Getting Kids Interested in Hands on Math and Science Activities

A few weeks ago, I was having a conversation with a fellow science educator that works in the San Francisco Bay Area. We were having a conversation about the lack of interest of students to engage in hands on science activities, let alone the ability to spend the time to conduct an experiment and put in the work to successfully complete a math or science fair project. There are various theories on why kids don't find math or science fun which include:
1. Lack of opportunities to engage in hands on math and science activities in the classroom
2. Lack of opportunities to be exposed to hands on math and science activities at home and in the community
3. With the age of technology, most kids are utilizing computers and other electronic devices for entertainment and learning, that it is hard to get kids to play outside let alone engage in hands on math or science activities
There are probably more than these three reasons, but no matter what the reasons are, we have to find solutions to this problem.

We are in a age where the United States is falling behind in science, engineering and technology. Other countries are leading the way in advancing in technology, biomedical research, manufacturing, environmental research and etc. The globalization of the world or in the words of Thomas Friedman, making it "flat" has flatten our economy in the math and science related sectors. The only way that we can make it better is making a targeted effort to ensure that we have a future science, technology and engineering workforce for the next generations to come. So how do we do that, getting K-12 students interested in hands on science activities. Since this is a technology age, we must introduce them to website where they can play math and science educational games, read online articles about innovation in science and technology and use www.goodsearch.com to find any information about math and science. But most importantly, get them engaged in hands on math and science activities by taking them to your local science museum, aquarium, state or national park or doing some math and science experiments at home. The start to ensuring that we have a future STEM workforce is ensuring that some of our kids think that science and math are cool and fun. Then the next step is exposing them to the career options in those fields.

The Global Connection Between People

Today, I had a wonderful conversation with two natives of Moline Bay, Papua New Guinea. They educated me on the wonderful customs and traditions of the people here and we discussed the differences and similarities in our cultures. I am really enjoying this culture of people for there are in a beautiful place and have beautiful spirits.

As I think about preparing our future generation to become scientists, engineers and mathematicians, we always think about the technical skills that students need to learn; but we ignore teaching them basic communication skills. In a world where the internet and improvement in transportation and telecommunications have made the world more flat, we have to ability to connect with individuals all over the world. However, in our society we don’t embrace differences of have enough dialogue with people who have different opinions from us, let alone with people of different cultures. However, technology is connecting us all inspite of what part of the world we live in so we must have the ability to reach out and get to know someone of another culture. Although scientists and engineers aren’t known for their communication skills, in order to advance science the future scientist and engineers are going to need good communications skills. As I think about the major challenges that face our society today, climate change, the environment, pollution, HIV/AIDS, cancer, all of them are global issues. There are major breakthroughs in biomedical research and climate change in other parts of the world and with limited research dollars, it is no need for scientist in the United States to reinvent the wheel. Collaborations between scientific disciplines and nations is necessary for our survival and continued progress as a world.

So while we are teaching our kids to excel and achieve academically. Let's teach them how to excel in their communication and collaboration skills, so they can not only achieve in doing science, but communicating science to there colleagues around the world.

Protecting and Perserving the Wonderful Planet Called Earth

This weekend, I started a much needed vacation and one of the things I love to do on vacation is connect with nature. This weekend, I took a scenic drive with a friend up the San Francisco Bay Area, from the South Bay to the East Bay. During this drive, we saw all the wonderful scenery from mountains to beaches, rivers and bays and vegetation such as plants, fruit and vegetables. But was so awesome was the sense of peace and tranquility that we got from taking that drive. It was more fun that I had in awhile and didn't cost too much money, but the $3.50 a gallon gas in Northern California, but the scenary was priceless.

Currently, I am in Australia in the tropical Rain Forrest in a rental house, that is powered by solar energy and gets most of its water from rainwater. In this Rainforest, you can here the creators in the natural habitat from birds to insects. In addition, you see the calming water of the sea which is about a 10 minute walk away.

As I am enjoying this time in nature, I think about who will be the next generation of scientists and engineers to ensure that the beautiful scene that I am currently enjoying are still here for generations to come to enjoy. Who will the next environmental scientists, environmental biologists, geologists, botanists, entomologists and other scientists that make sure that we preserve and protect our planet? In a culture where most of us live, work and play in urban jungles, how do we expose our children let alone get them interested in these disciplines. But we can start by exposing our children to more of this wonderful planet. If they can see it, they can learn to appreciate it and possibly want to pursue a career preserving and protecting our planet.

Celebrating Chemisty: National Chemistry Week

As a chemical engineer and a person who gets very excited about chemistry, I'm very excited that this week is National Chemistry Week. This week which is sponsored by the American Chemical Society celebrate the contributions that the field of chemistry and chemical professionals have contributed to society. It also gets kids excited and exposed to chemistry; for more information you can visit the American Chemistry's website at www.acs.org.

Chemistry has an impact on our everyday lives more than we realize. It encompasses such field as food science, which creates ways for us to produce and preserve our food. It encompasses biochemistry which is responsible for many of our advances in medicine and medical research. It encompasses material science which allows us to know which materials are best for us to make durable goods that we consume daily. It contains atmospheric and environmental chemistry which allows us to know more about our learn if we are being good stewards of our planet and if not, how do we correct the damage that we made.

Chemistry is the science of life because it connects all of the sciences and engineering disciplines. So celebrate this chemistry week and how the field of chemistry has improved your quality of life.

Math and Science Fair Project Season is Here

Whoo hoo, math and science fair project season is here. I know that most schools math and science fairs aren't until late November/early December, but if you want to produce a quality project the time has come for you to begin the work. You must start weeks in advance because it takes a lot of time to produce a quality math and science fair projects; therefore you don't want to wait until the last minute and neglect your homework the weeks right before the math or science fair.

Completing a project for the math or science fair is a wonderful opportunity for students to explore their interest in math or science and learn skills that are transferable to other subject areas. It is one of the rare opportunities that a student will have to chose the topic they want to learn more about. A quality math or science fair project involves the student utilizing the scientific method to answer a question in their area of interest i.e. Does anti-bacterial soap kills germs? During the process the student should develop their science literacy, data collection and analysis and oral and written presentation skills. In becoming an expert on their topic they will learn how to conduct scholarly research, set up an experiment, collect data and utilize experimental results and background data to form conclusions. When math and science fair arrives they will have become an expert on their topic and will wow their peers and teachers with their quality work as well as get an A on their project.


So I encourage those of you that have children by blood or those who have claimed you as a another mother or father, encourage them to not wait to get started on their math or science fair project. For more tips on math and science fair projects, download our "Experimental Design Handbook at the http://www.semsuccess.org/semlinkincexperimentaldesignhandbook.pdf

Current and Future Noble Prize Winners in Physiology and Medicine

This morning, I came across the following article through Facebook on CNN
http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/, that three U.S. researchers were awarded the Noble Prize for their work on how chromosome are protected against degradation. I was excited for two major reasons, one it is very excited to see that the United States is being innovative and be recognized for their research. Due to lack of support for research, we have been lagging behind Europe for many years.It gives me hope again that the United States will be able to compete globally in research and other scientific innovation. Secondly, two of the three researchers were women; so it is a great example to our girls that want to pursue research careers. Yes, you can be a scientist or engineer and do well enough to be recognize for your work with prestigious awards if you work hard and become an expert in your field.

News like this is exciting to me and I am always encouraged to share it with children the impact that science, engineering and mathematics has on our society. The Nobel Prize is a 1.4 million dollar award; which means that these scientists work has huge impacts on our society. So many children can't connect science, engineering and mathematics to every day life. They just see it as boring or hard subjects that they have to do in class. But science and technology improves our quality of life and solves the various problems in society. Secondly, by highlighting scientists and engineers that are rewarded and recognized for their work, it teaches students that you don't have to be an entertainer or a business person to be recognized or famous. You pursuit of a STEM career and doing well, will allow you many opportunities to be recognized by your peers and society. There are world famous scientists and engineers such as these Nobel Prize winners and others who have made improvements in our society through their work.

Improving the Science Education Infastructure Nationwide

Over the past few weeks, I have been really thinking about the bigger picture concerning science education. Although SEM Link has done great work over the years in science education and impacting Metro Atlanta youth, we have to think about how can we increase our impact beyond the kids that we can physically touch.

I have been conducting research and having conversations with educators and parents across the country. What I've found is that there are many school districts, even in large Metropolitan areas, don't have the infrastructure to provide quality science education for its students, especially in elementary school where students get their fundamentals in all subject areas. How can our students achieve academically in science or even pursue those careers if there is not quality instruction going on? They won't be adequately prepared for post-secondary education to major in the science, engineering and mathematics field, let alone garner enough interest to pursue those fields.

We can't place all the blame on the school districts, for it can't be the responsibility of the school system alone to educate our children. I realized that schools work best when they have community partners that provide additional resources to the schools to help them educate their students. It is especially critical now, when many school districts are seeing their budgets drastically reduced due to many of our states having extreme budget deficits due to the recession. There are even districts that have to lay off teachers, so you know they are in bad shape if that have to do that.

There are many community organizations that are getting funding for various educational resources to help teachers. However, although they are developing them somehow not all of the resources are getting to the teachers. I'm not quite sure what the reason for disconnect, but these resources need to get to the teachers. In addition, many organization have grant funding available for teachers to obtain resources but what good teacher has time to write a grant. What teachers are available to attend professional conferences.

We have to do something about the science infrastructure for the survival of our society; for this problem is bigger than test scores. It is the current K-12 students that are our future workforce. What I have noticed about the recession is that we are transitioning from a economy that is heavy on skilled labor to one that requires an educated workforce. Therefore it is important for our children to be educated for their survival as individuals and our survival as a society. It is important for us to have the future science, engineering and mathematics in our society because those fields are what create innovation for improvement of society as a whole. Who will be available to solve the issues that we have with climate change? Who will create the next generation of technological innovations that help improve the quality of our lives? Who will be available to be the next generation of public health professionals and biomedical researchers to cure and treat the disease that plague our society?