STEM Ed Announcement: Science/Engineering Saturday Seminars

[Morton Sternheim <mort@k12s.phast.umass.edu>]

This is a UMass Amherst program.
Contact information is below.
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Science & Engineering Saturday Seminars         Fall, 2010 
-        Designed for science teachers; new teachers are especially welcome         

-        Five Saturdays each term; 8:30-1 at UMass Amherst, Lederle Grad
          Towers 1033 (except as noted)

-        Educational materials, refreshments, parking, PDPs included

-        Advance registration is required; capacity is limited

-        Cost $30 per session

-        4 PDPs per half day session

October 16. Traffic Engineering and the Everyday World. Mike Knodler, Civil
and Environmental Engineering. This seminar introduces basic traffic
engineering principles for streets and highways with emphasis on the safe
and efficient operation of roadway intersections.  Nearly 40,000 people are
killed each year on US roadways, many at intersections.  In addition,
increasing traffic volumes has led to congestion requiring improved vehicle
movement efficiency at intersections.  Topics to be covered include:
vehicle, operator, and roadway characteristics; traffic control; roadway
capacity; geometric design objectives and plan formulation; demand
forecasting; and economic, social, and environmental evaluation.  The
seminar features several hands-on activities adaptable at  all grade levels.

October 30.  Backyard Biofuels: Understanding the Genomic Potential of the Q
Microbe.  Integrated Sciences Building. Jeff Blanchard and Amy Biddle,
Microbiology. The forests surrounding the Quabbin reservoir are home to the
bacterium, Clostridium phytofermentans. In the last two years C.
phytofermentans has become a Local Hero and is known as the Q Microbe
because it was discovered near the Quabbin reservoir and because of the
publicity surrounding the biofuels startup company Qteros. Qteros is founded
upon the concept of using this locally discovered microbe to produce
ethanol from plant fibers. The Q Microbe is a very tractable system for
engaging high school students in the microbiology of forest soils, genomics
and biotechnology. The goal is to provide a fundamental understanding of
genome science using free and/or web-based tools, and classroom activities
for diverse levels.

November 13. Weather cancellation makeup date if needed.

December 4. Recall for those registered for graduate credit. Hasbrouck
Lab.

Questions: Mort Sternheim, mort@umassk12.net, 413-545-1908,
www.umassk12.net/sess 

Online seminar registration and payment:
www.umassk12.net/sess/register.html.