If you get to take a breather over the holidays, check out these two on-demand opportunities to learn new skills...and get free stuff for your classroom!

Elementary teachers: Apply for a six-week paid research experience this summer: Applications due Feb. 4, 2023

Montana State University will host a six-week Research Experience for Teachers (RET) for elementary teachers in Summer 2023. The experience includes a stipend plus housing and travel expenses.  

In the energy-themed program, teachers gain hands-on experience in state-of-the-art engineering research labs and will visit multiple energy facilities such as hydroelectric dams and oil refineries. The field trips include visits to nearby American Indian cultural sites and discussions about Indigenous perspectives in engineering, with a focus on integrating STEM with Montana's Indian Education For All curriculum.

The application deadline is Feb. 4, 2023. Please visit www.montana.edu/ret for more information and a link to the application or email smrc@montana.edu.

No STEM degree or prior experience is required, and all elementary teachers are encouraged to apply. 

Team Registration is OPEN for NASA Student Challenge - Montana! 

Are you a Montana student or teacher interested in tackling a real-life NASA mission? Join the NASA Artemis ROADS Student Challenge! This hands-on program takes inspiration from real NASA projects and guides students through different space-related missions over the academic year. And in 2022-23, we’re going back to the moon! 

Teams of three to six students will design, program, and test a robot, capable of navigating the challenging lunar surface, to investigate the moon landing site Shackleton Crater, an impact crater at the Moon’s south pole. Students will also fly a drone, simulating Artemis’s trajectory, over the rim of the crater to collect data. Teams will identify the challenges of living and working on the moon, and use the engineering design process to build model systems to overcome such challenges, including conducting a plant experiment in a closed environment. 

Teams will present their findings at the Montana NASA Student Challenge at Montana State University in May. The top award is a trip to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida! 

Artemis ROADS offers support, tips, and advice for instructors. Registration is open for students in grades 3-12, and closes on January 11, 2023. 

To learn more 

To register a team

This program is supported by NASA, Northwest Earth & Space Science Pathway, Montana State University, and the Montana Learning Center.