Presentation of 'Light and Energy' modules in Buhach Colony High School
Group members Som and Katerina traveled to nearby Buhach Colony High School in Atwater in October and November 2016 for the first presentation and demonstration of the Light and Energy module developed over summer.
High School Curriculum Development Workshop
June 6-10 2016: MACES organized the first workshop on campus where graduate students and postdocs worked with six high school science teachers from nearby schools in Merced, Atwater and Buhach to develop modules for their classrooms. We had three teams, who proposed modules on renewable energy and photovoltaics, nanotechnology and biosensors. The workshop was immensely successful; each teacher selected more than one module for presentation in their classrooms in the Fall semester.
Peterson Elementary
October 2015: Group members Katerina Nikolaidou and Som Sarang joined Katherine Copenhagen and Prof. Ajay Gopinathan in a visit to a kindergarten class in Allen Peterson Elementary School. They assisted the teacher Ms. Lynn Stapp in installing Matific in the class iPads and training her 27 students to use it. The kindergarteners picked up the operational details remarkably swiftly and had a great time!
We will continue our outreach efforts with Ms. Stapp's class. Her students are scheduled to visit UC Merced campus periodically through the next year, where we will give them guided tours of a few of our labs.
We will continue our outreach efforts with Ms. Stapp's class. Her students are scheduled to visit UC Merced campus periodically through the next year, where we will give them guided tours of a few of our labs.
December 15th, 2015: Peterson Elementary kindergarteners from Lynn Stapp's classroom visited campus today. They visited the Ghosh Lab, McKloskey Lab and Gopinathan Lab, where they were given demoes and shown lots of cool stuff. In our lab, Mark demonstrated the difference between a flashlight and a laser, while Jussi talked about glowing nanoparticles, followed by a liquid nitrogen demo by shattering pennies. The last demo was performed by Prof. Erik Menke outside SE1 where the kids watched spectacular combustion of magnesium, and sugar converting to carbon with the addition of sulphuric acid.
We are in the planning stages to host the entire kindergarten class from Peterson in Spring 2016.
We are in the planning stages to host the entire kindergarten class from Peterson in Spring 2016.
Connecting UC Merced to Central Valley high schools
Through MACES we will begin professional development for high school teachers beginning Summer 2016. Our plans include a two week kick-off meeting on campus to discuss specific projects, followed by development of projects by MACES faculty and graduate students through out the following academic year.
This year's training is scheduled to begin the week of June 6th. Among the topics proposed for module development are solar energy, green energy, lasers, nanotechnology and biosensors.
This year's training is scheduled to begin the week of June 6th. Among the topics proposed for module development are solar energy, green energy, lasers, nanotechnology and biosensors.
MACES faculty and students visit Merced College |
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Group member Som Sarang accompanied the MACES team to Merced college to advertise the mission of MACES. In particular, highlight the summer MACES internship program that will begin this year at UC Merced. They were hosted by Svetla Gargova, Professor of Mathematics and Engineering at Merced College.
The best part of the trip was the presentation by the MACES graduate students, who gave excellent talks about their personal and professional experience as young researchers. They emphasized the importance of getting involved in research early in the undergraduate years, described their growth as researchers, encouraging the audience members to join us over the summer and participate in the professional development activities that will be offered on our campus.They also discussed the interdisciplinary training that MACES offers, and how it has benefited their research, particularly stressing the mentoring from multiple faculty members.
The best part of the trip was the presentation by the MACES graduate students, who gave excellent talks about their personal and professional experience as young researchers. They emphasized the importance of getting involved in research early in the undergraduate years, described their growth as researchers, encouraging the audience members to join us over the summer and participate in the professional development activities that will be offered on our campus.They also discussed the interdisciplinary training that MACES offers, and how it has benefited their research, particularly stressing the mentoring from multiple faculty members.