 At Behrend's Yahn Planetarium, social distancing is measured in light-years
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Jim Gavio knows a bit about safe distancing: As director of Yahn Planetarium at Penn State Behrend, he studies planets and stars that are tens of thousands of light-years away. Still, his work routine has been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. "Normally we thrive on school groups and the public coming in to experience the immersive planetarium," he said. "But, like many educational facilities, we have adapted to remotely teaching astronomy and space science." Gavio has been recording presentations and posting them online at behrend.psu.edu/yahnplanetarium. He also is doing monthly star talks, in which he guides viewers around the current night sky in the Erie area. He has added special presentations about SpaceX's recent Demo-2 launch and the basics of using a telescope.The planetarium also is offering virtual field trips, with interactive group presentations that Gavio leads through Zoom. "I try to simulate what they would see in the planetarium," he said. "I use an astronomy program that simulates the night sky here in Erie, so I can point out specific constellations and stars and planets that they would see in the sky that night." His largest virtual group so far was 130 middle-school students. "The teacher sent me questions from the students in advance, which made for a smooth presentation," Gavio said. "I could focus on some things they were learning at that time." He also has been using the downtime at the planetarium to develop new programs and do minor maintenance on the facility. "The planetarium has been going nonstop for six years, and we've had more than 46,000 visitors in that time, so the space is showing some wear," he said. "While we'd much rather have Yahn Planetarium open, closing it to visitors has given us time to do some repairs and make improvements." Two upcoming events this summer were worth a look toward the stars, Gavio said. One began at NASA, which launched another rover to Mars in late July and early August. The craft will carry a small helicopter drone that will fly around on Mars. "This is a first," Gavio said. "It was exciting to watch." Also in July, and into August, the comet NEOWISE was visible over much of the eastern United States. "Comet NEOWISE wasn't as noticeable as Hale-Bopp was back in the late 1990s," Gavio said, "but you should have been able to see it with the naked eye, or, better yet, with a simple pair of binoculars. If you've never seen a comet, this was one of the best chances we've had in a long time."
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Wabtec Girls
Summer camp isn't complete without a care package, and this year's Wabtec Girls camp - our eighth annual collaboration with Wabtec and GE Transportation - delivered. Each of the 53 participants received a box stocked with color-coded STEM projects, including color-changing slime and a collection of corrode-at-home coins.
Volunteers from Wabtec and Penn State Behrend led the girls through each project in a series of daily video calls. Penn State Behrend students offered icebreakers to help the groups connect during each session.
"We really try to engage with these girls, to introduce them to STEM and the many career paths that are available to them," said Melanie Ford, director of Youth Education Outreach at Behrend. "It's important that the activities be hands-on and fun, even if it's through a Zoom."
The remote format was a concession to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has limited in-person programming at Behrend this year. It also opened the camp to more schools across western Pennsylvania: The Northwest Tri-County Intermediate Unit advertised the camp to students who live too far away to attend in person.
"We opened it up," Ford said, "and that brought a new dynamic to the group we brought together."
Wabtec mailed care packages to every middle-schooler who enrolled, with color-coded projects for each day of the camp. Each DIY project focused on design, chemistry or technology. Through one-hour Zoom sessions, Wabtec volunteers guided the girls through each activity, teaching them the STEM concepts they needed to complete the project.
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GOOSECHASE
When the coronavirus pandemic forced us to cancel many of our traditional summer programs, including College for Kids, we turned to a different platform to continue to engage our youth and families. Using Goosechase, a picture-based app that allows participants to compete in games, completing themed "missions" in different areas of interest, we created missions that incorporated STEAM, outdoor activities, painting, creativity, writing, and many other topics. Participants posted a photo or video when they completed each challenge, which included a family game night, a hidden-talent search and a how-to for solar cooking.
The Behrend missions launched in early July. By the end of August, 36 families had submitted a total of 1,039 photos and videos! Three top finishers - and five winners picked at random - received prizes.
"I enjoyed the scavenger hunt and look forward to more," wrote Nathan, one of our young participants. "It kept me busy during the summer."
Stay tuned for new Goosechase missions, which will be added throughout the year. To become part of our Behrend Goosechase family, simply follow the link for instructions on how to download.
To read more about Goosechase ,check out this article.
UPWARD BOUND
Upward Bound students typically spend six weeks on campus, but because of Covid-19, we went virtual. Seventeen students participated in this year's Upward Bound program. Each received a Chromebook and six weeks of hands-on college-prep projects.
The students participated in STEM lessons and experiments using 3D doodlers, LED-screen microscopes, electricity kits, Sphero robots and more. Each week a family-style meal was delivered to them that took them around the world to experience different cultures. Even though we could not be together in person, creative experiences were used to bring us together online via movies, games, lessons and shared experiences. We look forward to hosting the students on-campus next year.
MATH CONFERENCE GONE VIRTUAL
The Best Practices in Teaching and Learning Mathematics Conference is an annual event that is typically held on the campus of Penn State Behrend each June. Due to COVID-19, the 7th annual conference was held via a virtual platform. The Penn State Behrend Mathematics Education program developed an online platform where K-12 teachers were able to share and view classroom lessons and activities, assessment strategies, online teaching tips and resources, and tools for communication. Thank you to our scheduled keynote speakers for sharing some of their favorite resources to this platform, as well! We invite anyone interested in teaching mathematics to check out the resources by visiting https://wakelet.com/wake/LrSr-d9IU_94XFqAIEWoT. We hope to be able to return to an in-person conference format for the 8th annual conference in June, 2021.
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Last year, Youth Education Outreach at Penn State Behrend provided programming to more than 25,000 young people and teachers in the Erie region as part of the University's land-grant mission to serve the public good. Gifts from friends like you help to make these programs possible.
Upcoming Events
Business Day
Friday, October 23
Registration is going on NOW for Business Day. Students may attend virtually as a group from their live classrooms, or individually from home, depending on their school's format on that date. Students will be able to select three different business majors and attend a half hour "mock college class" to get a taste of what the major might entail, as well as participate in a panel discussion with students and faculty from a variety of majors to ask questions. They may also choose to take a virtual tour of campus to see a college setting. Questions may be directed to Linda Hajec at [email protected]
Women in Engineering -Virtual Edition
Thursday, November 5 -Friday, November 6
Join us virtually for Women in Engineering (WIE) this year. Our primary goal is to introduce high school students to what an engineer does, what kinds of engineering careers are available, and explain how engineers help the world in general. More information will be sent to schools soon. If you are interested in participating, email us at [email protected].
FIRST LEGO League February
FLL will look a bit different this year, but we are still ready for the competition. Due to the global pandemic, the dates have been pushed back to February so teams have time to prepare. The Championship will be held over three days. February 20 will be presentations before the judges, February 27 the live robot competition and on March 3rd a LIVE FLL Award event.
Giving Tuesday Tuesday, December 1
Penn State's #GivingTuesday campaign opens 6:55 p.m. Monday, Nov. 30 - or 18:55 in military time, representing the year Penn State was founded - and continues through midnight Tuesday, Dec 1.
Women in Business Week of April 11
This annual outreach event is targeted to students from the local area high schools to develop their interest in business-related careers. All participating students will attend the event virtually - either from their live classrooms, or individually from home, depending on the teaching format of their school. The event will provide students with the opportunity to attend at least three session from different business areas (Accounting, Supply Chain Management, Marketing) presented by respective faculty. Each session will be interactive, with hands-on activity for individual work or group. In addition, the event will include a student panel discussion with the current student ambassadors, available to answer questions from participating students. Furthermore, the even will feature Ann Scott and her discussion on the C3W leadership initiative. Questions on the event may be directed to Justyna Skomra at [email protected]
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NEWS FROM THE PENN STATE BEHREND ADMISSIONS OFFICE
At Penn State, we are fortunate to have been innovators in the development and delivery of remote education. We've used that expertise this fall to meet students where they are by sharing information about Penn State Behrend and the admissions process in new and innovative ways.
Students who are planning to apply and have visited campus, participated in a Penn State Behrend program, or have a concern about paying the application fee, can contact our office for an application fee waiver.
As students begin to apply, Penn State has moved into a test-optional evaluation process for the 2021 admissions cycle. We are making this change to give Penn State applicants a choice that will ease the anxiety that many future students and families are experiencing as a result of test-taking disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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EDUCATIONAL VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS with YEO
K-12 teachers, when your students are ready for a field trip, Youth Education Outreach will be ready for you-virtually! Our team has developed brand new hands-on, Pennsylvania Academic Standards-based STEAM activities-just for you! We are excited to offer this new programming in a variety of ways. We can deliver supplies to your school, or students can use items they have at home or in the classroom ready to go. Penn State Behrend will facilitate the educational fun via a Zoom meeting. The activities are designed to be one hour or span over 3-5 days with extensions to integrate ELA instruction along with science and engineering technology. To make reservations, please contact Youth Education Outreach at [email protected]
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Penn State Behrend recognizes that successful communities and organizations start with young people who are motivated, educated, and excited to learn. Behrend's Youth Education Outreach programs give area youth the opportunity to use the college's resources to participate in unique learning experiences.
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The Penn State community is encouraged to take CDC recommended health/safety precautions ( https://bit.ly/Covid19-safety), contact their healthcare provider if they have questions or feel ill, and review information from state and national health authorities ( https://bit.ly/2UOGTg2).
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