Jessica's blog

YES is great...

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:29:05 +0000

and we here at the YES program already know how great it is, but it makes us feel all warm and fuzzy when members of the museum education community also recognize the positive contributions our YES teens make to the STL area. Nina Simon, author of The Participatory Museum, recently blogged about her recent experience at the Taylor building and what she learned from the YES teens and our programs. Be sure to check out the picture of our very own Science Afterschool members working with students visiting from IL. They were looking for worms for an exploration activity this past spring.

Waiting for summer...

Sun, 02 May 2010 05:35:56 +0000

The YES program is gearing up for our summer session. Last week marked the last Saturday Learning Lab for the spring semester. However, we eagerly welcomed 57 New Teens into the program this Saturday, May 1.

While we're waiting for summer sessions to begin let's take a look at some of the highlights of 2009-2010 year. Enjoy!

Be sure to check our blog for more information on summer sessions and New Teen labs!

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"Wormathon"- Investigating our questions

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 16:55:13 +0000

In our final week of the spring semester we wrapped up exploring our questions around worms. We counted our worms first. We had 20 worms from the store the first week, and 20 worms we dug up in Science Corner beds. This past week, 5 weeks later, we only found13 store bought worms, and 9 Science Corner worms. Why do you think that is? We decided it could be because the worms were just difficult to find, that we didn't try long enough, or that they actually died and their bodies became too difficult to find.

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After we counted our worms we reexamined some of the questions that we had our first week. Small groups of YES teens investigated whether a worm would respond to light, why they thought the worm kept coming off the plate, how fast a worm could go, and would worms crawl toward each other. Groups conducted their experiment and then presented out to the group.

Staff Picture of the Week

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 13:53:47 +0000

Okay, staff is slacking on getting in some real quality pictures. I guess they're too busy taking the pictures they aren't in any of them!

Here's one from last fall. Chastity, YES Coach in the Communicating Climate Change (C3) component, joins YES teens on a field survey. The group walked the field counting butterflies and looking for other interesting insects, plants, and wildlife. They're showing off their finds. Is that a persimmon?

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Kid in a Bubble!?

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 21:49:56 +0000

Before spring break we continued our challenge with bubbles and tried to see if we could fit a "kid", or in this case a YES teen, inside a bubble. YES teens used their inquiry skills and discovered that some techniques worked better than others. See below for a photo blog of the action.

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First, we added dish soap to water. What do you suppose is the best ratio of soap to water?

College Prep Funnies

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:49:36 +0000

This blog is late, but I wanted to share it because the sophomore grouped worked so well on it. Each week in College Prep we address issues, skills, topics of interest to better prepare students for life after high school. This challenge was to use math in a comic strip. Your group had to illustrate (pun!) a situation where math was being used, and it was supposed to be funny. At least to you. :) Click here for all the comics.

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SAS cleans up science...

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:51:29 +0000

Science After School (SAS) has changed their curriculum with the new semester. The last couple weeks we have been investigating bubbles, following Richard Ponzio's Youth Experiences in Science curriculum. We've looked at how to teach scientific thinking skills, like observation and comparing, to younger audiences through the use of hands on activities around bubbles. This week groups compared bubble foams. They looked at various ways of how to make lots of bubbles using soap, shaving cream, and their own breath. The room got messy, but was certainly never dirty with all that soap around. Pictured are some of the guys who got really into the shaving cream foam.

Jalen demonstrates the importance of safety.

Kris gets participation points today for sure!

True Colors

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:30:32 +0000

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Every week YES teens and Coaches have College Prep session in the beginning of Lab time. Freshmen through Seniors meet to participate in activities that expose them to and build their awareness of opportunities for live after high school. This includes developing skill sets necessary for success. This week we looked at developing interpersonal and intrapersonal skills, esspecially teens' perceptions of their personalities and how that influences their interactions with each other. My educational background is in Psychology, so True Colors is one of my favorite activities. Teens talk about what color they feel best describes their personality. Greens are the independent workers and free thinkers. Oranges are the fun loving friendly group. Yellows tend to be seen as the leaders in the group, being responsible and holding others accountable. Finally, blues are the creative and compassionate individuals.

Science Makers 2010

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:55:41 +0000

Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend was pretty busy at the Saint Louis Science Center. The School and Community Partnerships department had two major events celebrating science, engineering, technology, and math (STEM) professionals and education.

Science Makers began on Friday, kicking off the action packed weekend. Science Makers is funded by a National Science Foundation grant and came out of the amazing work being done by the History Makers project. Science Makers is an oral history project that recognizes African American scientists who have made significant contributions to their field. The Saint Louis Science Center, and the YES program, were fortunate enough to welcome four such physicists as special guests to speak with local middle and high school students. On Friday, schools from the St. Louis metro area interviewed our guests, Dr. Diggs, Dr. Gates, Dr. Gladney, and Dr. White about their career paths and what interests them most about their field. Other students also networked with local scientists, representing many STEM organizations and fields here in the St. Louis area. Teachers and students alike had been preparing for this event through hands on classroom activities and viewing the Science Makers interview clips from the project's Tool Kit. At the closing ceremony students commented that they weren't sure what to expect, thinking that it might have been boring. They said they had changed their mind after meeting with the scientists who "turned out to be pretty cool actually." (Compton Drew)

Staff picture of the "week"- December 12, 2009

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:23:50 +0000

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Kevin assists SAS member with making her own kaledioscope. This was one of many pictures Kevin made it into this week, as he was so busy helping everywhere! This was the culminating activity for SAS. Previous activities included studying color/paper chromotography. Kaledioscopes threw in a little art and math. The activity was adapted from After School Math PLUS curriculum.

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Herbert Hoover Science Firsthand groups

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:09:44 +0000

Science Firsthand added a new site this past semester. We started working at Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club-Sportsman's Park Unit in October. HHBGC and the SLSC have been partners in youth education for some time, however this was a first for the Science Firsthand project. We started with what was going to be a 6 week starter program and ended up working with a 21st Century group almost all semester. We did a range of investigations, including paper chromotography, helicopters, rollercoasters, and shrinky dinks. YES teens assisted as mentors in the project on a few occasions. One of the favorites though was a series of challenges around electric circuits. The students were challenged to light a christmas tree light bulb using just a battery. They also then tried using a paperclip to light the bulb without touching anything but the paperclip. Do you think you could do it?

Bringing Staff Picture of the Week back-Brandon finds things in common with Cindy (the turtle)

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:04:30 +0000

eldridge's blogs

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 22:04:13 +0000

Im in the after school science group.Today we were doing some work about jump ropes.i had fun like always and learn like all ways.TALK to you later GOTTA go.

Marcella`s Entry

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 22:01:25 +0000

Marcella`s blogg: `.-On Tuesday of November 5th, 2008 was the updated elections. Im very satisfied with who made the office. Elected Senator Barrack Obama has worked hard to become the President of the United States...I believe he deserves to be in office. When they announced on CNN channel 202 that Elected Senator BArrack Obama was now President of the United States...my heart was full of joy and all my mothers worries was taken away knowing that we just made history.!

Jessica's blog

YES is great...

Waiting for summer...

"Wormathon"- Investigating our questions

Staff Picture of the Week

Kid in a Bubble!?

College Prep Funnies

Staff Picture of the Week (at Kerry's request)

SAS cleans up science...

True Colors

Science Makers 2010

Staff picture of the "week"- December 12, 2009

Herbert Hoover Science Firsthand groups

Bringing Staff Picture of the Week back-Brandon finds things in common with Cindy (the turtle)

eldridge's blogs

Marcella`s Entry