News :: Vanderbilt Center for Science Outreach

Both science summer camps are now full. Information about next summer's camps should be available on the Center for Science Outreach website and the respective GAS and BEST websites in mid-February/early March.

Applications for the Girls and Science(GAS) Camp and Boys Exploring Science and Technology (BEST) Camp are now available on their respective websites. The cost per week-long session is $150, with financial assistance available. More information is available on the websites.

BEST Camp (www.bestsummercamp.org )

• Session I: June 15-19
• Session II: June 22-26

Both sessions of BEST Camp have identical curricula that are appropriate for boys currently in 7th or 8th grade.

GAS Camp (www.girlsandscience.org )

• Session I: July 6-10 (for girls currently in 7th grade)
• Session II: July 13-17 (for girls currently in 8th grade)

The December issue of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) middle school journal, Science Scope, featured an article by MNPS teacher and CSO Scientist-in-the-Classroom Coordinator, Jeannie Tuschl. As a program coordinator at the Vanderbilt Center for Science Outreach (CSO), under the direction of Dr. Virginia Shepherd, Ms. Tuschl initiated the Volunteer Scientist-in-the-Classroom Partnership (vSCP) at Vanderbilt University in collaboration with Dr. Patrice Moss-Gray at Meharry Medical College and Dr. Todd Gary at Tennessee State University. Volunteer graduate students and postdoctoral scientists, in partnership with middle school science teachers, bring real-world science into the classroom. The article, "Volunteer Scientist-in-the Classroom Partnership in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools," can be accessed via the NSTA website, http://www.nsta.org/middleschool/.

For more information about the Volunteer Scientist-in-the-Classroom Partnership access the website at http://www.volunteerscp.org/.

The Center for Science Outreach is pleased that its popular podcast, Snacks4theBrain! has been included in the newly released Discover Archive, an extraordinary project from Vanderbilt's Jean and Alexander Heard Library. The rapidly growing research resource offers many ways to access S4theB! but one way is to perform a simple search for "snacks" and "brain", which results in this page.

The next episode, number 78, of Snacks, will feature amazing end of semester presentations by the School for Science and Math's sophomore class, as well as some fun independent music and the return of Tech Tip Tidbit! Stay tuned!!!

See an article from the front page of the November 23, 2008 Tennessean about the state of science education and how our office is working to improve the problems facing Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, as well as schools in general.

View the article on the Tennessean's website or view a PDF of the article.

Did you ever eat ice cream made with liquid nitrogen? Or gaze at the stars from inside a gigantic balloon? Or send a water bottle rocket into the night sky?

Students and their parents in Cane Ridge and Antioch area middle schools were invited to an evening of science fun at Cane Ridge High School last Tuesday evening. Over 400 participants chose to attend 6 of the more than 40 hands-on science activities during the two-hour event.

Sponsored by the Vanderbilt Center for Science Outreach in collaboration with Metro Nashville Public Schools, this event featured activities taught by science undergraduate and graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows from four local universities.

"What makes this event so unique is the collaboration between four local universities: Tennessee State University, Fisk University, Austin Peay State University, and Vanderbilt University," said Jeannie Tuschl, a program coordinator at the Center for Science Outreach.  "I am thrilled and honored to have the resources to bring an event of this caliber into Metro Nashville Public Schools."

Dr. Tiffany Farmer, a research fellow also at the Center for Science Outreach, was instrumental in recruiting scientists who readily volunteered to spend an evening in a classroom with middle school students. Dr. Farmer stated, "Scientists are anxious to share their knowledge and expertise with students and their families."

Family Science Night provides an opportunity for scientists to share their passion for science, promote careers in science, and infuse science research into the community.  "We hope to inspire students to think about pursuing careers in science, technology or engineering," Dr. Farmer said. "Also, perhaps they will be encouraged to take more science classes in high school."

Metro Nashville Public School science teachers were invited to attend the event. They were treated to a wealth of ideas to take back to the classroom and inspired by the willingness of scientists to involve themselves in the education of middle schools students. Some teachers extended formal invitations to the scientists to personally visit their classrooms.

More than 80 scientists traded in their lab coats for the evening in lieu of a Family Science Night T-shirt designed by Rahma Abdlrahman, a seventh grader at Thurgood Marshall Middle School. The design was chosen from more than 100 submissions and featured a world bursting at the seams with nature.

Students received a "Safari Passport" as they arrived. Passports were stamped as they rotated through the activities. Trying to decide what to do and where to go first was difficult with so many interesting activities from which to choose. J.F. Kennedy Middle School seventh grader Samantha Powell headed directly to the ice cream station to find out how ice cream could be made with liquid nitrogen and how it would taste. When asked what she learned, Samantha referred to the magic sand which she identified as a hydrophobic. "I wasn’t fond of science until the Family Science Night, and now I love science," she said.

Dr. Barbara Ide, the principal at Thurgood Marshall Middle School, said that her students had a wonderful time and learned a lot about science.  "One of the seventh graders was delighted to be able to look at his own cheek cells under a microscope," she said.

Dr. Jennifer Ellis, postdoctoral fellow in Biological Sciences at Vanderbilt University, and Dr. Ide made plans to implement an endangered sunflower garden at Marshall. "I was intrigued by her research. That someone could actually identify endangered flowers amazes me and then to pinpoint it to Tennessee is even more amazing. They grow up to 15 feet tall and I am sure these flowers would look great in our school garden."

The goal of the evening was to stimulate excitement and build interest in science among middle school children, while involving parents in the educational process. The event ultimately provided an opportunity for children and their parents to work together conducting simple, inquiry-based, age-appropriate, hands-on science activities; observe scientific demonstrations; and talk with scientists to find out more about the latest developments in science, math, and engineering in Nashville.

David Petersen, a former participant in the Scientist-in-the-Classroom Partnership (formerly the National Science Foundation GK-12) program was recently voted the best public school teacher in the Nashville Scene's 2008 Best of Nashville Readers' Poll.

While in the program, David was a fellow at Cameron Middle School. He is currently a math teacher at Independence High School. Congratulations, David!

The results of the 2008 Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology are in and two School for Science and Math seniors have earned semifinalist recognition in the prestigious national Siemens Science Competition. Congratulations to Hana Erkou and Elizabeth Wei for this tremendous accomplishment!

Hana Erkou is a student at Nashville School of the Arts and she is working in the laboratory of Louise Rollins-Smith in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. The title of her research paper is, “Antimicrobial Peptides that inhibit HIV and protect Beneficial Lactobacilli.”

Elizabeth Wei is a student at Hume-Fogg and she is working in the laboratory of Chris Williams in Gastroenterology. The title of her research paper is, “Creating an inducible expression system where the role of MTG8 in colorectal cancer can be better understood.”

All ten School for Science and Math Seniors applied to the competition. Last year one SSMV senior, Uyen Pham, earned semifinalist recognition.

All middle school science teachers, grades 5-8, from Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools are invited to apply for the Middle School Science Teacher Mini Grants sponsored by The Vanderbilt Institute for STEM Education (VIStE), a program of the Vanderbilt Center for Science Outreach. Up to 10 awards will be granted during the 2008-2009 school year with a maximum award of up to $1,000 per grant.  

The grant program encourages innovative approaches to teaching and promotes creative ideas by funding academic projects not supported by school budgets. For more information or to download an application, please visit the program's webpage at http://www.scienceoutreach.org/mini_grants/.

Planning is underway for a Family Science Safari for the Antioch and Cane Ridge Clusters Middle Schools. Invited middle schools include Antioch Middle School, Apollo Middle School, John F. Kennedy Middle School, and Thurgood Marshall Middle School.

This event is hosted by Thurgood Marshall Middle School at Cane Ridge High School on Tuesday, November 11th, from 6:30 -8:30 PM.

Approximately 150 scientists, STEM graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows from Vanderbilt University, Tennessee State University, Meharry Medical College, Fisk University, and Austin Peay State University will be conducting hands-on science activities. Students and parents will rotate through approximately six of the activities at 15 minute intervals. All MNPS science teachers and their families are also invited.

Find out more at the Family Science Night webpage.