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Georgia Tech January workshops for grades 2-12
Georgia Tech has opened registration for the first round of K.I.D.S. Club and STEAM Workshop classes for 2024, to be held on Saturday, January 13, from 9 a.m. to noon on the Georgia Tech campus.
K.I.D.S. Club is open to students in grades 2 through 5. STEAM Workshops are for students in grades 6 through 12. Workshops cover a variety of topics including sound, coding, polymers, robotics, evolution and earth science.
Cost to attend is $65 per student. Need-based scholarships, funded by the Georgia Department of Education, are available to students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches at school. Visit the CEISMC BOOST Scholarship page to learn more about scholarship eligibility and submit an application.
Additional K.I.D.S. Club and STEAM Workshops dates for the spring season are February 17, March 16 and April 13, 2024.
American Mathematics Competition coming to Emory next month
Emory University will offer the AMC 8 math competition exam to students in 8th grade or below next month.
The exam, according to the American Mathematics Competition, is “a 40-minute multiple choice exam covering subjects such as counting and probability, estimation, proportional reasoning, elementary geometry including the Pythagorean Theorem, spatial visualization, everyday applications, and reading and interpreting graphs and tables. In addition, some of the later questions may involve linear or quadratic functions and equations, coordinate geometry, and other topics traditionally covered in a beginning algebra course.” The exam is meant to be a fun, friendly competition. Students who score well may earn recognition, but there are no prizes.
Emory will host the exam on Thursday, January 18, in the evening. To register, complete the interest form, and Emory will send you a registration link. There is no fee to take the exam at Emory.
If Emory isn’t a convenient location for you, you can look for other schools hosting the exam by using AMC’s competition locations page. Note that host schools can decide whether to allow children who don’t attend their school to take the exam.
Summer planning starts now
I say the same thing most every December: Can it really be time to make summer plans already?
Indeed, it really can. Summer camps and programs are starting to open registration for summer 2024. Even if you’re not ready to make a decision, you might want to start thinking about the possibilities.
The Summer Programs page on GiftedAtlanta.com lists dozens of options. I’ve organized them by age — one section for elementary- and middle-school, and another for high school. I verified all the links today, so I hope you won’t hit any dead ends.
Programs do make changes from time to time, particularly with ages served or location, so there may be a rare case where the brief description on the Summer Programs page doesn’t match up exactly with the details on a program’s website. If you find any discrepancies, would you please let me know by sending a message through the Contact page?
Also, if you have summer programs to recommend, please let me know. As my kids have gotten older, I haven’t done as much searching for programs as I used to. I’m sure there are new options out there that could be added to the list. Thank you.
Georgia Tech December workshops for grades 2-12
The final round of K.I.D.S. Club and STEAM Workshop classes at Georgia Tech for the fall 2023 season will be held on Saturday, December 9, from 9 a.m. to noon.
K.I.D.S. Club is open to students in grades 2 through 5. STEAM Workshops are for students in grades 6 through 12. Workshops cover a variety of topics including biology, chemistry, computing and engineering.
Cost to attend is $65 per student. Need-based scholarships, funded by the Georgia Department of Education, are available to students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches at school. Visit the CEISMC BOOST Scholarship page to learn more about scholarship eligibility and submit an application.
Upcoming events at TELLUS
Today, I got an email from TELLUS Science Museum in Cartersville with a list of programs coming up from now through January 2024, so I thought I’d share it here.
Some of these events require advance registration. To get more information, check the TELLUS website.
NOVEMBER
Nov. 3 – SCI FRI Night: Hydrogen Fuel + Other Clean Energy Sources with Dr. Tim Liewen
Nov. 4 – Solar Sky Watch
Nov. 3-6 – Micromineral Symposium + Field Trips
Nov. 17 – Stellar Astronomy Workshop
Nov. 29 – Lunch + Learn: How to Buy a Telescope with David Dundee
DECEMBER
Dec. 1 – SCI FRI Night: Journey Through Time – The Enchanting World of Fossil Amber with Regina Snider + Opening Reception for Amber: Golden Window to the Past
Dec. 2 – Special exhibit Amber: Golden Window to the Past opens in The Vault
Dec. 9 – 10 – Holiday PJ Party Weekend + Festival of Trains
Dec. 20 – Lunch + Learn: Not Your Ordinary Snow Day! with the Super Awesome Science Squad
JANUARY
Jan. 13 – Tellus’ 15th Birthday Bash
Jan. 19 – Junior Astronomy Workshop
Jan. 20 – 21 – Sensory Friendly Mornings
Jan. 24 – Lunch + Learn: How to Use a Telescope with Karisa Zdanky
Jan. 26 – SCI FRI Night: Apollo with Tracy Scott
Georgia Tech November workshops for grades 2-12
The third round of K.I.D.S. Club and STEAM Workshop classes at Georgia Tech for the fall season will be held on Saturday, November 11, from 9 a.m. to noon.
K.I.D.S. Club is open to students in grades 2 through 5. STEAM Workshops are for students in grades 6 through 12. Workshops cover a variety of topics in physical science, computing and engineering.
Cost to attend is $65 per student. Need-based scholarships, funded by the Georgia Department of Education, are available. Visit the CEISMC BOOST Scholarship page to learn more about scholarship eligibility and submit an application.
Firefly observation program seeks help reviewing data
I’ve written here before about Firefly Watch, a community science project run by the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Each summer, Firefly Watch collects reports from people all over North America about the firefly activity around them. The project’s aim is to understand how firefly populations are changing and possible environmental factors affecting them.
The 2023 firefly season is now over, and Firefly Watch is looking for help analyzing the data it’s received during the past five years. An e-mail I received says:
“If you, or someone you know, are interested in combing through the Firefly Watch spreadsheets, please let us know. Perhaps there is a student looking for a project? Or a teacher who needs a project for a class? We have five years of data now, and it could yield some interesting information. We will be happy to share what we’ve collected.”
I’m sharing this mostly because I’m well aware of how hard it is for high-school students interested in the sciences to get hands-on experience in research. If you know a student who wants to study biology, ecology or a related field, this could be an opportunity to work on a real-world project.
If you want to learn more, contact Firefly Watch directly.
Georgia Tech October workshops for grades 2-12
It’s time for the next round of K.I.D.S. Club and STEAM Workshop classes at Georgia Tech, which will be held on Saturday, October 14.
K.I.D.S. Club is open to students in grades 2 through 5. STEAM Workshops are for students in grades 6 through 12. Workshops cover a variety of topics in physical science, computing and engineering.
Cost to attend is $65 per student. Need-based scholarships, funded by the Georgia Department of Education, are available. Visit the CEISMC BOOST Scholarship page to learn more about scholarship eligibility and submit an application.
Emory Math Circle registering for fall 2023
The Math Circle program at Emory University is now registering for its fall 2023 classes.
Math Circle is an enrichment program for middle-school and high-school kids who enjoy mathematics and want to explore topics beyond what’s taught in their regular math class at school.
Classes meet twice a month on Saturdays. Classes will begin as soon as this Saturday, September 9. Note that students can join a class after it has started, if space is available. Each session is independent of the others, so students who start late don’t need to worry about catching up on material they missed. Registration for this semester will remain open until September 23.
Classes will be offered both in person and online.
You can get more information and register at the Math Circle website.
Emory Math Circle is free to attend, but the program operates with the help of donations, and they suggest a donation of $30 per child for those who can afford to give.
Problem-solving competition for grades 5-9
Future Problem Solving Program International has announced a two-week problem-solving competition for students in grades 5-9.
The World Solutions Challenge will first introduce students to FPS’s six-step problem-solving process. It will then give teams a real-world problem and ask them to develop a solution, which they will describe in an “action plan.”
Judges will review the action plans and select winners, who will receive up to $500 cash and a paid team registration for a Future Problem Solving program in their area.
Regardless of whether they win a prize, participants will get an introduction to the Future Problem Solving experience. I’ve been intrigued by FPS, but I don’t have any direct experience with it. If you have a student who is curious about how community problems can be tackled with innovation and teamwork, give it a look, either by trying out this two-week challenge or by visiting the Georgia FPS affiliate, which operates year-long competitions for students in grades 4-12.
Registration for the World Solutions Challenge is open through September 12. Students can compete as individuals or in teams of up to four people. The registration fee is $25 per team member.
(Note: After I published this post, I heard from someone whose kids have done FPS. She offered to talk with anyone who wants to know more about the program. If you want me to put you in touch, reach out to me via the Contact page and I’ll connect you.)
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