walker@gnostem.org for information).

Participants must sign up for individual workshop sessions. Please select the workshop(s) that best fits your grade level and curriculum. A $25 deposit is required to hold your place in each workshop. At the completion of each workshop, your check will be returned to you.

Please examine the matrix below for scheduled days and time so that you sign up for your desired session(s) as some sessions are offered on the same day.

7-Jul

8-Jul

9-Jul

10-Jul

11-Jul

FLL

Building Math

Grant writing

WEDO

Exploring Inquiry and Experimental Design

Measurement

LEGO® Robotics

Grades 4-8

1 Day Workshop

July 7, 8:30am-3:30pm

6 CLUs

This session is an introduction to robotics for K - 8 STEM subject teachers using LEGO® EV3® robotics. Participants will explore how robotics can be used as an alternative learning platform to teach STEM subjects.

Participants will:

• Design, build, and program a robot using the LEGO® EV3® robots.
• Explore and see how robotics can be used to promote student interest in STEM subjects.
• Obtain available on-line resources to use robotics in classroom and other alternative learning environments.

This workshop is appropriate for teachers with no previous LEGO® EV3® experience but can include advanced programming topics if there is interest.

WEDO Robotics

Grades 2-4

1 Day Workshop

July 7, 8:30am-3:30pm

6 CLUs

The WEDO Robotics System is designed for students in grades 2-4. This workshop is designed for the elementary teacher that has no prior experience using robotics or building with LEGO elements.

Attendees will learn how to build and program robots using LEGO bricks and a simple icon-based, drag-and-drop software. Participants will take with them instructional strategies and curriculum ideas to implement robotics into their classroom, school, or district.

Building Math for Common Core State Standards

Middle School Math and Science Teachers

3 Day Workshop

July 8-10, 8:30am-3:30pm

18 CLUs

The popular Building Math for Common Core State StandardsSeries has been correlated to Common Core State Standards. The Building Math series was developed through a partnership with the Boston Museum of Science and Tufts University and successfully piloted in Boston-area schools. In each mission, middle school students use algebraic thinking and data analysis to solve engineering problems in real world science-based settings. Each mission is targeted to a specific middle school science curriculum series (physical, life, earth). Along the way, students will conduct investigations and use the engineering design process and algebra to solve the science-based problems they encounter:

• In Amazon Mission, students help a native village surmount malaria, and confront the environmental hazards of gold-mining.
• In Stranded!, they are marooned on a desert island, where they must identify their location, build shelter, distill water, and learn how to load and provision small canoes.
• In Everest Trek, they overcome the challenges of extreme weather and dangerous trail conditions to conquer the world’s tallest mountain.

Teachers successfully completing will receive a set of the curriculum. Each book includes a poster illustrating the engineering design process and a DVD with classroom implementation samples.

Building Math addresses Common Core State Standards and ITEA standards for technological literacy

Series information can be found at:

Building Math for Common Core State Standards: Amazon Mission

Building Math for Common Core State Standards: Stranded!

Building Math for Common Core State Standards: Everest Trek

Exploring Inquiry and Experimental Design

Grades 4-8

2 Day Workshop

July 8-9, 8:30am-3:30pm

12 CLUs

Teachers, are you interested in adding more inquiry skills into existing science activities to meet newer expectations in science classrooms? This session will cover topics and give you activities and techniques to help you to provide students with activities that:

• Investigate physical, life and earth science concepts
• Discover effective lab safety techniques
• Design and share completed investigations
• Use measurement techniques
• Learn to incorporate inquiry into existing and new science activities
• Conduct science investigations that build science content and inquiry knowledge and skills

Share best practices, and explore additional topics related to inquiry-based science education during this two-day exploratory session.

Measurement Strategies

Target Grades 3-4

1 Day Workshop

July 10, 8:30am-3:30pm

6 CLUs

Measurement Strategies includes investigations designed to emphasize a particular type of metric measurement—length, mass, temperature, and volume.

Activities covered will provide lessons to:

• Develop an understanding for the metric system.
• Measure length and distance in meters and centimeters with a meter tape.
• Measure mass in grams with a balance and mass pieces.
• Measure liquid volume and capacity of containers in liters and milliliters with 50-ml syringes and graduated cylinders.
• Measure temperature of liquids and air in degrees Celsius with a thermometer.
• Acquire the vocabulary associated with metric measurement.
• Apply appropriate measuring skills in everyday situations.
• Develop and refine the manipulative skills required for making and using measuring tools.
• Use scientific thinking processes to conduct investigations and build explanations.

Grant Writing for Science and Math

Grades 4-12

1 Day Workshop

July 11, 8:30am-3:30pm

6 CLUs

Do you need funding to support equipment for your great classroom ideas? Looking for a way to purchase math and science classroom materials? This workshop is for educators who want to write grants to meet classroom instructional needs. It focuses on the development of one small/medium sized grant to address localized educational needs and will cover components of a persuasively written proposal, writing with the reviewers in mind, and common writing pitfalls to avoid.

During this workshop you will:

• Become familiar with available funding resources to support your students' learning
• Examine a range of grant proposals/applications
• Learn the basics of grant writing
• Develop a proposal for an active grant
• Assess the effectiveness of your grant-writing process

Local grants (QSM, $750; LA Environmental Educators, $1000 for example) for approved materials and equipment are available and are awarded on a competitive basis to individual classroom teachers to use in providing standards-based instruction to help meet state accountability goals. Applicants must show that their proposals will enhance the quality of instruction for regular education.