A variety of fun science activities and the ability to earn badges promises to draw a crowd of Girl Scouts to the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh campus Nov. 12 for its popular Science Trekkers event.
Science Trekkers will take place from 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Nov. 12.
Brownies can earn their Home Scientist badge, Juniors can earn their Geocaching badge and everyone else will take home a fun patch.
“The Girl Scouts get excited about earning badges but this event lets them see themselves in a higher education academic setting, fully confident in this environment,” said Samara Hamze, director of STEM Outreach at UW Oshkosh.
There are more than 130 girls registered. They will be accompanied by a number of parents and scout leaders.
Teaching assistants from UW Oshkosh work to lead the sessions of fun and interesting science activities. Hamze said college students easily engage with the young students.
Girl Scouts will learn how to drop an egg from several stories and not break it, how to blast some giant-sized bubbles and write secret codes with disappearing ink. Some of the other offerings involve looking at natural wonders through a microscope, riding on a cushion of air on a Hovercraft and examining a collection of gems and delicate crystals. The activities will take place on campus at Halsey Science Center.
“This gives our own UW Oshkosh students a chance to interact with the public at large,” Hamze said. “It gives them the opportunity to refine their teaching skills.”
Most of the teaching assistants are women–something Hamze said gives the Girl Scouts the opportunity to see women as scientists and engineers.
Pommerening
UW Oshkosh student and Oshkosh native Stephanie Pommerening has worked as a teaching assistant with several STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) events. She is a secondary broadfield natural science education major who will be certified to teach grades 6-12 in biology, chemistry, physical and earth science. She said working STEM events gives her a real indication of what being a full time educator will be like.
“I have gained some of the best experience teaching through working at STEM,” Pommerening said. “STEM allows me to practice my teaching skills, learn new curriculum and demonstrations and get paid in a fun atmosphere that promotes learning via exploration without the high stakes of university supervisors monitoring your progress. Working STEM science camps the past two summers has really allowed me to find out who I am in the classroom and my approach towards student learning.”
Pommerening said she would “100 percent” recommend being a teaching assistant for STEM Outreach to anyone in the College of Education and Human Services.
She began working STEM early in her educational career.
“After my first day at STEM Summer Camp, I quickly realized this was one of the most beneficial experiences to my future career. Working at STEM is a good indication of what being a full time educator will look like. My job involves prep, studying the material, being able to differentiate my teaching, being engaging, classroom management and instruction,” Pommerening said.
Hamze said STEM Outreach at UW Oshkosh has a long tradition of supporting science education, especially in the early and middle grades, when students become passionate about learning how the world around them works.
“It’s the core of what we do: maintaining that interest so it doesn’t wane,” Hamze added.
Teaching assistants wanted
STEM Outreach is accepting applications from students seeking to work at teaching assistants (TA) for STEM Outreach K-8 programs on and off campus. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.
Hamze said the “ideal TA” has experience working with children and has at least three college-level science classes, but it is not a requirement. Hours are flexible and summer opportunities exist.
Those interested may call (920) 424-0287 or stop by at 121 Halsey Science Center between 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
STEM Safari
Registration is open for a popular science event, STEM Safari, that will be offered from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Dec. 10 at UW Oshkosh, to youth in Grades 3-6.
Students may choose from 10 fun activities, including creation of a rocket, breaking open geodes, getting captured in a six-foot tall bubble, creating colorful chemistry or floating on a cushion of air during a Hovercraft ride.
Last year, around 130 students attended STEM Safari.
More information is available by contacting UW Oshkosh STEM Outreach at (920) 424-0287 or by email at STEM@uwosh.edu or its website at stem.uwosh.edu.