I've been too busy to take part in planning the GEMS summer camp curriculum for this year, so I ended up as a sub, covering a different session each week. It may be more fun this way, less prep time and less chance to get bored of doing the same experiment over and over. On the other hand, it makes it harder to set up elaborate multi-week student ( Read more... )

Today was our final day for GEMS (Gains in the Education of Math and Science) summer camp. And it was great. My favorite moment was when a student, explaining an electron microscope picture, said "This fracture is complicated, with fibers sticking out. That's good. The more complicated a fracture is, the more energy it absorbed ( Read more... )

I volunteered for the GEMS* program this past week, teaching four groups of middle and high-schoolers how to make plaster bars and measure their strength. I was surprised to find that the middle schoolers seemed more enthusiastic and attentive than the high school crowd. Maybe I've been too much biased by outdated personal experience ( Read more... )