November has a Cornucopia of STEM Offerings

In 1990, President George H. W. Bush declared the month of November as National Native American Heritage Month. This commemorative month aims to provide a platform for Native people in the United States of America to share their culture, traditions, music, crafts, dance, and ways and concepts of life. This gives Native people the opportunity to express to their community, both city, county and state officials their concerns and solutions for building bridges of understanding and friendship in their local area.

Here are some resources that could help you and your students celebrate and learn more about Native American Heritage Month.

Native Americans have made many great contributions to the field of Science:


1) Mary Golda Ross - was the first Native American female engineer. She was one of 
    the 40 founding engineers of the Skunk Works, and was known for her work at 
    Lockheed Martin on preliminary design concepts for interplanetary space travel, 
    manned and unmanned earth-orbiting flights, the earliest studies of orbiting 
    satellites for both defense and civilian purposes.

Mary Golda Ross the first Native American female engineer.

  

2) John Herrington - Astronaut John Herrington was the first Native American to travel 
    to space. Herrington, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, spent over 330 hours in 
    space before retiring in 2005. 

John B. Herrington first enrolled Native American Tribe member to fly in space.

Let's see what STEM learning activities the Expanded Learning Program practitioners have been engaging the Region 3 students in.


Name of Expanded Learning Program Provider: Sacramento Chinese Community Service Center


Name of District: Sacramento City Unified School District


Name of School Site: John Cabrillo Elementary


Grade Level of Activity: 1st and 2nd Graders


Number of Students who took part in the activity: 22 Students


Type of Activity: Marshmallow Towers


Learning Outcomes: Students were able to:

• Learn about the Engineering Design Process
• Learn about the stability of structures
• Learn how to make blue prints
• Learn how to work collaboratively
• Learn about the importance of base and foundation

Expanded Learning Program students at John Cabrillo testing their Marshmallow Tower designs.

For more information on this activity please contact Duc-Hanh Nguyen at duchanh@sccsc.org.

Name of Expanded Learning Program Provider: Sacramento Chinese Community Service Center


Name of District: Sacramento City Unified School District


Name of School Site: A.M. Winn Elementary


Grade Level of Activity: 4th thru 8th


Number of Students who took part in the activity: 22


Type of Activity: Making Stress Bottles


Learning Outcomes: Students were able to:

• Learn about the Engineering Design Process
• Identify and discuss stressful situations, what causes them, the effects that they have on the body, and how to deal with them
• Learn about measurement
• Explore, test, and redesign their Stress Bottles
• Learn how to work collaboratively together
• Experience peer learning
• Learn about healthy ways to deal with stress

Expanded Learning Program students showing off their Stress Bottles.

For more information on this activity please contact Monik Vega at mvega@sccsc.org.




Name of Expanded Learning Program Provider: Sacramento Chinese Community Service Center


Name of District: Twin Rivers Unified School District


Name of School Site: Sierra View Elementary


Grade Level of Activity: 4th thru 6th Grade


Number of Students who took part in the activity: 20


Type of Activity: Demonstration / Experiment: Students use oil, water, and seltzer tablets to learn about the differing densities of liquids while eventually making their own lava lamps.


Learning Outcomes: Students were able to: 

• Explore the Engineering Design Process
• Create their own lava lamps using oil, water, food coloring, and seltzer tablets
• Explain the density of certain liquids
• Explore what ratio of oil and water creates the most effective lava lamps
• Collect and analyze data

Expanded Learning Program students at Sierra View Elementary exploring density and making lava lamps.

For more information on this activity please contact Ryan Mallory at ryan@sccsc.org.


Name of Expanded Learning Program Provider: Sacramento Chinese Community Service Center


Name of District: Twin Rivers Unified School District


Name of School Site: Noralto Elementary


Grade Level of Activity: 2nd Grade


Number of Students who took part in the activity: 13


Type of Activity: Rock Identification


Learning Outcomes: Students were able to:

• Learning the different between igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks
• Identifying 6 rocks by their features
• Seeing if the rocks react to saturated citric acid

Expanded Learning Program students at Noralto  classifying the different types of rocks.

For more information on this activity please contact Tanya Velasquez at tanya@sccsc.org.


Name of Expanded Learning Program Provider: Sacramento Chinese Community Service Center


Name of District: Sacramento City Unified School District


Name of School Site: William Land Elementary


Grade Level of Activity: 4th Grade


Number of Students who took part in the activity: 26


Type of Activity: Taternauts Project


Learning Outcomes: Students were able to: 

• Understand the changes in the scientific method
• Understand the importance of budgeting in relation to project funding
• Understand the effects of mass and velocity on acceleration
• Collect, calculate, and input data to better their model via Project Based Learning 
• Understand why there is a need for space junk clean-up projects

Taternauts materials.

Expanded Learning Program students at William Land Elementary getting ready to test their Taternauts.

For more information on this activity please contact David Constancio at david@sccsc.org.



Name of Expanded Learning Program Provider: Sacramento Chinese Community Service Center


Name of District: Twin Rivers Unified School District


Name of School Site: Foothill Ranch Middle School


Grade Level of Activity: 7th and 8th Grade


Number of Students who took part in the activity: 10


Type of Activity: STEAM



Learning Outcomes: Students were able to:

• Students will study the structures of molecules 
• Build a molecule of their choice out of a styrofoam cup, toothpicks, and marshmallows
• Explain the structure of their molecule
• Students will be able to use correct scientific academic language when describing their molecule

Expanded Learning Program students creating their molecules at Foothill Ranch Middle School.

For more information on this activity please contact Jessica Jones at jessica@sccsc.org.



Name of Expanded Learning Program Provider: Sacramento Chinese Community Service Center


Name of District: Twin Rivers Unified School District


Name of School Site: Foothill Oaks Elementary


Grade Level of Activity: 4th and 5th Grade


Number of Students who took part in the activity: 21


Type of Activity: Learning about volcanoes



Learning Outcomes: Students were able to:

• Learn about volcanoes and how they affect us and the planet
• Different types of volcanoes that exist and how they are formed
• Create a volcano as a team and make it erupt

Expanded Learning Program students at Foothill Oaks learning about volcanoes.

For more information on this activity please contact Luis Ramirez at louis@sccsc.org.

STEM / Expanded Learning Program and other Pertinent Education Articles:

1) Culinary Programs Increase Student Appetites for Art, Science, Math, and Life Skills
    (The Journal of Expanded Learning Opportunities Project)

2) What do after school programs do for our youth?
    (The Journal of Expanded Learning Opportunities Project)

3) How a summer learning program helped one community's literacy problem
    (Afterschool Alliance Article by Jodi Grant, October 6, 2016)

4) Rainstorms and Symphonies: Performing Arts Bring Abstract Concepts to Life
    (Edutopia Article by Mary Gresock and Lisette Steinwald, October 5, 2016)

5) The New Focus on Children's Mental Health
    (The Atlantic Article by Emily Goldberg, October 17, 2016)

6) Kid Cudi's Mental Health Struggle has Inspired Black Men to Talk About Depression
   (Essence Article by Sydney Scott, October 6, 2016)

7) LA principal encourages students to be peacemakers, not peace breakers
    (EdSource Article by Michael Janofsky, September 25, 2016)

8) Learning In The Age of Digital Distraction
    (NPR Article by Eric Westervelt, November 5, 2016)

9) 5 Reasons Schools Should Measure Chronic Absence
    (NPR Article by Elissa Nadworny, November 3, 2016)

10) How a Happy School Can Help Students Succeed
      (NPR Article by Kat Lonsdorf, November 1, 2016)

11) Trump Brings Uncertainty To Big Education Issues
      (Education Week Article by Andrew Ujifusa, November 9, 2016)

12) 3 Ways Schools Can Be Supportive of Students' Mental Health
      (MindShift Article by Meg Anderson, September 26, 2016)

13) Feeling they are part of a group increased preschoolers' interest, success in STEM
      (University of Washington Article by Molly McElory, September 7, 2016)

14) Next Generation Science Opportunities in Expanded Learning 
      (The Journal of Expanded Learning Opportunities Project)

  
STEM (and other interdisciplinary core content) Activities / Videos / Websites: 

1) Resources to Fight Bullying and Harassment at School (Edutopia)

2) The Kindness Game Activity (Edutopia)

3) Farm to School Resources  (Farm to school, Articles, Toolkits, etc.)

4) Garden Activities (Kids Gardening, Activities)

5) Garden Lesson Plans  (Kids Gardening, Lesson Plans)

6) Build a Straw Hands-Free Holder (Design Squad, Activity)

7) Water Way Design Challenges (Design Squad, Activity)

8) How Slow Can You go? (Creativity Catapult, Activity)

9) Here's What Students Are Saying About The Election Results (NPR, Podcast)

10) College Is A 4-Year- Long Balancing Act For First-Generation Students
      (NPR, Podcast)

11) Freedom To Explore: 2 Schools Where The Students Call The Shots
       (NPR, Podcast)

12) National Science Test Scores Are Out, But What Do They Really Tell Us?
        (NPR, Podcast)


STEM / Educational Grants:

1) The Big List of Educational Grants and Resources
   (Edutopia, Updated on November 2, 2016)

2) The Impact Foundry (Grant Opportunities)

3) Walmart Foundation (Grant Opportunity)

4) Bank of The West  (Grant Opportunity)

5) Application for Free Computers (Ongoing)

6) Lowes Tool Box for Education 
    (Application opens December 18, 2016)



STEM / Misc. Professional Learning Sessions / Contests / Events:


1) How Kids Learn Conference (December 7, 2016 in SF)

    (Registration: $120 per participant)

2) 2017 Expanded Learning Symposium (February 23, 2017 in Berkeley)

     (Registration: $89 per participant)

3)  CASRC Online Profesional Learning Sessions (Free) 

     (Various Topics / Grade Levels)

4) CalSac Online Professional Learning Sessions (Free) 

      (Various Topics / Grade Levels)

Thanks again for all that you do in the field. Please keep us posted about STEM events/activities in your area. Please feel free to contact us at any time.

Monica Gonzalez-Williams (SCOE: Region 3: After School Regional Lead):
mgonzalez@scoe.net

Phil Romig (SCOE: Science Curriculum Specialist): promig@scoe.net

Mark Drewes (SCOE: Project Specialist II: Expanded Learning) mdrewes@scoe.net