Youth Exploring Science - Learning Places

Learning Places Blog

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 11:16:04 -0700

This is the blog of Learning Places. The Learning Places program results from a four-year grant awarded by the National Science Foundation to the St. Louis Science Center (SLSC) in partnership with the Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM.) Learning Places provides teenagers with a variety of opportunities to explore and evaluate the components necessary to create the physical spaces that will engage and excite younger children about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).

Lightning and Thunder

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:58:19 -0800

This week was very busy for Learning Places. Brandon took three teens to Minnesota for the Youth Summit. Apparently, the Mall of America has a roller coaster in it. Brandon, Tim and I met with a representative from the Herp. Society to discuss putting a Learning Place in the Taylor Center that has reptiles. And in Saturday's lab, we created sparks to simulate lightning. This was followed by much popping of balloons, which was followed by the popping of paper bags. All in all, it was a very loud Saturday.

Learning Places Youth Summit

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 14:37:44 -0800

This weekend myself and three teens (Desmond, Cambreana, and Marlow) are visiting the Science Museum of Minnesota and their Learning Places team. Our main focus this weekend has been documenting the history of the LP grant and how we can make our work transparent enough so other museums around the country can implement the same project within their community.

For the teens, I think that they have made connections with other teens and gain a new appreciation for the work that they have all done in Learning Places. I am happy to see that are finally comfortable to show their glowing personalities to the staff of SMM, most of this weekend one teen in particular has been glued to my side. But I think finally has stepped out of their comfort zone and making new friends. All the teens are ready for me to drop my mad vocals on them. I tried to let them know that:

my lyrics are called the wind cuz they blow right by you ( phew)

The Mall of America was pretty cool, I wonder if I can eat out of every restaurant in the mall in one night? It will probably lead to the most terrifying GOBLIN ever. Speaking of GOBLIN, I did introduce him to the staff here, and I will say that it was a moving experience.

Temperature

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 12:45:35 -0800

This Saturday, we tested different activities relating to temperature. We discussed how cold and warm fronts relate to temperature, and we talked about the seasons. Winter comes when the earth's axis is tilted away from the sun, not when the earth is farthest from the sun in its orbit. We also mapped our routes to work, and we did an activity about setting goals. The best part was when we had a competition to find the "worth of words." Melvin won, with the word "supercalifragilisticispealadocious," which was worth almost 400 points!

Tornadoes

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:11:37 -0800

Last Saturday in Learning Places we did tornado activities. We tried out four different ways to make tornado models and decided which might work the best at our sites. We also decided what ingredients we would need to make the tornadoes look great. Then we wrote our results in our journals. We also sorted different examples of maps to decide what would make a good map and what would not. Lastly, we had a discussion about setting goals and the levels of college degrees. The teens seemed to be very familiar with college degrees already. Many already know what they want to do as adults. I'm amazed; I was halfway through college before I had any idea.

Rainbows

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 14:19:10 -0700

Today in Learning Places, we did some activities about rainbows. We are focusing on weather this semester, because many of our sites would like to have weather-related activities for their kids. Teens tried out three different activities and then discussed which might work best at a site with little kids. We also did some more mapping activities, with teens making a drawing of their favorite rooms. Lastly, we had a discussion about race and genetics, and about how some companies are deliberately marketing products based on race. Some of teens were a little quiet, but we hope they learn to express themselves better about issues like this.

DONT FORGET ABOUT ME IM STILL GONNA BE YES

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 08:26:43 -0700

HEY EVERYONE THIS IS GREGORY ROBERTSON HERE... EVEN THOUGH IM NOT A YES TEEN ANYMORE THIS IS STILL HOME TO ME... I WANT TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE THINGS I BEEN UP TO... WELL IM STILL IN SCHOOL I ATTEND RITENOUR... THERE WAS MISCALCULATION ON MY CREDITS SO.....YOU GET THE MESSAGE. I'VE BEEN GETTING ACCEPTANCE FROM SEVERAL COLLEGES AROUND THE STATE OF MISSOURI SO IM READY FOR COLLEGE WHENEVER YOU ARE. I WENT TO VISIT A COLLEGE CALL MISSOURI WESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY JUST SO I CAN SEE IF IM VERY INTERESTED IN ATTENDING. FROM THE LOOKS OF THINGS, I MAY NOT ATTEND JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY ANYMORE, BECAUSE THERE SOMETHING BETTER THAT I HAVE SEEN. IM APPLYING FOR THE GOLDEN GRIFFON SCHOLARSHIP... THAT'S THE TOP "MWSU" COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP.... ITS HARD TO ACHIEVE, BUT MY HAVING THE HELP OF THE SAINT LOUIS SCIENCE CENTER AND MY HEART I THINK I CAN ACHIEVE IT. I MISS BEING WITH MY FRIENDS AND MY FAVORITE SUPERVISORS TIM, BILL, LAKEISHA, TAYLOR, GYWANNA, FELIX, LANCE, CINDY, MEI LING, BRANDON, PRISCILLA, SHANAE, MISSY, AND MANY MORE. I WOULD LIKE FOR ALL OF THE SAINT LOUIS SCIENCE CENTER TO KEEP IN TOUCH WITH ME.... YOU CAN ON FACEBOOK... JUST TYPE IN "GREGORY SCORPIOS FINEST ROBERTSON" AND YOU WILL SEE MY BEAUTIFUL FACE...

The engiering career day

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 13:40:47 -0700

Today was the most slow day ever. I had fun but I would like to actually visit the schools and careers that we saw today. i didn't really felt interested in the program. i did enjoy bloging this. BLA BLA BLA GOD SPEED

Rodney

First Day in a New Group

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 13:23:32 -0700

Hello Fellow Teens,

Today we went to the main building and went to a Engineering Career Convention. I learned some new things about technology from Mr. Murphy. I got some really cool websites so that i can go home and "study" with. I really enjoyed myself and i cant wait until next week.

The Final Chapter

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 18:33:21 -0700

Well this is my last day to do this. I can't wait to come back during the school year. I will enjoy these experiences weather I'm tierd or not. I had fun this summer. I learned so much about myself than I would have ever learned in my entire life. I thank you for this chance to express myself and I will see you guys later!

Children's Hospital " Camp Independence" Sports Rehabilitation Camp

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:17:17 -0700

This summer I was given the chance to participate in this camp called Camp Independence. Although I knew I was going to be working with kids that had cerebral palsy, I had no idea that this opportunity would be the most enriching and amazing experience in my life so far.

Cerebral Palsy is defined as a disability caused by brain damage before or during birth or in the first years, resulting in a loss of voluntary muscular control and coordination. So some of the kids may not be able to speak on their own, some have talkers, some don’t. Some may not be able to walk on their own or at all, some may be blind and with some of the kids you would never know they had CP. The disability does not affect the intelligence of the campers or anyone with CP, they think and feel the same way as anyone else would.

Since Camp Independence is a sports rehabilitation camp for children with cerebral palsy, every day we did different sports and activities. So we would play tennis, basketball, baseball, soccer, volleyball, do martial arts, dance and swim! Every camper has a buddy to hang out with them for the day. I had many buddies this summer and each one taught me something new and made the summer better.

MY REFLECTION AS A YES TEEN

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 07:14:44 -0700

Coming into the program I really didn't expect me to meet a lot of interesting people, I thought is was a job that me and my friends could work at and get paid together. As the days passed as a 1st year yes teen I started getting comfortable with new people around me and became more involved with all the activities they had planned for me.

My second year I seen myself more excited to work with the people I met my 1st year and the new teens that was coming that summer. I knew I learned a lot my 1st year and I might be able to teach the new teens what I've learned.

My third year in the program I was moved to another group where I had to meet another group of new teens. I felt that it was nothing really to worry about cause I was the older teen and I knew more about the the program than the new teens. I felt that it was meant for me to be moved into another group so I can share my intelligence with the teens.

The last year for me has came to an end as a yes teen and I feel that I have learned so much in this program that I can take that with me any where I go and teach that knowledge to younger kids. The program really helped me become from a shy teen to a teen that feels like he can go up to anybody and start a conversation with that person. Deep down inside I will miss all the supervisors that helped me become a better person and helped me with good advice about be a mature adult. I will never forget what I was taught and never forget the people that taught me.

end of the summer

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 07:10:28 -0700

I have had a great summer in learning places. I loved teaching the children and I hope that they took out of it as much as I did. now that I think about it learning places has done so much this summer and last fall. We designed five sites in which we would be able to teach children while having the space interactive and usable by other people so that educaters and children could learn and build off of what we created. we done so much with the kids and spent so much time with them. just the amount of work spent teaching was a great accomplishment but we had to go beyound that because we had to ensure that the kids got the most of their time; so we had to not only learn the investigations, but understand them inside and out while also actually doing the investigation before hand to ensure that the kids would enjoy it. I learned so much this summer not only about how to teach and what I needed to teach but I also learned a lot about myself in the process. the group of learning places has done so great and done so much but I think that our accomplishments so much more when the obstacles we have over come are taken into consideration. at the begining of the year we did have a rough start but through hard work and an amazing effort by both supervisers and my co-workers we were able to over come them to make this my best year ever as a yes teen.

My Summer with Learning Places

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 08:06:12 -0700

My summer with Learning Places was a Blast! My supervisors were Messa, Bill and Tim. They taught me a lot and helped me increase on my intelligence. We have done a lot and been through a lot (as usual). I really enjoyed myself this summer with you all and I will love to show up next year(if able). -Paul Calloway

End Of The Summer

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 07:54:04 -0700

The summer was so fun working in the learning places.I got to meet new people. I'm also glad this is the last week so I won't have to deal with my sister anymore.I liked working with the older kids because they are very helpful and sometimes gives good advice.