September 2014
In This Issue
Festivals!
FLL Kickoff
Scale-Ups Professional Development
Meet Mark McDermott
IOWA CAPS
Resources Galore
 WELCOME!
 
Kristine Bullock
SE Hub Manager


SE Advisory Board Meeting
September 18 2:00-4:00 at the Mount Pleasant Middle School STEM Classroom

FTC Scale-Up Professional Development 
September 20 8:00-5:00 at the BioVentures Center in Coralville

September 22 8:30-3:30 at the Marriott Hotel in Coralville

September 29 8:00 - 4:00 at ISU

HomeSchool Scince Club-Science Station
October 1 10-11:45 am at 444 1st Ave NE,Cedar Rapids

KidWind Scale-Up Professional Development
October 9 8:00-4:0) at the BioVentures Center in Coralville

October 13 1:30-4:00 at the African American Museum of Iowa in Cedar Rapids

SE Advisory Board Meeting
October 16 9:00- 11:00 at the Johnson County ISU Extension

November 2-5
Indianapolis, IN

SE Advisory Board Meeting
November 20 2:00-4:00 at the Davenport West STEM Classroom

  

Last Friday of every month at the Iowa Children's Museum from 5:00 - 8:00

The Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council is a bipartisan collaboration of legislators, educators, businesses, students and families to increase STEM awareness and opportunities in Iowa.  To learn more about STEM programming going on in southeast Iowa, visit us at http://se.iowastem.org. 
 
Festival Recaps and Upcoming Events

STEM Day at the State Fair

On the last day of the Iowa State Fair attendees had one more attraction to see.  The second year of STEM Day at the Fair was bigger and better than ever with dozens of programs and organizations from across the state of Iowa helping to promote the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  The Southeast region was well represented with several organizations providing engaging activities, helpful information, as well as a few goodies.  We would like to thank FIRST Tech Challenge, the Putnam Museum, Saint Ambrose University, the State Hygienic Lab, Grant Wood AEA and the University of Iowa College of Engineering and College of Education for volunteering to help make this year's STEM Day at the Fair a great success!

 

Iowa City Fall Fun Festival at Regina

During Labor Day weekend, the 35th annual Iowa City Fall Fun Festival was held at the Regina Catholic Education Center. We would like to thank every one that came out to see all of the great activities that were offered through our amazing exhibitors.  This years exhibitors included: Rapid Reproductions, Rockwell Collins, UI Biology Department/ Hawkeyes at the Microscope, Iowa City FIRST Robotics, the Yeh Family, the Girls Scouts, and UIRegina Fesitval College of Medicine.  We would also like to give a special thanks to the University of Iowa Community Credit Union for allowing us to have this event through their generous donation.

 

Southeast Festival

Mark your calendars!  The 2nd Annual Southeast IA STEM Festival will be held April 25th from 10:00-2:00 in Burlington. Details can be found on our website.

2nd Annual Quad Cities Area FLL Kickoff!


On September 20th, FIRST LEGO League (FLL) teams from the Quad Cities area will gather at the Putnam Museum for the official kickoff to the "WORLD CLASS Learning Unleashed" season. The kickoff itself will run from  8:00 am to 12:05 pm.  Throughout the WORLD CLASS season, teams will are challenged to think through unique problems like a researcher in order to develop a creative solution.  FLL is a program for 9 to 14 year olds designed to get them excited about science and technology while teaching valuable employment and life skills.  Last year, more than 250 people from approximately 35 teams attended the inaugural event.

Scale-Up Professional Developments

Professional Developments are underway!  Professional Developments are a great way to increase student interest and awareness of STEM fields by building teacher expertise with scale-up curriculum.  We would like
Educators participate at the Engineering is Elementary Professional Development
to thank HyperStream, Engineering is Elementary, A World in Motion, and Pint Size Science for helping to get the Professional Development season off to a successful start!  The following professional developments are coming up soon:
Title of PD
Date
Time
Location
FTC
9/20/20148:00-5:00BioVentures Center 2500 Crosspark Rd, Coralville, IA
KidWind
10/9/2014
8:00-4:00
BioVentures Center 2500 Crosspark Rd, Coralville, IA
Meet Mark McDermott!

After teaching at several schools (including  Iowa City West, Wartburg College, and the University of Iowa) Mark is currently serving at the University of Iowa as the College of Education STEM Coordinator. He hopes to use his new position to reach out to schools and to make sure they are aware of the resources the College of Education can provide.  

"We want to make sure that those outside of the College of Education are aware of the research, outreach, and professional development we are doing to help promote STEM education." 

Mark recently took a tour across the state of Iowa to introduce himself to schools and interested parties, help answer any questions that they might have, and promote collaboration to continue to build interest in STEM. From his experience teaching he has seen students who have gotten excited
 about science, engineering, math, or using technology and  received encouragement to pursue their interest be able to go on to do great things.  

"I want to make sure that every kid that goes through school is STEM literate through providing both formal and informal opportunities. I hope that as we get more involved in this process we can work more with the Southeast STEM Hub in making sure that the efforts of the College of Education and the STEM Hub are complementary and working together to improve STEM education."
Iowa STEM Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS)


In order to continue the momentum of Governor Branstad's STEM initiative that aims to increase student interest and achievement in the fields of STEM, the Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council has designated funding to promote Iowa STEM CAPS programs. These programs help students become involved in professional environments and engage in curriculum that is developed by industry professionals in order to provide relevancy between classroom work and the workforce. The objective is to unite the expertise of public and private sectors to strengthen the continuum from classrooms to careers.  


 
"The goal of Iowa STEM CAPS is to connect business and industry to education in more meaningful and impactful ways" 

 

Funds from this project are meant to be seed money to either begin, expand, or complete the planning for implementation of one of these programs.  Applications to be a CAPS program must be submitted by October 15, 2014 and can be sent to [email protected].


 
Questions may also be directed the committee chair, and our own Southeast Regional STEM Hub Manager, Kristine Bullock at 

[email protected].

Click here for more details on Iowa STEM CAPS programs and information on how to get involved.

Resources Galore!
A collection of resources for STEM educators, businesses, and community members
 
A World In Motion Activity Kit Check-Out!

Are you working with primary or elementary students and in need of an activity that is fun and engaging? Well you're in luck! Benchmarked to national standards, each of the activity kits incorporate the laws of physics, motion, flight, and electronics into age-appropriate hands on activities that reinforce classroom STEM curriculum.  Three types of kits are currently offered for checkout:

  • Rollings Things Challenge
  • JetToy Challenge
  • Gravity Cruiser Design Challenge

If interested in checking out a kit or for more information on the kits that are available, click  here.


Materials may be checked out for 6 weeks. They can be picked up and returned at W211 BioVentures Center, 2500 Crosspark Rd Coralville, IA 52241.  Please replace any consumables you use. 


 

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Sincerely,
 
Kristine Bullock
SE Iowa STEM Manager 
[email protected]