December 2022

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. 

Whether you teach science, technology, engineering, mathematics or something else related, this newsletter is for you. Please forward to a colleague and encourage them to subscribe – including your school administrators and school counselors, too! 

For questions or to contribute an idea, please contact the MSU Science Math Resource Center.

Free STEM PD this week

Earn OPI renewal units with MSU Research in Action on Weds, Dec. 7

Join the SMRC for a free after-school workshop series that connects K-12 teachers with MSU researchers to talk about their story in science and their research. We will work with teachers to consider how you can use their stories and research to create a unique experience for your students. OPI renewal units are available for participating.


The Wednesday, Dec. 7 (4pm to 5pm) speaker is Esther Stopps, a doctoral candidate in Chemical Engineering. She is originally from Idaho Falls and graduated from MSU with B.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering and Biological Engineering. Under the mentorship of Dr. Stephanie McCalla, Esther is researching how to make more definitive and accurate diagnostic tests for disease-related DNA and RNA molecules.She measures the reaction speed for different engineered DNA binding reactions. That information is used to design amplification reactions with a larger, conclusive burst of signal in the presence of a disease target. Esther is specifically detecting small RNA molecules associated with Alzheimer's disease, but her research is broadly applicable to many types of disease diagnostics, such as cancer screenings and viral infection monitoring.  


Learn more and register

Our page also include video recordings from earlier sessions this fall

Science Olympiad Coach Office Hours: Dec. 6, 4pm

Whether you're a veteran of Science Olympiad or just want to see what it's all about, pop in for Coach Office Hours on Tuesday, Dec. 6 from 4pm to 5pm (come anytime within that hour).


No registration is required; use this WebEx link or see Coach Office Hours on our Science Olympiad School Teams and Coaches page.


If you have any questions, please email mtscioly@montana.edu


The 2022-23 Montana events are now posted


Subscribe to our Science Olympiad e-newsletter

Free STEM PD on demand

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!

Supercharge Your Classroom with Montana Field Science Data is a free, self-paced course for educators that consists of five modules. Through these modules, educators will learn to incorporate datasets from authentic Montana research projects into their own classroom.



Visit Supercharge Your Classroom for more information.


This course was sponsored by Montana NSF EPSCoR and was originally taught by Montana Partnership with Regions for Excellence in STEM (MPRES) educators Chris Pavlovich and Bill Stockton through the Montana Office of Public Instruction's (OPI)  Teacher Learning Hub

Learn about Arduino coding and sensors that are used for science and engineering with our Sensing for Science PD program for teachers. Plus, free kits!

This program was launched at the STEM Summer Institute in July 2022 and continues on as a free on-demand video series through the Science Math Resource Center. If you are a Montana teacher and intend to complete the program in the next three months, we’ll send you a free Arduino kit, AND if you complete the course and share some information about how you intend to use the program with your students, you could get a free Arduino kit for your whole class! This could be the perfect PD project to complete over the holiday break.


Visit https://www.montana.edu/smrc/sensingforscience/ and get started today. 

Coming soon

American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) 8 coming in January


The Science Math Resource Center will host two AMC 8 tests in January (A and B). The AMC 8 is part of the American Mathematics Competition series developed by the Mathematical Association of America. It is designed to provide an opportunity for middle school students to develop positive attitudes toward analytical thinking and mathematics that can assist in future careers. Students apply classroom skills to unique problem-solving challenges in a low-stress and friendly environment. 

The material on the 25-question, 40-minute test includes topics from a typical middle school mathematics curriculum. Students up through eighth grade and under 14 1/2 years on the day of the competition are eligible to participate. Registration is free and open until spots are filled.


Please email smrc@montana.edu if you'd like to be notified when registration is open.

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. 

Save the date: STEM Summer Institute is July 31 - Aug. 2 at MSU-Bozeman


Save the date for the 2023 STEM Summer Institute! We will once again bring several exciting days of professional development, networking and social opportunities in partnership with School Services of Montana. Watch this newsletter for the call for presenters.


Conference registration will open in Spring 2022. You can read about last year's event for a great taste of what to expect next summer -- with even more!

STEM Resources from our partners

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. 

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
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