March 2005

K-12 Outreach activities

Purdue hosts Regional Science Olympiad

On Saturday, February 19 Purdue University played host to the Science Olympiad Regional competition on the West Lafayette Campus. College of Science K-12 Outreach Coordinators and Purdue students from the Science Olympiad Club organized this event for over 250 students in grades 6 through 12 from across the state.

“Science Olympiad is a great opportunity to see students participating in exciting and challenging science activities,” said Bill Walker, Director for College of Science K-12 Outreach.

The national Science Olympiad provides regional, state and national tournaments for students in grades 6-9 and 9-12. These students begin training in the fall to compete in regional competitions in late winter. Each school team consists of 15 students. The students train to compete in 23 different science and technology events.

“The events are designed to stress science concepts, science processes, problem solving skills, and applications of technology. Each student must train to compete in several events. Several events are hands-on,” said Mindy Hart, Computer Science Outreach Coordinator and Tournament Director for the Purdue University Science Olympiad Regional competition.

Teachers as well as parents become involved in coaching the 15 students in 23 events ranging across the many fields of science. In many cases, local scientists and engineers help.

The day concluded with a presentation from the Purdue University Chemistry Department. Following the Chemistry Show, individual medals for events and team trophies were given out at the Awards Ceremony.

The 2005 State competition will be held on March 19th at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. Purdue University is the proud host of the 2006 State Science Olympiad.

Support for the Purdue University Science Olympiad Regional Competition has been provided by the Purdue University College of Science K-12 Outreach Program and the Purdue students from the Science Olympiad Club.

Outreach Staff at HASTI Convention

On February 2nd-4th the College of Science outreach coordinators were at the Hoosier Association of Science Teachers (HASTI) convention in Indianapolis to collaborate with teachers and conduct professional development workshops. This annual event brings about 2,500 science teachers from around the state of Indiana together to share and discuss science teaching issues.

The outreach team had two major presentations at this convention. The first presentation was the Standards-Based Integrated Science Instruction (SISI). This presentation allowed the 30 participants of the 2 week summer program a chance to share the Inquiry unit they developed and implemented in their classroom during the school year. The participants are teachers of grades 5-9. Part of the program involves teachers writing a grant to fund their project. Teachers in the SISI professional development have been approved for approximately $20,000 in grants. SISI will be funded for the next two years by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education through an Improving Teacher Quality Partnership Program grant.

The second presentation was called Interactions: A Thematic Approach to Teaching Science Utilizing Project-Based Learning. This presentation introduces the “3-Ring Circus” or tripartite model as a possible method for organizing your classroom to teach concept units incorporating three components: gathering background information, technology, and sensory hands-on experiences. In this workshop teachers learned the three components of designing a concept unit utilizing background reading, technology, and sensory hands-on activities. Teachers were introduced to Inspiration software and learned how to create learning modules through concept mapping. They also were shown how to match the contents of their unit to the State science standards. They left the workshop with an appreciation of how the various parts of a concept unit fit together to make a solid package of instruction.

During the three days all of the outreach team spent time presenting to the teachers the opportunities that the Science K-12 Outreach program has to offer. This booth is a part of an exhibit hall that has about 300 participants from around the state and across the United States.

MATHCOUNTS competition comes to Purdue University

On Saturday, February 12, 53 area students in grades 6 through 8 came to Purdue University to compete in a MATHCOUNTS regional competition on the West Lafayette Campus. MATHCOUNTS is a national math enrichment, coaching, and competition program that provides regional, state and national tournaments. Each school team consists of 4 students. Winners at the local level proceed to state competitions, where the top four “Mathletes” and top coach earn the right to represent their state at the national level. At all levels, MATHCOUNTS challenges students’ math skills, develops their self-confidence and rewards them for their achievements.

The Colleges of Engineering and Science and the A. A. Potter Chapter of the Indiana Society Professional Engineers collaborate in sponsorship and organization of this event.

“MATHCOUNTS is a great opportunity to see students engaged in an exciting and challenging mathematics competition,” said Dr. Vincent Drnevich, Professor of Civil Engineering and Co-Director for the Purdue University MATHCOUNTS Regional competition. “The events are designed to stress math concepts, problem solving skills, and teamwork. One of the exciting parts of the competition is the countdown round where participants compete one-on-one and are eliminated until a champion is determined.”

This year, 24 students advanced to the state competition. “We are very excited that such a large group of students were able to advance to the state competition from our region,” said Bill Walker, Director for College of Science K-12 Outreach and Co-Director for the Purdue University MATHCOUNTS Regional competition. “This is a great indication of the time and effort the area students and coaches put into preparation for MATHCOUNTS.”

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