SCIENCE OUTREACH

March 2023

Volume 4 (Special Edition)

Connecting and Enhancing Community Engagement

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT.........

THE SCIENCE OUTREACH WEBSITE IS LIVE!

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FOLLOW SCIENCE OUTREACH ON SOCIAL MEDIA

SCIENCE OUTREACH SIGNATURE EVENT

SPRING INTO SCIENCE

SHARE YOUR SCIENCE WITH STUDENTS IN THE COMMUNITY

Spring Into Science

(All Science Outreach Departments are Invited to Participate)

Science Outreach will host its first annual Spring Into Science event on Saturday, April 22, 2023 (10:00 am - 12:30 pm), in the Frick Atrium. Spring into Science is an event open to all ten academic departments and programs to showcase your area of science expertise. Participants will include students in 4th – 10th grades from area schools, afterschool programs, and their families. Spring into Science is an outreach opportunity to share engaging and informative science with the community. Departmental activities can include hands-on activities, small-group presentations, displays, and poster talks. Sign up to request a table(s) to participate. Individual and multiple department groups are welcome. Please indicate your interest in participating no later than March 22, 2023.

Recent Science Outreach Opportunities

First Science Outreach Opportunity!

On December 16, 2022, Catherine Hexter, a graduate student in Geosciences, visited STEMCivic High School in Ewing and hosted an activity to demonstrate antibiotic resistance to several 10th-grade biology classes. Catherine mentioned that the opportunity was a great experience, and the demonstration went really well.

Stone Hill Learning Center

The 2nd – 7th-grade students at Stone Hill Learning Center had an exciting Chemistry evening on February 7th. Chemistry graduate students Graciela Villalpando and Joseph W. Stiles engaged students in a series of experiments, including red cabbage indicator, milk surfactant, sulfuric acid and sugar, and the chemical traffic light. The students are ready to become scientists.

Upcoming Science Outreach Events

March 10 – Christina Seix Academy (Ewing, NJ) – 4^th graders (energy transfers and different forms of energy)

March 6 – Greenwood Elementary School (Hamilton, NJ) – 5^th graders (research on yellow-bellied marmots and mountain climates)

In the Works!

Science Outreach is planning an ongoing partnership and collaboration with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Mercer County. This club has 2,300 student members ages 5 to 18. They have 12 locations in Mercer County.

Volunteer opportunities include:

Hosting a Science Outreach event at various Club community events
Participate in the annual Teen STEM conference in November
Volunteer to help run a Science Outreach activity in an after school or camp program
Help design and lead a 10-week STEM curriculum for a summer camp
Volunteer for a STEM Club for middle and high school teens, on a monthly or quarterly time frame
Host a STEM field trip for a camp or teen program
Be a STEM guest speaker at a high school career program
Have a departmental or lab STEM table, at an annual College, Career & Job Fair for high school students

No transportation…..No problem.

Do you need transportation to attend a science outreach initiated off-campus opportunity? Science Outreach has arrangements with Enterprise CarShare and Lyft. Please reach out to Paryn Wallace, at parynw@princeton.edu, to sign up to participate in a transportation program to best fit the outreach opportunity you would like to attend. Arrangements should be made at least 3 to 4 weeks prior to your outreach opportunity.

Science Outreach Tracking

We are interested in tracking all science outreach opportunities. If you, your lab, or your department hosted or facilitated a community outreach opportunity, please complete the tracking form and upload a photo from your event.

Science Outreah Tracking

Science Outreach

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

Trenton Area STEM Council

Science Outreach Associate Director Paryn Wallace is a member of the Trenton Area STEM Council. The council is a collaboration of community-based organizations, K-12 schools, and universities with the common purpose of supporting the next generation of STEM learners. The council accomplishes this goal by sharing experiences, resources, technologies, and expertise in STEM education. Recent meetings have been held at the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Mercer County and The College of New Jersey.

Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (left) and Paryn Wallace (right) attend the Trenton Kids Count meeting hosted by the Smith Family Foundation.

Event: Trenton Kids Count Breakfast (January 25, 2023).

Trenton Kids Count advocates for the children of New Jersey by giving every child a chance to grow up safe, healthy, and educated. Trenton Kids Count compiles data from the U.S. Census Bureau, state resources and more in an easy-to-access guide about child well-being for policymakers, advocates, grant-makers and the public. This critical information can help guide legislative decisions for children and families.

Jennifer Sheridan (right), Founder and Executive Director of the Global Youth Transformation Initiative and Paryn Wallace (left) attend the Trenton Kids Count meeting hosted by the Smith Family Foundation.

More About Global Youth Transformation Initiative

The Global Youth Transformation Initiative (GYTI) believes that liberation through exposure and travel is the gateway to transformative communities and economical change for its participants.

By exposing middle and high school underserved youth, to service-learning and educational workshops geared to fostering community awareness and engagement. Immersing them through travel into other cultural settings outside of their own neighborhoods.

Middle School Science Fair

Molecular Biology

Christina Seix Academy is interested in a Molecular Biology campus experience for 20-25 middle school students. This opportunity would include hands-on engaging modules, trivia, and a tour. A date will be determined based on the school and volunteer availability. Click here to sign up for this opportunity.

Science Outreach Volunteers Needed

If you would like to volunteer for any upcoming Science Outreach opportunity, please click here. Volunteers are frequently needed for new outreach opportunities at area schools and community programs.

Start now preparing an engaging session for elementary, middle, or high school students. Volunteers are needed for Astrophysical Sciences, Center for Statistics and Machine Learning, Chemistry, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Geosciences, Mathematics, Molecular Biology, Physics, Princeton Neuroscience Institute, and Psychology.

Please contact Paryn Wallace (parynw@princeton.edu) for additional information or to schedule a meeting with your outreach group.