Activities

SUMMER SCUBA LAB 2013

SCUBA CERTIFICATION COST

SUMMER STEM CAMP

STUDENTS WORK WITH EDUCATORS AND PRACTICING STEM PROFESSIONALS FROM THE NAVAL SURFACE WARFARE CENTER PANAMA CITY DIVISION TO PROGRAM ROBOTS, LEARN ABOUT ACOUSTICS, EXPLORE THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENJOY!! CAMP TARGETS RISING 8TH GRADERS FOR ONE WEEK AND RISING 9TH AND 10TH GRADERS FOR ANOTHER WEEK

Summer STEM Camp for rising 8th graders: June 17-21
CLICK HERE for Application for Rising 8th Graders

Summer STEM Camp for rising 9th and 10th graders: July 8-12
CLICK HERE for Application for Rising 9th and 10th Graders

AT&T STEM Camp for 11th & 12th graders: July 8-12
CLICK HERE for Application for AT&T STEM Camp for 11th & 12th graders

Summer STEM Camp History
FSU Panama City Summer STEM Camp’s purpose is to bring teachers, students and practicing STEM professionals together to engage in problem-solving activities similar to those that face STEM professionals. Teachers train first with the scientists and engineers, then students arrive and teachers along with the scientists and engineers work together to guide students through a series of activities. Students learn to program robots and compete to complete assigned tasks. In addition students spend time in St. Andrew Bay, which lies directly behind the FSU Panama City campus, and collect and identify specimens. All specimens are returned unharmed to the Bay once collection is completed. Students work with Excel to display data they have collected. Gaming software, Tabula Digita, is also utilized which teaches mathematical concepts. Camp ends with students presenting to a panel of STEM professionals who judge the quality of their presentation and their ability to solve a given problem creatively and thoroughly. Ultimately the goal of Summer STEM Camp is to engage students in mathematics and science and to encourage them to take the upper level math and science courses that will enable them to become successful STEM professionals. To date Summer STEM Camp has trained 150 teachers and close to 700 students.

Summer Externships
The FSU Panama City STEM Institute garnered support from ARINC and SAIC, both national defense contractors, for them to employ two educators each for six weeks during the summer of 2011. Over twenty-five teachers applied, and officials at ARINC and SAIC selected two educators each from the pool of applicants. Educators selected ranged from a kindergarten teacher to one who teaches Introduction to Engineering Design. Teachers were presented tasks just as employees had, worked alongside STEM professionals and were responsible for successfully completing assigned work. After six weeks in the real world of work teachers returned to classrooms fully comprehending why students need to know math and science and how its application is used in the real world. With the support of organizations such as ARINC and SAIC teachers become much more than those delivering content; they become able to translate clearly to students WHY the content is important and what its use is in the real world of STEM professionals.

Air Force Research Laboratory Tyndall Air Force Base Professional Development
Funding through AFRL Tyndall has begun a process for Bay District educators to work in school families to increase student performance in the biological sciences. Under the guidance of Dr. Wynn Lewis, a noted molecular biologist from Michigan State University, five local educators developed science activities that would be demonstrated and could be adjusted to teach concepts to elementary, middle and high school students. On a Saturday 4 elementary, 4 middle school and two high school math/science educators met for a day of learning and doing as well as discussing among each level modifications to activities that would lead to a continuum of learning, making K-12 science learning more seamless. The goal of this training is to form a vertical team of educators who will continue to plan together and to determine areas of weakness and methods to shore up those weaknesses. Cedar Grove Elementary, Everitt Middle School and Rutherford High School as well as Oakland Terrace Elementary, Jinks Middle School and Bay High School are the two school families which so far have been part of this project. Further funding will allow for expanding the program to all the feeder schools for these families and to extend the project into additional school families across the region.

AT&T Foundation Grant
With a one-hundred thousand dollar grant FSU Panama City brought rising high school juniors and seniors to campus to work in the actual civil and electrical engineering laboratories on campus. First teachers learned about principles of engineering and the software utilized by practicing professionals. Educators built and tested bridges, designed and soldered circuits and tested strength of materials. High school students arrived for four days filled with building, testing and designing as well as utilizing the actual laboratory space to complete their projects. Students built an underwater remote operated vehicle (ROV) called Sea Perch. Once each team completed its Sea Perch vehicle, students took their vehicle to the swimming pool at the Panama City Boys and Girls Club for testing. The vehicles were required to maneuver through an underwater obstacle course with the driver using a joy stick from poolside to drive the ROV through the course.

Bay Education Foundation Grants
With a small grant from the Bay Education Foundation the FSU Panama City STEM Institute has trained teachers on acoustics using materials from the Center for the Advancement of STEM Education (CASE). Teachers actually volunteered their time and worked with CASE trainers to develop plans for introducing acoustical concepts to students. Teachers and students worked together at L-3 Communications, a national defense contractor, which opened its doors to them and allowed them to observe their STEM professional in their daily work. Teachers left this training with a CASE Acoustics Kit and plans to implement in their own classrooms.