[Bgsa] Fw: Science Fair Expo!

[Brian Gray]

Hi Everyone,

Michael Horton from the Riverside County Office of Education 
is looking for volunteers for the Science Fair Expo on Oct 2.  
It's a great way to get in some outreach, as well as provide 
mentoring to our local youth as they plan their science fair 
projects.  See the email below for more information.

Regards,
Brian


Science Fair Expo!
Fri Aug 20 2010 12:31:38 GMT-0700 (Pacific Daylight Time)
From: "Michael Horton" <MHORTON at rcoe.us>
To: "Michael Horton" <MHORTON at rcoe.us>

Thank you to all of the professors, scientists, and graduate 
students who participated in the Science Fair Expo last 
November. Last year, we had 2 first, 2 second, 2 third, 2 
fourth, and 13 honorable mentions at the 2010 state fair. The 
number of students placing in the top 3 went up this year 
from 
4 to 6. Some of those were students who worked with you as 
a 
result of Science Fair Expo.

This year’s Expo is expected to have even more students and 
teachers in attendance. We are holding it earlier this year 
so it will be easier to work with a student on a project and 
students will have more time to use what they've learned. The 
date of this year’s event is Saturday, October 2, 2010.

Students would benefit greatly from your participation. We 
are also highly encouraging your graduate students to 
participate this year. Please forward this message to your 
colleagues and graduate students.

Remember that there are several ways that you can help out:

1) Be a county science fair judge. The better the quality of 
the judging, the better we can identify projects that will be 
successful at the next level. Please contact Tracy Rivas 
(trivas at rcoe.us) to get more information about judging. It's 
only about a 5 hour commitment one day a year.

2) Be a guest at our "Science Fair Expo". On Saturday, 
October 2nd we are inviting all students, teachers, and 
parents in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties to come 
together to learn how to create an award-winning project. We 
will have breakout sessions with guest speakers and an area 
where students can ask a scientist about their project. We 
need your help in answering student questions and consulting 
on project ideas. The students will be instructed that they 
may ask how to improve their topic, how to test their 
hypothesis with good science, what data to collect to answer 
their question, etc. The Expo will be from 9:00-1:00 in 
Riverside, but you can come and go as needed. If one of the 
students' ideas or one of the students themselves impresses 
you, then you might consider option 3 or 4.

3) Mentor a student via email. We will put together a list of 
scientists/professors who are willing to answer student 
questions and provide them to our science fair coordinators. 
Or, you can connect directly with a student whose area of 
interest matches your research area and mentor them via 
email 
directly.

4) Bring a student into your lab to work with you on a 
project. Some students are willing to come to your lab over 
the summer or after school to work on advanced projects. 
Many 
of these projects are the ones that place in the top 3 at the 
state.

5) Teacher workshops If you have an NSF or other grant that 
requires outreach, I can help you set up a cadre of teachers 
to train to take your work back to the classrooms with them. 
Several models are already in place and increasing the amount 
of hands-on science in our K-12 classrooms benefits 
everyone.

6) Visit a classroom Teachers love it when scientists come to 
their classrooms to talk about science. I can help you find 
what grade level your area of expertise fits best in and 
connect you to a school close to your home or office. 
Graduate students are particularly welcome to be school 
science ambassadors.

If you are interested in any of these ideas and want more 
details, please contact me (mhorton at rcoe.us, 951-826-
6729) or 
Rick Hall (rick_hall at sbcss.k12.ca.us, 909-386-2611). If you'd 
like to talk about other ways of improving science education 
in the region, feel free to contact us also.

Thank you in advance for helping students experience real, 
cutting-edge science. This email is going out to 1,000 people 
at 8 institutions. We hope to have 100 volunteers on October 
2nd.

Mike




Michael Horton
Science Coordinator
Riverside County Office of Education
District and School Success Center
3939 Thirteenth Street
P.O. Box 868
Riverside, CA 92502-0868
(951) 826-6729
[951] 826-6937 FAX
mhorton at rcoe.us