Aug 26, 2015 | Community
Sponsored by Maui Economic Development Board’s Women in Technology (WIT) Project, the Maui County 4-H Youth Development Program and the Maui Police Department (MPD) Forensic Team recently held this year’s 4-H Tech Connect event. This event challenged over 65 elementary, middle and high school members to investigate a crime scene using the latest forensic techniques. Since 2006, WIT’s Tech Connect has been helping to infuse science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) into the Maui County 4-H experience in alignment with the national 4-H movement.
Recalling the popular TV show, the 8th annual Connect event brought Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) to life for the Maui County 4-H members. The afternoon began with an all-too-real kidnapping intended to bring CSI problem-solving into sharp focus. MPD’s Evidence Specialist Anthony “Tony” Earles gave students an introduction to forensic science along with pointers on collecting evidence and then let the young investigators explore the staged crime scene.
“The students really got into it,” said WIT STEMworks Director Isla Young. “They were able to use real-world forensics to do fingerprint, hair, fiber and footprint analysis. They also got to watch a fascinating DNA presentation by Evidence Specialist Earles!”
After collecting and analyzing clues, 4-H’ers correctly determined that the evidence pointed to Suspect A. The kidnapped victim was successfully returned and the perpetrator arrested by MPD’s Detectives Bennett and Hamilton.
The hands-on activities of analyzing fingerprints and footprints in addition to information about career paths in forensic science and criminal justice provided an experimental learning opportunity for students interested in this career path. The whole experience inspired 4-H’er Kami Echiverri to think about a career in forensics. “I love to help people around the world and CSI gives me the opportunity to do just that,” she said. “I hope more girls can be passionate about STEM.”
Aug 19, 2015 | Stemworks
Earlier this summer, middle-school girls had the opportunity to attend Excite Camp, a Women in Technology (WIT) program sponsored by the Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB). The main goal of Excite Camp is to educate participants in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers. In addition to the learning experience, WIT believes it is important for the girls to see the connection between our cultural heritage and scientific technology. For example, girls take part in events that include geospatial technologies as well as tours of historical sites that integrate Hawaiian traditions into hands-on STEM learning activities.
“The last 15 years, Excite Camp has been held on Maui and open to all Maui County middle-school girls,” said Mapu Quitazol, WIT Program Manager. “This year we are able to expand and take our Excite Camp to Kona, Oahu and Molokai. Each island has the same agenda but very different activities and cultural site visits.”
The camp attendance of between 24 and 30 girls creates a small, intimate group. Each participant joins a group of four and is led by a female mentor. The mentor, who acts as a role model, explains the activities and works in close proximity with each student which helps them feel comfortable in their surroundings. “At the end of the four-day program the girls are no longer strangers, but colleagues and friends,” Quitazol noted. “In addition to getting excited about STEM, they learn the value of teamwork, communication and honoring their island heritage.”
“During Excite Camp the role of engineers was made clearer. It also made me more excited about college and my future career,” said Ruby, an Excite Camp participant. “It was wonderful having people encourage us during Excite Camp,” said Ruthie, another Excite Camp participant. “The mentors made us feel that we are smart and can do anything we put our mind to.”
Aug 12, 2015 | Education, Events
Pathways to our Future is an annual event benefiting the MEDB Ke Alahele education fund. Featuresd are distinguished educators; Lt. Governor Shan Tsutsui and Ms. Lyndelle Tsutsui; Mayor Alan Arakawa and Ms. Ann Arakawa, plus presentation of the 2015 Daniel K. Inouye Innovation Award to a student team that demonstrates the most innovative use of STEM tools and capabilities to serve and improve our community.
It’s coming up soon: Saturday, August 29, 2015 at the Fairmont Kea Lani, Maui. Reception and silent auction start at 4:30 pm, followed by dinner and live auction at 6 pm.
Reserve your tickets now at www.medb.org or call (808) 875-2300. Sponsorship opportunities are also available.
Aug 5, 2015 | Education
Lahainaluna High School arts and communications teacher Nancy Young used her Ke Alahele Education Fund grant to create a new environment in her classroom. Now, instead of the traditional classroom setting with rows of desks for students, Young’s created more of an inspirational space for creativity and innovation. Read all about it here. Young says, “It’s not just a classroom anymore. It is an environment and the kids love it and they produce really amazing work.”
Support projects that provide new opportunities for Maui County youth. Pathways to Our Future, an annual event to benefit the Ke Alahele Education Fund, will be held this year on Saturday August 29, 2015. Join us at the Fairmont Kea Lani in Wailea. For tickets, call 875-2300.
Jul 30, 2015 | Education, Stemworks
The recent Mini HI STAR (Hawaii Student/Teacher Research) Program of the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy, IfA, was sponsored by Maui Economic Development Board and Air Force Research Laboratory. The program provided 11 high school students from Maui and Molokai with four days of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education. The IFA curriculum gave these students the necessary research skills and background to conduct original research projects.
Dr. JD Armstrong, Maui Technology Education and Outreach Specialist at IFA, and teachers, led the students in morning physics and astronomy lectures. Afternoon sessions included the measurement of the positions and brightness of objects in space using image processing and photometric techniques. “We delivered the basic content in talks with PowerPoint® slides that instructed the students on selecting the celestial object they wanted to research for their group presentations,” said Dr. Armstrong. Students observed the sky as it is seen from different parts of the earth remotely via the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network. “Access to world-class research equipment offered the participants live views of outer space beamed straight to their computers,” Dr. Armstrong explained. “They were able to analyze the results of the collected image data by processing images with Astrometrica, a software tool that calculates precise positions of the celestial bodies.”
“The HI STAR program experience has helped broaden my knowledge on various astronomy topics,” said Celeste Jongeneelen, a home-schooled 10th grader. “We got to research exoplanets, asteroids and comets, young stellar objects and double stars!” Jongeneelen’s group presented a talk entitled Photometry Analysis of Two Young Open Star Clusters. Their objective was to identify candidate hydrogen disk stars. “Images of two young open star clusters were taken with red, infrared and H-alpha filters,” she explained. “We did the photometry on these images and made color-color charts. If any outliers showed excess in H-alpha in the charts, those are the potential disk stars.” “Our results showed a few candidate disk stars,” Jongeneelen added. “However, further analysis is needed to confirm these candidates.”
