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Young Scientists
College Students Create Nail Polish That Changes Colors When Exposed To Date Rape Drugs (Elite Daily)
Four male students at North Carolina State University are attempting to put an end to date rape with their own hands. More accurately, they�re ending it with the hands of their friends, girlfriends and female supporters. The guys � Ankesh Madan, Stephen Gray, Tyler Confrey-Maloney and Tasso Von Windheim � have invented a nail polish called Undercover Colors that changes shades when touched by date rape drugs. They aim to protect their loved ones and women who may not have anyone present to watch out for them. The varnish is an innovative step towards more effective systems of rape prevention in bars and at parties. The company calls itself the �first fashion company working to prevent sexual assault.�
9 Incredible Science Projects by Brilliant Kids (Mashable)
Science projects are no longer just about poster boards and papier-m�ch� volcanoes. With prestigious competitions like the Google Science Fair and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, millions of entrepreneurial students are showcasing their talents and gaining national recognition for their work. From bioplastics made from banana peels to new treatments against influenza, today's science projects by children and teenagers have turned into life-changing ideas. Below, we've compiled nine recent award-winning science projects from some of the brightest and youngest minds out there. 
Diversity in STEM
Tech's Diversity Problem: More than Meets the Eye (Working Partnerships USA)
Tech companies, like Apple and Google actually DO employ people of color. Their �diversity problem� is more than meets the eye. Our analysis shows that tech corporations employ an �invisible workforce� of Latino, Black, and immigrant workers: those who clean, guard, maintain, and cook on tech campuses every day, often for poverty-level wages and without benefits. These contracted service workers aren�t counted on tech companies� official employment rolls and are rarely mentioned in the public discourse. The study �Tech�s Diversity Problem: More Than Meets The Eye� reveals tech�s direct impact not only on its engineering workforce, but on the broader problems of inequality and working poverty in the region that so many tech superpowers call home.
Generation Later, Poor Are Still Rare at Elite Colleges (New York Times)
As the shaded quadrangles of the nation�s elite campuses stir to life for the start of the academic year, they remain bastions of privilege. Amid promises to admit more poor students, top colleges educate roughly the same percentage of them as they did a generation ago. This is despite the fact that there are many high school seniors from low-income homes with top grades and scores: twice the percentage in the general population as at elite colleges. A series of federal surveys of selective colleges found virtually no change from the 1990s to 2012 in enrollment of students who are less well off � less than 15% by some measures � even though there was a huge increase over that time in the number of such students going to college.
SWE Aims to Inspire with Release of Latest eBook (Society of Women Engineers)
The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is proud to announce the release of their latest eBook, Be that Engineer: Inspiration and Insight from Accomplished Women Engineers. The eBook is a collection of stories and advice delivered by 30 women leaders from storied backgrounds who have worked in numerous engineering fields, from SWE's Corporate Partnership Council (CPC). The CPC regularly contributes to SWE initiatives, sharing their best practices for increasing gender diversity in engineering with other members and leading by example. Though the women who make up the CPC come from different backgrounds, they share one thing in common: their drive to succeed.
Catherine Rampell: The diversity issue in tech firms starts before the recruiting process (Washington Post)
Tech companies are finally spilling some of their most sought-after secrets. No, not related to their R&D. I�m referring instead to some other tightly guarded information they once declared �trade secrets�: data about the number of women and minorities on their payrolls. After years of trying to deflect attention from the issue, Google blogged in May about the diversity, or lack thereof, of its staff, acknowledging that just 17 percent of its tech employees are female and 5 percent are black or Hispanic. Since then, other peer-pressured tech Goliaths rolled out similar metrics, including LinkedIn, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, eBay, Apple, Pinterest and, just last week, Pandora and Indiegogo. Most have fessed up to lousy records and committed to making things better.
STEM Jobs
Shop Class Not for Slackers as Mechanic Out-Earns Peers (Bloomberg)
Two years out of high school, Evan Fischbach is earning $40,000 a year. His secret: shop class. Fischbach, 19, has known he wanted to work on cars ever since he took an automotive class in his junior year of high school in Saline, Michigan. Then when Fischbach was still a junior, a local auto dealer desperate for mechanics hired him as an apprentice in the service bay. Now he�s earning about three times as much as the average 19-year-old high school grad and slightly more than the national median, according the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Companies from Toyota Motor Corp. to Siemens AG and International Business Machines Corp. are pushing high schools to graduate students with the real-world skills business needs.
K-12 Education
A new direction: Students prepare to start at STEM school in Aurora (Beacon News)
Most summers, 9-year-old Kaiya Hollister is sad to see her vacation come to an end. But this year, she�s counting down the days until she starts fourth grade, even decking out her room with Einstein posters to prepare for her new school where students will be immersed in [STEM]. Hollister is one of 150 third- to eighth-grade students who will begin classes Wednesday at the John C. Dunham STEM Partnership School at Aurora University. Students hail from three local school districts and were chosen through a lottery after meeting certain academic criteria. Five years in the making, the school has been praised as a model of collaboration among university officials, school district leaders, teachers, nonprofits, businesses and legislators. To allow the school to operate, state law had to be changed twice.
UTPB STEM Academy Opens Their Doors for First Time Amid Delays [VIDEO] (NewsWest 9)
Students at the new UTPB STEM Academy kicked off their school year Monday morning in a not-so traditional way. The students spent their first day in the university gym because classrooms aren't ready yet. The set-up sounds a lot like summer camp. "We have some of our students in here and then we have some of our students in a racquetball court, in a dance studio, we have students outside at the duck pond," Principal, Jennifer Seybert, said. "This really just fits with our concept," she said. "We had a problem, our buildings weren't ready and so how are we gonna solve it? Our students will be going through similar tasks throughout the school year. We've just decided that we're gonna make this work no matter what."
Georgia
Deal wants education policy to better emphasize computer programming (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Gov. Nathan Deal wants the state Board of Education to better emphasize computer programming courses. He unveiled a policy proposal on Monday that urges the board to allow computer programming courses to satisfy core requirements for receiving a high school diploma. The move would place the programming classes in the same category as math, science or foreign language programs. The governor is also asking the Board of Regents to follow suit and accept these courses for admission. Deal said more than half of the state�s projected job growth in [STEM] fields will be in computing gigs.
Kentucky
State education chief unveils plan to improve English, math requirements (Lexington Herald-Leader)
Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday said some people tell him the rigor of state high school math standards should be increased. Others have said that kindergarten standards might not be developmentally appropriate.. Holliday asked teachers, parents, students, higher education officials and business leaders to help change the state's academic requirements in math and English. Holliday said the Common Core standards had become a polarizing, political issue. He said the focus in Kentucky should not be on whether people are for or against the standards, but what students know and should be able to do. "Don't tell us it's a communist conspiracy to take over education by the federal government," Holliday said. "Tell us what's wrong with the standard and how to fix it, and what you would add or subtract."
Virginia
Virginia Gets NASA Funding for STEM Education (AP)
Virginia is sharing more than $17.3 million from NASA to increase student and faculty engagement in [STEM] at community colleges and technical schools. Officials say the Virginia Community College System is getting funding through the National Space Grant and Fellowship Program. Thirty-five awards were granted after a solicitation to members of the national Space Grant Consortia. Each award has a two-year performance period and a maximum value of $500,000. NASA says the winning proposals outlined ways to attract and retain more students from community and technical colleges in STEM education and develop stronger collaborations to increase student access to NASA's STEM education content.
STEM Food & Ag
A New Use For Swimming Pools: Growing Food (Fast Co.Exist)
.jpg) In the hot summer months, it might be a shame to use a swimming pool for anything other than splashing around in. But then turning your pool into a highly productive growing system is more practical. It's also cheaper, overall. Dennis and Danielle McClung pioneered the Growing Pool - a solar-powered aquaponic greenhouse - back in 2009, shortly after buying a foreclosed home in Mesa, Arizona. They didn't want to spend time and money doing up the eyesore in the backlot. And, besides, they'd always wanted to be more self-sufficient. Since then, a host of imitators have come up with their own Garden Pools, based on how-to instructions the McClungs have posted online. First, you surround the perimeter with a metal frame and add poles to support a plastic covering. Then, you mount some solar panels to run the water pumps. Then, you put in a chicken coop, tilapia fish (in the deep end) and some plants. |
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The EdTech Weekly Report: August 25, 2014
 This week in the EdTech Weekly Report, Portland K-12 school and classroom management software startup Alma opens up new office in D.C., social learning science network Function Space launches iOS app, edSurge has a story on Chicago's EdTech Startup and Entrepreneur ecosystem, kids can now learn how to code while playing Minecraft, and much more!
Hispanic Heritage Foundation And ESA Again Challenge Minorities To Develop Video Games And Phone Apps To Address Social Issues And Open Gateway To Stem Careers
 The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and Hispanic Heritage Foundation�s (HHF) Leaders on the Fast Track (LOFT) will once again host the LOFT Video Game Innovation Challenge and Fellowship for minority youth across the country ages 15-25. Last year, 20 youth were selected, provided with Innovation Grants, and flown to Washington, DC from across the country to present their ideas to members of Congress, The White House, and community leaders. �Through this creative partnership with the ESA, we are engaging youth on their terms, through video games and phone apps to make a social impact,� said Jose Antonio Tijerino, President and CEO of HHF. �We also believe there is a link from playing a video game to developing a game to computer coding, cybersecurity, and other workforce skills gap areas America is trying to fill. It�s important minority youth are encouraged to create not just consume.� �The ESA LOFT Video Game Innovation Fellowship shows how games are more than a means of entertainment, but also a valuable tool for change in our society,� said Rich Taylor, senior vice president of communications and industry affairs at the ESA. �We are proud to offer this opportunity that will help create real change in minority communities through the unique platform only video games can provide.� Joining ESA and HHF on the effort was Globaloria, Black Girls Code, BK Nation, BASE (Black Association of Scientist and Engineers, Computer Science Teacher's Association), Asian Pacific Islander American Scholarship Association, National Urban League, NRCCUA, and Gamepress, among others. Application closes September 15, 2014.
Help Bring Harmony to the Environment for a Chance to Win $500,000 in Grants and Scholarships
 We know teenagers can be loud, but their small actions speak volumes. Committed young students from across the country have demonstrated that they can make an impact and make the world a better place just by learning about the environment and taking steps to make it better for their communities and world. Through the Lexus Eco Challenge, more than 26,000 middle and high school students have earned over $4.5 million for themselves, their teachers, and their schools. The challenge has opened up again and students are invited to participate for a chance to win part of $500,000 in grants and scholarships. Lexus and Scholastic Inc., the global children's publishing, education and media company, have joined together to create the STEM educational programs. In its eighth year, the Lexus Eco Challenge is an educational program and contest for teens across the U.S. in grades 6-12 that inspires and empowers young people to learn about the environment and take action to improve it. Teams of students can enter one or both of the first two challenges, which are focused on Land & Water and Air & Climate, respectively. New this year, the challenges will run simultaneously, allowing the teams a wider window to complete their action plans. Winners from each challenge are then invited to go on to participate in the Final Challenge, with a top prize of $30,000 for both the winning middle and high school teams. |
