Started in 1999, the Davidson Institute for Talent Development is a 501(c)3 private operating foundation. Their mission is to recognize, nurture and support profoundly intelligent young people ages 18 and under, and to provide opportunities for them to develop their talents to make a positive difference.

Davidson Academy News – www.DavidsonAcademy.UNR.edu

The Davidson Academy offers two educational options specifically designed to meet the needs of profoundly gifted students – an Online High School for those living anywhere in the U.S. and a day school on the University of Nevada, Reno campus for local residents. The full-time Online High School further strengthens the Davidson Academy’s commitment to the profoundly gifted population by bringing the Davidson Academy experience to students whose families are unable to relocate to Reno. Both options are centered on a rigorous academic environment where students can thrive among their intellectual peers. Classes are grouped by ability level, rather than by age-based grades, thereby providing profoundly gifted young people an educational opportunity matched to their abilities, strengths and interests.

Davidson Academy’s Online High School

Starting with eighth grade, the Davidson Academy Online High School is for profoundly gifted students living anywhere in the United States. Applicants must be 12 years old as of Sept. 30, 2018, submit appropriate test scores according to the Online High School Qualification Criteria and commit to being full-time students. Please visit the Online High School’s How to Apply page for details. The 2018-2019 application deadline is Feb. 28, 2018.

Davidson Academy’s Reno Campus

The Academy's free, public day school is located on the University of Nevada, Reno campus for profoundly gifted middle and high school students living in the Reno area. To attend the Davidson Academy in Reno, students must be at the middle or high school level across all subject areas and score in the 99.9th percentile on IQ or college entrance tests, such as the ACT or SAT. Please visit the Reno school’s Qualification Criteria and How to Apply pages. Applications are reviewed on a monthly basis with a final application deadline of Jan. 15, 2018. 

Davidson Institute News – www.DavidsonGifted.org

2018 THINK Summer Institute – Three-Week Academic Residential Program

The Davidson Institute is seeking gifted teens to attend the 2018 Davidson THINK Summer Institute.  THINK is a three-week residential summer program on the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno where students can earn up to six college credits by completing two university courses. The 2018 THINK Summer Institute will run from July 14 through August 4. Tuition is $3,800 and covers course credits, books and materials, room and board, and the cost of planned activities. Need-based scholarships are available. To qualify, students must be 13 to 16 years old during THINK and must submit a SAT or an ACT score report.  The application deadline is March 30, 2018.

2018 Davidson Fellows $50,000, $25,000 and $10,000 Scholarships

The Davidson Institute for Talent Development offers high-achieving young people across the country the opportunity to be named a 2018 Davidson Fellow, an honor accompanied by a $50,000, $25,000 or $10,000 scholarship in recognition of a significant piece of work in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Music, Literature, Philosophy or Outside the Box. Applicants must submit an original piece of work that is recognized as significant by experts in the field and that has the potential to make a positive contribution to society. The scholarship may be used at any accredited college or university. The deadline to apply is Feb. 14, 2018.

Davidson Young Scholars Program 

The national Davidson Young Scholars program provides FREE services designed to nurture the intellectual, social, emotional, and academic development of profoundly intelligent young people.  Families can choose from a range of opportunities and services available exclusively to Young Scholars and their parents.  Collaborate with a team of knowledgeable Family Consultants who provide individualized support based on each family’s unique needs, in the areas of educational advocacy and planning, social and emotional development, and identifying opportunities to nurture the Young Scholar’s talents and interests.  Connect with other Young Scholar families online through a dynamic private website offering discussion forums, personal profiles, online seminars, and more!  Meet other families in-person through parent-planned regional events or the annual conference-style event hosted by the Davidson Institute.  Encourage your Young Scholar to participate in programs designed specifically for them, such as online middle school courses taught by Davidson Academy faculty, the STARS summer program for 8 to 12 year olds, or the Ambassador Program, which fosters learning and civic engagement through community service, volunteerism and leadership.  Apply for the Young Scholars program today!  The application deadline is the first of each month. 

FUNDS AVAILABLE FOR EDUCATORS and STUDENTS

Students in need of financial support for a special project or program, parents or educators looking for professional development funds to support their work with advanced learners, or administrators looking to recognize staff dedicated to identifying and developing exceptional talent in young people are encouraged to explore the awards and scholarships available through the Illinois Association for Gifted Children (IAGC).

Scholarships & Awards Include:

• A distinguished service award named in honor of long-time IAGC Executive Director Sally Walker
• Student awards providing funds for supplemental programming or special projects
• Funds to attend the annual IAGC Conference in February

Information about the various opportunities available for educators, parents and students (grades 1-12) is online at https://www.iagcgifted.org/Awards-and-Scholarships.

Deadlines are in November. Apply or share information with colleagues and students! Questions? Contact IAGC at workshops@iagcgifted.org. 

Super Saturday is a program of enrichment classes for all students, that provide the opportunity to develop new skills & interests that may last a lifetime.  We want to find the gift in every child.  Most of our classes are unavailable elsewhere or are available only to gifted students.  Class sizes are small (typically 8-12) to allow more individualized instruction.  We also offer some classes for parents and teens!

First day of class starts on October 21st and ends on November 18th.

Register here https://friendsofthegifted.coursestorm.com/

Registration Open for Fall FunShops!
Register Your Student, Then Invite Others!

  
Frightful Fun Funshop! 
Friday October 13, 5:30 pm- 8 pm  
Grades 3-6, Includes pizza dinner

Registration is open for October's Frightful FunFunshop complete with creepy-crawly hissing cockroaches and blood-sucking sea creatures. Spooktacular STEM adventures for students grade 3-6. Of course, we'd only do this on Friday the 13th. Join us if you dare! 


Registration Fee: $55 
Registration closes October 6th, 2017
Scholarship Application period ends October 1st, 2017 


Grades 3-4
Be prepared to "race" your fears! Creepy crawly hissing cockroaches will become your test subjects as you experiment with different stimuli to see what really makes your cockroach scamper. The big finale will be races to see who has created the most enticing racing strategy for their roach to run!


Grades 5-6
Vampires are not the only creatures to gorge on blood! Come dissect sea lampreys, ghoulish parasites known to feed off the blood of other animals, to discover how their special anatomy makes blood the perfect meal.  Then you will get to experiment with (fake) blood to learn about real blood's cool properties!


Full details here.
 
*Applying for a scholarship does not guarantee an award or registration into the Funshop. 
To qualify and apply for a scholarship, the student is required to submit proof of eligibility: proof of participation in a free or reduced lunch program, OR proof of parent's income. 
WATCH YOUR EMAIL and CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER! Award recipients will be notified via email and must reply to scholarship offer. 
NOTE: You may choose to either pay for program registration OR apply for a scholarship and await award notification.  Scholarship applications will not be accepted along with a paid registration.

NO refunds or credits will be granted for FUNshops. 

From the Northern Illinois University STEM Saturdays web site.

STEM Saturday classes help students explore interesting topics through hands-on activities and exciting demonstrations. Parents are encouraged to attend students' classes and get in on the fun. This season's offerings include photography, computer programming, STEAM, introduction to Arduinos, and STEM activities for young divas.

STEM Saturday Courses Fall 2017

Please take a close look at the descriptions for recommended ages for each class. Some classes are two sessions.

September 30 and October 7– Listen up!

Meeting Times: 9:00am – 12:00pm
Meeting Room: NIU STEM Classroom (Swen Parson 146)

Earbuds and Beats by Dre are great, but how many of your friends can say that they’ve built their own set of speakers? During this STEM Saturday class, students learn about electromagnetism, solder electrical components, and take home their very own set of speakers and an amplifier. 

Note - This class meets for two sessions.

Suggested ages: 12 and up
Price: $80
Register here

September 30 – STEM Divas – Product Designers

Meeting Time: 9:00am – 1:00pm
Meeting Room: Faraday 129

Our world thrives on improving our technology, so join the team in innovating and designing new ideas! Divas will use the engineering design cycle to identify what makes a good product and how to improve it while exploring their creativity and passion.

Note: This class will satisfy the requirements for Girl Scouts Juniors Product Designer badge and is open to anyone who is interested.

Does your entire troop/pack want to participate in more of our STEM programs? Contact us to set up private programs and customized activities to earn more badges!

Suggested ages: 7 to 12
T-shirts are available in both adult and youth sizes for $10 each
Class Price: $45
Register here

November 4 – Scout Coding Day

Meeting Time: 9:00am – 2:00pm
Meeting Room: Holmes Student Center, Heritage Room

Loaded with tons of hands-on projects to help teach coding, Cubs Scouts and Girl Scouts will both be able to attend and have the chance to earn a badge. Scouts will program robots, learn how robots work, build their own robot models, and observe college students during the Hackathon coding competition!

• Girl Scout Brownie badge: Designing Robots
• Girl Scout Junior badge: Programming Robots
• Cub Scout Bear badge: Robotics

Does your entire troop/pack want to participate in more of our STEM programs? Contact us to set up private programs and customized activities to earn more badges.

Suggested ages: 7 to 12
Price: $65
Register here

November 11 – STEM Juniors – Day of STEAM

Meeting Times: 9:00am – 12:00pm
Meeting Room: NIU STEM Classroom (Swen Parson 146)

Art is all around us, and now it’s in our STEM classroom! Join us for a full day of discovering how we use STEM to make art and how we use art to learn about STEM. Students will find many opportunities to use their creative side with engineering and visual art projects, including a pop-up card and a musical instrument.

Suggested ages: 7 to 12
Price: $35
Register here

November 18 – Introduction to Arduinos

Meeting Times: 9:00am – 12:00pm
Meeting Room: NIU STEM Classroom (Swen Parson 146)

Learn to code like the best! Students will learn how humans communicate with computers, practice their logic skills, and use critical thinking to command a computer to complete tasks and challenges in this fun and interactive introduction to computer programming. No prior experience necessary!

Students can use our Arduino kits for free. Families who are interested in purchasing an Arduino kit with the components used in class may visit the following link before or after this class. https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13969

Suggested ages: 12 and up
Price: $30
Register here

December 2 – Arduino Projects

Meeting Times: 9:00am – 12:00pm
Meeting Room: NIU STEM Classroom (Swen Parson 146)

Expand your coding skills and make a project come alive with our intermediate level coding class. Here, students will use both physical and digital components to complete multidisciplinary tasks.

Please note that this class requires completion of one of our previous Arduino classes.

Suggested ages: 12 and up
Price: $30
Register here

December 2 – STEM Divas – Say Cheese!

Meeting Times: 9:00am – 1:00pm
Meeting Room: NIU STEM Classroom (Swen Parson 146)

Come with your selfie face and be ready to snap pictures in our STEM photography class! Students will see how cameras evolved to the tiny power machines we keep in our pockets and investigate what makes a good photo. Students build their own mini-studio and edit their photos to share with their friends and family.

Families are encouraged to bring smartphones or tablets, but we will have some available for students to use.

Note: This class will satisfy the requirements for Girl Scouts Juniors Digital Photographer badge and it is open to anyone who is interested.

Does your entire troop/pack want to participate in more of our STEM programs? Contact us to set up private programs and customized activities to earn more badges.

Suggested ages: 7 to 12
T-shirts available in both adult and youth sizes for $10 each
Class Price: $45
Register here

December 9 – Holiday Party

Meeting Time: 9:00am – 12:00pm
Meeting Room: NIU STEM Classroom (Swen Parson 146)

The annual holiday party is our way of saying thanks to all of our students and their families who participated in the Fall 2017 Saturday classes! We’ll spend half of our time doing a special holiday themed demonstration show, complete with refreshments. The other half will be spent making science themed gifts with the kids while the adults get a chance to hear about some of our favorite STEMtastic gift ideas. 

Price: $10 per family
Register here

by Elaine Luther

What do you do when your school doesn’t provide as many STEM activities as your child craves? How do you help them when you were an English major? Here are some fun and easy ideas for things you can do as a family, and add in to your already busy life without much trouble.

Listen to Podcasts together

Tumble Science Podcast for kids http://www.sciencepodcastforkids.com

These are short, about 20 minutes, and the hosts discuss a real question from a kid, and then go out and interview scientists who are experts in that topic. They’re well done and hold children’s interest.

Tumble has joined up with Listenwise.com, https://listenwise.com which provides discussion questions to go with each podcast. Listenwise also has lots of other podcasts and radio stories that you can listen to right on the site.

Find more podcasts for families at TheWondery. https://wondery.com

Watch SciGirls and do the Activities

SciGirls is a show on PBS where real girls choose a question, are matched with a real adult female mentor in science or engineering, and the girls go out and use the scientific method, or the design build process, to solve the problem as a team. The shows are well done, entertaining, and show the process, the ideas tested and ruled out. In a world where fear of failure and perfectionism can be problems for kids, this show shows that failure is just part of the process.

You can print out the images of the flow charts for the Design Build Process and the Scientific Process and when your child is building and gets frustrated, you can just remind them that the Design Build Process is a circle and we revisit each step. You can ask them, “where are you right now in the Design Build Process?”

Watch full episodes at http://pbskids.org/scigirls.

Visit SciGirls Connect

For each episode, the SciGirls folks create a companion activity for parents and teachers to use. Many can be done in an hour and nearly all of them use items you probably already have around the house. Find all the activities at SciGirls Connect.org, under resources. http://www.scigirlsconnect.org

Many of these activity guides are also available in Spanish and Season 4 will be entirely in Spanish!

They have also paired up short sections from the shows, about 5 minutes to use as an introduction to the activity. Even though the show is called SciGirls, the show and activities appeal to boys as well. And the site has role model profiles.

You can do all of the SciGirls activities as a family, but sometimes it’s more fun with friends, especially if that deadline of friends coming over helps make it happen. You could start an informal, once a month STEM club, where each parent takes some turns facilitating the activity. Like a book club, but for STEM! Kids particularly enjoy design-build challenges, in my experience, where they are given materials, constraints and a challenge and told to go for it.

The most important job as the activity facilitator, is to control the urge to help too much, and say too much. We as parents have to learn to hold our tongues, sit on our hands, and let them figure it out. Ask the kids questions instead of giving answers.

Sci Girls 7

One of the amazing contributions the folks at SciGirls have made is to gather the relevant research on how to get girls involved in STEM. Here they are.

Girls benefit from collaboration, especially when they can participate and communicate fairly. (Parker & Rennie, 2002; Scantlebury & Baker, 2007; Werner & Denner, 2009)

Girls are motivated by projects they find personally relevant and meaningful. (Liston, Peterson, & Ragan, 2008; Lyon & Jafri, 2010; Mosatche, Matloff-Nieves, Kekelis, & Lawner, 2013; Patrick, Mantzicopoulos, & Samarapungavan, 2009; Thompson & Windschitl, 2005)

Girls enjoy hands-on, open-ended projects and investigations. (Chatman et al., 2008; Denner & Werner, 2007)

Girls are motivated when they can approach projects in their own way, applying their creativity, unique talents, and preferred learning styles. (Calabrese Barton et al., 2013; Calabrese Barton, Tan, & Rivet, 2008; Eisenhart & Finkel, 1998; Lyon & Jafri, 2010)

Girls’ confidence and performance improves in response to specific, positive feedback on things they can control—such as effort, strategies, and behaviors. (Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck, 2007; Dweck, 2000; Halpern et al., 2007; Kim et al., 2007; Mueller & Dweck, 1998)

Girls gain confidence and trust in their own reasoning when encouraged to think critically. (Chatman et al., 2008; Eisenhart & Finkel, 1998; Kim et al., 2007)

Girls benefit from relationships with role models and mentors. (Holmes, Redmond, Thomas & High, 2012; Liston, Peterson & Ragan, 2008; Lyon & Jafri, 2010; Mostache et al., 2013; Weber, 2011)

Source: http://www.scigirlsconnect.org/scigirls

Another great source for design/build challenges is the TV show Zoom. http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities Zoom even has activities for preschoolers.

LanceMakes.com http://www.lancemakes.com is the website of author and build Lance Akiyama, who wrote Rubber Band Engineer, a terrific book that uses tongue depressors and paint stir sticks to make pretty cool things that really work. He has links on his site for where to buy just a few extras such as wheels and propellors, that are inexpensive, but really help raise the cool level of each project.

Encourage Building

Goldie Blox is a toy designed to encourage engineering thinking in girls, and while you may not like that the toys are pink, the story books that accompany each building kit engage girls and draw them in. Girls can build each project as instructed, and then there are variations and they can build their own creations too.

A large collection of Lego and quality wood unit blocks, such as from Melissa and Doug, are a good addition to any home. These investment toys last for years. Magnatiles are another wonderful building toy, and my favorite, because they are magnetic, they are actually fun for kids to clean up. And Keva Planks, or Kapla blocks, allow for advanced building and all of these toys can hold the interest of children older than you might think.

These are all quality “toys” that can be passed from sibling to sibling, or kept handy for visiting children.

To make building really fun, it’s important to buy enough of each type of building toy so that kids can really make cool stuff! It’s frustrating when you want to build a whole town of Lego but you can only build a house and a half.

Three Citizen Science Projects Your Family Can Participate In

What microbes are in your shower head?

http://robdunnlab.com/projects/showerheads

Listen to the Tumble episode that explains it:
http://www.sciencepodcastforkids.com/single-post/2017/02/10/The-Secret-Life-of-Your-Shower-with-Noah…

Lincoln Park Zoo is watching animals in our urban environment and you can help! Learn more here: http://www.lpzoo.org/conservation-science/projects/chicago-wildlife-watch

Find more citizen science opportunities here:
https://scistarter.com

SciGirls has some episodes on citizen science, find some of them here, including the one about monitoring frog populations:
http://www.scigirlsconnect.org/resource_topic/life-environment

Find the pdf activity guide “SciGirls Participate! Citizen Science Adventures” here:
http://www.scigirlsconnect.org/activity-guides

The last pages of the pdf lists kid-friendly citizen science projects and even three apps to help you be involved. And you’ll also find a printable nature journal there.

Attend a STEM FEST or Maker Faire

In the Greater Chicago area, there are many Maker Fairs and Northern Illinois University has a STEM FEST each October. This year’s STEM FEST will be October 21st. http://www.stemfest.niu.edu/stemfest

Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana also usually has a Stem Fest each spring, theirs is called STEMapalooza.

You can find the Maker Faires here https://makerfaire.com

The Fall Science Adventures classes are open for registration on the Fermilab website: http://ed.fnal.gov/sciadv
 
Register for many favorite classes, such as:

October 14, 2017 – Nature’s Energy for grades 5–8
October 21, 2017 – Spiders, Spinners of Silk for grades K–2
November 4, 2017 – What Makes You So Special? for grades 3–5
November 11, 2017 – Playing with Your Food for grades 1–3
December 9, 2017 – CSI: Careful Scientific Investigations for grades 3–5
 
For teachers, parent volunteers and library staff

October 4, 2017 – STEM Family Night Planning Workshop for grades K–8
Gain knowledge about many free resources to help you plan your own school or library Family STEM Night. Become qualified to borrow the Fermilab Hands-on Science equipment. 

From the NASA Education Express Message -- July 20, 2017 email newsletter (sign up at www.nasa.gov/education/express) . . .

“Houston, We Have a Podcast” is a new weekly audio show from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The podcast, hosted by Gary Jordan as he talks with various guests, is designed to highlight a variety of topics covering the work of Johnson, NASA’s “home of human spaceflight.”

In the first episode, released on July 7, 2017, NASA public affairs officer Dan Huot provides a high-level overview of the International Space Station: what it is, how it works, and why it’s there. New episodes will be released each Friday; upcoming topics include space food, human research in space, mission control and communications. Personal stories of human spaceflight, from living on the space station to understanding what it may be like to walk on Mars, will come from the Astronaut Candidates of 2017, International Space Station astronauts, and scientists and engineers from around the center.

Timed at an average of 45 to 50 minutes, episodes of “Houston, We Have a Podcast” will be released on iTunes, SoundCloud and nasa.gov. Questions may be asked using the hashtags #askNASA and #HWHAP on various NASA accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

A live podcast episode from space with astronaut Jack Fischer is planned Aug. 10, 2017, on NASA TV, Facebook, YouTube, UStream and other platforms. Live audience viewers will be able to ask questions via Facebook and YouTube. The recorded podcast episode will be released Friday of the following week.

To download episodes of “Houston, We Have a Podcast,” visit https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/HWHAP .

Episodes also may be found on SoundCloud at https://soundcloud.com/nasa/sets/houston-we-have-a-podcast.

Episodes of the podcast will soon be available on iTunes and other platforms.

Please direct questions about this podcast series to Gary Jordan at gary.j.jordan@nasa.gov.

According to SciStarters, a matching site for volunteers and scientific research, "A citizen scientist is an individual who voluntarily contributes his or her time, effort, and resources toward scientific research in collaboration with professional scientists or alone. These individuals don’t necessarily have a formal science background.”

Here’s a project you can do at home just by collecting microbes from your showered and mailing them to a scientists:

https://scistarter.com/project/17248-Showerhead-Microbiome#sthash.N7CpJeHm.dpbs

Hear an interview with the scientist behind this project, on Tumble, a science podcast for kids!

http://www.sciencepodcastforkids.com/single-post/2017/02/10/The-Secret-Life-of-Your-Shower-with-Noah-Fierer

That’s where I heard about it first and it’s a terrific show!  Find it on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Want more citizen science?  The SciStarter website has a terrific search function to help you find an experiment to be a part of, and you can filter your search by age group.

I found out about SciStarter from SciGirls, a PBS show where you can see see real tween and teen girls doing citizen science and download activity guides .

Heres the SciGrils website for parents:

http://www.scigirlsconnect.org/citizen-science

and the site for kids:

http://pbskids.org/scigirls where you can watch episodes, play games or find activities.  

Want to get your hands dirty right away?  Check out our program Curiosity Hacked, which will be focusing on building supportive habitats for native species and citizen science this year.  We have a two Meet & Greet events: August 3 and August 12. Registration for the 2017-2018 academic year will take place at the end of summer.