Jessica's blog

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. 

 

 

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! 

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. 

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) 

  

 

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?