Science & Tech News
December 2024
Warm winter greetings to all of you!
Thanks to those who attended the kickoff to our Byte-Sized Learning series on AI earlier this week at W.H. Ales in Bay City. Educators learned more about using chatbots and teacher assistant tools while enjoying fun and great food! There’s still time to sign up for our next session on January 23rd (4 - 6 pm) and dive into creating better prompts with your favorite AI tools. Appetizers and SCECHs provided! Click HERE for more information and to register for our upcoming sessions.
January 23 - Generative AI Prompt Engineering at W.H. Ales
February 20 - Integrating Generative AI into the Classroom
April 15 - Tech Tools You Should Know
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Dash Robots are shoebox-sized interactive robots that are programmed to be responsive to voice, movement, and sounds. Students use the Wonder and Blockly apps to program Dash. These are available through our REMC 6 Maker Checkout! Each Dash comes with a sketch kit so your students can visualize their code, express creativity, and exercise critical thinking and spatial reasoning skills while drawing geometric shapes of any kind. Also included are the launcher and gripper building kits to expand the robot’s capabilities. Check out the classroom set of Dash robots or any of our other maker materials for your classroom by filling out this form.
The BAISD has partnered with REMC 6 to bring a full day of Desmos training, in-person, with Andy Malbouef to our area. The training offers 6th - 12th grade educators time to explore Desmos and the tools that the program uses to support math classrooms. Desmos has also partnered with College Board and is used exclusively as the digital calculator for the SAT/PSAT. This FREE training will take place on March 5th from 9 am - 2:30 pm at the BAISD, with lunch provided. Check out this flyer for more information and to register today!
STEM@SVSU is excited to announce that the Hour of Code Event application is now open! We offer a coding experience for up to (4) fourth-grade classes on Friday, January 17, 2025 (approximately 9:00 am – 2:00 pm). This experience is FREE and includes lunch; however, the school/district is responsible for providing transportation to and from SVSU. The deadline to apply is Wednesday, December 18, 2024. Teachers will be notified by Friday, December 20th if their class is accepted to attend.
CSEdWeek (Computer Science Education Week) is here, and it's a fantastic opportunity to inspire your students to explore the exciting world of computer science! Explore free activities at Hour of Code or share stories of famous computer science pioneers through this CS Heroes Resource page. Host a CS Career Spotlight session by having a local professional visit your classroom, encourage students to design a simple game or animation using Scratch or Tynker, or invite students to present tech-related projects or apps they love in a CS Show and Tell activity. Share photos or stories from your classroom using the hashtag #CSEdWeek.
Consider attending CS Professional Learning next year. CSforMichigan sponsors registration costs for multiple workshops for Michigan educators during the week July 28-Aug 1, 2025 & Aug 4-8, 2025. Sessions include CS Discoveries, CS Principles, and AP CSA, as well as Algebra and Bootstrap, AI for Educators, and CS Fundamentals (K-5) virtual sessions. (Notify Me When Registration Go Live in January)
Section 99b - Educator PD for Computer Science (CS) and Computational Thinking (CT) opens
The Michigan Department of Education is offering a competitive grant open to local education agencies (LEAs), both traditional and public school academies (PSAs). Awardees may receive up to $50,000 to develop and implement teacher professional development programs for computer science courses and content that will reach new and existing teachers with little to no computer science background. Please be sure to read the 99b Grant Overview. For more information, please refer to the MDE OSET Grant webpage. A technical assistance webinar recording will be posted after December 5 on the MDE OSET Grants webpage. Questions can be emailed to MDE-EdTech@michigan.gov. The application window will close on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 at Noon ET.
This year’s theme is Humanizing Learning in the Digital Age. Get access to cutting edge tools, classroom resources and learning strategies for today’s technology-driven schools. Attendees will learn, get inspired, and grow from sessions by EdTech Leaders that are passionate about students and share the same experiences as you! The conference takes place in Detroit on March 19-21, 2025. Learn more and register at https://maculconference.org/
Discover innovative teaching strategies, network with like-minded professionals, and recharge your passion for science education at the 2025 MSTA Annual Conference! The conference takes place March 7 - 8, 2025 in Lansing and will feature keynote speakers and interactive workshops.
Cereal City Science challenges students to take on the roles of scientists and engineers, developing creative, critical, and analytical thinking skills. Through a MiSTEM Advisory Council Grant, we are offering a series of grant-funded Professional Learning Sessions for educators of grades 6 - 8. These are two day, online trainings; each session runs from 8:30am - 3:00 pm. Applications to participate are due December 9, 2024. Sessions are limited to 20 participants per session and SCECHs will be available. Sessions include:
Forces: Contact and Non-Contact: January 14 and January 28, 2025
Particles of Matter and Chemical Reactions: January 16 and January 30, 2025
Energy and the Electromagnetic Spectrum: January 10 and January 24, 2025
STEM@SVSU is excited to partner again this year with MiSTEM, East Central Michigan Region, to recognize STEM Stars from the Great Lakes Bay Region (Arenac, Bay, Clare, Gladwin, Gratiot, Isabella, Midland, Saginaw counties). A STEM Star may be a K-12 classroom teacher, Robotics Coach, STEM Coordinator, or someone else in your district/ISD who makes incredible contributions to STEM education. A district may nominate more than one individual; however, priority will be given to nominees who have not been previous recipients of the award. All nominations will be reviewed by a committee and those selected will receive a $250 award to enhance STEM education in their classroom or program. Nominations are due by Thursday, December 14th; the nomination link can be found HERE.
STEM@SVSU and the GLBR East Chief Science Officers are excited to offer a FREE Teen Science Café focused on Computer Science on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, from 5:00 - 8:00 pm. Teen Science Café events allow teens and STEM professionals to engage in meaningful conversations and explore advances in science and technology. This event is open to any student in 6th - 12th grade in the Great Lakes Bay Region (Arenac, Bay, Clare, Gladwin, Gratiot, Isabella, Midland, Saginaw counties), as well as Huron and Tuscola counties. Teen Science Cafés are always Free, Fun, and have Food! Pizza will be provided for dinner. Space is limited so RSVP today!
Spark your students’ passion for STEM and register for the 2024-2025 You Be The Chemist Challenge®! Students can win scholarships and Team Coordinators receive comprehensive resources, ready to use toolkits, and support from the Chemical Educational Foundation throughout the Challenge cycle. The Great Lakes Bay Regional Challenge will take place at Jefferson Middle School in Midland, MI on February 22, 2025. Register by December 20th for a chance to win a $25 gift card!
Interested in having a scientist visit your classroom virtually? This program allows scientists to reach people from all over the world without having to leave the lab! They have thousands of scientists ready to chat, and teachers can choose the type of scientist that will best fit their classroom and curriculum. Click here for more information.
Check out more K-12 science updates from the MDE HERE.