Sometimes introductory college courses can be a snooze, but a professor at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana is now making sure that isn’t the case. Martin Madsen’s Physics 105 class takes a cue from the popular Discovery Channel show Mythbusters and ditches textbooks and lab reports in favor of something more fun: smashing stuff. Instead of purchasing books, students buy a video camera and record their own myth-busting experiments.

For example, check out this video, “The CD Throw of Death”, where a team of students investigates whether a CD could be used as a murder weapon:

Click here to view the embedded video.

For more videos from his class, see the Wabash College Youtube channel

PS: If you’re wondering where the girls are, Wabash College is actually an all-male school!

1. Scientist & Engineers in the Classroom – Army scientists, and engineers will bring specialized knowledge and in-depth scientific content into the classroom. In collaboration with teachers, demonstrations and hands-on activities will enhance the science curriculum, increase science awareness among students, stimulate scientific thinking and put a human face on the scientific community. This program well be available for students in Grades 5-12. Technical topics will vary based upon the unique capabilities and talents of the individual scientist/engineer. The demonstrations and hands-on activities will include National Defense Education Program (NDEP) sponsored STEM Learning Modules (SLM). SLM provide hands-on inquiry based methods to teach Materials Science and inspire students to pursue Science and Engineering careers. These SLM may be incorporated in curricula as the teacher sees fit. The modules will remain the property of the Department of Defense and will be used by the Government in sustaining this program.

2. Junior/Senior High School Science and Technology Alliance – Army scientists, and engineers will team with teachers to produce short presentations connecting a curriculum unit to recent research and new technology. Presentations are recorded and made available to schools across the nation. This presents an excellent opportunity for enrichment extension of a specific topic and brings a real-life context to math and science classes.

3. STEM Career Awareness and Mentoring Program – Listening to a real scientist describe his/her work is invaluable in helping students make informed decisions about career paths. Career day presentations at the 5-12 grade level help to tie together and complement all of the other program elements. AMRDEC will plan, and schedule periodic presentations to elementary school students to inspire wonder and curiosity while allowing scientist or engineers to share their passion and enthusiasm for science. This program’s focus is to cultivate excitement about science/engineering professions, and promote academic and career advice and assistance to students. Arrangements for such visits will be made in advance so as to insure that they will complement the regular activities of participating school districts.

4. Professional Development Workshops for Teachers – RDECOM facilitates a wide range of teacher professional development opportunities for science teachers throughout the school year. Each workshop has two leaders: a scientist to provide relevant content and in-depth subject knowledge, and an experienced educator to ensure that activities and materials are grade appropriate and practical to the classroom or field trip setting.

Administration Department of Defense:

Gayla Turner McMichael, STEM Education Coordinator, Building 7804, Room 140, Redstone, Arsenal, AL 35898, 256-876-2789, gayla.turner.mcmichael@us.army.mil.

Alabama Department of Education:

Steve Ricks, Director, Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative, Alabama Department of Education, Room 3323, Gordon Persons Building, 50 North Ripley Street, Montgomery, AL 36104, 334-353-9151, sricks@alsde.edu

Gayla Turner McMichael, STEM Education Coordinator
AMSRD-AMR-WS (Buidling 7804 Room 140)
Redstone Arsenal
AL, 35816

Contact: Gayla Turner McMichael, STEM Education Coordinator
Grade Level: K-12, Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Discipline: Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Technology, Computers
Website: http://www.ndep.us/Labs.aspx

more info: http://maya.mst.edu

Rolla
MO, 65409
Contact: Brad Starbuck
Grade Level: K-12, Middle School, High School
Discipline: Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Technology, Computers

Deciding on an engineering career can be difficult, especially if you’re not sure exactly what being an engineer involves. Whether building blast resistant buildings, producing clean energy, designing components for automobiles, or a wide variety of other engineering jobs this program was developed to give high school juniors and seniors first-hand knowledge of what engineers actually do. The “Intro” course will help you understand how mathematics and the sciences relate to engineering, and if engineering is a career choice for you.

Rolla
MO, 65409
Contact: Brad Starbuck
Grade Level: K-12, High School
Discipline: Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Technology, Computers
Website: http://precollege.mst.edu/intro.html

Through a series of demographic and interest inventory questions, students will receive a personalized profile that gives them a glimpse into the types of engineering careers they may wish to pursue.

Contact: Leann Yoder
Grade Level: K-12, Middle School, High School
Discipline: Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Technology, Computers
Website: http://www.jets.org/programs/assess/index.cfm

Overview: Each Saturday in April, participants attend two class sessions taught by engineering faculty. SEEDs sessions provide high school sophomores and juniors an opportunity to explore engineering topics not normally available to them.. Sessions are held 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Session Dates: April 4, 11, 18, 25

Sessions: The sessions include specially designed classes spanning the engineering fields. Classes are presented in a normal university format, with a mix of lecture and interactive laboratory work.

Santa Clara University
500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara
CA, 95053
Contact: James Lindfelt
Grade Level: High School
Discipline: Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Technology, Computers
Website: http://scu.edu/engineering/undergraduate/seeds.cfm

2901 North IH 35
Austin
TX, 78722
Contact: Darlene Yanez
Grade Level: K-12
Discipline: Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Technology
Website: http://www.utdanacenter.org/tcstem/about.php

Participants stay on the main Santa Clara University campus in the heart of Silicon Valley, and take all their courses in the Bannan Engineering Center. Specially designed classes are taught by engineering faculty. Courses spanning the range of the field of engineering include lectures, interactive activities, and labs.

All tuition, room and board fees for SES participants are paid by grants from sponsoring organizations resulting in no onsite costs for participants. Attendees are responsible, however, for their own transportation to and from campus.

School of Engineering
500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara
CA, 95053
Contact: James Lindfelt
Grade Level: High School
Discipline: Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Technology
Website: http://www.scu.edu/engineering/undergraduate/ses.cfm

Oregon State University
350 Batcheller Hall
Corvallis
OR, 97331

Contact: Skip Rochefort
Grade Level: K-12, Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Discipline: Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Technology, Computers
Website: http://oregonstate.edu/precollege/

1045 Regent Drive
Boulder
CO, 80309
Contact: Janet Yowell
Grade Level: K-12, Elementary School, Middle School, High School
Discipline: Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Technology
Website: http://itll.colorado.edu/ITLL/