The Beaker - November 2021

November 6, 2021 | Issue 22-11

Upcoming Events

January 11 - Fair Registration - Extended Deadline

January 6 - GE Reagan Foundation Scholarship Due Date

January 15 - Washington Crossing Foundation Scholarship Due Date

The 2022 Sacramento Regional STEM Fair will be here sooner than you think!

Support STEM Education efforts in your community by sponsoring the Foundation. The NorCal STEM Education Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, so your donations are tax-deductible! All proceeds go toward our mission to inspire and engage students to become interested in pursuing scientific, technological, engineering, and mathematical (STEM) degrees and careers.

Donate via our PayPal here, or you can mail a check to:

NorCal STEM Education Foundation

455 Capitol Mall, Suite 500

Sacramento, CA 95814

For more information about sponsoring the Foundation, go to our website.

Extended Deadline - Don't Forget to Register!!!

Reminder for all students:

Great News! The deadline to register your project for the 2022 Sacramento Regional STEM Fair has been extended, per your requests! Now is the time to do some background research, design your experiment, and register your project. Do not start your experimentation yet! The deadline to register for the 2022 Sacramento Regional STEM Fair is January 11, 2021, at 11:59 p.m.

Our SRC needs time to examine ALL registrations and approve them for safety and protocol content BEFORE you can perform your experimentation. The SRC is comprised of teachers, scientists, engineers, and various other specialties, and is dedicated to following the guidelines set by the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) to guarantee the safety of the next generation of Scientists and Engineers, like you! We recommend submitting your registration early to ensure that any discrepancies within your registration are fixed before the deadline.

Ready to register? You can do so here:

It's Not Too Late To Be A Judge!

Help The Future Youth Today!

If you're an adult who is in possession of a Bachelor's Degree, at minimum and is interested in becoming a judge for the 2022 Sacramento Regional STEM Fair, it's easier than you think! If you don't fall under one of the following then we'd love for you to join us:

To avoid conflicts of interest, the Sacramento Regional STEM Fair does not allow the following (perhaps otherwise well-qualified) people to serve as judges:
6th-12th grade school teachers, site administrators of schools with participants, staff, or board members.
Parents of or professional mentors of any student participants.
Anyone else whose relationship with any STEM fair participant could pose a conflict of interest such as Family, neighbor, or corporate relationships are often too complex for NSEF to enumerate all the cases where you as a judge may find yourself scheduled to evaluate a project whose student(s) you know personally or professionally. If you can anticipate such conflicts before the day of the event ("my company donated resources to four chemistry projects," for example), please contact the fair coordinator to transfer duties to a volunteer capacity.

Please sign up to judge here!

Student Scholarships

Washington Crossing Foundation Scholarship

DEADLINE:

January 15, 2022

Scholarship Value: $5,000

HOW TO APPLY:

The Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the annual National Washington Crossing Foundation Scholarship Awards for students completing twelfth grade (or final high school year) in 2022 who are planning careers in government service.
Scholarship applicants must be citizens of the United States.
The Trustees and Members of the Foundation, mindful of the significance of the important event in our nation’s history that occurred at Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, believe that if our country is to continue to progress, we must have thoroughly trained, dedicated young people to carry on our government’s work in future years.
Each interested student is invited to write a one-page essay stating why he or she plans a career in government service including any inspiration to be derived from the leadership of George Washington in his famous crossing of Delaware. This essay must be accompanied by a recommendation from the high school principal or guidance counselor evaluating the student’s achievements, along with transcripts, national testing scores, and other supporting information of the applicant’s choice as described in the Official Rules.

Please apply here.

GE- Reagan Foundation Scholarship Program

DEADLINE: January 6, 2022 3:00pm CT

Eligibility and How to Apply:

You have to demonstrate at school, the workplace, and within the community the attributes of leadership, integrity, drive, and citizenship.
Demonstrate strong academic performance (minimum 3.0-grade point average/4.0 scale or equivalent);
Be a citizen of the United States of America;
Be a current high school senior attending high school in the United States, or any of the U.S. territories and commonwealths, and graduating in winter 2021 or spring 2022.
Applicants living on a U.S. Armed Forces base and attending high school outside the U.S. are eligible and plan to enroll in a full‑time undergraduate course of study at an accredited four‑year college or university in the United States for the entire 2022-2023 academic year.

Apply Here

Teachers! Does your class need help figuring out exactly how to register for the STEM Fair? We're available! Contact us at sacSTEMfair@sacSTEMfair.org for details and to schedule a presentation!

Support STEM Education while you Shop!

Shop on Amazon! Make a difference while you shop online! Shop for gifts, school supplies, and more on Amazon to generate donations for the Sacramento Regional Science And Engineering Fair Foundation (dba NorCal STEM Education Foundation).

All you need to do is register with Amazon Smile here, then shop as you normally would, but from Smile.Amazon.com, Amazon can even auto-direct you there once you sign up! The same shopping experience, same prices, but with the added benefit of Amazon's support of the Foundation.

Science Spotlight

Someday Soon, Smartwatches May Know You’re Sick Before You Do

Smartwatch-style wristbands may soon be able to gauge whether you’re coming down with a cold, flu, or other infection — even before you feel sick. This early warning can help you avoid spreading the disease.

Jessilyn Dunn is a biomedical engineer at Duke University in Durham, N.C. She was part of a team that analyzed heart rates and other data from wearable devices. The smartwatch-like systems contain sensors. These collect data — lots and lots of data — that can point to health or disease.

Dunn’s team asked 49 volunteers to wear sensor-laden wristbands before and after they received a cold or flu virus. At least once per second, these wristbands recorded heart rates, body movements, skin temperatures, and more. In nine out of every 10 recruits, these data showed signs of developing illness at least a day before symptoms emerged.