magazine

STEM in the
City 2016:
A Summer Camp
In residence at the Department of Mathematics and Science on
Wheelock College’s Boston campus, STEM in the City is a careerand
college-awareness summer camp for young people entering the
eighth and ninth grades. Innovative and fun, the annual camp features
excursions to Boston-area companies, organizations, or field sites
that highlight a variety of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering,
and Math) disciplines and engages students in a related classroom
lab activity led by STEM professionals. During the camp, students
explore a variety of STEM-related careers and the educational pathways
needed to attain those careers. In addition, campers are introduced
to college life and academics through campus tours featuring
Wheelock’s classrooms, residence halls, library, theater, dining hall,
multicultural center, and more. They also have the opportunity to
participate in discussions with college students, faculty, and staff.
The key goals of STEM in the City are:
• To increase STEM content knowledge and skill development
• To increase awareness of and to promote STEM careers
• To expose middle school students to a college experience
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STEM in the City 2016
DATES:
Monday–Friday
July 18, 2016 – July 29, 2016
(9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with informal STEM
activities starting at 8 a.m.)
• WEEK 1 (July 18–22, 2016)
• WEEK 2 (July 25–29, 2016)
• FULL CAMP (July 18–29, 2016)
WHO:
Students entering eighth or ninth
grade in the fall of 2016
WHERE:
Wheelock College, Boston, MA
COST:
(includes lunch and a snack)
$400 per Week
$800 for Full Camp
For more information on STEM in the City
and to register, please visit
www.wheelock.edu/stemcamp.
Campers explore the variety of subjects in a relaxed and creative
setting that allows them to develop and strengthen their interest in
STEM fields while building bonds with their peers. Over the course
of the program, students expand their viewpoints and knowledge of
STEM, and apply their new skills in a real-world setting by participating
in Citizen Science. For example, students can use the science educational
tool WhaleNet 2.0. WhaleNet, created at Wheelock College
in 1993, allows students to contribute to actual research programs of
marine mammal research. Students can become involved in a variety
of ways, including submission of photo-identification pictures for the
catalog, traditional water testing, data analysis, mapping, and evaluation
of established research protocols. STEM in the City was launched
in 2015, and the majority of students who participated that first summer
agreed that learning about STEM topics impacts how they view
the world and provides the reasoning skills needed to understand
that STEM concepts can be applied to everyday life.
In the summer of 2016, STEM in the City will focus on four overarching
themes: Marine, Space, Environment, and Health Sciences.
Engineering, math, and technology will be woven into these broader
themes throughout the camp, and students will visit sites such as
7 Seas Whale Watch, the Christa McAuliffe Center, Blue Hills Observatory,
and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Overseeing the
curriculum is camp director Dr. Ellen Faszewski, Wheelock College
professor of Biology and co-chair of the Mathematics and Science
Department. Team members also include Carolin Cardamone, assistant
professor of Astronomy; Galina Dobrynina, associate professor
of Mathematics; and Mare Parker-O’Toole, assistant director of the
Earl Center for Learning and Innovation.