

SPRING 23-24 STEM UPDATES & SUPPORT

π£ News & Resources
Partnership Pricing
If your district uses or is interested in any of the tools listed below, please contact Travis Stormer tstormer@iu28.org, for partnership agreement pricing.
- ClickView
- Kami
- Newsela
- TalkingPoints
- GoGuardian (Pear Deck, Educalstic, TutorMe)
- Parent Square
- NoRedInk
Micro:bit in the Garden - A CodeJoy Session
- Virtual training
- June 5, 2024
- 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
- Appropriate for teachers serving students in 3rd-12th grades
- Learn how to meet the EL&S part of STEELS
- Free Micro:bit
Remake Learning Days 2024
We are looking for hosts for Remake Learning Days 2024! Do you know a school or community organization who would like to host an event? Is your school interested in signing up for the Career Ready PA Backpack Challenge? Would your 1st and 2nd graders like to participate in a STEM design challenge with another class across PA?
Click the link below to find out how you can join in the fun of Remake Learning Days 2024!
IUP Spring Planetarium Shows
Several public planetarium shows are scheduled each year to encourage the campus and community to visit and enjoy the planetarium. All shows are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.
Location for all shows: Second floor of Kopchick Hall. The Cejka Planetarium is just inside the Oak Grove doors.
Shows are at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Cejka Planetarium, located on the second floor (Oak Grove level) of Kopchick Hall. Kopchick Hall is on the east side of the Oak Grove. Weather permitting, after the show telescope observing of the night sky (evening shows) or of the Sun (daytime shows) will be available. Seating is limited; doors will open 15 minutes before each show. Groups that wish to attend are asked to call in advance. For more information call 724-357-5626 or 724-357-2379.
Click the PDF below for the full spring schedule.
FREE Summer PD with CodeJoy
Infosys Foundation USA is sponsoring CodeJoy for the 3rd year in a row to deliver free professional development this summer! Register and receive live, virtual workshops and physical robotics hardware, delivered to you wherever you spend your summer. This opportunity is open to any and all public and public charter school teachers - and new this year, it's also open to public library employees! Share with your colleagues, learn more, and register here: https://www.codejoy.org/pathfinders-24
We're offering 3 new courses this summer:
- Micro:bit in the Garden: Join micro:bit Champion Amanda Jeane Strode and insect scientist Adam Lazarus to engage your students in the great outdoors through the portal of the micro:bit! Participants receive 10 free micro:bits.
- Robot Mini Golf with Hummingbird: Join the CodeJoy team to build a thematic mini golf course with robots and explore Project Based Learning design with the Hummingbird Robotics Kit! Participants receive 1 free Hummingbird Robotics Kit.
- Beyond the Hype: Practical AI for Educators: Join experienced AI educators Rachelle DenΓ© Poth and Aaron Maurer, along with CodeJoy's Kelsey Derringer, to learn to use AI as our creative co-pilot, fueling innovative lessons and deeper student engagement. This hands-on course takes you beyond the hype, equipping you with practical AI tools and real-world applications for educators.
We hope to learn with you soon! Learn more here: https://www.codejoy.org/pathfinders-24
Learning with Music
You can find content created by BrightNow! for free in 3 places:
- On Ready, Set, Music from PBS - content with an SEL focus,
- On PaTTAN's CS Songs - content with a computer science focus, and
- On OER Commons - content with a STEM focus
AI in the Classroom - A Resource
Many of the conversations we're having are about how teachers can use AI and how schools can develop policies (often to block or "combat") AI, and this is the first work I've been part of that addresses how we can teach our students about AI, the way it works, and the ethics associated with it.
The CS/PA Smart statewide workgroup developed Artificial Intelligence In the Classroom: Resources for CS EdWeek 2023 to share with educators to use for CSEdWeek and/or Hour of Code.
This resource is created as a collection of free curricular resources to support educators in teaching about artificial intelligence to students in K-12th grades. Many of these resources offer several opportunities and levels of educational materials, activities, and resources. Weβve taken the time to highlight some of the shorter 1-hour activities that one might explore using during CS EdWeek and/or Hour of Code, but note that many of these resources are far more robust and could be used across several days or weeks depending on time and curricular needs.
π€ Lending Library Spotlight
Micro:bit - The BBC micro:bit is an award-winning programmable device that allows students to get hands-on with coding and digital making. Use it to inspire your students to recognize the power of technology in the real world. These first steps will help you get started and ready to teach with the micro:bit.
micro:bits can be coded with Make Code. As a bonus - Make Code has a simulator, so you can scaffold the learning. Code your micro:bit to be a relaxation breathing visual, then construct a wearable device using makerspace items! Contact ARIN IU28 for ideas and support on using micro:bits in your classroom.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Participation in the ARIN Lending Library offers you access to over 100 STEM tools. Sign up for an account, search our inventory, request materials, and have them delivered to your school. Our library includes robotics kits for all ages, drones, virtual field trip kits, and more! Click here for more information.
π¬ STEELS Standards
ARIN supports the implementation of the Pennsylvania Integrated Standards for Science, Technology & Engineering, and Environmental Literacy and Sustainability (PA STEELS Standards) by providing assistance for building curriculum, instruction, and assessment capacity.
Please click here for details on 2023-24 trainings and supports for the STEELS Standards.
Please click here for details on 2024-25 trainings and supports for the STEELS Standards.
STEELS Vendor Fair
Do you teach (or support people who teach) science, technology, or engineering?
Are you an administrator preparing to implement the PA STEELS Standards?
Join us for FREE food, FREE prizes, FREE registration, networking, and access to curriculum resources at the PA STEELS Vendor Fair on March 13, 2024, from 5-8 pm at Chestnut Ridge Conference Center Ballroom in Blairsville, PA.
For more information, see the attached document. To reserve your spot, please visit https://bit.ly/24VENDORFAIR.
Can't make it? We'll miss you! Please share this with a colleague who might be interested!
π Ecosystem & Career Readiness
ARIN convenes diverse stakeholder groups to establish STEM/Computer Science partnerships and create meaningful programs as part of dynamic collective impact networks (STEM Ecosystems) in support of authentic real-world and relevant STEM/computer science learning and career readiness. For more information, please contact Stacie Isenberg at sisenberg@iu28.org.
Armstrong Indiana Career Pathways Partnership
Chief Science Officers (CSO) Program
STEM Networking Sessions - These sessions will take place at Westmoreland IU7, located at 102 Equity Drive Greensburg, PA 15601. Session Dates are:
- September 28, 2023
- December 15, 2023
- February 6, 2024
- May 14, 2024
Seed Your Future
Seed Your Future is excited to announce our new professional development program for high school teachers in line with Next Generation Science Standards! Weβre seeking 30 high school science educators for an expenses-paid immersive professional development experience June 2-6, 2024, in order to prompt plant science, horticulture, and floriculture careers for students across the US.
Participants will receive industry training and immerse themselves in onsite locations to learn about career opportunities, allowing them to experience horticulture in a way that will enable them to explain industry careers to their students in greater detail.
Application deadline is March 8, 2024.
Interested in applying? Sign up here!
Want to learn more before diving in? Follow this link!
Interested in donating so Seed Your Future can continue to provide rewarding training such as this? Donate here!
Seed Your Future
https://www.seedyourfuture.org/
ARIN supports the development and implementation of local, regional, and state STEM and Computer Science related competitions.
- ARIN Regional Competition - December 14, 2023
- State Competition - Hershey Lodge, February 2024
Media and Design Competition (MadCom)
- ARIN Regional Competition - March 12, 2024
- State Competition - Dickenson College, May 2024
- ARIN Regional Competition - March 26, 2024
- State Competition - Harrisburg, May 2024
24 Math Challenge - April 9, 2024
PA Governor's STEM Logo Competition 2024
- Deadline for submissions is December 12, 2023, at 9:00 PM.
PA Governor's STEM Competition 2024
- Team registration opens September 27, 2024
- Team registration closes on February 5, 2024
- Round 1 of judging will occur virtually from March 7 - 27, 2024
- State Finals will be held at PaTTAN Harrisburg on May 8, 2024
The Sea, Air and Land Challenge aims to provide students with an opportunity to tackle a difficult engineering project while in high school, provide students with an awareness of the tremendous technical careers in the DoD as a civilian or in the armed forces, and to help educators and administrators implement or enhance a successful STEM program into their schools and organizations even given time, budget and resource constraints.
The program is free to students, school districts and organizations. There is no fee for registration or the program material, however, each team is responsible for securing their own funding, a maximum of $600 per team, for their open-sourced robotic system as part of the challenge. Demonstrating effective budgeting and cost management for their project is considered in scoring each teamsβ work.
School registration is now open for regions across the state. If you are interested in participating, you may register your school at: http://seaairland.psu.edu/register/. If you are interested in learning more, please click here, visit the website (https://seaairland.psu.edu/) or contact us at Sea Air Land Group (seaairland@arl.psu.edu ).
π₯οΈ CS in PA (Computer Science)
ARIN supports the growth and implementation of K-12 Computer Science Education and the 7-12
Computer Science Educator Certification (CSPG-71) in collaboration with PaTTAN via CSinPA.
CS4ALL SCRIPT Workshops - CS alignment for districts
Workshop offered for ABC CREATE Districts on Feb. 28-29
- 7-12 Praxis Prep Pathway & Reimbursement Program
- 7-12 CS Praxis peer tutoring program
- K-8 Micro-credential Program
CSinPA 7-12 Computer Science Praxis Pathway Information (Fall info TBA)
ABC CREATE L.E.A.D.S - CS sessions and PD for K-8 students and teachers