A life-size cutout of Charles Darwin stands in the corner. Next to him are party hats and a selfie stick. His face adorns a birthday cake that’s wheeled out to much excitement. Numbers are read and fossils are raffled off. Attendees sport buttons that read “I love evolution” and “Team Darwin.” This isn’t your ordinary […]
“Sonic hedgehog is important for the development of what part of the nervous system?” With his answer (spinal cord, also accepted cerebellum) Akhil Kondepudi, a junior at Ladue Horton Watkins High School, clinched the 2018 St. Louis Area Brain Bee. An annual neuroscience competition held at Washington University in St. Louis. His top showing was […]
Institute for School Partnership Faculty Fellow David Kirk is being honored as an outstanding science educator by the Academy of Science – St. Louis. Kirk, PhD, professor emeritus in the Department of Biology in Arts & Sciences, has been chosen to receive the 2018 Science Educator Award. It recognizes a distinguished individual on the basis of outstanding contributions […]
“I made it move,” an ecstatic Jalen Royston said as he bolted up from his seat, pumping his fists in the air. He’d inputted the correct code to make clouds on his computer screen move to the left. Sporting a “Hello, I’m Awesome” T-shirt, Jalen, a fifth-grader at Barbara C. Jordan Elementary School in The […]
When packing for college, most students take bed sheets, maybe a shower caddy and a laptop. Josh Seidel packed a tool box – an obvious choice for an aspiring engineer. Also, a fortuitous decision as it immediately came in handy on his first day at the University of Missouri. “The first interaction I had with […]
K-12 Connections is a partnership of the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement, the Institute for School Partnership, and the Office of Government and Community Relations. It connects the Washington University community with volunteer opportunities involving high-needs urban school districts in the St. Louis area, primarily through classroom field trips to campus for enrichment experiences and exposure to college […]
“We’ve got a lot of bragging rights,” a jubilant Zack Hurley said. The senior from Calhoun High School in Hardin, Illinois, was part of a quartet that went the distance at the final flight of the Boeing Engineering Design Challenge, held May 3 in the Washington University Field House. Their glider, dubbed No Pain, No […]
It’s midday at the Missouri State Capitol and the pizza line snakes around the third floor rotunda. A sure sign that it’s not business as usual in Jefferson City. March 2 was STEM Day at the Capitol which drew nearly 50 exhibitors and many more students and educators. A smiling Elizabeth Petersen mans the STEMpact […]
The science is clear: girls think boys are better at science. That’s wrong, of course. Still, subtle and not-so-subtle messages from parents, teachers and the media lead girls to doubt their abilities. The result: enormous gender gaps in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. “By the time they reach middle school, many girls […]
Lactose tolerance is a sign that human evolution is still at work, says Briana Pobiner, a paleoanthropologist with the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. She was the keynote speaker at Darwin Day, hosted February 11, by Washington University’s Institute for School Partnership. Nearly 50 St. Louis area educators attended the event.Pobiner, an educator […]