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4041 N. Central Ave., Ste. 1200
Phoenix, AZ 85012

602-506-3866

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STEM Pro Live! Archive

STEM Pro Live!

Bringing STEM professionals from their workplaces into your classroom for free

STEM Pro Live with Midwestern College of Podiatric Medicine

Did you know that bones are being 3D printed and transplanted into feet during medical procedures? Dr. Jeffrey Jensen and medical student Ashlee Starr from Midwestern University College of Podiatric Medicine shared with teachers and students all about the interesting profession of podiatry.

STEM Pro Live with Arizona Natural Museum of History

STEM Pro Live Special Edition with Dr. Marysol Luna

Dr. Marysol Luna is proof that you don’t have to take a traditional route in education to achieve remarkable success. What started out with an interest in the human body lead to a career in biomedical engineering. Be inspired by her story and what lead her to become the first Latina to earn her Ph.D in mechanical engineering from Cornell University.

STEM Pro Live with Phoenix Children’s Hospital

Arizona Natural Museum of History professionals Benjamin Paysnoe, resident paleo artist/sculptor and Dr. Emily Early, curator of anthropology brought the science of paleontology to life for our students through discussing dinosaurs, fossils and the ancestral Sonoran Desert dwellers of Phoenix.

Phoenix Children's Hospital professionals Casey Kinney, a Registered Nurse who specializes in Diabetes and Endocrinology and Yesenia De La Rosa, a Practice Manager on the Medical Assisting team share about their education and training along with their love for interacting with patients and families.

STEM Pro Live with APS Palo Verde Generating Station

APS Palo Verde Generating Station is the United States’ largest power producer and provides clean, carbon-free energy to millions. Learn more about the exciting world of nuclear energy and how it helps people from two of their nuclear engineers.

 

STEM Pro Live with Phoenix Children’s Hospital Part 2

Students and teachers loved learning more about the medical profession with Dr. Davinder Singh, the Chief of Plastic Surgery at Phoenix Children's Hospital. She gave students an inside peek at how she helps children of all ages in her job. Marrit Thorkelson explains her role at the hospital in the 3D Imaging Lab.

STEM Pro Live: Engineers Week

Boeing engineer and rocket scientist Tony Castilleja Jr. shares his excitement for STEM and engineering.

Engineering Career Panel

Six aeronautical engineers from Boeing discuss what they do and how students can prepare for an engineering career.

Engineer Design Challenge Panel

Engineers who work with the Boeing autonomous undersea vehicle, Echo Voyager discuss how they use the Engineer Design Process. Access the related Solve It STEM Challange.


STEM Pro Live with Intel

Discover how to use the Design Thinking Process in future careers with engineers from Intel.

STEM Pro Live with Medtronic

Learn about medical technology careers from professionals at Medtronic.

STEM Pro Live with Raytheon

Professionals from Raytheon Missiles and Defense explain how they use virtual and cutting edge technology in their jobs.


STEM Pro Live with APS Palo Verde Generating Station

Learn about the importance of nuclear energy with APS Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station.

STEM Pro Live with COX Communications

Let’s learn about the careers at COX Communications that help create our digital world.

STEM Pro Live with Arizona Green Drone Project

Learn how this organization addresses community environmental challenges and conservation efforts.


STEM Pro Live with Boeing

Learn about the ecoAction Program at Boeing.

STEM Pro Live with ASU College of Health Solutions

Cooking and Nutrition at Home with ASU College of Health Solutions.

Cooking Tutorials

STEM Pro Live with Butterfly Wonderland

Learning about Rainforest critters with Butterfly Wonderland.


STEM Pro Live with Liberty Wildlife

Learn about Arizona wildlife rescue with professionals from Liberty Wildlife.

STEM Pro Live with Odysea Aquarium

Learn about the mammal and sea life living at Odysea Aquarium.

STEM Pro Live with CHASSE Building Team

Professionals from Chasse explain about building and project management.


STEM Pro Live with DBE Surveying

Learn about surveying and drones with DBE Surveying

STEM Pro Live with Southwest Gas

Professionals Hengameh Najafi and Rob McGee talk natural gas and a variety of STEM careers

STEM Pro Live with TGen

We’re discussing medical research with scientists Dr. Candace Lewis, Intern Krystal Marrufo and Dr. William Hendricks


STEM Pro Live with Abbott

Learn about problem-solving from STEM professionals Melinda Baier and Alex Zemezonak

STEM Pro Live with ASP Palo Verde Nuclear Station

Learn about nuclear energy with engineers Leanne Burgess, Holland Vande Krol and Adriana Cisco-Sullberg.

STEM Pro Live with Insight Enterprises

Learn the importance of communication with Bret Wingert and Gail Gonzales.


STEM Pro Live with Arizona Department of Water Resources

Zacary Richards and Einav Henenson explain the importance of water conservation.

STEM Pro Live with Steadfast Farm

Learn about the science of growing your own produce from Erich and Kyle.

STEM Pro Live with Next Level Physical Therapy

Professionals from Next Level Physical Therapy and Performance teach us how to rehab and prevent injuries to our bodies.


STEM Pro Live with ASU College of Health Solutions

Executive Chef Kent Moody and Professor Christy Alexon educate us on proper nutrition and the academic skills needed to work in this industry.

STEM Pro Live with First Solar

Engineers Bryan Skarbek and Andrea Buhr teach about solar energy careers

STEM Pro Live with Verizon Indycar and Honda Performance

Verizon Indycar Safety Driver and Honda Performance Trackside Engineers discuss the Motorsports Industry.


STEM Pro Live with APS Palo Verde Nuclear Station

Navigating Nuclear with Palo Verde Generating Station’s Greg Cameron and Ryne Burgess.

To view the Virtual Tour and download the FREE Educator Guide, click here.

STEM Pro Live with Liberty Wildlife

Vet Tech Jan Miller and Wildlife Biologist Laura Hackett share about Arizona’s wildlife rescue efforts.

STEM Pro Live with Arizona Department of Water Resources

Have you ever looked at the water coming out of your faucet and wondered where it comes from? We see water everywhere but probably never question all of the planning that goes into the water we use. In this STEM Pro Live!, you'll hear from a hydrologist and a planning manager who work for the Arizona Department of Water Resources.

Brian Conway and Natalie Mast discuss Arizona’s water.


STEM Pro Live with Odysea Aquarium’s Dylan Salamone and Ben Brose

STEM Pro Live with Amazon Fulfillment Center’s Clint Chadwick

STEM Pro Live with Water Connection's Denise Harkison

Learn more about Water Connection here.

Find out more about the Central Arizona Project and drinking water requirements in Maricopa County here.

The 2016 Phoenix Water Quality Report is here.


STEM Pro Live with OdySea Aquarium Animal Care and Education Team Members

You can learn more about OdySea Aquarium by visiting their website or enjoying a visit! Field information is here and you can learn more about OdySea's internship program here.

You can learn more about OdySea's conservation partnerships on this webpage.

You can learn more about the conservation partners "Hutch" mentioned at these links: Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), Seafood Watch

We are also working on answering more of the questions that were asked and will try to post those here as soon as possible. Several people had questions about OdySea's sea turtles. You can virtually meet the aquarium's sea turtles on this webpage

STEM Pro Live with April Wire at the Maricopa County Department of Transportation

STEM Pro Live with Engineers from Kimley-Horn

Learn more about Kimley-Horn here.

Additional questions:

What is the best engineering college? There are lots of great engineering colleges. I chose mine because of the “learn by doing” environment associated with “polytechnic” schools. Find a school that matches your non-negotiables – being close to family, or away from family, within your price range, with activities and studies you’re interested in – you’ll find a match no matter what you’re looking for!

What are the salary ranges? Entry level engineers are in the upper $60,000’s – it’s a well-supported career for sure. Sky is the limit depending on where you want to go!

Why is the SkyTrain so high? It’s got to travel over an ACTIVE runway, meaning planes travel UNDER the active SkyTrain. TONS of engineering went into that! Structural design, electrical design, roadway design, taxiway design, etc.

Do you use biomimicry for engineering designs? I’m sure some engineering careers do. We do not try to imitate nature specifically.

You stated that you work as a team: how do you set up a team and decide responsibilities? There is typically a project manager that delegates responsibilities to task managers, which are project managers for their tasks. Each task manager will identify the skill sets (AutoCAD, GIS, field observation, etc.) that will be required to complete the project and organizes the resources within our company, or in partnership with other companies, to complete the objective of the task or project.

What is the biggest/longest project you’ve done? A South Africa project that helped prepare the country for the 2010 World Cup tournament. I started working on it 10 years ago, it’s still going, because they still need support throughout the country related to intelligent transportation. Granted, it has completed many other phases since then, but it’s an ongoing project that is taking one or more people trips to South Africa to support each year. Fun stuff!

What kind of problems do you have to solve with water? Lots of them! Water movement for drainage from or around a site, water transmission around a City to residents and businesses, dam evaluation and master planning, etc. If there are flooding issues, we get a call. If there are storm water runoff issues, we get a call. If there is a safety concern related to water, we get a call.

How long do your average projects take? Typical projects are 9 months to a year long. Although many more projects are shorter, and many more are larger. Our company has a variety of project types and fields we work in, which is the great thing at a multi-disciplinary firm!

How do you build the moveable top of the stadium? You’ll have to ask the architects that design that. 😊

How long does the brainstorm part take of your projects? A large chunk of the beginning of each project is the work planning that will organize how to get the project done. Then you go “produce” the project and have work planning checks that you’re on pace along the way to make sure you complete the project when you planned on getting it all completed. Brainstorming and working as a team definitely makes for a quality product!

Do you offer internships, mentoring, and/or job shadowing for high school students? Internships, yes. Mentoring, always. Job shadowing, yes.

What colleges did you go to? Deanna went to California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo, California, and received a Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering. Brenda attended Arizona State University, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, and graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering and a Masters of Science in Civil Engineering.

How are parking and access routes important to the design of an event area like the stadium? Incredibly important. The City of Glendale, for example, has WEEKLY stadium special event transportation meeting where they bring together partner agencies from around the Phoenix metropolitan area to talk through parking/route planning for ingress and egress of their events. It’s a partnership. City roads, fed by other City roads, fed even more by the state freeway system, in coordination with transit, Uber/Lyft, private shuttles for teams/stars, taxis, etc. When something like the Superbowl comes into town, those WEEKLY meetings turn into DAILY meetings for weeks surrounding the event!

Who decides traffic patterns during busy holidays at the airport? Traffic patterns are dictated by the traveling public generally – the responsibility on the agency side of things is to properly handle/manage the traffic patterns so it’s safe, moving, and not impeding travel to or from destinations. No one person decides that, it’s a partnership to manage traffic patterns.

What is the most common problem you have to solve? The most common problem we have to solve is the one where there is no clear solution. If what engineers did was easy, with simple solutions, we wouldn’t be engineers, or planners, or be hired to do any work. We are hired to solve the problem that is not at all easy to solve – challenging every day, but exciting and dynamic because of that!

If you do something wrong with your designs, do you worry you might break something? We design for factors of safety as much as possible. There is always a risk in being a Civil Engineer, or any other kind of engineer that ends up having something built that could break or hurt something – but we have gone through a lot of schooling and testing/certifications to be able to “stamp” something and designs are not stamped without confidence in what was designed.

What are some of the companies you have worked with to complete projects? Building architects, landscape architects, surveyors, traffic count collectors, media and public meeting professionals, other civil engineers, other electrical engineers, other planners, and third party quality reviewers, to name a few.


STEM Pro Live with Malyree Harper, Freeport-McMoRan Analytical Chemist

STEM Pro Live with OdySea Aquarium Life Support Team Members

Interested in connecting more with OdySea Aquarium? Check out these resources for teachers and classrooms!

Learn more about OdySea Aquarium’s field trip program here. This printable PDF also includes frequently-asked-questions about the OdySea Aquarium field trip program.

OdySea Aquarium also has a downloadable curriculum to use with your students!

Interested in becoming a volunteer or intern at OdySea Aquarium? Learn more here.

STEM Pro Live with Jessica Marquardt and Mark Petersen at reNature

Learn more about reNature here on the company's website and email reNature's staff about internship opportunities here.


STEM Pro Live with Lara Johnstun, Biomedical Informatics Analyst at MIHS

STEM Pro Live with Dustin Pennington, President of Flite Factory

Additional resources:

STEM Pro Live with Vonage Chief Architect, Vice President Sanjay Srinivasan


STEM Pro Live with Washington High School Science Teacher Heather Livengood

STEM Pro Live with Maricopa County GIS Officer David Moss

Here are links to some of the online resources David Moss mentioned in this broadcast:

STEM Pro Live with Maricopa County Programmer Laura Freer

Here are links to some of the websites Laura mentions in this STEM Pro Live!:


STEM Pro Live with the Arizona Coyotes

Special Edition STEM Pro Live! from the Arizona Coyotes STEM Summit.

Learn more about the companies represented by the three STEM professionals: Arizona Coyotes, DLR Group, and Dibble Engineering.

STEM Pro Live with UND Chandler-Gilbert Community College Flight School

Learn about UND Chandler-Gilbert Community College Flight School with Halana Perkins and Alex Volker

Here are some additional resources:

STEM Pro Live with Maricopa County Air Quality

Learn more about air monitoring with Ben Davis

Here is additional information you may want to access:


STEM Pro Live with Maricopa County Waste. Resources and Recycling

Learn waste resources and recycling with Brian Kehoe

STEM Pro Live with SHADE House

SHADE House with Ali Abbaszadegan and Katie Poirier

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR SHADE HOUSE

Anticipatory Set

Follow-up Discussion Set

  • Why do people want to build solar-powered and sustainable homes?

  • What are advantages or benefits to growing vegetables in a local, community garden?

Additional Resources

STEM Pro Live with Musical Instrument Museum

NIKI CUCCINOTTO WITH MUSICAL INSTRUMENT MUSEUM (MIM), JANUARY 28, 2016

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENT MUSEUM

Anticipatory Set

  • Prepare your students for this STEM Pro Live! by discussing the basics of how sound works. This post goes over a basic explanation of how sound works. This page includes a number of activities your students can do to explore sound.

Follow-up Discussion Set

  • List as many jobs as you can that are needed at the MIM. How many include some aspect of STEM?

  • Which instruments that you heard mentioned interested you most? Why?

Additional Resources 

  • How to schedule a field trip to MIM: The Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) periodically receives grant funds intended for education from generous donors. The grants enable students across the state to visit MIM and discover authentic musical artifacts, learn about different cultures through state-of-the-art audio and video recordings, listen to an expansive collection of indigenous music, and play instruments from around the world. These funds from corporations, foundations, and individuals are donated to MIM’s Education Department to award to at-risk students based on each grant’s requirements. The funds are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

  • Application for free student admission: Interdisciplinary lessons, designed for students in grades three to eight, are meant to deepen and extend the learning during a STEM + Music field trip to MIM. Students will explore the characteristics of sound, how various musical instruments make sound, and how the human ear detects it. They will formulate relevant questions about sound production and test them through investigation. As they complete these activities, students will become familiar with the names, origins, and sound-making characteristics of various musical instruments from around the world. Then, students will apply this knowledge, individually or in small groups, to invent a musical instrument of their own.

  • STEM + Music educator resources, including pre- and post-visit activities as well as background information about the science of sound production: Bring the world of music to the classroom! MIM’s Educator Resources are meant to deepen and extend the learning that takes place on a field trip to the museum. K–12 educators can maximize their learning objectives with free supplemental materials for the classroom which include hands-on activities, lesson plans, video clips and photos, and gallery activity pages.

  • MIM’s Educator Resources: Learn more about the instruments in this episode of STEM Pro Live!

  • MIMPhx YouTube channel

  • Learn more about MIM’s Octobasse

  • Learn more about the theremin

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FOR THE MIM

  • How many rooms are in the museum and how long does it take to tour the museum?

The ground level includes the Artist Gallery, the Experience Gallery, the Mechanical Music Gallery, and the Target Gallery. The upper level Geographical Galleries present instruments by regions of the world. An average visit to the museum lasts 3-4 hours. You can learn more about our collections at MIM.org.

  • How does culture influence various music types? How are instruments from different cultures different than ours?

As you can see throughout our galleries, music sounds different around the world. That’s because people are inspired and influenced by their surroundings and music is just one form of expression of an identity. However, as people move around the world and encounter each other, through things like migration, trade, war, and tourism, they trade influences and musical ideas. So, there are groups of instruments and musical influences that you can trace throughout the museum.

  • What country does the gong come from?

The knobbed gongs, like the large one in the Experience Gallery, are found throughout Southeast Asia.

  • When was the first guitar made?

Some of the earliest guitars known are from the 1400s. On display in the Orientation Gallery is a guitarra espanola made around 1590!

  • How does the year the instrument was made affect the quality of the sound?

Simply put, there isn’t always a relationship between quality of sound and how old an instrument is. It also sometimes depends on the player’s preference. For example, some violinists prefer the sound of violins made in the 1500s over ones made today. Whereas others prefer violins made by contemporary makers.

  • What do you think would happen if you combined all the self-playing instruments?

I think it would be a really fun experiment to see how many different instruments you could combine in one mechanical musical instrument, like a Nickelodeon or a Dance Organ. The purpose of those instruments is to recreate the sound of an entire band or ensemble of musicians, but in a single musical instrument. You could also do some research by viewing some of the different music boxes and dance organs that MIM has on display, as part of a loan from the Musical Box Society International in the Mechanical Music Gallery. MIM’s YouTube page includes videos of many of these objects in a playlist called “From the Collection: Mechanical Music."

  • With such rare instruments, how do you find people that know how to play them?

Throughout the museum, there are video clips of musical instruments being played, in their original cultural context. When video clips and photography were being gathered for the displays, consultants worked within communities around the world to find fantastic musicians and talented musical instrument makers. We also have a team of curators with special expertise in various parts of the world.

  • Who invented the drums? How old is the oldest instrument on display?

Drums are found all over the world. They can come in many different shapes and sizes and are built using many different construction techniques. Like with many musical instruments, it’s not easy to pinpoint an exact moment or culture that “invented” a musical instrument. However, the oldest instrument in the museum is a small drum, called a Paigu, that is approximately 6,000 years old! You can see it on display in the Orientation Gallery.

  • What type of wood is used to make some of the instruments?

There are too many to list! Each musical instrument in the museum has a small label nearby. On every label in the museum, there is a short list of the materials that make up that instrument.

  • Would you come to a school and speak about STEM in music?

We have an entire curriculum set associated with our STEM + Music school programs. It’s free for educators and available on our website. Educators can use a curriculum guide to learn background information related to sound production and classification of musical instruments, there is a slideshow they can use in the classroom, and there are additional resources for learning more listed at the end of the curriculum guide. The curriculum set also includes classroom activities that dovetail with a STEM + Music field trip to the museum.

  • Have you ever made or built your own instrument using your background in STEM?

I haven’t personally, but there are a lot of easy musical instrument projects that can get you started making your own instruments. Recycled materials, like bottles, cans, and rubber bands, are a great place to start.

  • Why is the MIM located in Arizona?

Greater Phoenix is one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States, with a vibrant and culturally diverse population. Its resorts attract many conventions and holiday travelers who seek world‐class attractions such as MIM. Drawn by the Grand Canyon and other natural wonders of the Southwest, many international visitors travel through the user-friendly Phoenix airport.


STEM Pro Live with Aerolite Meteorites

METEORITE HUNTER GEOFF NOTKIN OF AEROLITE METEORITES, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR METEORITE HUNTER GEOFF NOTKIN

Anticipatory Set

Follow-up Discussion Topics

  • Think about all the skills Geoff mentioned using in his work. How long of a list can you make?

  • We didn’t ask directly, but can you list what aspects of his job Geoff enjoys most?

  • What makes Arizona an ideal place to find quality meteorite specimens?

Additional Resources

  • In this STEM Pro Live!, you heard Geoff talk about a few noteworthy meteorite falls, including the Peerskill (New York) Meteorite, which smashed the back end of a teenager’s car in 1992, and the Sylacauga (Alabama) Meteorite, which fell through a roof, hit a radio, and then struck Ann Hodges as she was napping on a couch. Here’s a piece about the largest recorded meteorite found so far on Earth.

  • While speaking about his interest and experience with NASA, Geoff mentioned NASA’s SOFIA (or Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy). He also talked about his involvement with NASA EDGE, a video podcast about NASA projects, how he is on the board of governors of the National Space Society, board of advisors of Deep Space Industries, an asteroid mining company, and board of directors of the Astrosociology Research Institute, which looks at how longterm space travel and colonization affects humans. You can see photos and read about this amazing “telescope on a plane” here! He also mentioned theChallenger Space Center, located here in Peoria, Arizona.

  • You also heard Geoff mention several different projects and groups he is affiliated with. You may have seen him on TV inMeteorite Men on the Science Channel or STEM Journals. He is the president of Aerolite Meteorites, but also has his own website here, where you can find more information about Geoff's life, his books, his involvement in TV and more!


OEI DESIGN WITH RIZAL OEI AND KIM KUNASEK, AUGUST 31, 2015

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR OEI DESIGN WITH RIZAL AND OEI

Anticipatory Set

  • Ask students to think of stores (or restaurants or classrooms) that they like to linger in and stores (or restaurants or classrooms) that they go to only to buy certain items (or certain food or for a certain class). What makes the places they like more inviting and welcoming than others? Are design features that make it feel a certain way?

  • Some of what Oei Design could be called “experience design.” Students can read this more advanced article about experience design or this article about how something as regular as a grocery store is organized and designed in a very particular way to draw customers in.

Follow-up Discussion Topics

  • Name as many different kinds of design areas that Kim and Rizal are involved in as you can remember.

  • What all skills can you name that Kim and Rizal need to use in their work?

Additional Resources


ORCUTT WINSLOW WITH JAKE BODELL, AUGUST 26, 2015

Was Orcutt Winslow involved in building any part of your school? You can see if you recognize any buildings on Orcutt Winslow's education page!

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR ORCUTT WINSLOW WITH JAKE

Anticipatory Set

  • Have students create lists of what they think architects may need to take into account before starting to design a school building in an effort to get them to think about the multiple functions of a building.

Follow-up Discussion Topics

  • How many different people can you list that Jake mentioned needing to talk with or work with when designing and constructing a building?

  • What things did you hear Jake say he needs to take into account when working specifically on a school building in Arizona that he

Additional Resources

  • You heard Jake mention “SketchUp.” This is a basic 3D modeling software that touts itself as “3D for Everyone.”

  • This page on Orcutt Winslow's website shows what all education-related building Orcutt Winslow has worked on, so you can see if they’ve been involved in your school building!


MEDTRONIC WITH MARY ELLEN COE AND GAVIN HALL, AUGUST 20, 2015

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR MEDTRONIC WITH MARY ELLEN AND GAVIN

Anticipatory Set

  • Much of this STEM Pro Live! includes discussion of devices to help people with heart problems, like pacemakers and defibrillators. Here is an article that goes over the basics of how a pacemaker works and how a defibrillator works.

  • It can also be helpful to go over a bit of basic information about Medtronic, using Medtronic’s webpages about the variety of products they design and create.

Follow-up Discussion Topics

  • What types of careers and jobs do you think a company like Medtronic needs to function? How many can you list?

  • From what you heard in this STEM Pro Live!, what do Mary Ellen and Gavin enjoy about their jobs?

Additional Resources


ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE, AUGUST 18, 2015

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE

Anticipatory Set

  • How does electricity get to your house? Here is a simple guide to explain each step.

  • Have students talk about a time they didn’t have electricity (because of down power lines or maybe a camping experience) and have them list the number of appliances they use each day that require electricity, all to understand how constantly we use electricity each day.

Follow-up Discussion Topics

  • What did you learn about how electricity gets to your home?

  • Of the APS employees you heard in this STEM Pro Live!, which ones need to be ready to get to work when power goes out somewhere?

  • What are some differences you heard between each of these four APS employees’ work?

Additional Resources


PINGBO TANG, AUGUST 13, 2015

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR PINGBO TANG

Anticipatory Set

Follow-up Discussion Topics

  • How else do you think the 3D laser camera Pingo mentioned could be used?

  • What are some of the benefits of using this 3D technology in observing bridges and in other work?

Additional Resources

  • Want to know more about the 3D scanner technology that Pinbo talked about? While also an advertisement for the technology, this video explains well how this 3D laser scanning technology works! This second video in the series gets into more detail about the laser technology itself, if you’re interested in digging deeper with your students.

  • For more information about Pingo Tang, visit his website or page on ASU’s website.


SAP WITH VALERIE MILLER AND BONNIE BARKER, MAY 27, 2015

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR SAP

Anticipatory Set

  • What is code? The first minute of this video gives students a quick and easy introduction to what code is and how it’s all around us.

  • This video is a little longer (close to 6 minutes) and gives more insight into the power of coding and answers several questions students may have like how hard it is to learn to code and how coding can be used.

Follow-up Discussion Topics

  • What would you like to write code to do?

  • What experiences in life got Valerie and Bonnie excited about coding?

  • What are Valerie and Bonnie’s goals with coding?

Additional Resources


INTEL WITH ELYSE HALLSTROM, MAY 2015

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR INTEL WITH ELYSE

Anticipatory Set

  • What is a microprocessor? This article offers a succinct description on the first page and much more in-depth information on the following pages. There is also a video on that page, but is not as helpful as the written text itself.

  • This eHow article also explains the importance and potential of microprocessors using easy-to-understand language.

  • Have students list or think about what all items they encounter in a day or week that use microprocessors. (Cars, computers, e-readers, cell phones, self-checkout machines at stores, video game playing devices, etc.)

Follow-up Discussion Topics

  • What new product that Elyse talked about most caught your attention? Why?

  • Have students hypothesize and discuss what current uncomputerized objects may include a microchip sometime soon, why, and how that would make life easier or better.

Additional Resources


INTEL WITH TYRONE BENSON, MAY 2015

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR INTEL WITH TYRONE

Anticipatory Set

  • In this STEM Pro Live!, you’ll be hearing about Tyrone’s journey to working at Intel, but also about one of their products, a microprocessor called “Edison.”

  • This article has a photo of just how small Edison is and about what makes this microprocessor so powerful.

Follow-up Discussion Topics

  • What would you try to do with an Edison chip? How could that make life better for people?

  • Why are quality and reliability engineers important?

  • What all different kinds of engineers did you hear about and what does each do? (Electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, materials engineer, quality and reliability engineer, etc.)

Additional Resources


BUTTERFLY WONDERLAND WITH DAYNA COOPER & RON BRISSETTE, MAY 21, 2015

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR BUTTERFLY WONDERLAND

Anticipatory Set

  • Why are butterflies important? This Butterfly Conservation page lists dozens of reasons that students can read about or you can teach about ahead of time. (Note that this resource is very UK-centric.)

Follow-up Discussion Topics

  • What design elements did you hear about that had to be adjusted in the butterfly facility to suit butterflies’ environment?

  • What first interested Dayna and Ron in their current area of work? Did anything surprise you about how Dayna and Ron got interested in their areas of work?

Additional Resources

  • If students have additional questions about butterflies, they might find their answers on this FAQ page.

  • To learn more about Butterfly Wonderland, you can visit their website here.

  • A free 50-minute NOVA online video, called “Journey of the Butterflies” about monarchs’ migration is available on NOVA’s website here.


PCL CONSTRUCTION WITH LOURDES LOPEZ & JARED RUBINOFF, MAY 14, 2015

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR PCL CONSTRUCTION

Anticipatory Set

  • Have students think about how much water they send down a drain during the day (washing dishes, washing your hands, doing laundry, flushing toilets, water fountains, showers, etc.) and ask if anyone knows where that water goes or what happens to it.

  • Have students come up with an agreed upon definition of wastewater and then have them list as many examples as they can

  • Generally explain what a wastewater treatment plant is and how it works, using information from this pamphlet or this website.

Follow-up Discussion Topics

  • Why is it important to manage wastewater?

  • What is the purpose of the dam PCL is building?

  • What does Lourdes do as a project engineer?

  • What gets Lourdes and Jared excited about their work at PCL? (Were their things they said directly and things they alluded to?)

Additional Resources

  • Take a look through photos of dozens of PCL Construction’s projects here.

  • If you go through PCL’s website, you’ll see they not only work with ways to house large amounts of water, but also engineer and construct bridges and large buildings. How do we build these humongous structures that support so much weight? Learn about one of the main components of building construction here: the I-beam.

  • Learn how wastewater treatment plants work with this handy pamphlet.


FREEPORT MCMORAN WITH MICHELLE MONTAGUE & JAREK CARROLL, APRIL 22, 2015

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

The mine we are featuring is from Morenci, Arizona. You can see Morenci on this map.

Arizona produces more copper than any other state. This five minute You Tube video shows "how Arizona's copper mining built a state and changed a nation."


U.S. AIRWAYS CENTER WITH JENNIE PATEL, MARCH 24, 2015

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR U.S. AIRWAYS CENTER

Anticipatory Set

  • Talk to students about how a part of designing buildings is aesthetic--making buildings look nice--, but also needs to include taking into account the function of a particular building

  • Have students think about larger buildings they have been in (like their school building, an airport or even the U.S. Airways Center) and have students list or talk about what all functions those buildings have and must be able toAd do (e.g. contain lots of people, maybe give them a place to sit, maybe house large equipment like trucks and machinery, etc.)

Follow-up Discussion Topics

  • Ask students about what all jobs a building like the U.S. Airways Center needs to keep it running

  • Of all those jobs, how many involve STEM subjects?

Additional Resources

  • Read about the U.S. Airways Center’s history here and take a look through the variety of events this building hosts!

  • How do we build these humongous buildings that support so much weight? Learn about one of the main components of building construction here: the I-beam.


LOCAL MOTORS WITH AUREL FRANCOIS AND TONY RIVERA, FEBRUARY 25, 2015

Please Note: The model car give-away mentioned at the end of the video is now expired. After all, there are thousands of people watching this video and it takes three hours to print ONE model. That's at least 125 days of solid printing!  :-)


AXOSOFT WITH HAMID SHOJAEE, JANUARY 20, 2015

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Thanks to our good friend Dr. Peggy George, we have the following resources that were mentioned during Hamid's talk.


TINY HOUSE WITH JARED STOLTZFUS, NOVEMBER 13, 2014

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS & ANSWERS FROM JARED

  • Do the solar panels ever need to be replaced and how much does it cost for upkeep?

The solar panels have a 25 year warrantee, and will likely last 40 years or more! There are no upkeep costs for the panels (just need to keep them clean), but there are some other components that may need to be replaced after 5-10 years, like the Inverter ($500), Charge Controller ($500), and batteries ($150 each X 4).

  • Have you had guests stay there yet? What do they think of a tiny house?

I haven't had any guests stay overnight, because the water isn't hooked up yet, but I've given a lot of tours! Most people are surprised at how it doesn't feel as small as they thought it would, and after being in it, feel like they could stay in it for a few days, or use it as a cabin.

  • If someone were to live in a desolate area in a tiny house, how would they go about washing their clothes?

I've traveled places where I did my laundry in a small sink, then hung the clothes out to dry- so that would definitely be an option for the tiny house. You could even use the water left over from a shower to wash the clothes! Maybe they'd make a trip to town to use the laundromat while they did some grocery shopping? I think most people have the idea that we all need our own washer/dryer at our house. While that is certainly convenient, it's fairly expensive, and takes up a lot of room.

  • Would you need a permit to make one of these in your back yard?

We made this one in a backyard, with no permit required. As long as it's not a 'permanent structure', you don't need a permit from the city to build something in your backyard. Having mine on a trailer means it's mobile, and therefore NOT a permanent structure. However, if you live in an HOA, there may be rules against building or storing things on your property.

  • Is that a garden on the porch? Growing your own veggies is a good addition to your tiny house project.

On the front porch is a planter box I made from scrap wood I had at my house. Right now there are flowers planted in it, but it would be great for gardening too! Depending on where the Tiny House is parked, you could have a small garden in the ground, or even have some chickens in a pen underneath for eggs!

  • How much does the tiny house weigh?

I actually haven't weighed it, but am estimating it weighs around 6,000 lbs. I SHOULD tow it to get it weighed soon though, to make sure that it's not too much for my tires, or axles. So far so good :-)

  • Where do you park your house when you are not using it?

It's parked in the driveway of my house, near central Phoenix. I'm kind of always using it (or working on it), because I do a lot of my studying and writing in it instead of traveling all the way to ASU. We will have some company sleeping in it over Christmas, and hopefully other guests will use it before then through the AirBnB website. (We don't have it advertised there yet though.)

  • Do you take it for traveling around during vacations etc?

We haven't taken it anywhere for vacations, and I don't think we would ever take it too far. Even though it's technically mobile, I don't like driving it on the roads. It takes up the whole lane, takes a big truck to pull it (that I have to borrow), and I wouldn't want to drive at highway speeds. I HAVE taken it to ASU a few times, and will be taking it to Scottsdale for the Microdwell 2015 event at the Shemer Art Center. (www.microdwelling.net) Other tiny houses have been made that are designed to be pulled more often. This one is more like a mobile home: you want to pull it somewhere and set it up for a long time.

Thanks for your questions, and let me know how else I can help your classes! -Jared