In the Early Autumn 2009 issue of Seminole SECME 'Hawk Talk'
- Pew researches the public perception of science
- Seminole SECME starts a 'clean sweep' with its VEX robot
- Are YOU science-savvy? Take our quiz
- Seminole Student Signatures in Space this November
- our friend Mr. Edgecomb reaches a Turning Point
Click here to download a PDF issue of the Seminole SECME 'Hawk Talk' newsletter Autumn 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Seminole SECME 'Hawk Talk' newsletter Autumn 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Seminole SECME Schedule, Winter 2010
(subject to change)
10/24 SECME Seminar at Seminole: Tech Rpt & Draw
10/28 SAE AWIN Glider challenge
11/4 water bottle rocket construction
11/11 No meeting
11/14 water bottle rocket construction
11/17 "It's Not Rocket Science" blood drive
11/18 water bottle rocket refinement
12/2 water bottle rocket technical report
12/9 water bottle rocket technical drawing
12/12 SECME Seminar at Seminole Ridge - bottle rockets, banners, bridges, brain bowls
12/16 water bottle rocket technical drawing refinement
The vision for SECME is to be a beacon and benchmark for excellence and equity in pre-college education. SECME (Science, Engineering, Communications, Math Enrichment) is a national organization established to increase the pool of women and minorities prepared to enter and complete post-secondary studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, thus creating a diverse and globally competitive workforce. High school student teams at the annual SECME Regional Competition designed vehicles powered by mousetraps, bridges that withstood pressure tests, and water bottle rockets that were launched and evaluated for distance
10/24 SECME Seminar at Seminole: Tech Rpt & Draw
10/28 SAE AWIN Glider challenge
11/4 water bottle rocket construction
11/11 No meeting
11/14 water bottle rocket construction
11/17 "It's Not Rocket Science" blood drive
11/18 water bottle rocket refinement
12/2 water bottle rocket technical report
12/9 water bottle rocket technical drawing
12/12 SECME Seminar at Seminole Ridge - bottle rockets, banners, bridges, brain bowls
12/16 water bottle rocket technical drawing refinement
The vision for SECME is to be a beacon and benchmark for excellence and equity in pre-college education. SECME (Science, Engineering, Communications, Math Enrichment) is a national organization established to increase the pool of women and minorities prepared to enter and complete post-secondary studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, thus creating a diverse and globally competitive workforce. High school student teams at the annual SECME Regional Competition designed vehicles powered by mousetraps, bridges that withstood pressure tests, and water bottle rockets that were launched and evaluated for distance
Seminole SECME Schedule, Fall 2009
(subject to revision)
9/2 Blow Out Kick Off!
9/9 SAE AWIN Motorized Toy Car
9/10 SECME Coordinator Meeting
9/16 MTVs design
9/23 MTVs design refine
9/30 MTVs technical report
10/7 MTVs technical drawing
10/14 MTVs technical report refine
10/21 MTVs technical drawing refine
SECME (Science, Engineering, Communication, and Mathematics Excellence) is a national supplemental program that promotes academic achievement for historically underrepresented students in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math, but it is open to all students who want to participate. The after school SECME club offers students many hands-on activities and project based learning challenges. In the annual Olympiad, students square off in engineering contests to design and build mousetrap cars, water bottle rockets, balsa wood bridges and VEX robots; in general knowledge games with the "Brain Bowl," and in literary and artistic competitions with essays, mission patches, banners, and posters.
9/2 Blow Out Kick Off!
9/9 SAE AWIN Motorized Toy Car
9/10 SECME Coordinator Meeting
9/16 MTVs design
9/23 MTVs design refine
9/30 MTVs technical report
10/7 MTVs technical drawing
10/14 MTVs technical report refine
10/21 MTVs technical drawing refine
SECME (Science, Engineering, Communication, and Mathematics Excellence) is a national supplemental program that promotes academic achievement for historically underrepresented students in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math, but it is open to all students who want to participate. The after school SECME club offers students many hands-on activities and project based learning challenges. In the annual Olympiad, students square off in engineering contests to design and build mousetrap cars, water bottle rockets, balsa wood bridges and VEX robots; in general knowledge games with the "Brain Bowl," and in literary and artistic competitions with essays, mission patches, banners, and posters.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
SECME - Welcome back!
From : Wendy Spielman, K-12 Science Manager, School District of Palm Beach County
I would like to congratulate our SECME teams from Suncoast High School, Palm Springs Middle School, and Roosevelt Elementary School for their success at the SECME National Competition at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University this summer. Suncoast’s mousetrap car gave the other teams a run for their money as it traveled a record distance. Sadia Khan from Roosevelt Elementary School was selected as the National SECME poster competition winner. You can click the link below to view her poster. Palm Springs Middle School not only placed third at Nationals, but Dawn DeWitt was one of the top three finalists from across the county in the SECME National Teacher of the Year program. Again, congratulations teams!
If you have any questions about SECME, please email Bruce Wear. He will be serving as the SECME Coordinator this year. He is finalizing the SECME Calendar of Events this week and will be emailing it to you shortly. We look forward to seeing you at the first SECME Coordinator’s Meeting on September 10 here at the district office in the cafeteria. More details to follow.
Welcome back! Bruce and I look forward to working with you again this year.
National Poster Competition Winner Sadia Khan from Roosevelt Elementary (click link to view poster)
National Poster Competition Winner Sadia Khan from Roosevelt Elementary (click link to view poster) http://secme.org/home/docs/upcoming/2009_national_competition_winners.pdf
I would like to congratulate our SECME teams from Suncoast High School, Palm Springs Middle School, and Roosevelt Elementary School for their success at the SECME National Competition at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University this summer. Suncoast’s mousetrap car gave the other teams a run for their money as it traveled a record distance. Sadia Khan from Roosevelt Elementary School was selected as the National SECME poster competition winner. You can click the link below to view her poster. Palm Springs Middle School not only placed third at Nationals, but Dawn DeWitt was one of the top three finalists from across the county in the SECME National Teacher of the Year program. Again, congratulations teams!
If you have any questions about SECME, please email Bruce Wear. He will be serving as the SECME Coordinator this year. He is finalizing the SECME Calendar of Events this week and will be emailing it to you shortly. We look forward to seeing you at the first SECME Coordinator’s Meeting on September 10 here at the district office in the cafeteria. More details to follow.
Welcome back! Bruce and I look forward to working with you again this year.
National Poster Competition Winner Sadia Khan from Roosevelt Elementary (click link to view poster)
National Poster Competition Winner Sadia Khan from Roosevelt Elementary (click link to view poster) http://secme.org/home/docs/upcoming/2009_national_competition_winners.pdf
Monday, July 20, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
South Florida Science Museum Summer 2009
SUMMER EXHIBITION – AMAZING FEATS OF AGING through August 23
Explore the mysteries of why and how animals, including humans, age at Amazing Feats of Aging, a new interactive exhibition. With more than 20 hands-on exhibits, visitors will marvel as a computer instantly ages their face 25 years, learn how scientists can dramatically increase the life span of certain animal species, and discover how anyone can slow down the aging process.
HEALTH EXPO July 26, noon – 4pm
In collaboration with our new Amazing Feats of Aging exhibition, this event features several community partners to bring you healthy alternatives to living. Come and experience healthy cooking demonstrations, personal massages, raffles, fun family activities to help engage the family in healthy life choices, and more! Scouts can earn an Amazing Feats of Aging patch by visiting the Museum and participating in health-related experiments and activities.
SENIOR SCIENCE DAY August 18, 10am – 5pm
Visitors aged 62 and better receive free admission on this fun day of interactive activities, guest lectures and an opportunity to see Amazing Feats of Aging before it closes.
FALL EXHIBITION – K’NEX: BUILDING THRILL RIDES opening September 5
Explore the science, math & technology behind hair-raising amusement park thrill rides! Display models are made solely from K’NEX Rods and Connectors, and range from a roller coaster measuring over 10 feet long to a 6 foot tall Ferris wheel. The exhibition also includes building areas and hands-on experiments that let visitors explore various forces, forms of energy, and types of motion.
For more information or to register, visit: http://www.sfsm.org/ or call (561) 832-1988.
Explore the mysteries of why and how animals, including humans, age at Amazing Feats of Aging, a new interactive exhibition. With more than 20 hands-on exhibits, visitors will marvel as a computer instantly ages their face 25 years, learn how scientists can dramatically increase the life span of certain animal species, and discover how anyone can slow down the aging process.
HEALTH EXPO July 26, noon – 4pm
In collaboration with our new Amazing Feats of Aging exhibition, this event features several community partners to bring you healthy alternatives to living. Come and experience healthy cooking demonstrations, personal massages, raffles, fun family activities to help engage the family in healthy life choices, and more! Scouts can earn an Amazing Feats of Aging patch by visiting the Museum and participating in health-related experiments and activities.
SENIOR SCIENCE DAY August 18, 10am – 5pm
Visitors aged 62 and better receive free admission on this fun day of interactive activities, guest lectures and an opportunity to see Amazing Feats of Aging before it closes.
FALL EXHIBITION – K’NEX: BUILDING THRILL RIDES opening September 5
Explore the science, math & technology behind hair-raising amusement park thrill rides! Display models are made solely from K’NEX Rods and Connectors, and range from a roller coaster measuring over 10 feet long to a 6 foot tall Ferris wheel. The exhibition also includes building areas and hands-on experiments that let visitors explore various forces, forms of energy, and types of motion.
For more information or to register, visit: http://www.sfsm.org/ or call (561) 832-1988.
From Seminole Ridge High to Saturn 2: CSfaD Spring 2009 Essay Contest Winners
Cassini Outreach has released the names of the Cassini Scientist for a Day Spring 2009 Essay Contest winners. And the winners are:.
Grade 9-12 Category Winners:
Katherine McCarthy, a 12th grade student at Seminole Ridge Community High School in Loxahatchee, FL, for her essay on Dione.
Chelsea Kraynak, a 10th grade student at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, MD, for her essay on Prometheus and Saturn¹s Rings.
Anthony Bass, an 11th grade student at Seminole Ridge Community High School in Loxahatchee, FL, for his essay on Janus and Epimetheus.
Congratulations to all of the contest winners, as well as to the finalists and to all of the students who took the time and effort to research and write about Saturn¹s moons for this contest.
Grade 9-12 Category Winners:
Katherine McCarthy, a 12th grade student at Seminole Ridge Community High School in Loxahatchee, FL, for her essay on Dione.
Chelsea Kraynak, a 10th grade student at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, MD, for her essay on Prometheus and Saturn¹s Rings.
Anthony Bass, an 11th grade student at Seminole Ridge Community High School in Loxahatchee, FL, for his essay on Janus and Epimetheus.
Congratulations to all of the contest winners, as well as to the finalists and to all of the students who took the time and effort to research and write about Saturn¹s moons for this contest.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
From Seminole Ridge High to Saturn: Student Semi-Finalists in NASA Contests
Seminole Ridge High School Science teacher Erich Landstrom received out-of-this-world congratulations in May. NASA emailed to say that his physics students in a national contest for an interplanetary mission were semi-finalists. At least one of his students’ essays passed the first round of selection in the Cassini Scientist for a Day essay contest, and they were invited in June to teleconference with scientists studying the planet Saturn remotely by robotic spacecraft.
The Cassini Scientist for a Day contest challenges students to become NASA scientists studying the planet Saturn. Participants examine three target images taken by Cassini and choose the one they think will yield the best science. This choice must then be supported in a 500-word essay.
Mr. Landstrom used it as teaching opportunity for his students to practice their FCAT Writes persuasive essay skills, and encourage excellence in FCAT Science. Juniors Anthony Bass, Alex Cohen, Kris Hansen, and Jessie Twigger are now invited to teleconference with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Using the Distance Learning Classroom in Seminole Ridge’s Biotechology Academy, they can participate in a scientific debate by deciding which imaging target brings the most scientifically interesting results.
Jessie Twigger in his essay wrote in part, “Not every satellite we launch or every telescope we point towards the sky is searching for another Earth but if the chance to learn more about Earth-like planets presents itself, why not seize this opportunity? That is the reason we should be photographing Dione. No – that that is the reason we should be exploring space. Dione is worth all its scientific merit just for the smallest chance that we will discover something that we never even dreamed possible, just for the shear enjoyment of discovering that a distant moon is similar to Earth, and most importantly just for the challenge it presents in understanding such a mystery.”
All semi-finalists’ essays are now being judged to determine the overall contest winners. Winners will be announced in mid June, after the end of the school year for Seminole Ridge. Please visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov to see the winners list online when it becomes available
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The cameras on NASA Cassini-Huygens Mission have been taking stunning images of Saturn and its rings and moons for the past five years. These images have helped planetary scientists learn more about this amazing planet Saturn. For most of its tour, Cassini has a chance to point its cameras at various targets, but only one image can be taken at a time. Before each imaging opportunity, Cassini scientists have to decide which image they think would yield the best science. They make a case for specific images, and debate why one image would be better than another. Finally, they agree on which image will be taken. The command to take the image is uplinked to the spacecraft. The image is downlinked to Earth, a billion kilometers away.
In the Cassini Scientist for a Day contest, students get to be the scientists. Seminole Ridge High School physics students learned about possible images that the cameras on Cassini could take on May 25, 2009. Students needed to weigh all the factors and choose one of the targets. What do we already know about Saturn, its rings, and its moons? What do we hope to learn from the image selected? The decision is based on which image would yield the most scientific results, but the artistic value of the image can be an added bonus.
The Cassini Scientist for a Day contest challenges students to become NASA scientists studying the planet Saturn. Participants examine three target images taken by Cassini and choose the one they think will yield the best science. This choice must then be supported in a 500-word essay.
Mr. Landstrom used it as teaching opportunity for his students to practice their FCAT Writes persuasive essay skills, and encourage excellence in FCAT Science. Juniors Anthony Bass, Alex Cohen, Kris Hansen, and Jessie Twigger are now invited to teleconference with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Using the Distance Learning Classroom in Seminole Ridge’s Biotechology Academy, they can participate in a scientific debate by deciding which imaging target brings the most scientifically interesting results.
Jessie Twigger in his essay wrote in part, “Not every satellite we launch or every telescope we point towards the sky is searching for another Earth but if the chance to learn more about Earth-like planets presents itself, why not seize this opportunity? That is the reason we should be photographing Dione. No – that that is the reason we should be exploring space. Dione is worth all its scientific merit just for the smallest chance that we will discover something that we never even dreamed possible, just for the shear enjoyment of discovering that a distant moon is similar to Earth, and most importantly just for the challenge it presents in understanding such a mystery.”
All semi-finalists’ essays are now being judged to determine the overall contest winners. Winners will be announced in mid June, after the end of the school year for Seminole Ridge. Please visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov to see the winners list online when it becomes available
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The cameras on NASA Cassini-Huygens Mission have been taking stunning images of Saturn and its rings and moons for the past five years. These images have helped planetary scientists learn more about this amazing planet Saturn. For most of its tour, Cassini has a chance to point its cameras at various targets, but only one image can be taken at a time. Before each imaging opportunity, Cassini scientists have to decide which image they think would yield the best science. They make a case for specific images, and debate why one image would be better than another. Finally, they agree on which image will be taken. The command to take the image is uplinked to the spacecraft. The image is downlinked to Earth, a billion kilometers away.
In the Cassini Scientist for a Day contest, students get to be the scientists. Seminole Ridge High School physics students learned about possible images that the cameras on Cassini could take on May 25, 2009. Students needed to weigh all the factors and choose one of the targets. What do we already know about Saturn, its rings, and its moons? What do we hope to learn from the image selected? The decision is based on which image would yield the most scientific results, but the artistic value of the image can be an added bonus.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Bank of America Selects Hawk Student Leader
Seminole Ridge High School junior and SECME student Kristina DeCarlo (photo, left) has been selected as a "2009 Bank of America Student Leader" for Palm Beach County. Locally, DeCarlo will participate in an eight-week paid internship at Communities in Schools, located in West Palm Beach. Nationally, she will take part in an all-expense paid week in Washington, DC at B of A‘s Student Leadership Summit, conducted in partnership with the Close Up Foundation.
Held this year from July 19–24, the summit brings together hundreds of community-minded students from across the US and overseas. A spokeman for Bank of America commented, "This will be an outstanding opportunity for Kristina to learn how non-profits, government, and businesses partner to create a positive impact in our communities. Students develop and apply leadership skills through hands-on work experience, raising their awareness of the community issues addressed by their host organization."
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