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Welcome to Brainstorms!, the monthly e-newsletter of the MSU Science Math Resource Center. We share cool opportunities for Montana STEM educators of all grade levels, subjects and settings, including upcoming professional development workshops through MSU and our partners; grant applications and STEM resources; STEM events and contests for students; and more.
Please forward to a colleague and encourage them to subscribe – including your school administrators and school counselors, too! For questions or ideas, contact the MSU Science Math Resource Center.
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Quantum Sunprint Artworks on display at MSU through Aug. 9
Artworks created by students from Stone Child College and Montana State University for a "Quantum Sunprint Workshop" will be on display at the Haynes Hall art gallery through Aug. 9. The exhibit hall, on the second floor of Haynes Hall, is open Monday through Friday 8am to 5pm and is open to the public.
The workshop brought together artists, quantum physicists, botanists, science communicators and students to explore and create cyanotypes, or "sun prints" inspired by quantum concepts.
The workshop was led by Bruce Barnhart of MSU's School of Art and supported by the MSU Science Math Resource Center, which oversees education and workforce development for MSU's Applied Quantum CORE. Additional support came from IMOD, the NSF Center for Integration of Modern Optoelectronic Materials on Demand based at the University of Washington.
Watch for additional educator resources related to this project later this fall!
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SMRC receives $3M NSF award to support rural teachers | |
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Dr. Fenqjen Luo, associate director of the Science Math Resource Center and math education associate professor at MSU, has been selected for a five-year award that will support STEM teachers in high-need school districts in Montana.
Named Rural and American Indian School Educators as Science, Technology, engineering and Mathematics Leaders (RAISE STEM Leaders), the funded project is part of NSF's Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program The MSU program seeks to develop a cohort of 24 experienced and exemplary STEM teachers, known as Master Teaching Fellows, from seven high-need school districts in Montana. Co-investigators include Jeannie Chipps and Suzi Taylor of the SMRC; Paul Gannon from the Montana Engineering Education Research Center (MEERC); and Qiu Jiong, Department of Physics.
For more information, visit the program website.
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See you at the MFPE meeting this fall | |
Join the Montana Science Teachers Association at the MFPE meeting on October 17-18 in Bozeman
MSTA New Teacher Breakfast – Thursday, Oct. 17, 8am: All new teachers are welcome! Meet fellow teachers from across the state and solidify connections that will support you in your career.
MSTA Luncheon and business meeting – Thursday, Oct. 17, Noon: Join MSTA members for a networking luncheon and business meeting. Learn about issues and opportunities in science education and build community around current topics in Montana science classrooms.
Share-a-Thons for Chemistry, Earth Science, Elementary Science, Life Science, Middle School Science and Physics (scheduled throughout the conference): Share with, learn from, and collaborate with fellow instructors! Bring two of your favorite lesson plans or resources to share, learn new tips and ideas from colleagues, and go home with a dozen new ideas you can implement on Monday morning.
Plus many other excellent presentations and demonstrations by MSTA members.
Learn more about MSTA
Register for the MFPE Educator Conference
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The Science Math Resource Center will also be presenting at the Educators' Conference. Come see us at:
Five ways the MSU Science Math Resource Center can support YOU
Thursday, Oct. 17, 10am
How (and Why) to Bring Science Olympiad to Your School
Thursday, Oct. 17, 2pm
The Need for Photonics and Quantum Introduction at the Secondary Level
Friday, Oct 18, 8am
SMART FIRES: K-12 Educational Content on Fire Science, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence
Friday, Oct. 18, Noon
Proficiency-Based Education: Shifting Toward a Student-Centered Model
Friday, Oct. 18, 1pm
Exploring Our World with Mathematical Models
Friday, Oct. 18, 3pm
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MSU's Science Math Resource Center, in collaboration with the National Girls Collaborative Project, invites you to participate in QuantumGirls, a new project of the MSU Applied Quantum CORE.
Ten Montana out-of-school time programs, including afterschool programs, museums, camps, and clubs, are eligible to receive free virtual training on an engaging new STEM curriculum designed for middle school, self-identifying girls, and gender-expansive youth (ages 11-14). Selected sites will also receive virtual implementation support and a $150 stipend for program materials. To learn more about the curriculum, program expectations, and application criteria please review the Request for Applications.
To apply, complete this brief online application by August 12, 2024. Applicants will be notified by August 23, 2024. If you have any questions, please email Tara Cox, tcox@ngcproject.org.
For more quantum news, check out the Science Math Resource Center's quantum webpage.
Application date Aug. 12, 2024
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American Mathematics Competitions
The AMC, organized by the Mathematics Association of America (MAA), are a series of three tests aimed at middle and high school students in grades 7-12. These tests focus on developing students' problem-solving skills and content knowledge. The Science Math Resource Center hosts these competitions at MSU at no charge to participants. AMC 10/12 are high-school level competitions, and AMC8 offers challenging questions up through 8th grade.
AMC 10/12 A: Nov. 6, 2024
AMC 10/12 B: Nov. 12, 2024
AMC 8: January 22-28, 2025
Registration will open this fall. To get updates on AMC and other upcoming math events, sign up for the Montana Math Circle Newsletter
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Support your students who want to become rural teachers
Do you know any high school students who would like to be teachers? Please encourage them to become part of the Future Rural Educators’ Club. Students who are involved in the club get access to a state-wide community, sessions from MSU Faculty and Staff as well as educational leaders across the state. Students who are part of the club may also apply to attend a free summer camp on MSU Bozeman’s campus where they will learn college navigation strategies.
For more information, please reach out to Marcie Reuer marcie.reuer@montana.edu
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Are any of your former students going to MSU this fall?
Tell them to watch for the Science Math Resource Center at Catapalooza on Aug. 23. They can learn more about the Science Olympiad Club and the Aspiring Educators (future teachers) of MSU.
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Share the knowledge: Applied Quantum CORE
What do you know about quantum? Whether your answer is “a lot”, “a little” or “next to nothing,” we want to help you share the promise of this emerging industry with your students. Montana State University’s Applied Quantum CORE is a nationally funded program that supports MSU researchers and collaborators in developing and testing materials, networks and technologies that capitalize on unique physical properties that occur in particles at the very smallest scale. Revolutions in quantum technologies could impact national security, health, agriculture and nearly every industry. When you join our Montana Educators Quantum Forum, you will receive quarterly updates on free resources for teachers, opportunities for students, and news about quantum at MSU.
Join the Montana Quantum Educators' Network
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Free lesson plans: Signals in the Soil
Introduce your students to the phenomenon of rain on snow flooding events with NGSS-aligned lesson plans that are based on Montana research.
These lesson plans allow students to explore real occurrences of these flooding events, engage with online simulations, and plan an investigation while hearing from research scientists who work in the fields of Earth Science and Land Resources and Environmental Sciences at MSU.
Students will explore resources from the USGS and will design an investigation using soil columns. This experiment models water movement under saturated conditions with a constant height of water in the soil column. The final activities will be teacher- and student- designed to address interest and might include mechanical or chemical investigations. This project is supported by NSF award 2034430.
Download the lessons for free here
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Join the Montana Citizen Science Network
If you would like to learn more about citizen science and how you can implement it in your classroom, subscribe to the quarterly newsletter. The Montana Citizen Science Network is hosted by the MSU Science Math Resource Center with support from Montana NSF EPSCoR and NASA AREN.
Check out our past activities
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The Last Best Learning Podcast Series
New from the Office of Public Instruction: Join Katrina Engeldrum, OPI Math Instructional Coordinator, and Michelle McCarthy, OPI Science Instructional Coordinator, as they share the OPI Content Standard Team's vision for a new professional learning experiment with you!
Watch the introduction to the podcast
August 27, 2024
Self-Care for Educators (coming soon)
OPI has established a few ways for educators to establish these as certificate bearing Professional Development opportunities: the Collaborative Listener Guide and Independent Listener Guide.
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NASA Challenges for students
shared by Montana Space Grant Consortium
Plant the Moon & Plant Mars Challenge
The Plant the Moon and Plant Mars Challenge is designed as a support to NASA’s Artemis Program to connect space science and planetary research with down-to-Earth concepts to introduce students to genuine, rigorous academic research. A program of the Institute of Competition Sciences (ICS) in collaboration with the University of Central Florida CLASS Exolith Laboratory, NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI), the Plant the Moon Challenge is a global science experiment, learning activity and inspirational project-based-learning challenge to see who can grow the best crops using lunar or Martian regolith simulants.10 Week experiment grow period
- Registration: Fall ~ July–September, Spring ~ October–FebruaryGrow period: Fall ~ September–November, Spring ~ February–AprilGrades: K – Post-secondary, separated by divisions
- Teams: up to 10 members ($199)
NASA App Development Student Challenge
The NASA ADC, a Next Gen STEM Activity, is a coding challenge in which NASA presents technical problems to middle and high school students seeking student contributions to deep space exploration missions.
- Middle & high school
- Registration opens: August 14th, 2024
- Registration closes: September 25th, 2024
- Event Dates: April 14-17, 2025
- Location: Johnson Space Center
NASA TechRise Student Challenge
Launched in 2021, this NASA competition enables students to propose technologies for development and flight testing. Teams can submit ideas for experiments to fly on a suborbital flight platform.
- 6th – 12th grades
- Competition winners (60) receive $1,500 to build their payload and an assigned spot on a NASA-sponsored commercial flight test
- Registration opens: August 1st, 2024
- Registration closes: September 25th, 2024
NASA Student Launch Challenge
Students across the nation take part in a 9-month commitment to design, build, test, and launch vehicle and payload components that support the Space Launch System (SLS), and Artemis missions.
- Middle, high school and college/universities
- Request for Proposals opens: August 14th, 2024
- Proposals due: September 11th, 2024
NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge
Each year the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) features an engineering design challenge to engage students worldwide in the next phase of human space exploration.
- Middle, high school and college/universities
- Proposal Expectations Webinar: August 2024
- Proposals due: September 2024
- Event date: April 11-12, 2025
- Event Location: US Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, AL
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Do you know a Montana STEM teacher interested in cool opportunities? Please share this newsletter so they can follow along for next year. Or, they can subscribe at bit.ly/smrc-news | | | | |
