Under the watchful eye of Oregon State University student Vanessa Robinson, a Lincoln School student carefully combined tape, a plastic spoon and some small sticks to make his unique version of a catapult. Robinson’s eyes widened as she saw his technique.

“That is a creative solution I’ve never seen before,” she said. “Let’s show your dad.”

Around the pair, dozens of other elementary students and parents were crowded around, working on their own experiments. The gymnasium of Lincoln School was abuzz with laughter, shouting and intense discussions during their once-a-term Family Math and Science Night. A similar event is held at Garfield Elementary. The goal is to have children, families and teachers work together as partners to engage in learning science.

The event is facilitated by a group of enthusiastic soon-to-be teachers who are enrolled in Assistant Professor SueAnn Bottoms’ class on scientific methods. These pre-service teachers don’t get a lot of time to spend actually working with students, which is why Bottoms makes sure that in her class, working with elementary students at Garfield and Lincoln Schools is one of the requirements in her class.

The family night events are coordinated between the College of Education faculty, and the OSU-affiliated programs 4-H and SMILE (Science and Math Investigative Learning Experiences). 4-H holds once-a-week afterschool science and math programs at Garfield and Lincoln, and during fall and spring term, Bottoms’ students usually spend about four or five sessions working one-on-one or in small groups with participating children. This allows them to practice their teaching skills, specifically in the area of science education.

Read the whole story on LIFE@OSU.

Kasra Asizian, right, Ralen Jones, center, and Sophie Wilson, left, help clear weeds in the SAGE community garden as part of a community service project. Photo: Theresa Hogue

COSEY has developed a library of project-based activity kits with a sustainability theme (solar cell cars, wind power, oil spill clean-up, electricity generation and more) that will be used to engage 5th-8th grade students in multi-day summer camps to be held in communities throughout Oregon this summer. The outreach program is partnering with Boys and Girls Clubs, 4-H programs, Oregon GEAR UP programs, and other extracurricular and summer camp organizations to expand opportunities in science and engineering education to diverse students across the state, focusing on programs with a track record for serving rural and underserved students.

Through this partnership, trained college student instructors are delivering summer camps over the course of two summers, and will reach approximately 700 students. The activity kits are rich with possibilities, including a mock oil spill activity in which students test substances that can remove oil from water, a homemade solar panel lesson in which student use titanium dioxide and berry juice to generate an electrical current, a computer design lesson in which students use innovative software to create a “green” dream home, and much more. The activity kits developed in this project will also serve as valuable long-term resources for out-of-school programs and educators who can borrow them through the COSEY lending library.

This project is a collaborative effort between youth outreach organizations at OSU, Boys and Girls Clubs in Corvallis and Salem, and 4-H International Summer Camps. The OSU organizations are: the Center for Outreach in Science and Engineering for Youth (COSEY) within the Office of Precollege Programs, the Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory and Saturday Academy. A camp schedule is below and more information about COSEY can be found on the OSU Precollege Programs website:

• Boys and Girls Club of Corvallis- June 21-23
• OSU Engineering Camp- June 28-30
• Sweet Home Junior High – July 5-8
• La Pine Middle School- July 12-14
• Boys and Girls Club of Salem Wipper Teen Center – July 19-21
• North Marion Middle School – Aug 2-4
• 4-H Latino Summer Camp, Salem – Aug 9-11
• Coffenberry Middle School, South Umpqua – Aug 16th-18th

The Oregon University System (OUS) and the Engineering and Technology Industry Council (ETIC) awarded OSU’s COSEY a $99,619 grant in 2009 for the two-year program, as part of their “Bright Future” grants aimed to increase pre-college engineering initiatives and programs for K-12 students. These grants are one component of ETIC’s goal to increase engineering and computer science graduates in order to meet state and industry needs for a highly-skilled, globally competitive workforce in Oregon.

Bruce Schafer, executive director of ETIC says, “We are very excited to support expanded hands-on activities for students in pre-engineering across the state this summer. Oregon’s industries need future innovators in science and engineering.  Exposing talented young people to the real-world applications in science can open their eyes to the fun, relevance, and many opportunities in science careers.”

“Rao, a professor in Oregon State University’s Crop and Soil Science department, is an entomologist, a scientist who studies insects. She uses the creepy crawlers as many-legged ambassadors to teach adults and children about the wonders of the world of bugs.”

Oregon State University’s BugZoo is a student group interested in educating its members, other students, and the public about the joys and importance of insects. BugZoo educates through live displays and hands-on activities for both the public and its members.

The college instructors couldn’t agree more.  “It is a great example of a pipeline activity.  During each Benson visit MANY former BHS students show up to visit with their former teachers and also help with the activities. This is a clear example of the substantial impact that sustained ‘longitudinal’ exposure to opportunities can have on the lives of young people,” says Skip Rochefort, associate professor of chemical engineering and a long-standing collaborator. The partnership between OSU and Benson High School has been on-going since 1997 in conjunction with STEPs (Scientists and Teachers in Education Partnerships), formerly Science Connections, and generous funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

The most recent visit focused on Engineering and included a tour of the facilities with College of Engineering Ambassadors – undergraduates that work to recruit women and minorities, a presentation by the Sustainable Energy Initiative on biodiesel, the disposable diaper lab, and an activity about oil spill recovery technologies led by Rochefort and a team of undergraduate students.  Other visits include presentations from other key faculty collaborators: chemistry with Margie Haak, entomology with Sujaya Rao, biology with Indira Rajagopal and biochemistry with Kevin Ahern.

Rochefort summarizes the impact of the program for both the Benson high school students and OSU.  “The simple fact is that bringing these students, most of whom are female and/or ethnic minorities, to the OSU campus and introducing them to science and engineering greatly enhances their likelihood of attending a four-year university. Many of these students end-up at OSU in some STEM field.”

A 2009 graduate, Lino now works as a Student Services Specialist for TRiO precollege programs at Chemeketa Community College.  He frequently collaborates with the OSU Office of Precollege Programs bringing middle school students that may be low-income and/or potential first-generation college students on Campus Field Trips to engage and inspire them towards higher education.

Read how Lino is “Powered By Orange” and be sure to look for his banner on campus this year!

An environmental engineering undergraduate, she shared her passion with the COSEY camps this summer, traveling to Boys & Girls Clubs, 4-H Camps, and middle schools throughout Oregon with other team members teaching hands-on engineering activities.

Swanger is often “on the run” herself – her tireless dedication to youth programming and leadership and growth opportunities for OSU students has made her a cornerstone of precollege programs.  Congratulations, Karen!