STEM Newsletter

“By utilizing T-STEM

project-based learning in

my classroom, my

students are able to

deeply analyze classic

literature and apply it to

past, current and future

real-world issues.”

Marisol Garcia

AP Literature

IDEA College Prep Alamo

Contents

Holiday Wishes

STEM Leaves…

Google for STEM Education

The 12 Days of Christmas

Picture Gallery

Alliance Partners of the

Month

Get N-Spired Over the

Holidays

STEM Curriculum Spotlight

Fun Page / Contact Us

Professional Development

Calendar

Practice Conference

December 2013 / January 2014 ● STEM Center of South Texas ● (956) 984-6227

STEM Center of South Texas

December 2013 / January 2014

As I was reflecting on the role of the STEM

Center of South Texas, and the support that

we need to provide to the T-STEM

Academies, there was one revolving

thought in my mind: the power of

observation. A long time ago, driven by

necessity, the earliest human beings must

have been keen observers of nature. Even

so-called primitive people were able to

construct fairly sophisticated ways to

classify elements of their surroundings in

order to understand and adapt to the

environment. Simple tasks, such as

determining the edible and inedible,

required experimentation. Processes were

established to treat different materials to

produce clothing or shelter. Even the most

important accomplishment of humankind,

verbal communication, was part of the

evolution.

So now, let’s comeback to the present day

STEM Leaves… - Yuridia P. Gandy, STEM Coordinator

and examine our surroundings. What are

our students and teachers doing? Are

they engaging in the same proven

successful methods to understand this

new “modern” environment?

Observation, classification,

experimentation, critical thinking,

processes, product creation, and

effective communication are crucial

elements for our students to adapt to this

fast changing environment. If we are

providing our students with opportunities

to exercise these critical elements, we

can be sure that our work is well done.

The term “21st-century skills” is generally

used to refer to competencies such as

collaboration, critical thinking, problem-

solving and communication. But aren’t

they actually “old skills” that have been

used to adapt to the environment for

eons? To me, they are.

Page 1

Happy

Holidays

from our

TSTEM

family to

yours!

As we approach a festive time of year, the

Region One STEM Center of South Texas

would like to extend Seasons Greetings to

all members of our STEM family across South

Texas. The holidays are a good time to

reflect upon our experiences from the past

year, and express warm wishes for the year

to come. Looking back on 2013, we

would like to thank all of you for pushing

forward STEM initiatives at your local

campuses. We have enjoyed serving

you through our professional

development, cluster/alliance

meetings, and student events.

Looking forward to 2014, we

Invite you to stay connected

with the STEM Center of

South Texas as we will

continue our service to

our STEM community of

schools and higher

ed/community

partners.

Need to share your findings or resources

with the rest of the world? Just create

your own website on Google Sites.

Could this be used for STEM? Of course!

One of the key components of STEM is

creation and collaboration and you can

definitely do those using Google Drive.

So get informed and get to creating and

sharing with the world!!

Here’s a few links to see what Google is

all about…. http://www.google.com/drive/about.html

http://goo.gl/qj3gez

https://sites.google.com/site/colettecassinelli/

stem-google-docs

Google for STEM Education - Efren Rodriguez, Science Specialist

Elementary Kids engaged in an E

ngineering

Design Challenge

Google! When someone says this,

people normally think about searching

on the Internet. Or perhaps maybe they

start to think about their gmail account

or the self driving cars or those cool

glasses B-}. But what about creation,

collaboration, and accessibility? You

can do those things with Google too,

specifically using Google Drive! And

YES, there is even an app for it!

Google Drive allows you to create

documents, presentations, spreadsheets,

and drawings. You can keep them

private or share them with others. When

shared, they can be edited

collaboratively online; no need to send

an attachment back and forth.

Want to collect some data? You can

use a Google Form to quickly collect it.

The 12 Days of Christmas (for a T-STEM Academy) – Sylvia Escobar, STEM Specialist

On the 1st day of Christmas, my T-STEM designation gave to

me…an Advisory Board to o-ver-see.

On the 2nd day of Christmas, my T-STEM designation gave

to me…2 STEM conference fees…and an Advisory Board

to o-ver-see.

On the 3rd day of Christmas, my T-STEM designation gave

to me…3 iPad workshops, 2 STEM conference fees …and

an Advisory Board to o-ver-see.

On the 4th day of Christmas, my T-STEM designation gave

to me…4 TI-NSPIREs, 3 iPad workshops, 2 STEM conference

fees …and an Advisory Board to o-ver-see.

On the 5th day of Christmas, my T-STEM designation gave

to me…5 P-B-Ls….4 TI-NSPIREs, 3 iPad workshops, 2 STEM

conference fees …and an Advisory Board to o-ver-see.

On the 6th day of Christmas, my T-STEM designation gave

to me…6 community partners …5 P-B-Ls…4 TI-NSPIREs, 3

iPad workshops, 2 STEM conference fees …and an

Advisory Board to o-ver-see.

On the 7th day of Christmas, my T-STEM designation gave

to me…7 blueprint benchmarks, 6 community partners …5

P-B-Ls…4 TI-NSPIREs, 3 iPad workshops, 2 STEM conference

fees …and an Advisory Board to o-ver-see.

On the 8th day of Christmas, my T-STEM designation gave

to me…8 STEM career pathways, 7 blueprint benchmarks,

6 community partners …5 P-B-Ls…4 TI-NSPIREs, 3 iPad

workshops, 2 STEM conference fees …and an Advisory

Board to o-ver-see.

On the 9th day of Christmas, my T-STEM designation gave

to me…9 college visits, 8 STEM career pathways, 7

blueprint benchmarks, 6 community partners …5 P-B-

Ls…4 TI-NSPIREs, 3 iPad workshops, 2 STEM conference

fees …and an Advisory Board to o-ver-see.

On the 10th day of Christmas, my T-STEM designation

gave to me…10 Google Drive trainings, 9 college visits, 8

STEM career pathways, 7 blueprint benchmarks, 6

community partners …5 P-B-Ls…4 TI-NSPIREs, 3 iPad

workshops, 2 STEM conference fees …and an Advisory

Board to o-ver-see.

On the 11th day of Christmas, my T-STEM designation

gave to me…11 capstone projects, 10 Google Drive

trainings, 9 college visits, 8 STEM career pathways, 7

blueprint benchmarks, 6 community partners …5 P-B-

Ls…4 TI-NSPIREs, 3 iPad workshops, 2 STEM conference

fees …and an Advisory Board to o-ver-see.

On the 12th day of Christmas, my T-STEM designation

gave to me…12 robotics kits, 11 capstone projects, 10

Google Drive trainings, 9 college visits, 8 STEM career

pathways, 7 blueprint benchmarks, 6 community

partners …5 P-B-Ls…4 TI-NSPIREs, 3 iPad workshops, 2

STEM conference fees …and an Advisory Board to o-ver-

see.

Page 2 December 2013 / January 2014 ● STEM Center of South Texas ● (956) 984-6227

November / December 2013 Trainings and Events

Page 3

T-STEM Alliance

Meeting #2

December 2013 / January 2014 ● STEM Center of South Texas ● (956) 984-6227

T-STEM Fall

Convening

Integrating

Robotics in

Math and

Science

STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES:

Comet ISON Challenge – Due January 15, 2014

http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/cometchallenge/

28th Annual DuPont Challenge Science Essay Competition – Due January 31, 2014

http://thechallenge.dupont.com/

US Naval Academy Summer STEM Program – Due April 15, 2014

http://www.usna.edu/Admissions/stem.htm

Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge – Due March 4, 2014

http://www.wecanchange.com/

Engineering for You Video Contest – Due March 31, 2014

http://www.nae.edu/e4u/

West Point Bridge Design Contest – Due May 2, 2014

http://bridgecontest.usma.edu/index.htm

TEACHER/CLASS/SCHOOL OPPORTUNITIES:

ExploraVision – Due January 30, 2014

http://www.exploravision.org/

2014 School of the Future Design Competition – Due February 3, 2014

http://www.cefpi.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3550

2014 Siemens Summer of Learning – Due February 4, 2014

http://www.siemensstemacademy.com/index.cfm?event=showSTEMApplication&landing=1

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES:

NSF Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) – Due January 14, 2014

http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=504793

NSF Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) – Due February 11, 2014

http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5467&org=NSF&sel_org=NSF&from=fund

US Dept of Labor Youth Career Connect – Due January 27, 2014

http://www.doleta.gov/ycc/eta_default.cfm

January 10, 2014 – Last day for “Intent to Submit” email

January 13, 2014 – Poster online submissions will be accepted beginning this date

January 20, 2014 – Last day for online poster submissions (by 5:00 PM)

Page 4 December 2013 / January 2014 ● STEM Center of South Texas ● (956) 984-6227

Socrative Notability A FREE app that

brings student

response and ease

of use to a whole

new level.

A paid app ($2.99)

that is the answer

to all of your note-

taking dreams.

Google Tip of the Day: Make a CUSTOM search engine for your

students to use at: https://www.google.com/cse/

December 2013 / January 2014 ● STEM Center of South Texas ● (956) 984-6227

Alliance Partners of the Month

STEM Curriculum Spotlight

‘Hour of Code’ More Than Minutes for High School Students – Kelsey Sheehy

U.S. News & World Report – Education – High School Notes – December 16, 2013

"Don't just buy a new video game. Make one. Don't just download the latest app. Help design it. Don't just play on your

phone. Program it."

That's the message President Barack Obama had for students in a video kicking off Computer Science Education Week

on Dec. 9.

[See photos of the 2013 Best High Schools for STEM.]

Computing in the Core and Code.org, both nonprofits, held the nationwide event to honor the birthday of Rear Adm.

Grace Hopper, a computer programming pioneer. The campaign, which wrapped up Friday, encouraged kids of all ages

to get a taste of computer science by coding for an hour.

Many teens did far more than write code for a mere 60 minutes. High school students at Foshay Tech Academy in Los

Angeles taught parents how to code. At Augustus Hawkins Critical Design and Gaming School in Los Angeles, students

participating in Exploring Computer Science, a yearlong college prep program, taught their own teachers how to code.

[Find out how to hook girls on STEM.]

While Computer Science Education Week is officially over, the push to teach students high-tech skills is far from complete.

The Obama administration also announced last month a $100 million grant campaignto help high school students

become proficient in computer science and other science, technology, engineering and math fields. Those grants will be

awarded in early 2014, according to a White House press release.

To get inspiration for teaching computer science in your classroom, scroll through the tweets, Instagram posts and even

videos of high school students getting into the spirit of Computer Science Education Week. Then share your own Hour of

Code activities with U.S. News onFacebook, Twitter or Google+

Get N-Spired Over the Holidays! – Gustavo Perez, STEM Specialist

Get N-Spired over the holidays with free and available

math and science lessons from Texas Instruments.

Math and Science content is intricately connected as

new standards continue to bridge the thinking and

process skills in both disciplines. Scientific probeware

helps to bring equations to life by giving real meaning

to quantitative representation (equations, variables,

and numerical expressions). Mathematics is the

engine behind scientific reasoning of natural

phenomena, driving understanding of the natural

world. Check it out on the following links and discover

how you can bridge your content into other areas.

Need to brush-up on some skills? No problem! Visit

atomic learning and learn at your own pace.

Get N-Spired!

Links:

Learn at Your Pace

http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/en/ti_nspire_nav

Math Lesson (All levels)

http://education.ti.com/en/timathnspired/us/home

Science lessons (All levels)

http://education.ti.com/en/tisciencenspired/us/home

Page 5

STEM Education for All

Page 6

Professional Development

December 2013 – January 2014

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Region One T-STEM Staff!! January 8-9, 2014* WS# 40628 Engineering the Future HS Curriculum Day 2

January 22, 2014 WS# 40624 iPad Technology for Math and Science

January 30, 2014 WS# 40632 Gaming Design in the STEM Classroom Day 2

January 31, 2014 WS# 40628 Engineering the Future HS Curriculum Day 3

WS# 40642 T-STEM Alliance Meeting #3

February 6-8, 2014

7th Annual Texas STEM Conference and 1st Annual Texas PBL Institute

*Change of date

Contact Information

1900 W. Schunior

Edinburg, TX 78541

Phone: (956) 984-6227

Fax: (956) 984-7647

Emails:

YuridiaP. Gandy (ypgandy@esc1.net)

Gustavo Perez (gperez@esc1.net)

Sylvia Escobar (sescobar@esc1.net)

Efren Rodriguez (erodriguez@esc1.net)

Elena Vallejo (evallejo@esc1.net)

STEM Web Site:

www.esc1.net/T-stem

Region One Staff Development:

www.esc1.net/staffdevelopment

December 2013 / January 2014 ● STEM Center of South Texas ● (956) 984-6227

STEM-Cryptogram

STEM-Cryptogram ANSWER: “You can teach a student a lesson

for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating

curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he

lives.” – Clay P. Bedford

STEM-Sudoku