June 2023

Welcome to Brainstorms!, the monthly e-newsletter of the MSU Science Math Resource Center. We share cool opportunities for Montana STEM educators of all grade levels, subjects and settings, including upcoming professional development workshops through MSU and our partners; grant applications and STEM resources; STEM events and contests for students; and more.

Please forward to a colleague and encourage them to subscribe – including your school administrators and school counselors, too! For questions or ideas, contact the MSU Science Math Resource Center.

Join us for Montana's premier STEM Professional Development Conference for Teachers July 31 - Aug. 2 at MSU-Bozeman

Don’t miss the opportunity to attend this exciting and expanded STEM event for Montana educators interested in science, math, and related fields. The fifth annual STEM Summer Institute is a one-of-a-kind, Montana-made showcase for STEM integration across all grades and subject areas. You’ll enjoy exemplary K-12 STEM instruction and resources, inspiring national speakers, and the best of Bozeman and MSU!

Over 30 STEM breakout sessions from classroom teachers, professionals from the Montana Fire Science Lab, Gallatin Valley Avalanche Center, Clark Fork Watershed Education Program, Montana PBS, Destination Imagination, Montana Natural History Museum, Project WET, Ecology Project International, Four Corners Foundation, STARBASE Montana, VEX Robotics, and instructors from MSU-Bozeman, MSU-Billings, and U of M.

Exhibitors include Carolina Biological Supply, VEX Robotics, MOSS, Montana PBS, Museum of the Rockies, American Computer and Robotics Museum, Montana Destination Imagination, Native Teaching Aids, Montana NSF EPSCoR, and more!

Stay in MSU Housing for just $50/night

Visit the STEM Summer Institute website for details

Hosted by School Services of Montana and the MSU Science Math Resource Center

Montana rural teachers --

Help MSU understand your STEM needs and earn an Amazon gift card

Education researchers at Montana State University are studying how rural teachers use STEM resources and strategies in their classrooms. Any educator teaching any form of Science, Technology, Engineering or Math through K-12 is encouraged to participate. Responses are anonymous, and all participants will receive a $20 Amazon Gift Card as a small thank you for your time. The task includes filling out a survey and participating in short interview (30 minutes or less). Please email Marcie Reuer at MSU to participate: marcie.reuer@montana.edu

Science Math Resource Center in the News

On May 16, the Science Math Resource Center visited Roberts School as part of the NASA AEROKATS and ROVER Education Network project. The kids even reported n some of the story! Check out the news article from TV Q2 in Billings.

Montana earns $20M to study prescribed burning, smart optical sensors, artificial intelligence and machine learning

The Science Math Resource Center will help lead education and outreach efforts for a new $20M National Science Foundation award to the state of Montana. The project draws upon MSU’s expertise in optics and computer science to create sensors that can map the burnable fuels in forests and monitor fire behavior and smoke. UM's experts in forestry will study prescribed fire emissions and air quality impacts. Researchers will also focus on how artificial intelligence and machine learning can help utilize the massive amount of data produced. Education/outreach efforts will include curriculum materials for teachers, a citizen science program, traveling exhibits and more. The award comes from NSF EPSCoR (the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research). Teachers who want to be involved can contact smrc@montana.edu

Teachers: Would you like to learn about quantum?

With a new $1 million grant, Montana State University and partners will explore how the region could position itself as a leader in the quantum technology that’s set to play a critical role in 21st century communications, computing and other fields. If you are an educator who would like to know more or participate in some way, we'd like to hear from you! Please email smrc@montana.edu and include quantum in the subject line. Let us know what you're already doing or interested in learning more about!

Conferences and PD for STEM teachers

Montana Council of Teachers of Mathematics: June 13-14 in Butte

The annual Montana Math Meet or MCubed is at Montana Technological University on June 13-14. MCubed is an annual gathering of Montana K-12 teachers of mathematics who come together to share powerful teaching-and-learning strategies.

Learn more and register

Last call -- Attend the Proficiency-based Education Summer Symposium at MSU for free June 16-18. Only 20 spots left

Proficiency (or competency) based education is changing the way we educate students in Montana. Newly passed Chapter 55 standards call on educators and leaders to articulate and measure what students know and can do because of having that knowledge. This is the centerpiece of proficiency-based education.

Come to Bozeman June 16-18 and learn from educators, school leaders, and trustees who have already begun to implement proficiency-based, competency-based, and/or standards-based approaches in their schools.

Registration is free, as are mileage, parking, meals and MSU housing. Sign up today!

You can also earn free graduate credits in MSU's Competency-Based Education courses at NO COST. Learn more about the course here.

Summer 2023- 6-week course June 26- Aug 4
Fall 2023- 8-week course first half of semester Aug 23- Oct 15
Fall 2023- 8-week course second half of semester Oct 16-Dec 15

Come see SMRC at OPI Summer Institute June 19-23

Staff from the Science Math Resource Center are among the many presenters at the OPI Summer Institute, which is held at MSU-Bozeman on June 19-23. Be sure to add our sessions to your agenda. SMRC will present:

Designing Science Learning that Emphasizes the Student Experience (Tuesday, June 20 at 1:15pm)
Citizen Science: It's More than Just Science (Wednesday, June 21 at 11:45am)

Registration is free for Montana educators and administrators. Visit the conference website

STEM opportunities for educators

Summer learning opportunity: Get a free Arduino kit and learn to use it at your own pace, plus earn the chance to score an entire kit for your classroom

The Sensing for Science program explores how to use Arduino and create an electrical device that will help collect data on water quality. This simulates the research being done by Montana scientists and engineers who are part of the National Science Foundation-supported CREWS project (Consortium for Research on Environmental Water Systems). All resources are free for educators to use and download. If you are a Montana teacher interested in bringing this program to your classroom, you can get an Arduino kit to use while you learn. Then, if you complete Level 1 of the program and share some information about how you will use the materials, we will send you a Sensing for Science classroom kit to use with your students.

Visit Sensing for Science for Teachers!

Free computer science virtual workshop June 26-30 for teachers of grades 4-6

The Storytelling Project based at MSU offers a virtual workshop June 26-30, 2023, that will support all teachers in delivering pre-made computer science curriculum. This curriculum introduces students in grades 4-6 to computer programming using design-based physical projects and basic circuitry, leveraging past and contemporary ledger art by tribal members of Montana.

Program LEDs and sensors on circuits you design
Make connections between tribes in Montana and computer science
Practice inclusive pedagogy to support all learners
Connect to other teachers with similar interests.

Earn renewal units, a stipend for participating, and additional stipends for implementing the curriculum in the classroom and/or facilitating a future workshop.

To register visit The Storytelling Project or Email

storytelling@montana.edu Deadline is June 14

Want to learn more about citizen science? Subscribe to the MSU Citizen Science newsletter

STEM opportunities for youth

MSU Middle and High School Math Camps - June and August

Montana middle and high school students are invited to attend the Mathematics Circle Summer Camps hosted by the Science Math Resource Center at MSU. Participants will immerse themselves in math problem-solving activities, tour innovative university labs, and engage in fun STEM activities.

Three-day sessions are hosted for middle schoolers and high schoolers in both June and August. Hurry -- the June camp begins Monday, June 12.

Learn more and register today - space is limited! For more information, contact Jill Joyce with SMRC at jill.joyce1@montana.edu

Do you know a Montana STEM teacher interested in cool opportunities? Please share this newsletter so they can follow along for next year! Or, they can subscribe at bit.ly/smrc-news