Looking through the Cyber Monday deals, and other sales in the last few months, these keep coming up. I was just wondering if anyone's kids had tried them out. All the reviews look 'fake' to me. My son saw a video on them at the Arizona Science Center while we were there on Thanksgiving vacation and has expressed an interest. It seems clear that 3D printing is an awesome thing and a much more expensive thing. But the pens are much cheaper - is there some real STEM / maker educational potential there or is it all hokey? Would love to know if anyone has a recommendation for a brand. I tried searching but didn't find anything.

I _thought_ I came across a reference to this on the boards, and in my imaginings it is written to the same audience as the OUP World in Ancient times series, but can't find it anywhere now ... and my Google searches are yielding nada ... if anyone either knows of it & can point me there, or is able to disprove its existence, I'd be very grateful!

I didn't see this already posted and thought some might be interested in these. It's a humble bundle so pay what you want, or get more if you pay over the average, or get everything for $15. Don't know how long it goes for. get deal at https://www.humblebundle.com/books see info on deal at http://slickdeals.net/f/8354793-humble-bundle-make-raspberry-pi-and-arduino-electronics-ebooks-pwyw?p=80377029&utm_source=dealalerts&utm_medium=em-i&utm_term=23450&utm_content=u2014326&utm_campaign=tu-9999#post80377029

Hi! I'm looking at buying the zometool STEM+Educator kit from the homeschoolbuyers co-op. https://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/Zometool-STEM It's $420 and I don't want to spend that much without hearing from those who have used it. Is it worth the money? It contains everything needed for their kits that I was going to buy eventually anyway. We have purchased the Crazy Bubbles kit and the Ice Crystals and Stars. I like the looks of the DNA and the virus kits for when the kids get older. The pieces have a lifetime warranty-so I imagine it will last through highschool- especially with the biochemsitry kit.... Is it worth spending the money? Any one buy the large kit or their Math Creator series and can give me a quick review/ personal opinion on it? Thanks!

First, if this is not allowed, please delete! Second, if you already know about this....YAY!! Finally, I was referred by a friend to this website (http://dyslexicadvantage.com/) last night - it was awesome! (well, honestly, I have not had too much time to look through the whole website, but the (free) live webinar was probably lifechanging!) The webinar was by Dr. Doresa Jennings (who is herself dyslexic) and discusses how she utilizes STEM / STEAM for her (dyslexic) kids. If you have a chance to watch this, there is LOTS of great info in this one video!!!

College STEM issues seem to be a hot topic lately. I want to know what it's like to study undergraduate electrical engineering these days. Are students spending a lot of time in labs? If so, what are they doing? Wiring breadboards, using oscilloscopes? Or are they doing more pencil/math work? Does coursework vary much from university to university, or is there a standard EE course of study? Do undergrads specialize in some sub-field? Has the major changed much in the past 20 years? Besides strong math and science, what else can one do to prepare specifically for EE in college?

There is a STEM Career Fair ~2.5 hours from us this weekend, and I am considering taking ds (junior year) to it. He's non-commital, and I don't know if I should push it or not. He's a strong math student, and at this point he thinks he wants to study something math-related (as opposed to engineering/science). Dh and I are both engineers by degree, and I'm not sure how that impacts my son's thought process; haha. Anyway, I'm wondering if this type of event is worthwhile. It sounded good initially, but when I looked at the flier (http://www.nsf.gov/attachments/128634/public/changetheworld_flyer_general.pdf), it looks more like a science demo geared toward middle school kids than an actual career fair. Has anyone had any experience with these? Thank you!

Does anyone have experience with the Future City Competition? Dd12 is thinking about starting a homeschool team, but I don't know much about it. I'd love to know: How homeschool friendly is it? What is the time commitment for students and parent-volunteers? How much physical space do I need in my home for the model city? Did you think it was a worthwhile activity and why? Is there anything else a new team ought to know? Thanks for your help!

Wonderville.ca for grades 1 to 9 http://www.wonderville.ca/browse/fun_science For teachers http://www.wonderville.ca/browse/teachers

I would love to read how you are incorporating STEM ideas. What are your goals for your dc? Are there subjects that receive less attention based on your STEM focus? How does problem-based-learning fit into your plan? For those who after-school, what STEM activities do your dc do at school? What do you do at home? Thanks in advance!!! :bigear:

Just a note to let everyone know that the online application is up for the USNA Summer STEM programs (open to rising 8-12 graders). My son is so excited to finally be able to apply...fingers crossed that he gets in. Here's the link for the page

Cross-Posting The application is now on-line for the USNA Summer STEM program. Open to rising 8-12 graders. Just thought some here might be interested. Link to page here

My son is five, but he loves building things. We currently are mostly a Lego household, with the Contraptions pack and some eBay'ed Technic pieces. I know there are lots of different building sets out there that all have different pieces, but it seems that most of the brands are not compatible with each other. My looking around has turned up these major brands: Mechanical Engineering K'Nex Technic Engino Fischertechnik Electrical Engineering Snap Circuits Fischertechnik A lot of the mechanical brands have solar power add-ons now, it seems. Robotics Lego Mindstorms Arduino Fischertechnik Thames and Kosmos seems to have a kit in each area, but not really expandable from what I've seen. So, what I'm asking is if there is a recognized "best" brand in each of the three areas. I'm not going to start him on robotics right now, but just for future planning, because this stuff is expensive. I would like to pick a brand in each area and stick with that brand to prevent buying things that don't work together. Fischertechnik seems to cover all three areas, but it also seems the most pricey of the three. Advice? And I know you can do a lot of engineering stuff cheaply if you have an adult that knows what he or she is doing who can supervise, but neither I nor my husband have that skill set.

Came across a book today called ME Robots. The ME Robots prgm is designed for girls and STEM, but can be used by anyone. I thought this looked interesting, although short. I think the price is a good reflection of the length. There are teacher and student workbooks. http://www.amazon.com/Robots-Mechanical-Engineering-Engineer---training/dp/1475135238/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1345166187&sr=8-4&keywords=lego+motorized+simple#_

Has anyone had a child participate in the National STEM Video Game Challenge or the National High School Cyber Defense Competition? My oldest ds just finished the Coursera Computer Science 101 and loved it, so I'm exploring different extracurricular options for high school. Both of these programs look interesting & I was wondering if anyone has heard of or had experience with them. Thanks!

I'm in the process of organizing our new school year, I'm sure I'm not alone. I've got several subjects planned and I had a thought today. How do you document Stem? My girls are part of an ALE here in Washington state (not always my most favorite thing having to document, but when you've had a house on the market for 20m and live 5 hours away and pay rent another place well you take the funding and move forward). This past year I would either take a picture or have the girls real quick write a blurp about it. I'd like to do something more consistent AND I want to document all STEM they do. Built that lego model from plans. Document it! Wrote up plans on how to build a wind mill out of tinker toys. Document it! But How? ANY advice would be welcomed. THANKS!:bigear:

If you have a child who is serious about going onto something in the medical field what would your recommendations be for high school? Also what would you have done when they were younger to better prepare them to handle a heavy workload in high school? I have a daughter who will be starting high school in the fall and I think we have a decent plan, but this is all new to me. I also have a younger daughter (9) who also seems that she will need to take this path. Unfortunately we have been pretty laid back and relaxed with our schooling and now we will definatley need to ramp things up quite a bit. But I am hoping that I will be able to get an earlier start with the 9yo so that we build gradually. Our plan so far:(open to suggestions) Enroll in the CLASS program for accredidation. Like I said, she is a little behind so this is where we need to start: Theological StudiesThe Kingdom of God,1st half(1.0) EnglishApplications of Grammar 2 (0.5)Themes in Literature (0.5) MathSaxonMath Homeschool 8/7 with Prealgebra ScienceScience of the Physical Creation Heritage Studies Streams of Civilization,Volume 1(1.0) andHow We Live / FreeEnterprise Economics(0.5) List your Additional Courses in order of preference. Unless graduation requirements prohibit, CLASS will use this order when developing your curriculum. Note that grade level restrictions may prevent all requested Additional Courses from being assigned. Additional Course 1 Living Language Complete Spanish The Story of the Constitution---?? Cultural Geography, 1st half----?? On our own she will begin latin and we are going to do extra writing and we will keep a protfolio. (She will take Wheelock's Latin in 11th and 12th for official credit for graduation, but we are going to start with LC 1 and just keep a nice porfolio) She will also volunteer starting next year at the animal shelter and maybe the hospital too.(she is not legally old enough to volunteer at either of these yet) We did check the requirements of the local undergrad school and we will be able to fulfill the requirements in the 4 years. Is this all we need to do school wise? I know we need to do more activity wise and volunteering, but just want to make sure we are covered academically. We would love to hear ideas for the "other" too.:bigear: I copied and paseted this from the school The following guidelines are what Admissions Counselors look for when reviewing applications for admission consideration: · Official High School Transcript College Preparatory Curriculum Minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale 4 years-English--we will do this no problem 3 years-Math (Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra II)*--and we can do this(she will just have more credits for graduation because she has to start with 8/7, but we will still meet college recs. 3 years-Social Science (including US History)--she will have 4 2 years-Science (including one lab science)*--she will have 4 3 years (up to the third level) of the SAME foreign language is RECOMMENDED, not required. Students completing up to the third level in high school are exempt from taking foreign language at the university.--she will have 3 So here we go :tongue_smilie::bigear:

I'm doing some digging to find interesting academic summer camp options for high school and middle school students. I'll add to the list as I find more. I'd love to see what other people know about and especially any commentary on them. Society of American Military Engineers http://samecamps.org/ (high schoolers after freshman year) US Army Camp June 10-16 2012 (tent) Vicksburg, Miss Application Deadline 23 March 2012 US Air Force Academy Camp July 6-12 2012 Colorado Springs, CO Application Deadline 27 April 2012 US Navy Seabees Camp July 22-28 2012 Port Hueneme, CA Application Deadline 11 May 2012 US Marine Corps Camp June 17-23, 2012 Camp LeJune, NC Application Deadline 13 April 2012 (The above deadlines are the dates by which SAME posts must submit nominations. Check with local SAME post for local deadlines. More details under the Am I Eligible and Application Process tabs.) United States Air Force Academy Summer Seminar (rising seniors only) http://www.academyadmissions.com/?m=2011AFA&pl=Google&med=search# Rolling admissions beginning 1 December 2011 Naval Academy Summer Seminar (NASS) (rising seniors only) http://www.usna.edu/admissions/nass.htm Rolling admissions beginning 1 February 2011. West Point (United States Military Academy) Summer Leaders Seminar (SLS) (rising seniors only) http://admissions.usma.edu/summer_program.html Application window opens mid-January 2012

How did you survive your courses? What did you do or have that other people who failed didn't? I know we had recent thread where we talked about this but it was buried down inside another thread. I found it very helpful and I thought we might gather a few more tips if we started one on the high school board (where there are more people) with its own title. I have two stem majors in college now, one doing well and one struggling, and a high school begining some stem classes at the CC in the fall, headed for engineering school when he graduates. Any advice would be very welcome. -Nan

I'm usually pretty good at acronyms, but this one escapes me. Gracias!

I just finished the STEM thread and my head is spinning. I decided I should post this on here for the BTDT experience. My ds14 is very insistent that he will go to West Point and pursue a Weapons Engineering degree. He has stated for over 4 years that his goal is to design weapons. For those of you that have a STEM degree or have children pursuing a STEM degree, what suggestions do you have to make sure I give him the best opportunity to succeed? He used LOF Beginning Algebra in 7th grade. This year, we had him do a review of Pre-Algebra and Algebra and will continue through the summer to make sure he has a solid foundation in Algebra before proceeding as he has been really struggling to grasp some concepts. Here are my science/math plans for him for high school: 9th: Algebra II (still trying to determine best curriculum for this) and either BJU or Apologia Biology 10th: Geometry (will most likely stick to whatever we end up using for Algebra II) and Chemistry 11th: Trig/Pre-Calculus and Physics 12th: Calculus and AP Physics Sorry, this is so long and thank you so much for taking the time to read. I really am looking forward to hearing suggestions.

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/April10/CHERIConference.html I think they mean changed major, not that 50% do not finish any BS/BA. Nice links to research papers in red typeface "Analyzing the factors..." on the right hand side. "Tougher grading is one reason for high STEM dropout rate." "A substantial grading differential exists between science and nonscience courses," said presenter Ben Ost, a third-year Cornell economics Ph.D. student. "Even students who eventually become science majors receive much higher grades in their nonscience courses than their major field courses. This gap in grading standards discourages students from pursuing and completing a science degree." This has relevance to maintaining merit scholarships and applying to jobs/grad schools, where GPA may not be adjusted for major or grade inflation at a particular school, etc. I have seen Chronicle of Higher Education quoted as a source that gives even lower rates of graduating in a stem major.

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USNA is accepting applications for their STEM summer camps. Rising 8th graders through 11th graders are eligible. http://www.usna.edu/Admissions/stem.html

USNA is accepting applications for their STEM summer camps. Rising 8th graders through 11th graders are eligible. http://www.usna.edu/Admissions/stem.html