Kids' Tech University offers Teacher Workshops!

Kids' Tech University is offering teacher workshops in conjunction with the program. Teachers and agents will earn CEU (Continuing Education Unit) credits for their participation. We are offering workshops based in mathematics (Jan. 28 and 29), climate change (Feb. 25 and 26), ecology (March 25 and 26), and health sciences (April 8 and 9). The workshops for this year are different than the ones offered last year.

Virginia 4-H is offering to pay for the registration fee ($30) for the first 10 registrations for each workshop.

Check out the website for times, registration and information on the workshops!

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"Patterns with nature: Math concepts explained"
Workshop instructors: Dr. Reinhard Laubenbacher and Dr. Kathleen Jamison
January 28, 12:30-4:30pm & January 29, 9am-4:30pm
CEU credits offered- 1.1
Have you ever heard that math is the universal language? That it is constant and can define the world around us? Find out more about mathematical patterns that are all around us, and how math can help us to find patterns in nature with this January teacher workshop. In this workshop teachers will learn about the math concepts that are applicable to nature and the various online learning tools that may be brought into the classroom.

"Hot Topics in Cool Science"
Workshop instructors: Louise Huffman and Dr. Kathleen Jamison
February 25, 12:30-4:30pm & February 26, 9am-4:30pm
CEU credits offered- 1.1
Through the compelling story of ANDRILL's research in the extremes of Antractica, participants will be introduced to cutting-edge climate change science and "Antarctica's Climate Secrets" hands-on materials.

"Interactive Learning with Science: Exploring Your Environment"
Workshop instructor: Dr. Kathleen Jamison
March 25, 12:30-4:30pm & March 26, 9am-4:30pm
CEU credits offered- 1.1
Exploring Your Environment is a 2 volume 4-H Curriculum with a facilitator guide designed for middle school age learners, but has been used effectively with upper elementary school aged children. It teaches basic ecological concepts that help learners understand how nature works and how we affect it and are affected by it. Each section of the curriculum focuses on an environmental question or issue and has a corresponding activity that allows learners to jump right into real-world issues that affect our life by completing investigations and explorations of the natural world. The primary focus areas are: ecosystem services, water conservation, energy use, climate change, recycling, natural resource stewardship and air quality.

"Interactive Learning with the Health Sciences"
Workshop instructors: Dr. Kathleen Jamison and Dr. Helena Carvalho
April 8, 12:30-4:30pm & April 9, 9am-4:30pm
CEU credits offered- 1.1
Teachers will take away hands-on activities to do with their classes that explain general health science concepts such as testing for sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste.

Kids' Tech University is on Facebook!

Hi everyone,

Kids' Tech University has a facebook page! You are welcome to add us!

Best,

Kristy

Kids' Tech University Registration

Hi everyone,

Wow, last night was an exciting night! Kids are registered from three different states!

Please note that if you have registered your child you should have received a "KTU Registration Confirmation" email. Please verify that you have received that email.

Best,

Kristy

VT Kids' Tech University registration opens today!!

Hello!

Registration opens today at 6 pm for the VT Spring Kids' Tech University!

Here are a couple of hints to make the registration process even more easy than what it already is:

1. At 6 pm, refresh your website link. We change the page at 6 pm and make all buttons active at once. SO MAKE SURE YOU REFRESH YOUR WEBSITE LINK.

2. Add my (Kristy Collins) email address to your email contact/friends list- kdivitto@vbi.vt.edu . In about 2 days (Wednesday/Thursday) I will start sending registration confirmations. If you don't add me to your contact/friends list the email will get put in the spam box.

3. After you register make sure you send in your 25 dollar registration fee or email to Ms. Foley. The address on where to send the fee or email is on the exit page of the registration procedure. MAKE SURE YOU PRINT YOUR EXIT PAGE; it contains a lot of valuable information.

If you ever wonder what the behind the scenes actions are...Kris and I (Kristy Collins) order a large pizza at work and we are monitor the registrations until about midnight. Yes, we are that dedicated! And we drink a lot of coffee! I'll also be hanging around my work phone...I get a lot of phone calls right around 5:50 to about 6:30 pm (see number 1).

VSU KTU exhibitors

• Dr. Christopher Catanzaro (from VSU) - Plants for the seasons.
• Drs. Kristy Collins (from Virginia Bioinformatics Institute) and Dr. Kathleen Jamison (from Virginia 4-H) - will be working with teachers from the surrounding communities. We will have exhibits set up from ANDRILL's Flexhibit materials. Also come by to see the Extreme Cold Weather gear scientists wear down in Antarctica to keep from freezing!

Virginia is for Kids!

Kids' Tech University was recently mentioned on the virginiaisforkids.com website. We are honored for the mention!

Tina states "This blog is written by Tina in Virginia, a full-time working wife and mom who enjoys living in Virginia and exploring this beautiful Commonwealth with her family. Through her personal experiences, Tina shares thoughts and suggestions for traveling and sightseeing with children in Virginia and elsewhere."

Thank you, Tina!

VT Kids' Tech University - News Release

As the nation's top government officials target efforts to help better prepare America's students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subject areas, a program at Virginia Tech that is the realization of these efforts is gearing up for a new semester of on-campus activities.

Kids' Tech University (KTU), a program developed at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech in partnership with the Virginia Cooperative Extension's 4-H Youth Development Program to spark children's interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, will return to the Virginia Tech campus in January 2011. A groundbreaking program for kids between the ages of 9 and 12 (as of Sept. 30, 2010) living within a four-hour drive of the Virginia Tech campus, KTU is designed to introduce kids to STEM topics and life on a university campus at an early age. Held four Saturdays over the course of the spring semester, the events feature student-focused sessions with internationally recognized scientific researchers and hands-on activities developed by various Virginia Tech student clubs, Virginia 4-H extension agents, Virginia Tech professors, and community organizations to encourage further exploration of the lecture topics. The fun and excitement of KTU continues after the children leave campus through an online lab component featuring activities designed to cultivate continued interest. Online enrollmentfor the spring 2011 semester will begin on Dec. 6, 2010 at 6 p.m.

Children participate in a workshop at KTU

In October, President Barack Obama hosted the White House Science Fair to recognize the winners of a broad range of STEM competitions for students, which is part of the President's Educate to Innovate campaign created to boost American students' achievements in science and math. President Obama has been a staunch supporter of strengthening relationships between the scientific community and the broader public and elementary and high school students and teachers, working closely with the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) to create new ways for science and math professionals to connect with students.

"One of the goals of the current administration is to get scientists, engineers, and mathematicians into the classroom to interact with students and teachers," explains Reinhard Laubenbacher, professor and director of education and outreach at VBI, who spearheaded the development of KTU based on a similar program in Germany. "KTU takes this one step further. We connect researchers with students, as well as the students’ parents and teachers, in a university environment. This not only helps cultivate student interest in these subject areas, but also introduces them to life on a college campus at an early age. Our afternoon hands-on activities give the children an opportunity to see how the concepts they learn about in the KTU lectures actually work."

The following is the schedule for the spring 2011 KTU semester:

• January 29, 2011
  "Patterns are Everywhere! How and Why?" Reinhard Laubenbacher, professor, Virginia Bioinformatics Institute; professor of mathematics, Virginia Tech
• February 26, 2011
  "Why are glaciers in Antarctica important to people who live in Virginia?" Ellen Cowan, professor of geology, Appalachian State University
• March 26, 2011
  "Why do we care about frogs' health?" Tyrone Hayes, professor of integrative biology, University of California, Berkeley
• April 9, 2011
  "Why do we want to touch everything with our fingertips? And more 'why' questions about how our bodies communicate with the world." Helena Carvalho, assistant professor of basic sciences, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute

Together, the Virginia 4-H STEM Initiative and VBI's education and outreach team provide a comprehensive program for students and teachers. Guest researchers and 4-H Youth Development Professor Kathleen Jamison offer teacher training sessions based on STEM content and learning pedagogy through experiential and inquiry-based learning strategies. The teachers apply what they have learned in the training workshops through hands-on/minds-on applications of the content during the activity stations offered for Kids’ Tech University participants. University departments and 4-H agents with relevant content expertise provide additional learning centers. Virginia 4-H will reach 50,000 new youth in a variety of STEM areas across the next three years.

"Kids' Tech University has continued to grow since it’s first semester in 2009," said Kristy Collins, a senior research associate in VBI's education and outreach group and KTU leader. "In addition to our semester of student-focused lectures, hands-on programs, and professional career development opportunities for teachers, we continue to work towards our goal of setting up KTU programs across the nation and launched our first off-site program at Virginia State University in September."

Registration

Registration will begin at 6 p.m. on Dec. 6, 2010 and the first 450 students registered will be accepted. To help offset the costs of the program, a $25 registration fee will be required for each student. Parents may apply for scholarships to cover the registration fee.

Written by Susan Bland