E es para ingeniería * E is for Engineering

Posted on July 14, 2022 by Cait Goodwin

By Cynthia Reséndiz, Oregon Coast STEM Hub Director

Hoy les quiero platicar sobre la ingeniería o “engineering” en inglés, que se encarga de diseñar y construir todo tipo de cosas.

La ingeniería nos rodea: la vemos en los puentes, en las carreteras, en los edificios… Los que construyen estas estructuras son los ingenieros civiles. También la vemos en los automóviles que manejamos, los transportes como los aviones, los autobuses….¡Qué bueno que existen los ingenieros! ¡Imagínense tener que caminar a todas partes!

Existen muchos otros tipos de ingeniería, por ejemplo:

la ingeniería en alimentos que ayuda a que los alimentos nos duren más sin que se echen a perder.
la ingeniería química que estudia cómo transformar materias primas en productos que se puedan vender.
La ingeniería mecánica: que construye y da mantenimiento a máquinas y aparatos mecánicos. Y hay hasta una ingeniería del espacio creando satélites y cohetes. ¿Tiene usted pequeños ingenieros en casa? ¡Estas son carreras que pagan muy bien!

En Newport, Oregon tenemos una gran obra de ingeniería: Hablo del nuevo edificio de estudios marinos Gladys Valley del Centro de Estudios Marinos Hatfield, en South Beach. Este es un lugar seguro en caso de un terremoto, tiene capacidad para más de 900 personas, y cualquier persona que se encuentre en la zona puede ir a refugiarse de un posible tsunami después de un terremoto. Los ingenieros diseñaron este edificio para resistir terremotos y tsunamis de los más fuertes que existen. En la parte de afuera del edificio hay una rampa de evacuación que lleva a una terraza que está a 47 pies o 14 metros de altura. Es importante que sepa que el edificio Gladys Valley es el único edificio en Oregón que ha sido diseñado para resistir un tsunami. Si usted se encuentra en otras áreas de la costa usted debe ir a refugiarse en terrenos elevados, NO en la azotea de un edificio.

Por ejemplo, un lugar seguro y ubicado en terreno elevado en South Beach es el área cercana al colegio comunitario. Donde quiera que se encuentre en la costa, después de un terremoto asegúrese de dirigirse (o quedarse) al terreno elevado que le quede más cerca.

Mi nombre es Cynthia, soy la directora del centro STEM (Oregon Coast STEM Hub). STEM es un acrónimo en inglés que representa las palabras Ciencia, Tecnología, Ingeniería y Matemáticas. La educación STEM es importante para que los niños desarrollen habilidades, que sin darse cuenta, que les van a servir para toda su vida. Hoy hablamos de la E de ingeniería. Gracias por su atención y ¡Nos vemos la próxima semana para hablar de la “M” de matemáticas!

Today I want to talk to you about engineering, which is responsible for designing and building of all kinds of things.

Engineering surrounds us: We see it in bridges, on roads, in buildings… Those who build these structures are civil engineers. We also see it in the cars we drive and other transportation such as airplanes and buses. It’s good that engineers exist! Imagine having to walk everywhere!

There are many other types of engineering, for example:

Food engineering helps food last longer without spoiling.
Chemical engineering transforms raw materials into products that can be sold.
Mechanical engineering supports building and maintaining machines.
And there is even Space engineering for creating satellites and rockets.

food engineering * la ingeniería en alimentos

Do you have little engineers at home? These are careers that pay very well!

In Newport, Oregon, we have a great engineering feat: I’m talking about the new Gladys Valley Marine Studies Building at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in South Beach. This building is a safe place in case of an earthquake. Engineers designed this building to withstand the largest predicted earthquakes and tsunamis. The roof has the capacity to hold more than 900 people, and after a big earthquake, anyone who is in the area can go to the roof to shelter from the tsunami which is expected to follow. On the outside of the building there is an evacuation ramp that leads to a terrace that is 47 feet (14 meters) high. It’s important to know that the Gladys Valley building is the only building in Oregon that has been designed to withstand a tsunami, so if we are in any other part of the coast we must go to high ground, NOT to the top of a building.

For example, after an earthquake, another safe place in South Beach is high ground near the community college. Wherever you are on the coast, after an earthquake, make sure you go to (or stay on) the high ground that is closest to you.

My name is Cynthia, I am the Director of the Oregon Coast STEM Hub. STEM is an acronym in English that represents the words Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. STEM education is important for children to develop skills that, without realizing it, will serve them for a lifetime. Today we talked about the E for engineering. Thanks for joining us, and see you next week to talk about the “M” in math!

Gladys Valley Marine Studies Building * edificio de estudios marinos Gladys Valley
(photo/foto: Sharon Biddinger)

Cynthia Reséndiz es la Directora del Oregon Coast STEM Hub, que tiene su sede en el Centro de Ciencias Marinas Hatfield de la Universidad Estatal de Oregón (OSU por sus siglas en inglés), en Newport, Oregón. Cada semana, Cynthia habla en español de temas relacionados con STEM en el programa Radio Arcoiris en KYAQ 91.7FM. Sintonízalo los viernes a las 4:30PM, en la radio o en la transmisión en vivo por internet. https://www.kyaq.org/

Los primeros cuatro episodios se enfocaron en el significado de las letras S, T, E, y M. Esta publicación es la transcripción del episodio sobre LA INGENERíA. El programa fue transmitido en español y traducido al inglés para este blog.

Cynthia Reséndiz is the Director of the Oregon Coast STEM Hub, which is headquartered at the OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Oregon. Each week, Cynthia talks about STEM topics in Spanish on the Arcoiris Radio program on KYAQ 91.7FM. Tune in at 4:30PM on Fridays to hear the show, using your radio or by streaming through the internet. https://www.kyaq.org/

Her first four shows focused on the meaning behind the letters S, T, E, and M. This post is a transcription of her presentation about ENGINEERING. The program was delivered in Spanish and translated into English for this blog.

T es para la tecnología * T is for Technology

Posted on May 7, 2022 by Cait Goodwin

By Cynthia Reséndiz, Oregon Coast STEM Hub Director

Estamos rodeados por la tecnología. Pongamos atención a la tecnología a nuestro alrededor: teléfonos celulares, muchos servicios son por medio de apps, casi todo es electrónico incluyendo el dinero, vamos a la tienda y pagamos con una tarjeta. Pero…¿Se imaginan un mundo sin tecnología?

La tecnología se inventó para hacer nuestras vidas más fácil, y cambia muy rápidamente. Seguido escuchamos que las compañías sacan nuevas versiones mejoradas de pantallas de televisión, celulares y computadoras. No sé ustedes, pero yo a veces me siento como en una película de ciencia ficción cuando escucho que hay robots que realizan cirugías, carros que se manejan solos, drones que vuelan para tomar fotos y videos…Pero no todo es entretenimiento. También una combinación de ciencia y tecnología nos permitió tener vacunas para salvar millones de vidas durante la presente pandemia de COVID19.

¿qué es la tecnología? Es la capacidad de cambiar o combinar algo que ya existía para mejorar nuestras vidas, en pocas palabras la tecnología resuelve problemas.

Hay carreras relacionadas con la tecnología como computación y la robótica, pero no tenemos que ser expertos. Por ejemplo estudiar un poco de computación, a cualquier edad, siempre nos va a ayudar al buscar trabajo. En los niños estudiar computación desarrolla capacidades como el pensamiento crítico, que nos lleva a analizar y razonar la información que recibimos, y nos va a ayudar a diferenciar las noticias falsas de las verdaderas.

Mi nombre es Cynthia, soy la directora del centro STEM (Oregon Coast STEM Hub). STEM es un acrónimo en inglés que representan las palabras Ciencia, Tecnología, Ingeniería y Matemáticas. La educación STEM es importante para que los niños desarrollen habilidades, que sin darse cuenta, que les van a servir para toda su vida. Hoy hablamos de la T de tecnología. Gracias por su atención y ¡Nos vemos la próxima semana para hablar de la “E” que en español significa ingeniería!

Los primeros cuatro episodios se enfocaron en el significado de las letras S, T, E, y M. Esta publicación es la transcripción de su presentación sobre la TECNOLOGíA. El programa fue transmitido en español y traducido al inglés para este blog.

We are surrounded by technology. Let’s pay attention to the technology around us. Think about cell phones, for example. Many services are through apps, almost everything is electronic including money, and when we go to the store we pay with a card. But… can you imagine a world without technology?

Technology makes our lives easier, and it changes very quickly. We often hear that companies release new and improved versions of television screens, cell phones and computers. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I feel like I’m in a science fiction movie when I hear that there are robots that perform surgeries, cars that drive themselves, drones that fly to take photos and video. But not everything is entertainment; a combination of science and technology allowed us to have vaccines to save millions of lives during the current COVID19 pandemic.

What is technology? It is the ability to change or combine something that already existed to improve our lives, in short, technology solves problems.

There are technology-related careers like computing and robotics, but we don’t have to be experts. For example, studying a bit of computing, at any age, will always help us when looking for a job. In children, studying computers develops skills such as critical thinking, which leads us to analyze and reason with the information we receive, and will help us differentiate between false and true news.

My name is Cynthia, I am the director of the Oregon Coast STEM Hub. STEM is an acronym in English that represents the words Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. STEM education is important for children to develop skills that, without realizing it, will serve them for a lifetime. Today we talked about the T of technology. Thank you for your attention and see you next week to talk about the “E”, which means engineering!

Her first four shows focused on the meaning behind the letters S, T, E, and M. This post is a transcription of her presentation about TECHNOLOGY. The program was delivered in Spanish and translated into English for this blog.

S es para la Ciencia * S is for Science

Posted on April 22, 2022 by Cait Goodwin

By Cynthia Reséndiz, Oregon Coast STEM Hub Director

A woman holds a bird outddors — Dr. Cynthia Reséndiz

Hola, mi nombre es Cynthia y soy y soy una científica mexicana. ¿Me están imaginando como un hombre con barba y canas? ¡NO! Muchos de ustedes me conocen o me han visto en Zoom y saben que no me veo así. O al menos eso creo yo.

Estudié biología en México, y después trabajé en lugares muy bonitos como el Ártico, en el polo norte. Mi trabajo era buscar nidos y contar huevos de un ganso que viaja al Ártico cada año en verano para reproducirse. Fue muy divertido, vi paisajes muy bonitos y animales muy interesantes como los osos polares. En todo el mundo hay mucha gente que su trabajo es buscar animales o plantas. Aquí en la costa de Oregon hay gente a la que le pagan por buscar ballenas, peces y otros animales que viven en el mar, en los ríos, o en el bosque. Se estarán preguntando…¿Por qué les pagan por hacer eso? La presencia de algunos animales nos dice si la naturaleza y el ambiente donde vivimos es saludable. Y si la naturaleza tiene salud, nos va a dar aire limpio que respirar y agua limpia, y nos enfermamos menos. La naturaleza nos da salud para nosotros y nuestras familias.

Soy la directora del centro STEM (Oregon Coast STEM Hub). STEM son unas siglas en inglés que representan las palabras Ciencia, Tecnología, Ingeniería y Matemáticas. STEM también significa tallo en español, como el tallo de una planta. El tallo es la base desde donde crecen las plantas, y de igual forma la educación STEM es importante para que los niños desarrollen habilidades a veces invisibles porque las desarrollan sin darse cuenta, pero les van a servir para toda su vida. Hoy hablamos de la Ciencia.

La ciencia no nadamás son animales y plantas, la ciencia hace muchas cosas, como las vacunas de la COVID19, las medicinas que nos curan cuando estamos enfermos, ¡y muchas cosas más!

¡La ciencia es para todos y todas! No importa la edad, dónde nacimos, o a qué nos dedicamos. Todas las personas podemos aprender, tener curiosidad y ser científicos en nuestros ratos libres. Todos los niños son científicos chiquitos, son curiosos y siempre tienen preguntas muy interesantes. Los invito a apoyar a sus hijos a desarrollar sus habilidades científicas. En el condado de Lincoln hay científicos en el acuario, en el colegio comunitario, y en el centro Hatfield de la Universidad Estatal de Oregon. Si a sus hijos les gusta el mar, los animales o la naturaleza, pueden estudiar estas carreras.

Gracias por su atención y ¡Nos vemos la próxima semana para hablar de la “T” de tecnología!

Los primeros cuatro episodios se enfocaron en el significado de las letras S, T, E, y M. Esta publicación es la transcripción de su presentación sobre la CIENCIA. El programa fue transmitido en español y traducido al inglés para este blog.

Hello, my name is Cynthia and I am a Mexican scientist. Are you imagining me as a man with a beard and gray hair? NOT! Many of you know me or have seen me on Zoom and know that I don’t look like that. Or at least that’s what I think.

I studied biology in Mexico, and then I worked in very beautiful places like the Arctic, at the North Pole. My job was to search for nests and count eggs for a goose that travels to the Arctic every year in the summer to breed. It was a lot of fun, and I saw very beautiful landscapes and very interesting animals like polar bears. All over the world there are many people whose job it is to look for animals or plants. Here on the Oregon coast, there are people who get paid to search for whales, fish and other animals that live in the sea, in the rivers, or in the forest. You may be wondering… Why do they get paid to do that? The presence of some animals tells us if nature and the environment where we live is healthy. And if nature is healthy, it will give us clean air to breathe and clean water, and we get sick less often. Nature provides good health for ourselves and our families.

I’m the Director of the Oregon Coast STEM Hub. STEM is an acronym in English that represents the words Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. STEM also means stem in Spanish, like the stem of a plant. The stem is the base from which plants grow, and in the same way STEM education is important for children to develop skills that are sometimes invisible because they develop them without realizing it, but they will serve them for their entire lives. Today we will talk about Science.

Science is not just animals and plants, science does many things, such as COVID19 vaccines, medicines that cure us when we are sick, and many more things!

Science is for everyone! No matter the age, where we were born, or what we do. All of us can learn, be curious and be scientists in our spare time. All children are little scientists, they are curious and always have very interesting questions. I invite you to support your children in developing their science skills. In Lincoln County there are scientists at the aquarium, at the community college, and at the Oregon State University Hatfield Center. If your children like the sea, animals, or nature, they can study these careers.

Thanks for your attention and see you next week to talk about the “T” of technology!

Her first four shows focused on the meaning behind the letters S, T, E, and M. This post is a transcription of her presentation about SCIENCE. The program was delivered in Spanish and translated into English for this blog.

STEM Oregon to Host Over 100 Events

Posted on May 8, 2021 by Cait Goodwin

STEM Week Oregon is Part of Remake Learning Days Across America

May 6, 2021 – Remake Learning Days Across America (RLDAA) returns this spring in 17+ regions, launching more than 700+ innovative learning events to engage caregivers, parents and kids around the country.

Oregon’s network of regional STEM Hubs will host more than 100 events during this learning festival between May 8 and 16, 2021. These events are designed for parents and caregivers to learn alongside their kids and offer relevant and engaging educational experiences for youth of all ages (pre-K through high school). The majority of events are free and are offered virtually, in-person or in hybrid models.

Oregon’s festival of events will capture the themes of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math and more and include in-person and virtual events. Partners from the Oregon Coast STEM Hub are contributing to lead tours, host events, and offer STEM career connections. Examples from our region include:

Make a Terrific Terrarium – May 8, 10:30AM – 1:00PM
Children ages 5-12 are invited to the Siletz Public Library to make their own terrarium using soil, moss, rocks, and plants. Learn about how to help your terrarium thrive.

RCRV: Building Ships for Scientific Research – May 10 at 1:00PM
Through this Oregon Connections Industry Chat, high school students will hear from a STEM professional about the equipment used to study the ocean from ships at sea.

Growing Engineers and Marine Scientists – May 12 at 4:00PM
Students in grade 6-8 are invited to explore careers in science policy and conservation biology by attending this free Oregon Sea Grant student webinar .

Find a complete list of events and registration information here

Public Events – https://remakelearningdays.org/oregon
Public and Private Events – https://stemoregon.org/stemweek2021
Events from the Oregon Coast – https://oregoncoaststem.oregonstate.edu/hub-happenings

Oregon’s regional STEM Hubs create equitable access to real-world STEM experiences for learners across Oregon, igniting students’ passion for STEM. Oregon’s STEM Hub network was honored as a Learning Forerunner in education by Finland’s HundrED.org in 2021.

Remake Learning Days Across America is led by Remake Learning (RL), a network that ignites engaging, relevant, and equitable learning practices in support of young people navigating rapid social and technological change. National partners of RLDAA include PBS Kids, Digital Promise, Common Sense Media, Learning Heroes and Noggin. RLDAA is generously supported by The Grable Foundation, The Hewlett Foundation, Schmidt Futures, Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Ford Foundation. Visit remakelearning.org for more information or follow RL on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. For more information specifically on Remake Learning Days Across America, visit remakelearningdays.org or follow RLDAA on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and the hashtag #RemakeDays.

STEM Week Oregon 2021

Posted on April 26, 2021 by Cait Goodwin

STEM Week Oregon to Host Events as Part of Remake Learning Days Across America!

The Nation’s Largest Interactive Learning festival will take place May 8 -16, 2021 in Oregon

Oregon, 2021 – After a most challenging year for education, STEM Week Oregon, in partnership with Remake Learning Days Across America (RLDAA) debuts this spring in 17+ regions, with family-friendly equitable learning events designed to engage caregivers, parents and kids around the country. The activities will tie to Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math. This integrated approach to learning creates problem-solvers, innovators, critical thinkers and collaborative team players.

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, [Art], and Math) Hubs across the state will host dozens of events during this learning festival between May 8-16, 2021. These events are designed for parents and caregivers to learn alongside their kids and offer relevant and engaging educational experiences for youth of all ages (pre-K through high school). The majority of events are free, and many will be virtual.

STEM Week Oregon is actively recruiting hosts, activity leaders and participants. We are looking for ways to include multigenerational, diverse and underserved groups.

Any organization or individual hosting a public event during STEM Week may apply for Remake Learning Days mini-grant funding, totaling up to $250. Public events must be open to any and all participants (in-person or virtual), but may include event size limits. Public events that qualify for mini-grants include but are not limited to: academic clubs, arts organizations, community centers, early childhood learning centers, libraries, museums, non-government agencies, parks, post-secondary institutions, schools, science centers, etc. Mini-grant funding will be awarded on a rolling basis January 14 through May 1, 2021. Grant priority will be given to applicants that plan to engage underserved populations.

STEM Oregon’s festival of events will capture the theme(s) of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math and include events such as:

Make a Nature Suncatcher – Oceanspray Family Center and Toledo Public Library are hosting events for young learners to get outside, explore nature, and make colorful suncatchers.
Dive in and Explore at the Charleston Marine Life Center – Come on a virtual tour of the Charleston Marine Life Center! Students will get close-up views of marine animals, ask questions, and learn about the diversity of life off the Oregon coast. https://beav.es/3i3
Take a virtual tour of Hatfield Marine Science Center’s Ocean Innovation Lab – High school students will learn about the cutting edge prototyping and fabrication of the tools and instruments that are used to study the ocean. They will also discover the types of occupations available such as marine biologists, oceanographer, and ocean engineer. https://beav.es/3iU
Terrific Terrarium Time – Children ages 5-12 are invited to an event at the Siletz Library where they will make their own terrarium using soil, moss, rocks, and plants, and find out what they can do to help their terrarium thrive.

Visit www.stemoregon.org/stemweek2021 to register your family, classroom, school, organization or yourself to host and lead a public or private event and/or to apply for a mini grant.

All entrants are eligible to win prizes donated by generous sponsors. The more activities planned means more chances to win!

Find a complete list of events and registration information here.

Remake Learning Days Across America is led by Remake Learning (RL), a network that ignites engaging, relevant, and equitable learning practices in support of young people navigating rapid social and technological change. National partners of RLDAA include PBS Kids, Digital Promise, Common Sense Media, Learning Heroes and Noggin. RLDAA is generously supported by The Grable Foundation, The Hewlett Foundation, Schmidt Futures, Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Ford Foundation. Visit remakelearning.org for more information or follow RL on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. For more information specifically on Remake Learning Days Across America, visit remakelearningdays.org or follow RLDAA on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and the hashtag #RemakeDays.

STEM in Libraries

Posted on August 24, 2020 by Cait Goodwin

Lincoln County Libraries Distribute Free Science Activity Bags to Kids

Six public libraries in Lincoln County are distributing more than 800 free bags of science activities for kids, thanks to a grant that the Oregon Coast STEM Hub received from the Georgia-Pacific Foundation. Over the past few weeks, STEM Hub staff have been stuffing the bags with supplies and activity instructions and delivering them to libraries. Depending on the intended age group, each bag includes items such as: a magnifying glass, colored pencils, plastic specimen box, pen, journal, lanyard, rubber ball, tape measure, tweezers, eye dropper and a paper microscope called a Foldscope. The supplies support seven daily challenges that help kids to think critically and to observe, deconstruct, create, and draw. The instructions for seven Daily Challenges are provided in both English and Spanish. For more information, visit the new STEM in Libraries webpage.

Read the full media release

STEM in Libraries webpage: https://oregoncoaststem.oregonstate.edu/stem-libraries

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The STEM Activity Books were originally created for STEM Week Oregon 2020. Funds to support STEM in Lincoln County libraries was provided to the Oregon Coast STEM Hub by the Georgia-Pacific Foundation. Georgia-Pacific is a partner of the Oregon Coast STEM Hub. Read more

Family STEM: Tracking Animal Behaviors

Posted on June 10, 2020 by Cait Goodwin

By Lindsay Carroll, Oregon Sea Grant

Do you have a cat or dog at home that you find yourself watching a little more closely these days? Have you caught on to some of the behaviors of your pets or perhaps of birds, rabbits, or chipmunks you’ve seen out your window? You may have been inspired to take a closer look at the environment around you after reading the recently published Family STEM blog “Take a Fresh Look at Nature“.

With more time spent at home, you may find that your dog sleeps or rests all day long. You may have also noticed they wag their tail with excitement during play or when you come home from the grocery store. Or possibly those famous looks of guilt when they have gotten into the trash for the 100th time? Either way, all of these actions are behaviors. Do you think you would have noticed the amount of time your dog spends doing these behaviors if you weren’t home with them all of the time?

Photo credits (L to R): Yerlin Matu – Unsplash, Jack Brind – Unsplash, Tracy Crews – Oregon Sea Grant

INSPIRE

Over time, scientists have tracked behaviors of a lot of different animals because recording what they are doing (behavior) and how long they are doing it (time) is how we learn more about them. Scientists who study animal behaviors are known as ethologists and they use ethograms as a way to collect data and answer important questions.

When you think of tracking animal behavior, you may think of the famous ethologist, Dr. Jane Goodall, and her work with chimpanzees. It is because of her many years of research and time spent with chimpanzees in their natural environment that we know so much about them. Get inspired by her decades of research!

Photo credit: Satya Deep, Unsplash

Then, see first hand the type of behaviors she may have witnessed over the years as you watch the monkeys in this video. Take a mental note or make a list of the various behaviors you observe.

Have a fish tank at home? Take five minutes to note the different behaviors you observe of your fish. No fish tank? It’s ok, watch the first few minutes of these goldfish and take note of the different behaviors you see. What do the fish spend most of their time doing?

Photo credit: Biljana Martinic – Unsplash

You’re starting to look at these animals a little bit differently, right? Now, watch a zookeeper from the John Ball Zoo use an ethogram to learn more about her dog’s behavior in the backyard. Be sure to take note of the question she is trying to answer about her dog.

ASK A QUESTION

Now that we have spent some time observing a few animals and taking note of some of their behaviors, you may have a few questions.

Photo credit: Jules Bss – Unsplash

For example, you may wonder “Do fish in my fish tank spend most of their time swimming?” Or even, better — your observations may have inspired you to test a hypothesis, or educated guess, such as “I think the fish in my fish tank spend most of their time swimming.” What other questions might you have about the animals you observed?

Think back to the zookeeper who conducted an ethogram on her dog. What question was she trying to answer? You may have noted that she recently moved to a new home and she wanted to determine if her dog was adjusting well to a new space. By comparing her dog’s previous behavior to the data she collected, she determined her dog appears comfortable in her new home.

Equipped with all of this new knowledge, think of an animal on which you want to use an ethogram to learn more about their behaviors. What question do you want to ask?

TRY IT!

STEP ONE: Select an Animal
If you have pets at home, great! No pets at home? Consider an animal in your backyard OR watch pre-recorded footage of animals listed below.

Horse Ethogram Video
(includes a 30-second timer for data collection ease!)
Goldfish in Tank
Eastern Grey Squirrel

Photo credit: Oregon Sea Grant

You could also consider conducting your ethogram using one of the following webcams from local zoos and aquariums. But, note that these animals can be very mobile!

Hatfield Marine Science Center Octocam – choose from two camera views
Oregon Coast Aquarium Sea Otter Cam – Quick advice – be sure to determine how you are going to keep track of your otter – is there a colored tag on its flipper so you can uniquely identify each otter, or are there other ways to identify your otter?
Monterey Bay Aquarium Cams (some suggested cams are listed below)
- Sea Otter Cam – consider the same advice listed above
- Penguin Cam – note this camera moves, so this could be an ethogram you do once you are all warmed up.
Full list of webcams (includes cams from zoos all over the world!)

Photo credits (L to R): Oregon Sea Grant, Oregon Coast Aquarium

STEP TWO: Make Observations and Develop a Question
Whether you are watching your animal live or on a screen, be sure to take a few minutes to note some of their behaviors ahead of time. That way you can use your observations to inform a question you want to answer about your animal.

Photo Credits: Oregon Sea Grant, GEMS Program

STEP THREE: Collect Data
Now it is time to collect behavior data on your animal! For your ethogram, you will record the behavior of your animal every 30 seconds for 10-15 minutes. Since we are collecting data, we need a data table. What should your data table look like? Think about the different variables we are considering – behaviors and time. For some pointers – try reflecting back to the zookeeper’s datasheet shown at the end of her video or possibly get some tips from this educator from the Environmental Learning Center.

STEP FOUR: Draw Conclusions
You have data! Now, think back to your original question. What are some conclusions you can draw from the data collected? What are some of the behaviors your animal exhibited most frequently? Why did animals do some behaviors more often than others? If you watched the goldfish in the tank – do they actually spend most of their time swimming?

STEP FIVE: Expand and Elevate Your Learning
Interested in expanding and elevating your ethogram abilities? Consider using this Sea Lion Ethogram Datasheet to conduct an ethogram on a sea lion located in Oregon’s Sea Lion Caves. Use footage from the Sea Lion Cave webcam and see what those often loud, smelly, but fun critters are up to these days. Are there new behaviors you are observing? Are there behaviors missing from the datasheet? Have fun with it!

Photo credit: Tracy Crews, Oregon Sea Grant

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

While it may be fun to watch your pets behaviors or learn more about animals via live webcams, we must take a minute to think about why we are doing it. What does it all mean? What information can be gained using ethograms? Not only can scientists learn more about animal behaviors, but once a baseline of behaviors is established, scientists can use ethograms to determine dramatic changes to an animal’s well-being and what may have caused them.

Tracking the behaviors of animals in zoos and aquaria is especially important, as unusual behaviors can often be a sign of changes to the animal’s health. Ethogram data can track different behaviors related to feeding, reproductive status, mating, seasonal changes, age/sex differences, social group dynamics, and more. Having a deeper understanding of these behaviors of animals in captivity could also inform protection or management of wild animals.

In essence, ethograms help us detect Patterns, which is one of seven cross-cutting concepts that are prevalent throughout all science disciplines. Patterns occur all throughout the natural world. Think about the patterns you notice among honeycombs, flowers, and zebras. Just like these visual patterns, animals exhibit patterns of behaviors as well. Anomalies that we notice are what bring our attention to change and difference in the animal.

Photo credit (L to R): Matthew T. Rader; Colter Olmstead; Ron Dauphin, Unsplash

It is also important to note that as you move through the process of collecting data for an ethogram, you are engaging in critical Practices of Science. You are:

Asking questions
Planning and carrying out an investigation
Analyzing and interpreting data
Using math
Constructing explanations

CELEBRATE AND SHARE

Knowledge is power! If you used an ethogram to learn more about your pet, you will be equipped with important baseline information that could be used to determine a change in their health or well-being in the future.

Your curiosity does not need to end here. Consider increasing your data collection frequency – see if you notice new behaviors or perhaps the most common behavior changes. Think critically about what could be causing the differences. Is there a new question you could ask or hypothesis you could test?

Sample Questions:
“Does my pet….”

Spend more time on the floor or on the couch?
Sleep more than 6 hours a day?
Pee on one, many, or perhaps specific objects?
Behave differently when it is raining versus sunny?
Act differently in the morning versus in the evening?

Photo credit: Ruby Schmank – Unsplash

Celebrate your newly gained information by sharing it with a friend! Do they also have a pet at home? Perhaps challenge them to use an ethogram to learn more about their pet and compare common behaviors. Does your dog rest more or less than their dog? Or, challenge them to watch the same webcam or online video and compare notes. Options are endless, so have fun with it. You are well on your way to becoming the next Dr. Jane Goodall!

Lindsay Carroll is the Marine Education Coordinator with Oregon Sea Grant, which is one of more than 60 partnering organizations in the Oregon Coast STEM Hub.

The 2020 Family STEM series is brought to you by the Oregon Coast STEM Hub and its partners as part of its Let’s Keep Learning! Initiative. You can find more resources, live events, and lesson on our website: https://oregoncoaststem.oregonstate.edu/

Family STEM: A Week of Fun Challenges

Posted on May 27, 2020 by Cait Goodwin

By Cait Goodwin, Oregon Sea Grant

Are you tired of all of the screen time associated with work and school? Are you looking for simple STEM activities that you can do at home with your family? Check out the daily challenges from STEM Week Oregon. There’s an activity for each day of the week!

INSPIRE

STEM Week Oregon is a week-long event that takes place annually in May. This state-wide movement celebrates and engages communities in activities involving science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Although this year’s STEM Week was officially celebrated May 9-17, you and your family can participate in daily STEM challenges any time!

This spring has been unusual, to say the least. A lot of us have been stuck indoors and spending a lot of our time looking at screens. That’s one reason why Oregon’s STEM Hubs decided that the theme for this year’s STEM Week would be:

STE(A)M Unplugged: Explore your world, Design your world.

Below are seven daily challenges – one for each day of the week. Each is suitable for the whole family, suggests using materials that you already have at home, and doesn’t require you to be on a computer!

Download all of the challenges in English or in Spanish

TRY IT

MAKE IT MONDAY

Paper Tube Raceway
Design a structure that is either freestanding or attached to a wall. This structure will be your raceway for marbles, a car, or another object of your choice.

Download the Monday challenge description in English or Spanish

Image: K. Townsend

TAKE APART TUESDAY

Take Something Apart
Take something apart and try to re-purpose the pieces into something new! Some of the items taken apart by last week’s participants include a vacuum cleaner, bicycle wheel, computer, model locomotive, feathered costume, skateboard, and the front suspension of a Jeep.

Download the Tuesday challenge description in English or Spanish

WHAT ARE YOU WONDERING WEDNESDAY

Notice and Wonder
Find a live animal and observe its characteristics. Write about or draw what you notice. Ask any questions you have about what you see. For more ideas about how to make and record observations of the natural world, see this FAMILY STEM blog post.

Download the Wednesday challenge description in English or Spanish

THINK ABOUT IT THURSDAY

Build a Paper Structure
Using only paper and tape, create a freestanding structure that is at least one foot high, and can hold a small stuffed animal or toy. Think about what shapes will work best. Could you build a structure that holds a heavy book instead of a stuffed animal? Try it!

Download the Thursday challenge description in English or Spanish

FIELD TRIP FRIDAY

Backyard Scavenger Hunt
What can you find outside? Explore the outdoors by staying in one place and making deep observations, or search for a list of natural items that could be discovered near your home.

Take a walk from your home to a place you’ve never been before, or try making a map for other members of your family to follow.

Download the Friday challenge description in En g lish or Spanish

SOUNDS AND SHADOWS SATURDAY

Create Shadow Art
Line up objects and trace their shadows. Even if the sun is not out, you can still do this activity using a strong light inside. Once you start noticing shadows, you’ll start seeing them everywhere. What makes shadows longer or larger? Write down some thoughts and test your ideas. You can also create a profile portrait or tell a story with a shadow puppet show!

Download the Saturday challenge description in English or Spanish

SOARING SUNDAY

Paper Airplanes and Flight
What is the best way to fold a piece of paper to make a paper airplane fly the highest, the farthest, or the fastest?

For this project, use paper from your recycle bin! If you need more design ideas, consult online resources like Fold N Fly, but then unplug once again to generate more iterations and test your design. Make this challenge meaningful by creating an engaging and real-world context. For example:

“Mary the librarian wants to share a message with a coworker who is shelving books on the other side of the library, 15 feet away. However, they are both practicing social distancing and neither wants to speak loudly and disturb others who are working. Design a paper airplane to help Mary send her message.”

Download the Sunday challenge description in English or Spanish

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

STE(A)M PRACTICES

Each of the daily challenges described above provide opportunities to use different skills and disciplines, just like most real-world activities. Looking back, how did your activity involve science or engineering, the “S” and “E” parts of STEM? Educators have identified eight practices that people use in science and engineering. Did you do any of these things when you were engaged in one of the daily challenges?

Science and Engineering Practices
from the Next Generation Science Standards

Asking questions and defining problems
Developing and using models
Planning and carrying out investigations
Analyzing and interpreting data
Using math and computational thinking
Constructing explanations and designing solutions
Engaging in argument from evidence
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

Think about how you used math during your challenges. For example, did you count, take measurements, make graphs, or make alterations to scale, proportions, or angles?

How did you use technology in these unplugged challenges? What tools did you use to make structures, dismantle objects, and research new designs?

Finally, you may have noticed the (A) tucked in to the word STEM in this year’s theme. “A” stands for art, which is another subject that can be found throughout disciplines. Did you draw, build, or use other forms of art in your challenges?

STE(A)M FOR ALL

No matter how old you are or whether or not you become (or already are) a STEM professional, everyone can participate in activities involving science, technology, engineering, art, and math! Our daily lives are full of STEM, and there will always be opportunities to use STEM to learn more about our world.

Scientists are always wondering about the world around them and those curiosities are what inspire them to learn more. Here’s what scientists from South Slough Reserve were wondering during the 2020 STEM Week What Are You Wondering Wednesday Challenge.

Image: https://www.facebook.com/SouthSloughEstuary/

CELEBRATING AND SHARING

During the 2020 STEM Week Oregon (May 9-17), thousands of families and educators across the state participated in one or more of these challenges, and their activities populated the online STEM Week map. Some participants (including folks from Tillamook, Newport, Florence, and North Bend) even received prizes when their names were drawn at random.

STEM doesn’t stop when STEM Week is over! Share your family’s activities with the Oregon Coast STEM Hub and the rest of the state any time through social media using the hashtag #STEMWeekOR.

Good luck, and have fun Exploring and Designing Your World!

———–

Cait Goodwin is a Special Projects Coordinator at Oregon Sea Grant, and is also the Communications Coordinator for the Oregon Coast STEM Hub.

STEM Week Oregon is a collaborative effort involving STEM Hubs throughout Oregon.
Learn more at http://stemoregon.org/stem-week-oregon-2020/ or https://oregoncoaststem.oregonstate.edu/stem-week

Gold Beach Students Explore Watershed Issues

Posted on May 19, 2020 by Cait Goodwin

By Cait Goodwin, Oregon Sea Grant
with Debra Watson, Riley Creek School and Lindsay Carroll, Oregon Sea Grant

When rain falls on Riley Creek School, where does it end up? Are there pollutants in the watershed that could travel to the ocean? Debra Watson’s 5^th grade students wanted to find out.

On a rainy day in December, the students headed outside to collect data that could help answer some of their questions. “It was a day when we were having rain and 60MPH gusts of wind, so we were WET!” recalled Debra. Walking around the schoolyard, students observed that the grounds were generally free of litter. But, what about the dog poop they observed near the school? Would the dog poop have an impact on surrounding areas? This led to a great discussion about what is in rainwater and where it goes. The students were left curious about where the water runoff from their playground went after it disappeared down the storm drain.

Riley Creek School is located just south of the Rogue River in Gold Beach, Oregon, and is named after a small creek that flows into the Pacific Ocean. Its location provides students with ample opportunities to explore the watershed and to make connections between the land and sea.

Debra began planning her watershed unit in November, when she first joined a cohort of other south coast teachers in a year-long MWEEs by the Sea project. “MWEE” stands for Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences, a framework used by the NOAA Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program, which funded a professional development series facilitated by Oregon Sea Grant in partnership with South Slough Reserve. To ensure field experiences would be “meaningful” for their students, Debra and the other MWEE teachers created long-term project-based learning units that would take their students on repeated, hands-on trips outside to learn about watersheds, local environmental issues, and stewardship opportunities.

Debra Watson participated in several teacher professional development trainings in 2019-20. In this photo she is taking part in a workshop focused on marine debris. *Photo credit: C. Goodwin*

Here are some highlights from Debra’s classroom activities in early 2020.

JANUARY
After their initial stormy field experience, the Riley Creek 5^th graders spent the early weeks of January learning more about their watershed through readings, discussions, and videos. To introduce her students to the problem of plastic pollution in the watershed and ocean, Debra used curriculum from Washed Ashore and then took her students on a field trip to the exhibits in Bandon. “The students got to work on pieces for a condor sculpture, and they just thought the museum was the coolest thing they had ever seen.” said Debra. “They were thrilled to be there.”

three students examine a wall mural showing ocean gyres — Riley Creek 5th Grade Field trip to Washed Ashore.
*Photo credits: Debra Watson*

To prepare for their trip to Washed Ashore, local artist Elizabeth Roberts from Make Art Not Trash visited the students in their classroom. Her presentation about marine debris and the conversations that followed helped set up the students to understand what they would be seeing during their out of classroom experience. “They all know what a gyre is now,” Debra reported, “and they were able to match the artistic mural of gyres that they saw on the wall at Washed Ashore with the NOAA pictures they had seen back in the classroom.”

FEBRUARY
In February, Debra’s students conducted experiments to learn more about the characteristics of marine debris. They made hypotheses about whether different types of plastics were likely to sink or float in water, and then tested their ideas. They observed how plastics can hang in the water column and create a “soup”, how bottles full or empty behave differently, and how plastics might look like food to wildlife.

Late in the month, the students took a field trip to the new state-of-the-art Gold Beach Sewage Plant, as well as to the Water Treatment Plant located 5 miles upriver.

The students found out the differences between the two plants, and learned that their drinking water comes from the Rogue River.

“We are in the Rogue River watershed.”

Students pose in front of the solids that remain after the final phase of wastewater treatment.

Two Plants: One processes wastewater from people’s houses, and one gives us clean water to drink.

*Drawings* *from the Student Field Journals of Jadalynn Champlain and Shreya Patel.*

Back at school, the 5^th graders spent time outside exploring Riley Creek and collecting macroinvertebrates. These “water bugs” helped them better understand the health of the creek.

MARCH
By March, the students were ready to brainstorm the issues they wanted to explore further. They discussed their interests and ideas, formed groups, and narrowed down the topics to a few main projects:

Dog Poop – How does dog poop that is not picked up affect the school field, grassy play areas, and stormwater that flows to the ocean? This group was interested in coming up with policies, outreach messages, and other strategies to change the behavior of dog owners.
Marine Debris Art – How can we help the public understand the problem of marine debris? This group was interested in creating art projects that communicate marine debris impacts and solutions.
– See examples of projects
Beach Clean Up – What can students do to remove debris from local beaches? This group was interested in working with SOLVE to organize and advertise a beach clean-up event.
PSAs – What kinds of things can people do to protect the environment? This group used Scratch.mit.edu to create digital media public service announcements.
– See examples of projects here and here
Inventions – What solutions could we design to address the problem of plastic pollution? One team in this group focused on ideas for inventions that would keep plastics from going down storm drains, and another team worked on designing an instrument that would separate microplastics from sand.
– Hear a student describe his design

Students working on projects at school.
*Photo credit: Debra Watson*

TRANSITION TO DISTANCE LEARNING
Today, as school has transitioned to distance learning, Debra and her 5th grade students remain enthusiastic about the topics they have been working on together. “We had just begun working when the pandemic hit” said Debra. Unfortunately, plans for additional field trips were canceled, and student projects were left in a variety of stages when schools closed. To see some of the projects students have been working on this year, visit this Student Work Folder. For now, the Riley Creek team agrees: “We really enjoyed learning about watersheds!”

———————-
Cait Goodwin is a Special Projects Coordinator with Oregon Sea Grant Marine Education, and she coordinates the “MWEEs by the Sea” teacher professional development program in partnership with Jaime Belanger from South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. Gold Beach teacher Debra Watson from Riley Creek School is one of 17 South Coast teachers participating in the 2019-20 MWEES by the Sea cohort.

Family STEM: Take a Fresh Look at Nature

Posted on May 1, 2020 by Cait Goodwin

By Cait Goodwin, Oregon Sea Grant

It can be easy to look around at our familiar surroundings and think “I’ve seen this all before!” But how close are we really looking?

INSPIRE

Nature observation is a great activity for families to engage in together because everyone has an opportunity to learn something new. Despite living close to natural areas, we often don’t stop and take time to really notice our surroundings. Many of us cannot name — or even describe — the various plants and animals we walk by every day. Here are some ideas to help you and your family look at nature together, with new attention to detail.

ASK A QUESTION

What kind of plant is that, really? How do I know?

Trees and plants are everywhere, and this is especially true in Oregon. So much grows here! But what do you know about the vegetation growing nearby? For example, you may look out the window at a tree across the street and call it, simply, “tree”. But perhaps you know a little more, and call it an “evergreen tree” because you notice it has needles and stays green all year. But is it a shore pine? Douglas fir? Hemlock? Spruce? You might need to go look a little more closely to gather more evidence.

TRY IT – Observation

Once you take time to stop and notice, it’s obvious that there is more than one kind of tree in the neighborhood, more than one kind of “grass” on most lawns, and more than one kind of bird at the feeder. It’s time to explore! Don’t worry about assigning names to organisms you see at this point; you can think about that later.

Here are some ideas to help you and your family make scientific observations together:

Start a nature journal for recording your notes, drawings, and questions. All you really need is a blank notebook and a pencil. Here’s a nice description of keeping a journal focused on bird-watching.
Create an Observation Circle to help focus your attention. Learn more with this lesson and video from the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI).
Make observations in different locations, and then compare and contrast what you find.

Check out the Oregon Outdoor School website, which provides families with excellent resources that focus on nature observation and nature journaling. Each week they publish a new Nature Observation Activity set in English and Spanish.

A Deeper Dive for Parents and Teachers
* Making Observations from the Lawrence Hall of Science BEETLES Project
* Fostering Outdoor Observation Skills – from the Pacific Education Institute
* How to Teach Nature Journaling – by John Muir Laws and Emilie Lygren

Observing animals can be a little bit trickier than observing plants because animals might be able to walk or fly away from your area of observation. But the more you practice, the more quickly you can record your observations. Tips for getting started:

Focus on slow-moving animals.
Take a photo that you can reference or share later.
Use an animal webcam to observe animals living far from your home. List of webcams

TRY IT – Identification

Scientists know that categorizing and naming organisms is very useful for understanding species characteristics and how organisms are related to one another. Practically speaking, it’s also helpful to assign names to plants and animals just so everyone knows they are talking about the same organism. There are big differences between the Dungeness crab and the European green crab. While they are both “crabs”, one is a tasty, native species that supports a thriving Oregon fishery, and the other is a smaller, invasive species that causes problems for Oregon’s ecosystems.

Left: Dungeness crab (*Metacarcinus magister*) Native and tasty
Right: European green crab (*Carcinus maenas*) Invasive and problematic
Images courtesy of Oregon Sea Grant

Pick one organism that you observed in the first section and focus on finding out its scientific and common name. The careful observations you made earlier will help you make an accurate identification. You may also learn that you need additional information and will need to return to the organism to check something you didn’t think to look at before.

Here are some resources that can help you identify and learn about organisms you might observe near your home:

Animals in Oregon: ODFW Wildlife Viewing
Tress in Oregon: OFRI Forests Types Tree Guides
Birds: Cornell Lab of Ornithology All About Birds
- A Simpler Bird Guide: Portland Audubon’s Kids Guide to Oregon Birds
Everything: iNaturalist – Upload a photo and the app will make a identification suggestion

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

What can we learn by closely observing nature?

GAIN A SENSE OF PLACE
Observing nature can help children and adults develop meaningful connections to the environment, and lead to feelings of stewardship towards local places.

IMPROVE YOUR OBSERVATION SKILLS
The process of taking detailed notes or making an identification requires you to look closely at nature.

IMPROVE YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY
Once you’ve gone through the process of noticing and identifying an organism, you may suddenly start noticing it everywhere!

USE EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT A CLAIM
Identifying organisms models an important practice of science*. Scientists must use evidence to support their conclusions.

LEARN TOGETHER OR ON YOUR OWN
Nature observation and journaling are practices enjoyed by people of all ages, and there’s always more to learn. Your journal observations may be kept private, but nature explorers can also work with others to identify species and make new discoveries.

CELEBRATE AND SHARE

Connect your observations to a larger network by contributing to an online community science project! iNaturalist is one of the best apps available for sharing your nature observations, and you can download and start using it immediately. You can find additional locally-relevant projects on the Oregon Coast STEM Hub Families page, or search for a project through the large citizen science website SciStart.

What are you waiting for? Turn off your computer and go outside! Tap into your inner naturalist, “see” all the things you were previously missing, and have fun watching your world come alive.

_____________
Cait Goodwin is a Special Projects Coordinator at Oregon Sea Grant, and is also the Communications Coordinator for the Oregon Coast STEM Hub.