T-Shirts update

Available January 13, 2010 or you could order them today and have them overnighted from our Cafe Press store.

Fun and Games @ the Children's Science Explorium

The Children’s Science Explorium in Boca Raton, FL, invites visitors of all ages for fun and games during Spring 2010.

TOY TIME

Science, history, and culture come together in this exhibit that uses no electricity – all movement is through simple machines and guest actions. More than 15 components with over 30 activity stations will keep you and your kids active, stimulated, and experimenting. Toy Time was developed by Museum Productions, LLC and will be open February 4 – April 30, 2010.
http://www.toytimeexhibit.com/

TEAM UP
Explore the science of sports through 15 interactive stations and learn about science and math!

Team Up! Explore Science & Sports examines the science of sports through 15 interactive components. Visitors can test their own skills in sports such as basketball, tennis, soccer, and football while learning about math and physics.

In this exhibition, visitors are invited to do such things as:
- Discover their pitching speed in a radar-equipped booth;
- Experiment with balance using pommel-horse and balance beam interactives;
- Make a perfect bounce pass to a "teammate" located on the other side of a barrier;
- Shoot a marble-sized basketball through a tiny hoop while learning about trajectory angles.

Team Up! was developed by Discovery Center Museum, as part of the TEAMS Collaborative, with major funding from the National Science Foundation. Team Up! will be open Memorial Day – Labor Day, 2010.
http://www.discoverycentermuseum.org/exhibits/sports.php
http://www.astc.org/exhibitions/teamup/dteamup.htm

How do you turn STEM into STEAM? Add the Arts!

How do you turn STEM into STEAM? Add the Arts!
October 2007
By Joan Platz, Information Coordinator, Ohio Alliance for Arts Education

You may have noticed in the media the increased use of the acronym STEM, which stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. There is a frenzy of activity at the national and state levels to increase student involvement and achievement in the STEM content areas. Educators, businessmen, economists, politicians, and pundits are driving these activities, because they believe that American students are not adequately prepared in science and mathematics to be competitive in the “global economy”. Accordingly, in order for the U.S. to maintain and expand its economy, America’s schools must encourage more students to pursue careers in STEM, and better prepare all students in the STEM content areas. (Atkinson, 2007)

But Do You Recall The Most Famous Reindeer of All?

Happy Holidays, Seminole SECME students and supporters!

And now, the one and only, Glow Worms with "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" with two of my favorite elfs in the world! (Matthew Correa and Lily Landstrom :)

Mythbusting Star Trek - Need I Say More?

First, in June 2009, Barack Obama flashed the Vulcan salute on C-SPAN while talking to John "I'm a PC" Hodgman. Then, in November 2009, the Mythbusters came to the White House. Now, on Monday, December 28, 2009, the Mythbusters team puts the Gorn cannon "myth" to the test. "Arena" was an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, from the first season (episode, #18, production #19, first broadcast January 19, 1967 and repeated on July 6, 1967). Captain Kirk must fight the Gorn for the survival of all humanity! He discovers that there are plenty of natural resources lying about to craft a weapon. He finds elements needed to make some gunpowder. Then he finds a bamboolike plant and cuts a portion of the wood to form a makeshift gun barrel. He also finds diamondlike shards of crystal to use for the projectile.



"Arena" was based on a short story of the same name by Fredric Brown that was first published in the June 1944 issue of Astounding magazine. It was voted one of the best of its genre by the Science Fiction Writers of America and included in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One, 1929-1964 (see below).



Lastly, let's wrap up this Nerd Pride post with a little XKCD, may I?

UPDATE CAPTAIN'S LOG 2009-12-28
Oh my god!
You killed Buster! You Bastards!

Space Math @ NASA

Space Math @ NASA

This web page contains problem sets in PDF format. The goal of these problems is to teach students about astronomy and space science by using mathematics and real-world problems.

There are three hundred problem sets posted. One the left side of the webpage, you can select Math Topics, and then choose a grade span to examine. Within each grade range, there are categories of problems in areas such as geometry, algebra, and area. In addition to the problems, there are solution pages with a description of the steps of the solution.

For example, problems 109 and 100 explore scientific notation with real life meaning. The mass of the sun is 1,989,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. It only makes sense to write this using scientific notation. A scientists lab notebook just isn't big enough to keep writing numbers like these over and over.

Problem 82 is called Are U Nuts? This is a series of conversion problems, asking students to take kilometers per day and change them to furlongs per fortnight. Problem 226 examines slope -- with an astronomical perspective.

Mathematics in Movies and TV

Mathematics in Movies

Oliver Knill, of the Department of Mathematics at Harvard University, hosts a huge collection of clips from television and movies in which math appears. The clips range from Stand and Deliver (calculus) to the The Simpsons (Bart visualizing word problems). Best of all, you can play all the clips at the website in either flash version (.swf) or watch the quicktime file (.m4v).

2010 > math

I feel I need to do more posting about mathematics on this site. For a SECME site on science, engineering, communication and mathematics, there's been a lot of S, E, and C, but not much M. One hundred and fifty posts in, and only two have been tagged mathematics. One was yesterday's Guess the Secret Number. The other was the MTV Math about mousetrap vehicles.

Look in 2010 for more postings about math concepts, calculations, counting, and conjectures. I like squareCircleZ, so I'm going to add his RSS feed to the site. Won't you please check it out?

Guess the Secret Number

Daily Secret Number Puzzle
Using logic and careful reasoning will help you guess the random number.

The number has three digits.
The sum of the first two digits is less than 5
The sum of the last two digits is equal to 12

-----

Click here for more Daily Secret Number Puzzles

Object of the Game
To guess the positive three-digit integer the computer has randomly chosen.

Game Instructions
In this game, the computer gives you a series of statements about the secret number. You must use these statements to determine what the computer's number is.

Once you know what the secret number is, enter it in the textbox, and click 'Guess!'.

Game Hints:
Not every statement will be useful to you. For example, one statement might be 'The product of the first two digits is less than 10.' Another might be 'The sum of the first two digits is less than 17.' Clearly the second statement does not 'narrow down' the choices at all.

If you guess incorrectly, the computer will show you your guess with correct digits highlighted in red. This will help you "zero in" on the correct solution, if you don't figure it out on the first try.

You may want to have a sheet of paper handy to help you eliminate choices!

Seminole Ridge 2010 Pathfinder Nominations

Seminole Ridge High School is pleased to announce the 2010 Pathfinder Scholarship nominees. Students are nominated in 18 academic, vocational, and athletic categories who have demonstrated outstanding achievement. The following Pathfinder nominees have also participated in Seminole SECME. Congratulations to our Seminole Ridge Seniors who have been nominated for this prestigious award. We wish them luck and encouragement as they continue through the nomination process.

Find Someone Who... Knows Earth Science

Mrs. Tracy Trimpe uses Daily Science Trivia as a quick class starter activity. I adapted her materials as an icebreaker. The goal of a "Find Someone Who..." activity is to meet and talk to as many people as possible within the time limit in order to put one name and an answer by each of the questions.

Click here to download a PDF copy of
Find Someone Who... Knows Earth Science used at opening of the 2009 STEMinar at Seminole Ridge.

Click here for the answer key.

Bruno the Bull

Madison Bruno
Congratulations to senior Madison Bruno! Ms. Bruno has just been accepted for summer 2010 admission to the University of South Florda (Go Bulls!). After two years in Seminole SECME, we will miss her here. But we will let Dr. John M. Wiencek, Dean of College of Engineering and the USF SECME University council member, know one of the best is now wearing Green and Gold as she earns a degree in library science.

Welcome to the STEMinar

Good morning SECME school coordinators, proud parents, interested industry partners!

We welcome you at the STEMinar at Seminole Ridge High School. We are starting 8:30 AM with an icebreaker activity (click here for PDF) for the Brain Bowl.

The gates will be unlocked and you can arrive at 8 AM for light refreshments, provided courtesy of Costco and Starbucks (donations will be accepted). ... See More
Cold Water, Hot Cocoa, Coffee & Tea... $1.00
Chips...$0.50
Honey Bun...$0.75

You can get customized map and directions to Seminole Ridge High by clicking http://tinyurl.com/SeminoleRidgeHigh and entering your starting point.

STEMinar at Seminole Ridge summary

On Saturday, December 12th, Seminole Ridge High School hosted a county-wide design seminar for the annual engineering Olympiad. Eighty students (51 from elementary, 7 from middle, and 22 from high schools), 22 school coordinators, and 25 proud parents, 2 district administrators, and an actual rocket scientist from Pratt Whitney attended the day long event. They worked on their entries for engineering contests to design and build mousetrap cars and water bottle rockets; and in general knowledge games with the "Brain Bowl."

Pierce Hammock Elementary

Belief that Scientist Michael Mann Tampered With “ClimateGate” Data Declines After Viewing Interview

-- But slightly more than half of viewers still think Michael Mann tampered with scientific data --

Flemington, NJ, December 11, 2009 – A new media study among 601 Americans revealed that the percentage of viewers who reported thinking that scientist Michael Mann tampered with global warming data declined from 72% to 52% after viewing a news interview in which Michael Mann explains the emails that started the ClimateGate” controversy.

Give Blood - It's A Race Against Time!

Join the Big Red Bus and the Little Silver MTV

Give Blood - It's A Race Against Time!

National Honor Society and SECME students at Seminole Ridge Community High School will host a blood drive Tuesday, March 23, 2010 from 7:30 AM to 2:30 PM. The theme “GIVE BLOOD – ITS A RACE AGAINST TIME!” draws attention to the urgency for donors. Every two seconds, someone in America needs blood.

And for every pint of blood donated, SECME will symbolically race a mousetrap vehicle (MTV). MTV racers are models built by students and powered solely by the energy release of a mousetrap spring. In the annual engineering Olympiad, SECME students in the Palm Beach County School District compete to see whose MTV travels the furthest distance. Winners are invited to race at the summer national competition.

How long does it take to give blood?
The process for whole blood donation usually takes about one hour. The blood collection itself is usually about 10 minutes

How long until my blood is used?
All blood donations are processed and available for use between 24 and 48 hours. But blood can only be stored for 42 days, not indefinitely. And platelets (from whole blood or by apheresis) expire after five days! A three- to five-day blood supply is considered stable. So the blood bank has a constant demand for donors.

How long do I wait between blood donations?
Donate whole blood every 56 days.

For additional information about donating blood, contact NHS sponsor Mrs. Shawna Ahmad: ahmadsh [at] palmbeach [dot] k12 [dot] fl [dot] us

Seminole SECME 'Hawk Talk' newsletter Winter 2010

In this issue of the Seminole SECME "Hawk Talk" newsletter
- Rocketry Report on Water Bottle Rockets
- Give Blood-It's Not Rocket Science
- Send Your Friends a Big Boost This V-alien-tine's Day
- SECME Spotlight on Nichole Howell and Shelby Weininger
- "Educate to Innovate" President Obama Launches Campaign for Excellence in STEM
- EngineerGirl! 2010 Survival Design Challenge

Click here to download a PDF issue of the
Seminole SECME 'Hawk Talk' newsletter Winter 2010 issue.

Engineering EXPO 2010

Re: SEMINOLE RIDGE COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL’s participation in our Engineering EXPO 2010

Greetings MR. LANDSTROM,

The University of South Florida College of Engineering, and the Engineering EXPO staff are pleased to invite you and your class, youth group or family to the 38th annual Engineering EXPO. This year’s event will be held on Friday, February 19, and Saturday, February 20, 2010, from 9AM to 4PM. The Engineering EXPO has been held annually since 1973 in celebration of National Engineers’ Week. The event works as a venue to promote the engineering field, our institution, and the potential of our students.

One of our main goals is to educate elementary, middle, and high school age students on how math, science, engineering, and technology affect our everyday lives. Engineering Expo will provide students from all over the state of Florida with an opportunity to see engineering and other related technology at work through exhibits from the University’s student organizations, private industry and government agencies. Your students will have the opportunity to participate in activities where they can have some "hands-on" engineering experience.

Among some of the past events/shows (and some this year’s) during the two days of Engineering EXPO include the following: “The Science of Everything” by the Society of Physics Students, Gumdrop and spaghetti tower competition by Tau Beta Pi (Engineering Honor Society), Tours of our Nanotechnology lab facilities, mini baja and formula race cars made by the Society of Automotive Engineers, a concrete canoe made by Society of Civil Engineers, a Chemical Magic Show, Laser Lights Show and so much more. In addition, the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) has performed a very interesting astronomy show. These are just a few examples of the amazing ways you and your students, youth groups and/or families can explore the world of engineering.

The open house on Friday is typically composed of students coming on school field trips from all over the state and beyond! However, Saturday is usually composed of visitors from the general public as well as youth groups, including the Boy and Girl Scouts from all over who will have the opportunity to earn their Engineering Merit Badge. Either day you choose to come, you should be pleasantly educationally enlightened in engineering!

We look forward to your positive response to this letter to participate in EXPO 2010. For more information about getting involved and registering for USF’s Engineering EXPO, please go to the Engineering EXPO’s website, or contact our staff by email/phone at your convenience.

Thank you for your time and have a great day!

Sincerely,
USF Engineering EXPO 2010 Staff

Website: http://expo.eng.usf.edu
Email: ENG-EXPO [at] eng [dot] usf [dot] edu
Phone: 813-974-0773

Survey Monkey see, STEMinar monkey do, too

S.T.E.M.inar at Seminole Ridge High School
Saturday, December 12, 2009
8:30 am – 12:30 pm

In the end, the brain bowl seminar gets some love, but too little, too late. Ballots for mousetrap vehicles are tied with water bottle rocketry at nine votes apiece, with balsawood bridges getting seven votes and banner/poster designs getting five.

The annual STEMinar at Seminole Ridge High School is the only design seminar west of the Turnpike brings together master teachers, proud parents and creative community engineers to work on SECME Olympiad projects. Refreshments (water, chips, etc) have been provide by Costco, and will be on sale for a small donation.

Question #5 - Please indicate which design seminars you are interested in attending (pick two). Each seminar would lasts 90 minutes.

Survey Monkey snapshot as of Dec 7, 2009

CLICK HERE to register your school for the STEMinar if you haven't already.

Our RSVP guests:
1. Frontier Elementary
2. Northmore Elementary
3. Glade View Elementary
4. Belle Glade Elementary
5. Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts
6. Meadow Park Elementary
7. Forest Hill Elementary
8. H.L. Johnson Elementary
9. Omni Middle
10. Gove Elementary
11. Royal Palm Beach High School
12. Cholee Lake Elementary
13. Bak Middle School of the Arts
14. Jaega Middle School
and of course
15. Seminole Ridge Community High School

The Symphony of Science

The Symphony of Science is a musical project by John Boswell designed to deliver scientific knowledge and philosophy in musical form.

Symphony of Science - A Glorious Dawn
featuring Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking

Symphony of Science - A Glorious Dawn (WUB Dubstep Remix)
featuring Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking

Symphony of Science - We Are All Connected
featuring Carl Sagan, Richard Feynman, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye

Symphony of Science - Our Place in the Cosmos
featuring Carl Sagan, Richard Dawkins, Michio Kaku and Robert Jastrow

SECME: Igniting Minds through STEM Education

A Hauki on banner creation

Blank but for stray hairs;
To ignite the mind, first you
Graft grid to canvas.

Citations

WATER BOTTLE ROCKET
While talking with a caller about air pressure, the Magic School Bus producer is unaware that Liz is creating a bottle rocket using air and water to launch the bottle.
http://player.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm?guidAssetId=0D940983-C5A6-4986-9467-13978975C84&blnFromSearch=1&productcode=US

Citation (APA)
Combining Air and Water. Scholastic.
(1997). Retrieved December 2, 2009, from
Discovery Education: http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/

MOUSETRAP VEHICLE
The most up-to-date and informative mousetrap powered car manual ever written with all new earth-shattering secrets for 2009. Selected by students and teachers world wide as the best resource available for learning how to build winning mouse trap powered racer. Learn how to build the ultimate speed-trap dragsters, long distance racers, boats and more with easy to follow step-by-step plans written for beginners and seasoned veterans alike. This book is designed to eliminate the guesswork! Mousetrap Cars: The Secrets to Success includes over 159 pages of secret construction tips, instructions, design plans, formulas, experiments, and more.

Citation (APA)
Balmer, A. (1996). Mousetrap Car Plans: The Secrets to Success.
(1996). Retrieved December 2, 2009, from Doc Fizzix Mousetrap Racers website: http://www.docfizzix.com/pdf-files/MTV-secrets-sample.pdf

A Hauki on Technical Report Writing

Media Center -
No WiFi, No Noodletools.
See you next Wednesday!

Survey Monkey see, STEMinar monkey do

S.T.E.M.inar at Seminole Ridge High School
Saturday, December 12, 2009
8:30 am – 12:30 pm

The STEMinar at Seminole Ridge is less then 2 weeks away, so it's a prime time to see what statistically significant information will be used for planning it.

Registration for the STEMinar is through Survey Monkey, which if you have a well-designed survey makes analyzing the data a no-brainer.

Question #5 - Please indicate which design seminars you are interested in attending (pick two). Each seminar would lasts 90 minutes.Survey Monkey snapshot as of Dec 1, 2009

See? Out of 11 responses, mousetrap vehicles are in the lead, followed by water bottle rocketry, and a tie for third between balsawood bridges and banner/poster designs. And speaking of no-brainers, no one likes the brain bowl :(

CLICK HERE to register your school for the STEMinar if you haven't already.