SECME Design Seminars Are STEMulating Minds

In the SECME program, students are required to design, build, and test a variety of engineering and research projects throughout the year. SECME student teams will construct balsawood bridges for structural efficiency. Cars powered solely by the spring from a mousetrap will race across gymnasium floors and water bottle rockets will launch into the air to maintaining the maximum hang time. Essays, artwork, and banners communicating student interpretations of this year’s theme, SECME: STEMulating Minds, will be displayed and judged.

The Olympiad competition is the culmination of projects completed as a result of classroom activities, and of students, parents, and teachers participating in Saturday engineering design seminars. The seminars familiarize students with the events in the annual Olympiad completion. They provide the people, the place, and the parts to work on SECME submissions. Students also interact with practicing engineers who help them understand the importance of education in the global economy with the ultimate goal of encouraging students to pursue postsecondary degrees in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).

Above: Cindy Dosch, left, and Brian Bartles, right, from Seminole Ridge SECME work intently on a nosecone during a Bottle Rocket Design Seminar.

The School District of Palm Beach County and the SECME South Florida Industry Partners are hosting the following design seminars this autumn. All seminars are from 9 AM to 1 PM. Students are responsible for their own transportation to and from the seminars:
• Sat., Sept. 25—Bridge/Truss Design at Palm Springs Middle, 1560 Kirk Rd., West Palm Beach, FL
Directions: I-95 to Forest Hill Blvd. West to Kirk Rd. School on NE corner.
• Sat., Oct 2—Mousetrap Vehicle Design at H.L. Johnson Elementary, 1000 Crestwood Blvd. N., Royal Palm Beach, FL
Directions: I-95 to Okeechobee Blvd. West to Royal Palm Beach Blvd. Turn north on Royal Palm Bch. Blvd. School on west side of street.
• Wed., Oct 6 at 4:30 PM—Banner/Poster/Brain Bowl at Fulton-Holland Educational Services Center. Coordinators only.
Directions: I-95 to Forest Hill Blvd. Go west on Forest Hill past Congress Ave. Turn left at Davis Road. Building is on left.
• Sat., Oct 23—Bottle Rocket Design Seminar at Discovery Key Elementary, 3550 Lyons Rd., Lake Worth, FL
Directions: I-95 to 10th Ave. N. Go west to Jog Rd. South on Jog to Lake Worth Rd. West on Lake Worth Rd. to Lyons Rd. North on Lyons. School is on the right--past entrance to Cypress Woods development.
• Wed. Nov 3 @ 4:30 PM—Technical reports and drawings drafting at Fulton-Holland Educational Services Center. Coordinators only.
Directions: I-95 to Forest Hill Blvd. Go west on Forest Hill past Congress Ave. Turn left at Davis Road. Building is on left.
• Sat., Nov. 20—Seminole Ridge STEMinar on Mousetrap Vehicles and Bridges at Seminole Ridge High, 4601 Seminole Pratt Whitney Rd., Loxahatchee, FL 33470
Directions: I-95 to Okeechobee, west on Okeechobee Blvd. approx. 14 miles; right on Seminole Pratt Whitney Rd. approx. 2.5 miles; school is on the left. For more maps and directions from Seminole Ridge High, visit http://tinyurl.com/SeminoleRidgeHigh
• Sat., Dec. 4—Bottle Rockets Design at Don Estridge Middle, 1798 NW Spanish River Blvd., Boca Raton, FL
Directions: I-95 to Yamato Road. West to Military Trail. South to next light--Spanish River Blvd. Go east on Spanish River Blvd. School is on south side.

Seminole SECME 'Hawk Talk' newsletter Autumn 2010

Seminole SECME 'Hawk Talk' newsletter Autumn 2010

In this issue of the Seminole SECME 'Hawk Talk' newsletter
- SECME Design Seminars Are STEMulating Minds
- NASA and Mary J. Blige Encourage STEM Careers For Girls in new PSAs
- President Obama Remarks "Education is THE Economic Issue"
- Pew Public Poll of People's Predictions on Promise of Future
- Figure This! The Pigeonhole Principle Math Challenge
- SECME Spotlight on Mrs. Margarette Marturano
- From Grad to Gator: Guest speaker on being a BEng at UF
- VEX "Round Up" a robot rodeo

Click here to download a PDF copy of our
Seminole SECME 'Hawk Talk' newsletter Autumn 2010 issue.
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Figure This! The pigeonhole principle math challenge

Figure This! provides interesting mathematical challenges for that middle-school students can do at home with their families.

Each challenge features:
- a description of the important math involved
- a note on where the math is used in the real world
- a hint to get started
- complete solutions
- a "Try This" section
- additional related problems with answers
- questions to think about
- fun facts related to the math
- resources for further exploration.

Here's a sample challenge: #28 Pigeonholes

Did You Know That? The pigeonhole principle was so named because if 10 homing pigeons return to 9 holes, then at least one hole must have two pigeons in it.

Figure this! How many people would have attend a school like Seminole Ridge High (student count of 2448) before it contained at least two students with the same first and last initials?

Hint: Consider a simpler problem. How many people would have to enter a classroom before it contained at least two students with the same first initial?

Get Started: How many different possibilities are there for a first initial? for a last initial? for both initials combined?

Solution is in the comments.

NASA and Mary J. Blige PSA Encourage Exciting STEM Careers For Girls

NASA is collaborating with award-winning R&B recording artist Mary J. Blige to encourage young women to pursue exciting experiences and career choices through studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). In this first of two public service announcements, Blige appears with veteran NASA space shuttle astronaut Leland Melvin.



Both PSAs are now on NASA TV and the agency's website at: http://www.nasa.gov/soi. NASA's Summer of Innovation (SoI) project and Blige's Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now (FFAWN) both show students the many possibilities available if they follow their dreams and reach for the stars.



The SoI project is part of the President's Educate to Innovate Campaign. It started earlier this summer to help keep middle school students engaged in fun and stimulating STEM-related activities during the school break.

"Working with FFAWN is a rare opportunity to help spread the STEM message into communities not always readily accessible to us," Melvin said. "Mary's presence can help NASA make the STEM message more appealing to these communities and increase the pipeline of underrepresented students going into these disciplines."

Demo Day 8/25

Seminole SECME is having a demonstration day to recruit. Students interested in science, engineering, and math are asked to attend the 1st meeting Wed., Aug. 25, 2010 from 3- 4:30 PM in room 5-107. Or see Mr. Landstrom for more information.Seminole SECME is an after-school engineering club with hands-on projects. Get creative with contests to race robots, rockets, and mousetrap powered rovers!

Education is the economic issue of our time

Remarks by the President on Higher Education and the Economy at the University of Texas at Austin on August 9, 2010.

In a single generation, we’ve fallen from first place to 12th place in college graduation rates for young adults. Think about that. In one generation we went from number one to number 12.

Now, that’s unacceptable, but it’s not irreversible. We can retake the lead. If we’re serious about making sure America’s workers -- and America itself -- succeeds in the 21st century, the single most important step we can take is make -- is to make sure that every one of our young people -- here in Austin, here in Texas, here in the United States of America -- has the best education that the world has to offer. That’s the number one thing we can do. (Applause.)

Now, when I talk about education, people say, well, you know what, right now we’re going through this tough time. We’ve emerged from the worst recession since the Great Depression. So, Mr. President, you should only focus on jobs, on economic issues. And what I’ve tried to explain to people -- I said this at the National Urban League the other week -- education is an economic issue. Education is the economic issue of our time. (Applause.)

It’s an economic issue when the unemployment rate for folks who’ve never gone to college is almost double what it is for those who have gone to college. Education is an economic issue when nearly eight in 10 new jobs will require workforce training or a higher education by the end of this decade. Education is an economic issue when we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that countries that out-educate us today, they will out-compete us tomorrow.

The single most important thing we can do is to make sure we’ve got a world-class education system for everybody. That is a prerequisite for prosperity. It is an obligation that we have for the next generation.

International Observe the Moon Night

On September 18, 2010 amateur astronomers, educators, scientists and the general public will gather together around the world to celebrate International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN) by observing and learning about our nearest neighbor!

2009 was a very big year for lunar exploration. NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
began orbiting the Moon, returning more amazing images and more digital data in its first year than any other planetary mission in history. Meanwhile, Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) crashed into the Moon's south polar region in an unprecedented search for water below the Moon's surface.

International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN) - September 18, 2010 - follows NASA's
first celebration of these historic missions as part of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 in public events called "We're at the Moon!" (for LRO) and "National Observe the Moon Night" in the USA (for LCROSS). Astronomers Without Borders (AWB)
is partnering with NASA missions and centers and others to bring the excitement of observing and learning about Earth's closest neighbor in space to the public -- putting the "International" into InOMN.

We invite you to join the celebration by hosting an event at your Planetarium/Science Center/Science Museum. Feel free to circulate the attached "Call to Action" document.

More information at:
http://www.astronomerswithoutborders.org/projects/intl-observe-moon-night.html

Get out and get others looking up and seeing the Moon...in a whole new light!

What's Up for August 2010? Perseids!

The Perseids will make summertime extra special this year because the moon will not interfere with the meteor show. Plus, as a bonus, a trio of planets plus the moon make a sunset appearance on the nights surrounding the peak of the Perseids on August 12-13. Our solar system is on display 24-7.

This month's What's Up podcast features the Perseids, naturally! It has some nice animation of they why and where of meteors, talks about all the upcoming comet and asteroid missions. It also touches on Mars in August, and offers a good night to use that that Mars hoax! On August 12-14, the moon and Mars appear near one another for all to see and compare.

Female teachers may pass math anxiety to girls

Female teachers may pass math anxiety to girls - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

Girls have long embraced the stereotype that they're not supposed to be good at math. It seems they may be getting the idea from a surprising source - their female elementary school teachers.

First- and second-graders whose teachers were anxious about mathematics were more likely to believe that boys are hard-wired for math and that girls are better at reading, a new study has found. What's more, the girls who bought into that notion scored significantly lower on math tests than their peers who didn't.

The gap in test scores was not apparent in the fall when the kids were first tested, but emerged after spending a school year in the classrooms of teachers with math anxiety. That detail convinced researchers that the teachers - all of them women - were the culprits.