Jellyfish-like robots could one day clean up the world’s oceans

 Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart

Roboticists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart have developed a jellyfish-inspired underwater robot with which they hope one day to collect waste from the bottom of the ocean. The almost noise-free prototype can trap objects underneath its body without physical contact, thereby enabling safe interactions in delicate environments such as coral reefs. Jellyfish-Bot could become an important tool for environmental remediation.

Racial Disparities in STEM Start as Early as Kindergarten, New Study Finds

Education Week

Inequities in science and math achievement begin as soon as students enter school, a new study shows—a finding that suggests schools should be providing earlier support and encouragement for students of color in STEM fields, the researchers say.

The study, from researchers at Penn State, the University of California Irvine, and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, focused on students who were high-performers—defined in the research as scoring above the 90th percentile in math or science assessments.

Starting in kindergarten, a greater share of white and Asian students met that marker than Black and Latino students. The gaps persisted, and in some cases widened, as students moved through elementary school.

Make String from Algae

ACTIVE TIME

2-3 hours

TOTAL PROJECT TIME

3 or more days

KEY CONCEPTS

Polymers, chemical reactions, biomaterials, fiber arts

CREDITS The Tech Interactive

Did you know that the seaweed you've seen in the ocean or even eaten as a snack is inspiring innovators to imagine new materials? Large brown algae, like kelp, contains polymers—long chains of molecules—that are more environmentally friendly than the ones in most plastics. These natural polymers (alginates) could eventually be used to create sustainable everyday objects. Try your hand at using a bit of chemistry to turn biodegradable polymers from algae into your own custom string! Educators, a lesson plan is also available for this topic.

The Food and Agriculture Center for Science Education (The Center), established as a platform of the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture in 2022, is gathering information to learn more about how informal education organizations connect with science education through a lens of agriculture. It is also collecting information from people and organizations who might be interested in learning more about agriculture resources or sharing resources with others. 

The Center is working with WestEd to distribute a survey to museums, libraries, zoos and aquariums, after-school programs, science centers, and other informal education organizations. 

Please Complete the Survey. The Center is hoping to gather information from a broad range of people. This will allow The Center to learn more about the connections and resources that exist related to science education through a lens of agriculture. We expect that the survey will take about 15 minutes to complete

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CenterInformalConnections.

Even if you do not feel that your organization currently has connections to agriculture, we would appreciate you completing the survey so that The Center has a true picture of the current landscape, resources that might be helpful, and potential collaborators.  

Share the Survey. This survey is intended for people who work in informal education, particularly those involved with developing or delivering programs, resources, or exhibit content. If you think someone else at your organization would be better able to complete the survey, feel free to forward it to them. In addition, please share the survey with any colleagues at other informal organizations. We hope to gather information from as many people as possible. 

Please reach out to Brooke Gorman - bgorman@wested.org if you have any questions about the survey. 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CenterInformalConnections.

LAST CALL

We want to highlight your program at the 31st Annual School's Out, Make It Count Conference in October. Send your photos to rbradstock@azafterschool.org by April to be a part of our 2023 conference event!

We feature an out-of-school time program each year at the School's Out, Make It Count conference in our printed materials and beyond. Submit your program to be featured at our 31st annual conference this October!