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Financial Literacy, Stock Market Challenges

Below are stock trading challenges paired with our second club meeting on Financial Literacy and the Stock Market. Please hold back the urge to click on the challenges until our club meeting on Jan. 30th @ 10:00 a.m.

Challenge #1 – Replay the interactive Careers in Finance presentation to help decide if finance is the career pathway for you!

Challenge #2 – Investment Banker Skillset: (skills good for many career paths!)

Challenge #3 – Trading Terms: complete the sentences:

Challenge #4 – Stock Trading Terms: definition match:

Challenge #5 – Stock Trading Terms Crossword:

STEM Professionals Panel: learn, engage, and explore four STEM career pathways

Get ready STEM Club, because we have four guest professionals coming to join us for some lively discussion on their STEM careers, life experiences, and tips when considering working towards a STEM Career. Save the date: Thursday, 21 May 2020 @ 4:00 P.M. (Zoom meeting details are found in our Elementary STEM Club’s Google Classroom.) Click here to watch the recorded club meeting. Our panel includes the following:

WILLIAM MILLER-LITTLE is a M.D. Ph.D. Medical Candidate & Researcher at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Department of Pathology/Immunology actively works in a research laboratory.

MELISSA SMITH is a Phlebotomist & Clinical Lab Supervisor Technician at OSU Medical Center, Outpatient Care East Lab in Columbus, OH (and STEM Club mom.) 

KARINA HANKENFOF is a Product Engineer & Lab Technician, specialized in materials and mechanical systems with Cincinnati Testing Labs in Cincinnati, OH (and Teays Valley alumni.)

CLAY BURGETT is a Chemist & Information Technology Manager at the American Chemical Society for the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), a division of the American Chemical Society in Columbus, Ohio.

Video Conferencing Etiquette, Summary Writing Challenge, and Big Bang AR App!

By: Meghan Thoreau, OSU Extension Educator

Virtual STEM Club: video conferencing in a nutshell Prezi, go.osu.edu/videomeetings.

A significant part of the world population is currently on lock-down in an attempt to contain the coronavirus pandemic. People are turning to technology to go to school, to work, to communicate and stay in touch with their classmates, colleagues, friends, and family.

We held our first virtual STEM Club session last Friday through Zoom! It was great to see everyone’s faces, check-in, and teach video conferencing skills and virtual meeting etiquette; click here to review our presentation again with your child.

Young STEMist learning video conferencing skills.

VIDEO CONFERENCING ETIQUETTE (skill building)

Students learned some quick Dos and Don’ts in participating in virtual meetings:

  • Ensure your technology is working
  • Be on time
  • Mute yourself when not speaking
  • Wear school-appropriate clothing
  • Sit eye-level to camera’s lens, framing yourself from the midsection up
  • Ensuring the right lighting
  • Looking into the camera, giving audience eye-contact
  • Pay attention
  • Have a clean, simple, organized background, or upload a virtual backdrop

SUMMARY WRITING CHALLENGE

Summary writing isn’t simple. It’s a difficult academic skill. As with any new skill, especially writing skills, students need to be explicitly taught and practice. The students went through some basic definitions and discussed why summary writing is important because it improves reading skills as you pick out the main ideas of reading; it also helps with vocabulary skills where you paraphrase a reading, altering the vocabulary and grammar as you do so.

A summary is a long text distilled to its essentials. It summarizes the key points worth noting, without writing examples and lengthy details. The sentence structure and vocabulary has been changed, but the main ideas remain. Critical thinking skills are improved as you decide on the main ideas of the reading to include in the summary. Summary writing also improves editing skills as you draft and edit the summary. It’s helpful to work with peers throughout the writing and revision process – cooperative learning.

Screenshot of Time for Kids reading resource: https://www.timeforkids.com/.

The students were asked to visit, Time for Kids, and read two short expository readings, select one article to write a summary on. (Time for Kids has currently opened it’s a digital library for free!) It’s important to underline or take notes of the main ideas as students read. More details to the assignment and submitting are found in your student’s Google Classroom, logging in with their student Teays Valley email address. If you experience any issues with Google Classroom, contact, Meghan, thoreau.1@osu.edu.

BIG BANG AR APP

The students learned about astronomy, elements, atoms, and virtual reality technology in previous club programs. We thought this free App engages many of the lessons learned in a fun interactive way to learn about the story of our universe. The Big Bang AR App is available on both the Google Play and Apple stores.

This is an immersive learning App designed by Tilda Swinton and CERN scientists to take people on an “epic interactive journey through the birth and evolution of the universe” – in mixed reality and augmented reality. It takes students “back 13.8 billion years and discovers how space, time, and the visible universe came to be.” Students can see the universe form in the palm of their hand and virtually “witness the formation of the very first stars, our solar system, and the planet we call home.” This lesson allows students to learn about the microscopic building blocks that make up everything – and everyone – we know, and find out if we are made of stars. The experience ends with the student able to take a #starselfie and share it with your friends and post it in Google Classroom!

Here are a few of the student #starselfie shares:

STEM Stars!

Please stay tuned while we continue to plan and line up guest speakers for our future Virtual STEM Club programs.

Quotes above from the Apple store description: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/big-bang-ar/id1453396628.

 

November’s Club Dates

This is a reminder that STEM Club will only be meeting once per elementary school building this month due to the holidays and some club dates may have been impacted. Note: Scioto’s Club date is now Wednesday, November 13th, from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.!


 

Engineering a Catapult and Creative Writing Challenge

By: Meghan Thoreau, OSU Extension Educator

This September Teays Valley elementary 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 angles – 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.

https://www.gettingsmart.com/2017/10/integrating-edp-and-cbl-in-stem/

They also learned how force affects the motion of a projectile, the difference between accuracy and precision, as well as learned the optimum angle for launching a projectile the farthest distance, being at 45 degrees.https://wafflesonwednesday.com/accuracy-vs-precision/

Catapults may be an old technology, but engineers still apply many design concepts into modern applications that need to store potential energy to propel a payload. Examples such as clay pigeon shooting or more complex in aircraft catapult take off for short runways.

Our catapult project was a two-part challenge: 1) apply the engineering design process to building a catapult, and 2) use the catapults in a creative writing challenge. The students worked in groups moving through target stations.

They used their catapults to hit a dynamic target that gave them points, letters, words, and images. The students had to add up their points, look up new vocabulary with the acquired letters, add the words and phrases collected, and finally handwrite a group creative writing narrative that they read out loud to their peers.

Skills Applied:

  • Engineering concepts
  • Geometry/Angles
  • Visual Motor
  • Bimanual
  • Math/Addition
  • Alphabetization
  • Handwriting
  • Creative Thinking/Storytelling
  • Team Communication
  • Oral Presentation

*Pictures from Teays Valley Elementary Students registered for 2019-2020 STEM Club Program.

 

Club Highlights from 2018-2019

By: Meghan Thoreau, OSU Extension

LED Display Circuit Board Challenge

Elementary STEM Club just started its third year of STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) programming, engaging approximately a hundred 4th and 5th graders in after school hands-on STEM challenges and career exploration throughout the academic school year. Judy Walley, Teays Valley High School Chemistry Teacher, and Meghan Thoreau, OSU Extension Educator, co-teach the program, which also involves over two dozen high school mentor students. The mentors assist with club activities while themselves gaining both soft and technical skills, leadership, community service, and college/career exploration opportunities.

Physics and Center of Gravity Challenges

STEM education programs can have a positive impact on students’ attitudes towards STEM disciplines, 21st century skills, and a greater interest in STEM careers. Educators throughout Pickaway County have been busy in supporting a number of problem-based learning initiatives, business-teacher partnerships, and STEM teaching initiatives.

Foldscope, Origami Microscope Biology Challenge

Elementary STEM Club is one of those local initiatives that employs hands-on learning through a multidisciplinary approach into many subjects and career paths. The program challenges its youth in chemistry, astronomy, biology, coding, drone technology, connected toys, wearable tech, strategic mind games, escape classrooms, electric circuits, physics, renewable energy, beekeeping, aerospace, flight simulations, aviation, fostering a community service mindset, and more.

Strategic Mind Games and Bee Science Challenges

We invite specialists from the community to teach, share, and engage with the students, such as the Scioto Valley Beekeeping Association, OSU Professors, an Extension Energy Specialist, an OSU Health Dietitian, and the Civil Air Patrol to name a few. Next year we’re hoping to bring some virtual reality, 360 photography, and video production challenges to our students. If you’re interested in sharing a skillset, a technology, a career path, or a meaningful life experience to some amazing and eager-minded students, please email, thoreau.1@osu.edu or jwalley@tvsd.us.

We’d like to also thank everyone who has been involved in the program over the last two years. It’s been a pleasure and a plunge into the wild side of STEM education, youth workforce development, and promoting a mindset of lifelong learning – all critical to today’s workforce.

Civil Air Patrol and Aerospace Careers

Civil Air Patrol

We ended last year with a great program partnering with Civil Air Patrol (CAP). Civilian volunteers – with a passion for flight, science, and engineering – led the program highlighting STEM careers in aviation, space, cyber security, emergency services, and the military. The whole organization is powered by a team of dedicated civilian volunteers with a passion for aviation and STEM education. If you know of a student, 12-years and up, that has in interest in aviation, would like a chance to fly a plane, work towards their pilot license, attend leadership encampments, career academies, and more, visit http://www.ohwg.cap.gov/.

Aerospace Officer Donna Herald, Lieutenant Casey Green, and Lieutenant Colonel David Dlugiewicz volunteered their time and aviation skills to lead our youth into exploring the history of the Civil Air Patrol, emphasize the value of civic engagement, and underscore the growing deficient of pilots and aerospace specialist in the workforce.

Physics Concepts, Bernoulli Principle on Air Pressure Differential Theory Challenges

The CAP lessons built on previous STEM Club programming that taught physic concepts, the law of gravity, and re-instilled aircraft principal axes, such as the friction, center of gravity, and coding parrot drones challenges. Lieutenant Colonel Dlugiewicz taught the discussed Bernoulli Principle (an air pressure differential theory) and Sir Isaac Newton and the laws of motion and lift. The students engaged in a hands-on activity such as filling an air bag with one breath, leaving a gap between their mouth and the bag to allow a vacuum to form, demonstrating Bernoulli’s principle.

Part of a Airplane and Axis Challenges

Lieutenant Casey Green discussed the parts of an airplane focusing on the components that control an aircraft’s moment and direction. The students broke into groups and rotated between two stations. The first engaged the students in building paper airplane that they cut strategic slits into. The students experimented by folding different components of their airplanes to change and control the overall direction of their paper airplanes. The second station engaged the students in two different sets of CAP flight simulators to further the students’ understandings of the aviation principles taught in the program. The flight simulators provided a semi authentic experience that helps young pilots learn to fly.

Flight Simulator Challenges

Our community has some amazing young minds that are thinking and embrace the many dynamic career pathways of a STEMist. Please get involved and support more STEM programming in your community, it matters.

 

2019-20 Elementary STEM Club Application Process is OPEN!!

OSU Extension, Pickaway County and Teays Valley School District have teamed up to plan and implement the district’s third annual after-school elementary-wide STEM Club. We will meet approximately 2 times per month in each of the four elementary buildings from 3:30-5:00 pm. Participants will be limited to 30 students per building. Acceptance in the after-school program will be an application based lottery. There will be a $ 25 fee for the year with financial hardship waivers available. The fee can be cash or check (written out to OSU Extension, Pickaway County) and turned in at the first STEM Club meeting or mailed to OSU Extension, Pickaway County, P.O. Box 9, Circleville, OH 43113. Save STEM Club blog, u.osu.edu/tvstemclub/, regular updates will be posted to website; such as, club meeting highlights, STEM challenges, and open access to the STEM Club calendar for your student’s STEM Club meetings. The goal of the program is to promote student interest and engagement in STEM in each of the elementaries. This program is considered an extension of the school day. Participants will be engaged in hands-on STEM activities and learn about careers in STEM.

Students who may enjoy STEM club are those who enjoy being challenged and who are interested in:

  • the fields of STEM (science, technology, engineering, math)
  • the process of learning, asking questions and problem solving
  • helping people and making a difference in the world

If your child is interested in participating in the lottery visit the STEM Club Blog site for information and complete the online application (NOW CLOSED). Applications must be submitted online by the end of the school day, Friday, August 23rd. NO LATE APPLICATIONS BECAUSE IT IS A LOTTERY! (STEM Club Meeting dates are subject to change. In the event of school cancellation, STEM club will be canceled and not rescheduled.)

CONTACT INFO:

Judy Walley, TV High School Chemistry Teacher & STEM Club Educator, jwalley@tvsd.us
Meghan Thoreau, CD & STEM Extension Educator, thoreau.1@osu.edu

Winter STEM Challenges: snow, force, and balancing challenges

By: Meghan Thoreau, OSU Extension Educator

Photo by Meghan Thoreau

(Short video highlight at the bottom!)

This past December students explored a variety of science and engineering principles. First, they learned more about the science of color and why snow is generally white in color, as well as engaged in hands-on activities that looked at gravity and contact and non-contact forces as well as shared in group discussions on how these forces can impact engineering and construction designs.

Why is snow white?

This is a timely winter question for our young STEMist. Having a “white” blanketed landscape is a common picturesque image conjured up during the winter months – it supports many winter activities such as sledding, snowman building, and backyard snow fort construction.

Photo by Meghan Thoreau

The students had some probing discussions and watched a short video from our favorite online science teacher, Doug Peltz, in his ‘Mystery Doug’ video science series. The students learned that color is determined by visible light and the particular particles of objects themselves.

Photo source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color

The world is made up of many different objects that have many different combinations of atoms and molecules which vibrate at different frequencies that our eyes see as different colors. Snow is no different, it’s a collection of vibrating particles, but the way snow is made gives its particles a layering effect to consider when thinking about the answer.

Sounds complicated? First, the students considered what snow is made of – frozen water – and that water is clear, all things considered, so something happens when water freezes. Snow is made up of many different tiny pieces of ice particles and ice is not transparent or clear, it’s actually translucent. This is because ice particles are layered on top each other, and therefore, light can’t pass straight through, but is redirected in many different directions. The students took a snow making take home project to emphasize the layering translucent effect that creates a white snowflake ornament.

Photo source: https://www.open.edu/openlearn/science-maths-technology/introduction-minerals-and-rocks-under-the-microscope/content-section-0

Light is scattered and bounces off the ice crystals in the snow. The reflected light includes all the colors, which, together, looks white. In some unusual situation depending on the surrounding light sources and frequencies of objects, snow can take a hint of yellow or purplish glow color from its normal bright white color.

Moving from color science to physics and force 

What is a force?

Force is an agent which accelerates a body. The students learned a force is a push or a pull of one object on another object, but both objects have to be interacting with each other.

Image source: http://learntogethersim.blogspot.com/2017/07/what-is-force.html

Gravity is a pulling force that acts between two things (such as a person’s body and the mass of the earth) but its effect depends on the mass and distance between the objects being pulled together. It was also fascinating for the students to learn that force doesn’t produce motion necessarily, but rather adds acceleration. Additionally, all objects have a center of mass or a center of gravity that impacts movement in accordance to the laws of physics. We decided to challenge the students further by having them consider objects and people launched into outer space with the forces of physics at play.

Image source: https://www.wired.com/2010/10/why-do-we-launch-rockets-from-cape-canaveral/

We shared a Big Think video from Michelle Thaller, Assistant Director for Science Community at NASA, Why Zero Gravity is a Myth. Thaller broke down rocket science concepts and misconceptions about gravity in outer space. Many people think astronauts in space are weightless and floating because there is zero gravity. To better understand the forces at hand, Thaller asked her viewers to consider the space station orbiting earth 200 miles away, completing an orbit once every 90 minutes. (Pretty amazing when you realize earth’s circumference is around 24,900 miles.)

The astronauts inside are not exactly weightless. In fact, the astronauts probably weigh 80 percent of their earth body weight and are still close enough to earth to feel earth’s gravitational pull. Scientists have to use powerful rockets that blast off into space with incredible speeds to reach the distance to orbit earth. The floating effect is achieved by understanding how the objects and people are launched into space at these high velocities, shooting around the earth at extreme speed, while simultaneously being pulled down by earth’s gravity.

The space station, for example, is moving around 17,000 mph and the astronauts inside are actually free falling down to the surface of the earth by the pull of gravity, like a falling ball launched from a cannon. Because the astronauts are also orbiting so fast forward, they actually continue to miss the earth as they fall with the pull of gravity, which in turn gives them the floating effect we associate with outer space images and video clips. That concept of traveling at extreme speeds while free falling and continually missing your target is the definition of an orbit.

The students applied some new physics concepts and experimented with hands-on forces and center of gravity challenges in STEM Club; forces of frictional, normal, and tension force challenges. Here’s a short video that highlights a few of our STEM Challenges.