December Newsletter
No images? Click here
December 2021
Greetings! Our Science Outreach newsletter has a lot of material in it this month, including the following topics:
- *Astronomy Open House on December 3
- *GWIS Virtual STEM Carnival starts December 6
- *Getting ready for ENVISION and SCIENCE-U
- *Winter events at the Penn State Arboretum on December 4, 5, & 8
- *Virtual Ask A Scientist! event for high school students on December 7
- *WPSU showing a new Science-U@Home on December 26
- *2021 in review - a look back for the Office of Science Outreach
Please note that the Office of Science Outreach will be closed from December 20 to January 3, 2022. As a result, our January newsletter will be postponed until January 10.
Best wishes for a fantastic month and a happy holiday season. ~The Science Outreach Team
Astronomy Open House
Friday, December 3, 7-10 PM at The Arboretum at Penn State
Check out the night sky with Penn State astronomers! This family-friendly event is hosted by The Arboretum at Penn State, the Eberly College of Science, and amateur astronomers from the Central Pennsylvania Observers. Minors must be accompanied by an adult. Bring a small flashlight and warm clothes! Paid parking is available at East Deck and Katz Building lots.
NOTE: This event is weather-dependent! If the forecast calls for more clouds than clear sky, we will be forced to cancel (The decision will be made at least 24 hours prior to the Open House). Check out our Facebook page for updates. Hope to see you there!
VIRTUAL STEM CARNIVAL STARTS SOON
The Graduate Women in Science (GWIS) at Penn State is holding a fall workshop for 5th to 10th grade students starting December 6th! The Virtual STEM Carnival is free of charge and provides instructions and videos to students interested in learning more about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. There is also a live Q&A session on December 6th at 6-7 p.m. with a panel of women scientists. Advanced registration is required, so register today! The button below provides a link to the registration and contacts for questions.
ENVSION 2022 will be held at the University Park campus on Saturday, February 26, 2022! As in the past, this event invites students in grades 6-12 to come experience science, technology, engineering, and mathematics - hands-on! Participants will get to attend three different STEM workshops, visit Penn State classrooms and laboratories, and interact with scientists or engineers who study or work in various STEM fields! The fee for the event will be $30 per student and will include a t-shirt and lunch. Financial aid will be available. Registration will start January 18, 2022. Check out our video from ENVISION 2019 to see what this exciting STEM career day is all about!
Plans for Science-U 2022 are coming together! Our office is organizing several in-person camps to be held at the Penn State University Park campus starting in June. There won't be as many camps as before the pandemic, but, so far, we expect to offer the following favorites (for campers entering grades shown in parentheses):
- Nature Explores: Cycles Galore! (Grades 2-4)
- NittanyBots: LEGO Robotics - The Journey to Master Builder (Grades 2-3 & 4-5)
- Designing the Future (Grades 5-6)
- Life...in Space! (Grades 5-7)
- Ecology Camp: The Wonders of Your Own Backyard (Grades 6-8)
- Finding Your Roots (Grades 6-8)
- Make It Matter (Grade 9-12)
- Penn State Pre-Med Academy (Grades 9-12)
- Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Mini Summer School (Grades 10-12)
- STEM Camp for High School Students on the Autism Spectrum (Grades 9-12)
More information will be distributed after the holidays, and online registration will begin on Tuesday, February 8, 2022. Prices will remain similar to past in-person camps, and financial aid will be available. Stay tuned for more details to be made public, but if you have any questions in the meantime, please email us at sciencecamps@science.psu.edu.
Our friends at Penn State's Arboretum have some events scheduled for December. They are free but require advanced registration. The Bees in Winter event is designed for families, but the other two events are best suited for adults (18+) only.
Bees in Winter
Saturday, December 4, 11 a.m. - 12 noon at the Arboretum's Pollinator and Bird Garden
Do you know that bees live in the Arboretum throughout the year, including the cold winter months? Join the Arboretum and the Insect Biodiversity Center for a program about bees in winter, perfect for the whole family. We will tour the Pollinator & Bird Garden, investigating and discussing how bees survive the winter along the way. Then we’ll create festive seed paper ornaments to take home and plant in the spring to provide for the bees in your backyard!
Instructor: Heather Desorcie is the Insect Biodiversity Center’s (https://bit.ly/2YehXDi) education specialist, providing pollinator programming for all ages. Heather has been teaching science in informal settings for 8 years, and she loves that her work makes a positive difference, both for people and the natural world.
Watershed Features Walk
Sunday, December 5, 2-5 p.m. at Watershed Map & Natural Lands
Join the Arboretum and Dr. Richard Parizek for an in-depth look at the prominent Spring Creek watershed features in the Arboretum. The program will begin with an illustrated lecture and investigation of the hydrogeologic features displayed on the Ridge and Valley sculpture. Afterwards, participants will spend several hours exploring the Arboretum’s natural lands and learning about important water-bearing controls of the watershed visible there. This program involves moderate hiking and is not recommended for those with limited mobility.
Instructor: Dr. Richard Parizek is an emeritus professor of geosciences at the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State. His expertise is in hydrogeology and groundwater, and he is well-known for co-developing the fracture trace and lineament method for groundwater prospecting and Penn State’s Living Filter Project.
Arboretum Conifer Walk
Wednesday, December 8, 1-2:30 p.m. at The Arboretum at Penn State
Join The Arboretum at Penn State and Dr. Rick Bates for a walking tour of some of the Arboretum's conifer species. This walk will focus on I.D., horticultural significance, and landscaping use. Learn how to differentiate between common species and discover conifers that might be a good fit for your lawn or garden.
Instructor: Dr. Rick Bates is a professor of horticulture in Penn State University’s Department of Plant Science, joining the department in 2000. He received his Ph.D. in horticulture from Virginia Tech, and his B.S. and M. S. in horticulture from West Virginia University. Rick worked as a county extension agent in Ohio and Virginia and as an assistant professor at Montana State University prior to coming to Penn State. The primary goal of Rick’s research and extension program is to enhance the profitability and competitiveness of the nursery and Christmas tree industry in Pennsylvania, and the U.S.
Ask A Scientist! Virtual Event
High school students are invited to attend this free event, sponsored by Penn State's Chemistry Graduate Association, via Zoom on Tuesday, December 7, 2021 at 4-5 pm.
Are you interested in pursuing a career in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) but don't know where to start? We want to help! Don't miss this “Ask a Scientist!” event to learn more about different fields of study, and to ask college students questions about their STEM field and college in general.
The panel will be comprised of graduate students that represent different fields in STEM. The panel members will discuss how they discovered they were interested in STEM, how they determined graduate school was right for them, and things they learned along the way that helped them get to where they are today!
Science-U@Home to air on WPSU
As you may know, we've been working with WPSU on our Science-U@Home series for many years. This winter, check out a brand new, half-hour Science-U special! On December 26 at 7:00 p.m., turn to PBS to learn all about cool, at-home, science experiments and, more importantly, how YOU can learn science while encouraging the kids in your life! For a full schedule of WPSU programs in December, click on the photo.
2021 is Almost Done
As the year comes to a rapid close, we want to take a few moments to review some of our highlights from 2021. Even though our team continued to work safely and remotely, it was another busy year in the Office of Science Outreach - and we hope you enjoy these memories with us!
New Team Members!
Justin Hazelton and Tabitha Johnson joined our Science Outreach Team this past year. It was exciting to see our daily Zoom meetings expand from four screens to six! Justin started working at Penn State in March as an Education Program Specialist, and immediately jumped into some new collaborations and projects. Tabitha has been an Administrative Assistant within our college for a number of years and shared her valuable computer skills throughout the summer months. She is currently on deployment for the National Guard, and we look forward to her safe return sometime next year.
Virtual Programs!
Throughout 2021, the Science Outreach Team expanded its virtual programming for participants off campus and for Penn State students as well. We worked closely with Penn State's Office of Youth Programs to ensure that all guidelines were followed.
In March, we hosted our annual ENVISION: STEM Career Day Supporting Young Women with a webinar and several break-out rooms! About 80 young women in grades 6-12 joined us on a Saturday morning to answer science trivia questions and to learn from over 40 Penn State students and faculty volunteers about various careers in STEM. It was a fun and very successful experience for all!
Our virtual Science-U 2021 program this summer included eight, different weekly camps, as well as a Designing the Future Club which lasted from June until August. It was great to work with our camp directors and instructors again, and to see so many smiling camper faces on Zoom! It was also fun to greet campers and their families on their front porches when we delivered or collected supplies for some of the camps, and we were thrilled to have campers join us from many areas outside of Centre County, PA!
In addition, the Virtual Science Festival continued to share hands-on activities and video demonstrations with families who visited the site throughout the year. Several STEM groups from Penn State and the community provided material to increase this valuable repository of science knowledge that can be accessed at home or in school.
At the University Park campus, our office organized a virtual I AM STEM Student Speaking Contest that encouraged Eberly College of Science students to share their unique science stories. Winners of the contest received gift card prizes and had the opportunity to give keynote speeches at our virtual ENVISION event in March!
Also, several Penn State students participated in our virtual course, Science Outreach and Communications, during the spring semester. For their final projects they developed interactive websites to educate younger students about favorite science topics. These projects were shared in our May newsletter and in the Virtual Science Festival.
Collaborations!
The Science Outreach Team enjoyed collaborating with other groups and offices at Penn State this past year. These included:
- WPSU - We joined WPSU's Virtual Summer Camp series that explored all the continents by helping to create video demonstrations for STEM Thursdays!
- The Eberly Alumni Relations Office - We helped with the Penn State WE ARE Virtual Reunion Weekend in mid-June by assembling 500 boxes of science kits. These boxes contained items that youngsters could use to complete online science activities at home. Eberly faculty designed the activities, and the kits were mailed around the world!
- GWIS - We assisted the Graduate Women in Science organization with their virtual STEM workshops, and some of our team members attended their virtual Empower Conference!
In-Person Events!
Members of the Science Outreach Office began to - FINALLY! - attend in-person events starting in August with the Ask A Scientist event at the Centre County Grange Fair. Several Penn State researchers accompanied our staff to the Recreation Hall to explore fun science activities and demonstrations with the grange community. We also welcomed new Penn State students back to campus at two Eberly Welcome Day events!
In the Fall, team members attended several Stories Under the Night Sky events at the Arboretum at Penn State and helped attendees view the stars! The team also presented a Bird Beak Buffet at WPSU's outdoor Eventapalooza in October. At all of these events, it was great to safely meet fellow science enthusiasts!
For anyone who wishes to look at our Science Outreach Newsletters from the past year, please visit our community newsletter webpage. That page also has a link where family and friends can sign up to receive the monthly newsletter in their own in-boxes. You can also click on the Forward link below to share!
Thank you!
Thanks to all the parents, educators, campers, and Penn State colleagues who helped to make 2021 a successful year for our office - despite all the challenges of the global pandemic. We are grateful for your continued involvement and support! Best wishes for a happier and healthier 2022, and we look forward to seeing you soon!
~The Science Outreach Team
Meet our team!
Our Office of Science Outreach staff members are happy to assist you with any questions related to Science Outreach. Bookmark our website at https://science.psu.edu/outreach for more information or email us at outreach@science.psu.edu.
We'd love to hear from you!
By submitting photographs or information to the Office of Science Outreach, we reserve the right to use them in our future newsletters or marketing.
