A trek for the minds
While wearing prism goggles, Dominic Pierce of Manistique throws a ball towards a basketball hoop (out of frame). Though the goggles distort perspective, students can learn to adjust with a little practice. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Escanaba seventh-grader Abbie Lantagne scales a telephone pole set up in the Ruth Butler Building by North Country Electrical Line and Heavy Equipment School during an event on Wednesday morning. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
An explosion caused by nitrogen changing state ensues before a crowd of watching schoolchildren on the U.P. State Fairgrounds. A two-liter of liquid nitrogen was placed in the red can with warm water, causing rapid expansion; nitrogen has a low boiling point. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Mind Trekkers -- Michigan Tech students who travel to bring STEM to schoolchildren -- prepare an experiment with liquid nitrogen. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
A five-dollar bill remains intact as the alcohol on its surface burns. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Mind Trekkers is a traveling STEM-promoting show put on by Michigan Technological University. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Michigan Tech student Lucas Centner performs a demonstration showing that a dollar bill soaked in a mixture of water, alcohol and salt will not burn the bill when set on fire. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Not all the demonstrations at the Mind Trekkers event yesterday were high-tech. Here, two youths practice the proper technicque for spreading pizza sauce on dough at a Dominos booth. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Students decorate "foam gnomes" —solid shapes that were formed before their eyes via an exothermic reaction when two types of polyurethane were combined. L.E. Jones of Menominee assisted MTU's Mind Trekkers at this station. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Tower of Hanoi is a math puzzle that challenges a person to move rings of various sizes to different posts, with restrictions. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
School buses from Manistique and Escanaba are seen parked outside buildings on the U.P. State Fairgrounds, where Mind Trekkers was held on Wednesday. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
While wearing prism goggles, Dominic Pierce of Manistique throws a ball towards a basketball hoop (out of frame). Though the goggles distort perspective, students can learn to adjust with a little practice. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Escanaba seventh-grader Abbie Lantagne scales a telephone pole set up in the Ruth Butler Building by North Country Electrical Line and Heavy Equipment School during an event on Wednesday morning. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
An explosion caused by nitrogen changing state ensues before a crowd of watching schoolchildren on the U.P. State Fairgrounds. A two-liter of liquid nitrogen was placed in the red can with warm water, causing rapid expansion; nitrogen has a low boiling point. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Mind Trekkers -- Michigan Tech students who travel to bring STEM to schoolchildren -- prepare an experiment with liquid nitrogen. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
A five-dollar bill remains intact as the alcohol on its surface burns. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Mind Trekkers is a traveling STEM-promoting show put on by Michigan Technological University. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Michigan Tech student Lucas Centner performs a demonstration showing that a dollar bill soaked in a mixture of water, alcohol and salt will not burn the bill when set on fire. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Not all the demonstrations at the Mind Trekkers event yesterday were high-tech. Here, two youths practice the proper technicque for spreading pizza sauce on dough at a Dominos booth. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Students decorate "foam gnomes" —solid shapes that were formed before their eyes via an exothermic reaction when two types of polyurethane were combined. L.E. Jones of Menominee assisted MTU's Mind Trekkers at this station. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Tower of Hanoi is a math puzzle that challenges a person to move rings of various sizes to different posts, with restrictions. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
School buses from Manistique and Escanaba are seen parked outside buildings on the U.P. State Fairgrounds, where Mind Trekkers was held on Wednesday. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
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ESCANABA -- A delegation from Michigan Technological University (MTU) set up stations in the Ruth Butler Building at the Upper Peninsula State Fairgrounds yesterday, all with the goal of getting middle-schoolers interested in fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics -- collectively called STEM.
The returning event is a program called “Mind Trekkers,” a traveling roadshow organized through MTU’s Center for Educational Outreach. The Trekkers have a six-person student executive board and about 150 volunteers each year to help put on the events.
For the preteens who attend, Mind Trekkers destination is like a mashup of a career fair, field day and entertaining show.
“Participants discover firsthand the awe and power of science through experimentation,” says MTU’s Mind Trekkers webpage.
By setting up a number of tables and welcoming groups of children, Mind Trekkers exposes kids to science experiments they likely haven’t seen in a classroom, brain teasers, games, crafts, trades and continuing education.
“Really we’re about sparking curiosity, kindling that passion,” said Center for Educational Outreach Director Brad Wells. “Getting that hands-on chance to try something out.”
Tuesday’s event brought middle-schoolers from 10 schools, plus home-schooled children, to the Ruth Butler Building in Escanaba. During a cycle of three sessions, with the first beginning at 8:15 a.m., the Mind Trekkers welcomed groups of students from Big Bay de Noc, Bark River-Harris, Carney-Nadeau, Mid Peninsula, Nah Tah Wahsh, North Central, Escanaba, Gladstone, Manistique, Rapid River and home learners.
In addition to learning about electrical currents, chemical and physical changes and more from MTU students, the schoolchildren were able to get information about higher education from a representative from Northern Michighan University’s admissions office and met professionals from area businesses -- including VanAire, L. E. Jones and even Domino’s Pizza.
While every booth appeared to grab some level of attention -- and the Press observed a queue of about a dozen seventh- and eighth-grade girls waiting to try scaling the wooden post set up by the North Country Electrical Line and Heavy Equipment School -- science experiments are the show-stealing focus of Mind Trekkers. During each of the three sessions, the entire group of students and teachers gathered in a circle around Tech students in safety gear handling liquid nitrogen; the outdoor demonstration culminated with explosions housed in trash cans.
MTU environmental engineering student and Mind Trekkers President Liz Lamers said that the group enjoys bringing their showcase to kids, but that other members of the public interested in seeing the setups are often able to attend.
Upcoming Mind Trekkers events will be in Houghton, Port Huron and Grand Rapids. Some have specific open-to-the-public hours. More information may be found at www.mtu.edu/mindtrekkers.