Category Archives: STEM

Drones taking students on flights of STEM fancy

Rice camp introduces students to careers related to these devices

Drones are making headlines more and more often in the news these days, and about a dozen HISD students have been learning about these high-tech devices — and the careers they’re used in — during a camp held at Rice University.

The sixth- to ninth-grade students, who attend DeBakey High School, HSPVA, Lanier Middle School, Revere Middle School, the T.H. Rogers School, and Valley West Elementary School, spent three days learning how to design, engineer, and pilot drones in mid-August.

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Partnership with NMSI preparing students for AP success

A districtwide partnership with the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) is helping HISD teachers better prepare their students for the rigor of Advanced Placement (AP) coursework and for success on the corresponding exams — particularly in the areas of STEM: science, technology, engineering, and math.

During the week of Aug. 10, Advanced Placement teachers from across the district gathered at Carnegie High School for the AP Summer Institute. The four-day event, which was facilitated by the Innovative Curriculum and Instruction and Department, included training with NMSI content experts in the AP areas of English, calculus, statistics, biology, chemistry, physics, environmental science, and computer science. Continue reading →

Wheatley HS biology teacher named finalist for Presidential Award

Wheatley High School biology teacher Ferleshare Starks poses for a photograph in her classroom, August 14, 2015. (Houston ISD/Dave Einsel)

Ferleshare Starks

Ferleshare Starks, a biology teacher at HISD’s Wheatley High School, has been named a finalist for the 2015 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST).

Starks, who came to HISD from Fort Bend ISD last year, is one of only 10 educators from Texas to be so honored. She was nominated by Tia Watson, a first-year teacher she is mentoring.

“Being nominated by my mentee is one of the highlights of my career,” said Starks. “My passion is to fill all new teachers with a love for science. Being named a finalist has given me an overwhelming sense of gratitude.”

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Teachers get support in science instruction from Baylor College of Medicine

Greg Vogt demonstrates Newton's second law of motion by igniting vaporized ethanol to show how thrust is generated for rocket launches.

Greg Vogt demonstrates Newton’s second law of motion by igniting vaporized ethanol to show how thrust is generated for rocket launches.

Students may still be on vacation, but more than 450 teachers from the Houston Independent School District went back to the classroom this summer for an intensive training program organized by Baylor College of Medicine’s Center for Education Outreach.

The Baylor Summer Science Institute is geared toward teachers who may not have a strong science background. The program included presentations by scientists and inquiry-based lessons featuring content specific to teachers’ grade levels, with a focus on the nature of science and physical science. Each participant also received teaching resources to take back to their campuses and earned professional development credit.

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Summer STEM Institute helps teachers infuse learning with fun

More than five dozen HISD science, technology, engineering, and math teachers took part in a summer institute recently that was designed to help boost students’ math and science scores by incorporating more fun into their lessons.

The educators came from 23 HISD elementary and middle schools that received part of a TIF4 STEM grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The grant also provides resources such as equipment and technology, and participating teachers will receive additional training opportunities throughout the school year and share what they have learned with other faculty members at their campuses.

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Higher-level math program lets students explore possibilities at Rice University

Forty HISD high school students are getting a taste of college life and higher-level mathematics this month by studying the basics of calculus at the Tapia Math Science Scholars (TMSS) program.

The program, now in its second year, was started by the Rice University School Mathematics Project (RUSMP) and the Rice University Richard Tapia Center for Excellence and Equity (TCEE), in collaboration with HISD. Participating students live at Rice for four weeks, where they study, attend lectures given by Rice professors, and work on their own research projects. Continue reading →

Summer horticulture camp unearths career options for students

Students beginning their junior and senior years at schools throughout HISD had an opportunity to get their hands dirty recently at a Horticulture Production Summer Camp.

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The camp, which took place July 6–16 at the Hollingsworth Science Center, offered students the opportunity to broaden their perspective of the STEM terminology beyond science, technology, engineering and math. There are a vast number of subsets to STEM disciplines, and plants, their environments, and the benefits they provide to the human race and the planet are an important field and career choice. Continue reading →

Pumps & Pipes externship shows teachers how to link learning with careers

Mentors for Mentors gives educators direct access to medical, energy, and space professionals

Whether you’re a cardiologist trying to clear a blocked artery or an engineer trying to drill for oil more efficiently, the mechanics and physics at play are the same.

That’s why 15 educators from seven different HISD campuses attended a “Pumps & Pipes” externship recently to learn how to apply concepts from engineering to medicine and vice-versa.

Pumps & Pipes was founded in 2007 to allow medical, energy, and aerospace professionals to learn from on another by comparing notes on common systems and processes. At the “Mentors for Mentors” symposium, they shared insights they had gained with HISD teachers, so that they, in turn, could get students excited about studying science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

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HISD students venture into the world of STEM at Rice

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Eastwood Academy student Michael Casio tests water samples in a microbiology lab.

A chemistry formula is just letters to be memorized until it becomes the answer to a problematic disease.

This summer, a group of HISD students are interning in various labs at Rice University and finding such answers. Linked Learning, an HISD program that initiates applied and career-based learning, created these internships with help from the Rice Office of STEM Engagement. More than 300 students applied for 12 spots, making the six-week paid internship applicant pool more competitive than that of a top-tier college.

At the Rice labs, each student is paired with a graduate student mentor. The interns are helping their mentors research everything from Alzheimer’s disease to solar cells to volcanoes. After a few short weeks in the advanced labs, the interns can now toss out scientific terms without a hint of a stammer and handle chemical samples as if it were second nature. Continue reading →

Hands-on STEM camp gets students excited about careers

Dozens of HISD elementary and middle school students spent the first month of the summer break at a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) camp at M.C. Williams Middle School.

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Campers, who are in grades 2–8, had daily team-building sessions during the program, which ran from June 2–26. They also learned how to code video games, and built rockets that they launched on the last day of camp. Continue reading →