Archive
The next 10 days at Tellus: fossils, rocketbuilding
Tellus Museum in Cartersville has two hands-on workshops coming up:
Saturday, March 3: Fossil workshop, 9 a.m. to noon. Kids will learn the basics of paleontology, identifying fossils, and telling geologic time.
Saturday, March 10: “Build and blast” model rocket build and launch, starting at 11 a.m. (This was rescheduled from February, so you won’t find it on the Tellus calendar, but I did call and confirm the date.)
Both workshops are open to ages 8 and up. Kids must be accompanied by an adult, and both child and adult must pay museum admission.
Space is limited. Call (770) 606-5700, ext. 417 to make your pre-paid reservation.
Georgia Tech summer camp registration opens this afternoon
When they said their application would be available at “the end of February,” the Georgia Tech people really meant the end of February.
The application for the Summer PEAKS program at Tech will go online at 2 p.m. today.
Wondering what PEAKS is? See this earlier post.
Summer science camps at Wheeler Magnet School in Cobb
Wheeler Magnet School will host two summer camps for students with a strong interest in science and technology.
Science Spectrum Camp will be held June 4-8, 2012. The camp is open to rising 7th-, 8th- and 9th-grade students, and will allow exploration in such areas as robotics, chemistry, electronics and drafting. Fee is $300.
Camp GAMES, June 11-15, is for girls entering 4th, 5th and 6th grades. It, too, will include a range of science and engineering topics. The camp costs $250.
Wheeler Magnet is a science, technology and math magnet program housed at Wheeler High School in Marietta.
“College Prep Scholarship” helps bright, low-income juniors apply to elite schools
If you’re a high-school junior whose family is just getting by financially, you might not let yourself think about attending Dartmouth or Yale. But an unusual scholarship is reason to think again.
The QuestBridge College Prep Scholarship comes to the aid of high-achieving, lower-income students, to help them navigate the admissions and financial aid application processes required by the best schools. The College Prep Scholarship also gives students the chance to experience college life on elite campuses, through full scholarships to summer programs, and all-expenses-paid visits to QuestBridge partner schools. (These include some of the most respected names in higher education — Brown, Columbia, Princeton, Stanford and their peers.)
The QuestBridge scholarship program also prepares students to apply in their senior year for the QuestBridge National College Match program, which pairs exceptional high-school seniors with prestigious colleges that will provide them full scholarships.
Current juniors can fill out the free application now through March 27, 2012.
Scholarships for 7th graders with high ability, low incomes
To meet their full potential, bright young kids often need enrichment, such as summer programs or music instruction. Yet the expense of such activities puts them beyond the reach of some bright kids’ families.
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation wants to help. Its Young Scholars program provides scholarships to pay for the enrichment activities — and occasionally even private-school tuition — for students who are academically solid and financially challenged. (Wondering what “financially challenged” means? Applicants must have gross family income of $80,000 or less, and the Foundation reports that more than 90 percent of its scholar families earn under $60,000 a year.)
Students must apply during their 7th grade year. Those selected enter the program in 8th grade and continue as Young Scholars through high school.
Applications for current 7th graders are due April 16, 2012. The application package requires tax forms and teacher recommendations, so give yourself time to get everything together.
Bio@Tech: Intensive biology program at Georgia Tech for high-school students
Georgia Tech is now accepting applications for its 2012 sessions of Bio@Tech, a three-week investigative experience in current biology breakthroughs. Topics for 2012 include ecology, genetics and microbiology.
Bio@Tech is taught by Georgia Tech faculty and instructors. This non-residential camp is open to rising 11th and 12th graders, although highly exceptional rising 10th graders will be considered. The application process is competitive, and requires a portfolio including teacher recommendations. The deadline to apply is April 20, 2012.
Summer Science Academy at Emory brings minorities, girls into the world of science
The Emory University School of Medicine is now accepting registrations for the 2012 Summer Science Academy, open to students who will be in high school in the 2012-13 school year.
The academy, which is operated by the Office of Multicultural Medical Student Affairs, is an effort to open the world of science to girls and members of minority groups, who are statistically under-represented in scientific professions. However, all students are welcome, without regard for gender, race or ethnicity.
The two-week program offers lectures, labs and field experiences in scientific areas including chemistry, biology, genetics and human disease. Students can attend a day program or choose a residential program and live on the Emory University campus.
The deadline to apply for the residential program is March 9. Applicants will be selected based on their interest level, grades and letters of recommendation.
For the day program, registration is first-come, first-served.
Financial assistance may be available.
Registration starts Wednesday for Science Night Out at Fernbank
Fernbank Science Center in Decatur will host its next Science Night Out on Friday, March 23. This session of Science Night Out will feature program founders, who are now college students or college graduates. They’ll be sharing activities related to their personal scientific study.
Science Night Out is aimed at science lovers in 3rd – 6th grades. The program runs from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Registration, which is done only by U.S. Mail, is $15 for one child and $10 for additional siblings. The class will be filled on a first come, first served basis.
CDC offers summer camps focused on public health
For kids interested in the science of protecting public health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is offering three camps this summer:
Disease Detective Camp is a one-week camp for rising high-school juniors and seniors.
Junior Disease Detective Camp is a 3-day camp for rising 7th and 8th graders.
Epi Intense is a 3-day camp for rising juniors and seniors.
In all CDC camps, students learn about the work done at the CDC to protect public health. Disease Detective Camp (and its junior version) take a broad view of the Center’s overall work, while Epi Intense focuses in on epidemiology, the science of collecting and analyzing public health data.
Applications are due April 6. The programs are free, but admission is not guaranteed, as the application process is competitive.
High-schoolers can study nuclear physics at Michigan State University
How often do teen-agers get the chance to study nuclear physics at the site of the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory?
More often than you might think. Every summer, high-school kids spend a week learning nuclear science in the Physics of Atomic Nuclei program at Michigan State University.
The PAN Program introduces students to concepts in astrophysics, cosmology and nuclear science and allows participants to conduct their own nuclear physics experiments.
To participate, kids must have completed one year of high-school. Applications are due April 30, and the selection process is competitive. The good news: For those accepted, the residential program is free, other than transportation to and from the campus.
The PAN Program offers a separate, week-long program for high-school science teachers, so consider passing this information along to an outstanding teacher — most likely a physics or chemistry teacher — at your child’s school.
Gifted Atlanta 