SCHOLASTIC DRONE RACING
After school scholastic drone racing practice at Circleville High School (video link)
Partner with Circleville City School District to be the first in Pickaway County to use drone technology and establish the lure of competitive drone racing (formalizing it as a scholastic drone racing tech sport) to expose K-12 students to technology and hands-on problem-solving opportunities to – design, create, modify, and rebuild – employing 21st Century Skills and use of technology to meet the demands of the 21st Century Workforce. Drone technology expands and applies STEM learning (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics).
Maker X drone Racing Event in Columbus, OH (video link)
The Circleville High School Team participated in the 2019 Maker X event held in Columbus, Ohio, video highlight of the racing event. Students from all over Ohio came to participate. Safety Third Racing and Buckeye FPV assisted with organizing the event.
STEM CLUB
SCRATCH PSA Code Challenge (video link)
Teays Valley Elementary Students learned what a public service announcement (PSA) is and how to create their own through writing a computer program to animate their public service announcement. Students developed a PSA message, character, background, and wrote text and created audio files to write into their computer program using Scratch. Program presentation link.
Elementary STEM Club Computer Science Fundamentals (video link)
Teays Valley Elementary Students learned about a new “superpower” that isn’t being taught in 90% of US schools – the power of CODE. Students watched a short video that breaks down stereotypes about what it means to learn to code, how in-demand the skill set is, how coding impacts humanity, and especially how fun, interactive, and full-service some larger companies design their office space to attract and keep their talent pool. Program presentation link. Read more, STEM Club Program Blog Post.
Engineering a Catapult and Creative Writing Challenge (video link)
Students learned about catapults and the engineering design process which involves problem-solving and building solutions through teamwork, designing, prototyping, testing, rebuilding, and continuing to improve and reevaluate their design solutions. Students learned the basic catapult design concepts and components. They learned about force, accuracy, precision, and angels – and made engineering connections – engineers apply science, writing, and math concepts early into the design process and prototyping before they’re ready to build final products to meet their clients’ needs. Read more, STEM Club Program Blog Post.
Chromatography Detectives, Teays Valley STEM Club Program (video link)
Chromatography. The students became CSI lab technicians, tasked with solving a who-done-it pumpkin theft. All that was left at the scene of the crime was a letter demanding cookies! No fingerprints were found, but six suspects where brought in for questioning and all six had different black markers on their person. The marker evidence was tagged and brought to the CSI lab along with the random letter for further analysis. Marker samples were taken and a chromatography test was performed by our young lab technicians. Read more, STEM Club Program Blog Post
Hour of Code Program (video link)
This program is usually timed around Computer Science Week. The program incorporates Hour of Code online computer programming challenges to engage elementary students in. The Hour of Code is a global movement by Computer Science Education Week and Code.org reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries through a one-hour introduction to computer science and computer programming.
Persistence of Vision, Teays Valley STEM Club Program (video link)
Persistence of vision, the optical illusion, that occurs when visual perception of an object does not cease for some time after the rays of light proceeding from it have ceased to enter the eye. The discovery was first discussed in 1824 when an English-Swiss physicist named Peter Mark Roget presented a paper, “Explanation of an Optical Deception in the Appearance of the Spokes of a Wheel when seen through Vertical Apertures” to the Royal Society in London. Shortly after, in 1832, a Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau built a toy that took advantage of the optical illusion trick. The students learned how our eyes report basic imaginary back to the brain, or rather how our eyes perceive shapes, their motion, and their relative position from other objects. The students discovered that eyes are not simple windows to the world. Eyes do not see what is, but instead, see approximations. Read more, STEM Club Program Blog Post.
STEM Club Highlight: International Strategic Board Game Challenges (video link)
Coming up with strategies and tactics to over challenges and problems requires a 21st Century Skillset. November’s STEM Club focused on discovering new ways in plotting winning strategies which, later on, will foster more strategic thinking skills that could help when applied to real-life scenarios. Practicing strategizing skills is important and STEM Club exposed students to international strategic board games they can continue playing and learning from. The more these types of games are played, the better students will be at coming up with winning strategies and making smart decisions for a lifetime. The games shared came from around the world: Chess (India), Five Field Kono (Korea), Backgammon (the Middle East), Fox and Geese (Northern Europe), and Mū Tōrere (New Zealand). Strategy games are great for learning life skills, such as patience, self-control, and thinking critically. These types of games teach emotional competence and help students learn to control their impulses; not to make a decision immediately, but rather wait for a better more effective opportunity. Read more, STEM Club Program Blog Post.
Solar Race Car, STEM Club Program (video link)
The students expanded their knowledge of circuits and renewable energy by building solar power cars with simple motors. Each group had the opportunity to race in several matches and make minor adjustments to their design.
Motors & Circuits Exploration with Artbots (video link)
Students learned about simple circuits, batteries, switches, and mottos. They used this knowledge to build Art Bots. Each Art Bot make a unique pattern and design which the students cut out and made greeting cards with.
PhysBot & Fitness Challenges, STEM Club Highlights (video link)
In STEM Club, we stress the importance of multidisciplinary learning and problem-solving by allowing students to engage in hands-on STEM challenges. Remember, it takes more than one subject to solve real-world problems. It’s also important to stress a lifelong learning mode where the body and mind are working together. A healthy active mind requires a healthy active body; the two systems work and support each other. Students learned about wearable technology and the importance of maintaining an active lifestyle by exploring the PhysBot Data Tracker which inspires healthy minds. The PhysBot technology was developed through an Ohio-based partnership between Ohio State University Extension 4-H, Big Kitty Labs, and Tiny Circuits. For a quick club overview visit: go.osu.edu/PhysBot. Read more from the STEM Club Program Blog Post.
STEM COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, PROGRAMMING, AND PARTNERSHIPS
Pickaway WORKS Life Skills & Career Development Program Overview (video link)
Community collaboration of education, business and community leaders working together to build partnerships that create relevant career pathways for students and link them with resources and opportunities to succeed. To additional inspire and improve Pickaway County students’ college and career readiness which improves students’ quality of life and ultimately improve the economic stability of the area. Pickaway WORKS is overseen by a 20-member advisory board and is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization, overseen by executive director, Christy Mills. (Educator is an active program partner and member of Pickaway WORKS Advisory Board.)
Coding Super Powers Program, Circleville STEM Program (video link)
Educator provided an overview of how drone technology is currently impacting the workforce and offers students new skill sets tech, programming, and piloting offer many future career paths to consider. Students coding Parrot Drones in Swift Playground. Presentation by Educator, Meghan Thoreau.
LittleBits Educator’s Night and Kid’s Club (age: K-5th, adults) (video link)
K-12 students and teachers – interested in LittleBits and STEM Education? Registration is open and free. If you are an educator, please join Youth Services along with Meghan Thoreau from OSU Extension Office and Jacqueline Davis with DriveMind Group as we explore how LittleBits technology works. Teachers, this is a professional development opportunity to earn CEU’s. (Teachers must register and participate in both the teacher training and kid’s club sessions to receive 0.5 CEUs.)
CONFERENCE/WORKSHOP
OSU Extension: 21st Century Workforce & Coding Programming (video link)
This video is about the 21st Century Workforce & educators and students learning to code with Sphero. Code is everywhere: agriculture, sports, education, art/design, pharmaceutics, robotics, health, entertainment, travel, law, politics, engineering, transportation, meteorology, tourism, you get the points it’s everywhere. Meghan Thoreau is an OSU Extension Educator in Community Development with a focus on preparing Pickaway County youth for STEM careers (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.) Meghan works collaboratively with a team of Extension professionals, volunteers, campus collaborators, and community partners to provide leadership for the development, production, and evaluation of educational programs and applied research to foster STEM educational opportunities that increase career attainment in STEM fields. Meghan recently lead a hands-on coding workshop at NACDEP 2018 Conference in Cleveland, OH, 13 June, 2018. The first clip, was filmed by Brooke Beam, OSU Extension Educator and workshop assistant. Brooks’ clip captures Extension Educators from across the country engaging in coding challenges. The following videos and photos were recorded or taken by Meghan. All iPads and Spheros came from Apple Education. The music used in video is by Stromae, song Tous les Mêmes. Workshop presentation link: go.osu.edu/NACDEPcodeworkshop.
A Peace of My Mind: Joint Council of Extension Professionals (JCEP) (video link)
John Noltner has been telling stories with words and images for twenty years for national magazines, Fortune 500 companies, and non-profits organizations. His work has appeared in National Geographic Traveler, Forbes Magazine, Midwest Living, and the New York Daily News, among other publications. Throughout his career, Noltner has managed logistics for editorial and commercial clients, both nationally and internationally, having worked on three continents. Noltner carefully arranges details and builds relationships with his clients, using humor, understanding, and compassion to craft compelling and insightful stories.(Educator, Meghan Thoreau, was featured in project amongst dozens of Extension professionals).
STEM CAMPS
Sailing Car Design Challenge, Logan Elm STEM Camp (video link)
Logan Elm students explored nature’s energies. Students learned about the scientific method, aerodynamic designs powered by wind, built wind powered cars, road around on a human hoverboard, and baked s’mores in homemade solar powered ovens! Students and teachers alike enjoyed the day of exploration!
Hover Boarding, Logan Elm STEM Camp (video link)
Sphero Obstacle Challenge, Westfall STEM Camp (video link)
Students explored and build critical 21st century STEM skills, (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) through interactive activities over three-days of summer exploration and engagement. Westfall Schools and Pickaway County OSU Extension teamed up to bring STEM activities to Westfall students. Science came alive when students created their own electronic speaker and more with Dr. Betty Lise Anderson’s team from OSU Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Technology used by scientists and engineers will allow students to test their skills as they learn basic coding skills with Sphero SPRK+ and experiment with programming and robotics with Dianna Swain, Westfall Gifted Intervention Specialist and Meghan Thoreau, OSU Extension Educator. Engineering innovation has great rewards as students discover working with Westfall High School STEM student mentors and STEM experts. Math students apply math to real-world problems, create cool products, and test their critical thinking skills with Eric Romich, OSU Professor & OSU Extension Field Specialist in Energy Development when they’ll build a solar photovoltaic array by exploring series and parallel circuits and use real-time data to relate solar energy production to the sun’s location.
3D Water Spigot Print, Westfall STEM Program (video link)
Elementary & middle school students participate in hands-on STEM learning. OSU Extension brought our new mobile 3D printer and let the kids see first-hand a 3D printing job in action in addition to learning more about bioplastics and recycling.