June 2022

NWO is one of several partners on an AmeriCorps grant called TOPSS: Toledo Partners for Student Success. Our grant members (many of whom at BGSU students) will end their year-long service term on a high with one final ServeOhio Day on June 21 from 2:00-2:45 pm at Fred Savage Park Splash Pad. 

Our TOPSS Members will engage with kids in the surrounding community to play some fun games that will help them learn their letters and sounds. Anyone is welcome to volunteer alongside our members for this event. Please contact Danae Losey at dlosey@partnerstoledo.org if you would like to volunteer.

This event is being held with the TOPSS partners, Partners in Education, and TutorSmart in collaboration with the Connecting Kids to Meals organization.

https://infograph.venngage.com/ps/jOAN4xbSYbM/serveohio-day

In May, two Ohio Department of Education STEM designated intermediate schools in northwest Ohio participated in a first ever GLOBE Student Research Symposium at the Toledo Zoo. GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) is an international science education program that is dedicated to increasing awareness of individuals and students of all ages about the global environment, to increase understanding of the Earth and support student achievement in science and mathematics. As an international science and education program, GLOBE is dedicated to working with the STEM professionals of tomorrow with the scientific knowledge necessary to tackle Earth's biggest mysteries. 

Hosted by BGSU, Xcite Learning, & The GLOBE Program In Partnership with The Toledo Zoo and Aquarium, the event was organized by Dr. Jodi Haney of BGSU and Xcite Learning.

Fourth grade students from Hull Prairie Intermediate school in Perrysburg (led by teacher Amy Boros) and Dorr Elementary (led by teacher Kristy DiSalle) in Toledo researched projects on topics that included surface temperature, soil moisture, plant diversity, air temperature, and animal diversity. Each school has an outdoor classroom “PRAIRIE” installed by the Toledo Zoo on their school property.

The day began with a keynote presentation from Jacob Schoen of the Toledo Zoo on "The Importance of School Prairies and Management Practices to Keep our Prairies Healthy". Next, research projects and posters were presented by students and reviewed by STEM experts and peers. Students then went to the zoo aquarium exhibit to explore "ideal environments", and were encouraged to learn and then share how the aquatic environments observed are ideal for the organisms that live there. Teachers asked their students to compare and contrast aquarium ecosystems with school prairies in terms of ideal environments, and to ask the question and research what makes each environment ideal for the animals and plants that live there.

This student research was supported by grant funds received from: Youth Learning as Citizen Environmental Scientists (YLACES) Student Research Symposia - United States of America - GLOBE.gov & the National Geographic Society

Expert STEM reviewers included:Jenna Pollock, Education Program Manager, BGSU/NWO and Mitch Magdich, Alex Burris, Jacob Schoen, Kelsey Moore, Pamela Steider, all of the Toledo Zoo.

Project PRAIRIE: (Prairies that Invigorate Inquiry Learning), A Wild Toledo Prairie Initiative

extends into local classrooms by utilizing the native prairie installations as living labs. It is an inquiry-based education program that trains students and their teachers to use native prairie habitats for citizen science projects that contribute to a larger body of global research to make a difference in the natural world.

Toledo Zoo conservation staff installs native prairies on the property of participating schools while Zoo education staff trains teachers and students to use the prairies for citizen science, inquiry learning projects and follows up with related classroom programming.

For more information on the GLOBE program, please see: https://www.globe.gov/

For more information on Toledo Zoo’s Wild Toledo PRAIRIE initiative: https://www.toledozoo.org/wildtoledo.

Fifth and six grade students, who are members of the Hull Prairie Intermediate School Environmental Club, spent a morning in March 2022 cleaning up marine debris along the shores of the Maumee River on the Perrysburg side. At the same time, seventh grade grade students from Gateway Middle School were doing the same thing on the Maumee side of the river. Over 125 pounds of trash was found in or near the water! In early May 2022 the students from both schools went back out to the shores of the Maumee River to once again complete a trash sweep and to analyze what they found. Between March and May the annual Maumee River Walleye Run was held, and the students wanted to compare the trash found along the river before and after the fishing run. They predicted they would find more fishing line, hooks, lures and bait containers, and all student groups realized their predictions were correct.

The Gateway Middle School project was led by Mike Dick, 7th grade Science teacher. The

Hull Prairie Intermediate School Environmental Club project was led by Amy Boros, 6th grade Science teacher and club advisor.

The Great Lakes Environmental Protection Agency recognized on their social media the effort made by the two schools.

ESC of Lake Erie West STEM Lesson Development Workshop

The STEM Lesson Development Workshop will allow participants an opportunity to engage with other area STEM teachers in a collaborative setting for STEM lesson creation, development, brainstorming, and sharing. Participants will use these sessions to modify lessons and/or curriculum that they are already using or to develop new STEM activities to bring into their classrooms

July 13, July 20, and July 27

July Series Flyer and Registration Link

2022 Innovative Educators Summit | NW

Aug. 8 • 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Veterans Memorial Civic & Convention Center - Lima, Ohio

Are you a creative and innovative educator? Are you always looking for ways to engage your students? Even if you have no experience with STEM but you answered yes to these questions, this FREE summit on innovation is for you

The Ohio STEM Learning Network and the Northwest Ohio Center for Excellence in STEM Education at Bowling Green State University will host a day-long event to explore Ohio STEM Learning Network resources, grants and programs for school educators and administrators serving the counties of Allen, Auglaize, Hancock, Hardin, Putnam and Van Wert.

Through the generous support of the State of Ohio, this summit is provided at no cost.

Seating is limited – Only the first 100 educators are guaranteed a seat at the event.

Reservations will be accepted until July 31st or until the event is filled. After that, a waitlist will be created. Light pastries, refreshments, lunch and parking are included with your registration.

We can’t wait to see you at the summit!

Please contact osln@battelle.org if you have any questions.

To help spread the word to other educators and administrators in Allen, Auglaize, Hancock, Hardin, Putnam and Van Wert, please share this address: https://osln.org/innovative-nw

CODE4her CS Mentorship Program for Girls

“Let her learn to program with Lego EV3 Robots” at five 2.5 hour mentoring meetings held on five Sundays on BGSU campus: August 28, September 25, October 16, November 6, November 27. Each girl (5^th – 8^th grade) will work with the same BGSU student mentor and member of BG Women in Computer student organization. Cost $125.00 Space is limited! For more information, please see: http://code4her.org

INFOHIO Beach Bingo

Activities and challengers for parents and caregivers to engage children in accelerated learning throughout the summer:

https://www.infohio.org/document-library/item/infohio-beach-bingo-challenge

The Fostering STEM Institute supports teacher-leaders 

Instructional coaches and lead-teachers help other educators grow and strengthen teaching ideas and methods. The Fostering STEM Institute will help teacher-leaders increase coaching capacity for STEM instructional practices. Over this year-long program, participants will collaborate with peer educators from Ohio. Build connections. Share coaching approaches that enhance instruction and build STEM culture. All to help expand quality STEM education to reach more young people.

Applications close June 17, 2022. Click here to apply.

Sustainable Aviation STEM Toolkit

Looking for ways to build your K-12 students' STEM skills? NASA Aeronautics has new tools to help. 

Assemble a solid STEM curriculum plan using aeronautics-themed hands-on challenges, lessons, videos, and more. Click here to learn more.

OSLN Travel Grant Program

At the Ohio STEM Learning Network, we understand that travel costs can prove an insurmountable barrier for many educators who want to learn. Especially those from rural communities. This summer, we are proud to offer a new support to help bridge that gap.

The Ohio STEM Learning Network Travel Grant Program supports educators interested in attending professional learning program and student-centered events delivered by OSLN. The aim of this grant program is to assist educators with travel and/or lodging costs associated with these events.

Applications close on a monthly basis. Apply here.

Girls Who Code Scratch Education Collaborative (SEC)

After an extensive, multi-interview application process, Girls Who Code is thrilled to announce our acceptance into the Scratch Education Collaborative (SEC).

The SEC supports the implementation of equitable coding initiatives using Scratch, one of the core programming languages we teach in Clubs. A two-year, collaborative cohort experience, the SEC engages participants in experiences designed to grow a community of practice and establish models for equity-centered creative coding resources.

Girls Who Code will be joining the SEC for its 2022-24 cohort, working in concert with other participating organizations to advance equity-centered creative coding. Learn more on the SEC website.

International Women in Engineering Day

International Women in Engineering Day is June 23! INWED is a day to celebrate women working in engineering and all that they do for society and the world. This year’s theme is “Inventors & Innovators” and you can learn more by following #INWED22 and #ImagineTheFuture on social media and visiting INWED.org.uk.