Northwest Iowa STEM Newsletter

February 2021

Mary Trent

NW Regional STEM Manager

Contact me at mtrent@iowalakes.edu

Northwest Regional Advisory Board Members

Tina Benton,

Sioux City

Ben Bouza,

Hawarden

Derek Brower, Orange City

Beth Bunkers, Primghar

Tyler Hahn,

Cherokee

Kiana Johnson, Primghar

Nancy McDowell, Sheldon

Jordan Menning, Rock Rapids

Faith Miller,

Carroll

Teresa Putnam, Hartley

Andrew Roelfs,

Sioux Center

Mary Skopec,

Spirit Lake

Brenda Welch, Meriden

Mark Zabawa, Spencer

Check out NW STEM Web Site!

https://www.iowalakes.edu/stem/

Northwest STEM Calendar

Stay up-to-date on all Northwest STEM regional opportunities and even a few statewide. Use this calendar to share your STEM events with others.

NW STEM Lending Resources

Check out the STEM lending library for educators and place your order online.

Don't forget to connect with NW STEM on social media as well!

Check us out on Facebook:

@NWSTEM Region

https://www.facebook.com/NWStemRegion/

@NWIowaSTEM

Invite a friend or colleague to sign up for this newsletter:

http://goo.gl/oPZmPP

Applications Are Open for

2021 STEM Scale-Up Programs!

Application period closes March 5, 2021!

This year's menu offers a wide arrange of exciting and new programs sure to fit into your classrooms, after school programs, and educational programs!

Click here for more information

Schedule a virtual presentation of the Scale-Up programs

Customize which programs you'd like to hear about
Ask questions
Get tips on submitting quality applications

Click Here

SCALE-UP PROGRAM TIMELINE

January 11, 2021: Educator application opens
March 5, 2021, 11:59 PM Central Standard Time: Educator application submission deadline
March – April 2021: Review period
April 9, 2021: Awardees notified
May 2021: Program providers introduced to awarded educators to begin planning
Summer 2021: Training, professional development in preparation for program implementation during 2021-2022 academic year
July 1, 2021 – May 31, 2022: Implementation

INFORMATIONAL SESSIONS

January 26, 2021, 4:00-5:00 PM Central Standard Time: Scale-Up Program Application Webinar - Learn more about who may apply and tips to strengthen your application. CLICK HERE to listen to the webinar recording.
January - February 2021: Program Information Sessions - Learn more about what is offered for each Scale-Up Program. CLICK HERE to access the dates and times for each program

Nontraditional STEM Careers NW STEM Festival that will run the entire month of March 2021! This festival will be free, virtual, open to students in 6-8 graders in our entire NW region (19 Counties).

Purpose: The purpose of this festival is to expose our youth in NW Iowa to the wonderful career opportunities we have right here! It doesn't matter who you are, if you work hard, you can be anything you want to be! We want to share with students people working in nontraditional jobs. We are looking for nontraditional STEM career folks, so women welders, male nurses, etc. We are also looking for racial diversity folks also.

Registration will go out on February 8 - February 15, 2021.
All materials will be sent out by February 26, 2021 via AEA van delivery.
Nontraditional STEM Jobs NW STEM Festival opens March 1- 31, 2021

Be on the lookout for the registration email on Febrary 8, 2021!

Remsen St. Mary's Is Transforming Learning with STEM Scale-Up Awards!

Computer science courses at Remsen St. Mary’s Schools have expanded again this year. Two seniors are working on robotics as an independent learning class. Both students have participated in the Computer Science Discoveries and Computer Science Principles AP course.

“They started the year by learning how to build and program a FIRST LEGO League EV3 robot,” said Mrs. Kris Full. “This is a good entry-level robot because the students also get experience with installing and programming sensors on the robots,” she explained.

Then they learned how to build and program a VEX IQ robot. They demonstrated this robot for the middle school by attaching a claw and a Go Pro camera to the robot. They “captured” the students’ legs in the claw and then captured their surprised expressions on the camera.

Next, the seniors switched gears and prepared a lesson on paper electronic circuits for the 5th graders. Each student created a card by coloring a Halloween-themed design and adding a battery and LED lights to create a complete circuit. It was hard to tell which was brighter - the flashing lights or their big smiles!

“The VEX IQ and VRC robots are two of the Iowa Governor’s STEM Initiative programs that we received this year,” said Mrs. Full. The computer science courses at St. Mary’s got started with the CSP AP class in 2018, through Code.org and NewBoCo, Iowa’s Code.org regional partner. Then last year, the Computer Science Discoveries course was added. All of these offerings were made possible through the Governor’s STEM Initiative. “We are very appreciative of the initiative,” said Mrs. Full. “The governor’s STEM program has enabled our students to receive a foundation in computer science from elementary grades up through high school,” she added.

Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Vicki Heeren and preschool teachers Mrs. Tonya Galles and Mrs. Michon Wurth received awards for Hand2Mind STEM in Action modules and Pint Size Science kits through the Governor’s STEM Initiative.

"The STEM modules and kits are awesome additions to our curriculum,” said Mrs. Heeren. “The students love using the hands on materials. Very early on in the year the students very naturally learn to follow the STEM in Action Engineering process." She explained that for younger students they are given a challenge and then work in groups to do problem solving, designing, testing and re-designing. Cooperation, communication, and teamwork skills are built while completing the tasks.

Preschool teacher Tonya Galles added, "Through the STEM awards, small schools are able to supply the children with the knowledge and materials they might not otherwise receive. The materials Remsen St. Mary’s has been awarded over the last four years through the governor's STEM initiative is very much appreciated. Our students look and feel like the scientists they are with child-sized goggles, lab coats and all types of science tools."

Heeren concluded, “The students just love STEM time. From computer Blue Bots to Make Do building tools the students get experiences that engage them in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields. The students are the future of Iowa, and Governor Kim Reynolds’ STEM Initiatives are a great advantage for Remsen St. Mary’s.”

Computer Science is Elementary Award in Action at Kingsley-Pierson Elementary

Kingsley-Pierson Elementary was one of twelve schools awarded the Computer Science is Elementary award last year. Jenn Conrad, 4th grade teacher at Kingsley-Pierson, shared some pictures with us showing their progress.

Image1- Kingsley-Pierson fourth grade students enjoy using Ozobots during Computer Science Week. Students had to create programs that would get the Ozobot from the beginning to the end of their gingerbread lane!

Image 2- Robot turtles is a great introductory game for beginning coders, but also is a great review for those with a little more experience!

Image 3 - Did you know that debug came about because of Grace Hopper? Grace Hopper was a computer genius! A moth flew into her computer and every since then we've had the word debug for when something isn't working quite right with our computer program!

Image 4- Learning math facts seems like a lot more fun when you can use beebots!

Image 5 - Fourth graders worked with first graders to help reintroduce them to code.org.

STEM Winter Survival Kits at

MOC-Floyd Valley

Students in grades TK-5 at MOC-Floyd Valley received Winter STEM Survival Kits in December. Here are some pictures of them exploring the challenges and building materials. I think they were a hit!

NW STEM Challenge Cards

Are you looking for ideas to keep kids busy at home? Want to challenge your children to explore and create? Check out these challenge cards! Learn how to create balloon speakers, go fishing for ice cubes, or create a straw rocket! There are many activities to explore!

Fill out this form to receive access to NW STEM Challenge Cards. These are challenge cards for students in grades PS-8 grade. Materials needed for these challenges are household items. Upon submission of this form, you will receive access to a Google Folder that houses the challenge cards.

Share your Scale-Up Story with Us!

Were you awarded a Scale-Up Program this year? If so, please share your story and pictures with us! We will share your story in our newsletters and social media. Invite me out to see the Scale-up Program in action!

Email: mtrent@iowalakes.edu

NW STEM Checkout System

NW STEM Checkout system has many great STEM Scale-Up Kits as well as other materials perfect for classrooms, homeschools, libraries, and after school groups! And the best part, everything is FREE!!

We utilize the AEA van system to make deliveries of all our kits. You can keep the kits as long as you need them and simply set them out for the AEA van to pick them up. It's as simple as that!

You can find a complete list of our items and check out form here:

https://www.iowalakes.edu/stem/stem-resources/.