At Hearlihy and Pitsco, we focus a great deal of our attention on current students and teachers and aiding in their success, but we also are very interested in tomorrow's engineers, scientists, and mathematicians and how we can help them get there.
Professors at Michigan State University conducted research that looked at what influences students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine (STEMM). According to Jon Miller, MSU Hannah Professor of Integrative Studies, "the pathway to a STEMM career begins at home". The research also confirmed how mathematics plays a critical role in the course of a STEMM career.
To read more about Miller's findings check out http://news.msu.edu/story/7489/.
To read the full published study from MSU check out http://news.msu.edu/media/documents/2010/02/79874644-d2cb-4def-a17f-e67cc27b929d.pdf
Going green is not a new concept. Most people have heard this term, know what it means, and hopefully are at least trying or adapting to this new way of life. Not only is going green not a new concept, it can be described in other ways as well. Eco-friendly and environmentally conscious are just a few of the other commonly used descriptions.
There is more than one way to describe it, but there are even more ways to practice it, to live it. This includes anything from taking public transportation to driving hybrid cars, from recycling plastic bottles and plastic grocery bags to using reusable bottles and reusable grocery bags.
At Hearlihy, we have several green architecture house kits to show students how to build green. Hearlihy offers Rammed-Earth House Kits, Straw-Bale House Kits, and Earth-Sheltered House Kits, but as expected there are a lot of additional ways to build green.
And green buildings can be more than just energy-efficient and environmentally friendly; they can also look good. Check out the following links to view some very attractive green architecture homes and see how they work.
Rammed Earth
Straw Bale
Earth Sheltered
For a full listing of our green products visit our green education product line.
If you had to guess what students between the ages of 12 and 17 think about STEM, what do you think they would say? According to the Lemelson-MIT Invention Index survey, 77% of the students involved in the survey said that they were excited about those subjects and were considering a STEM career.
If that news wasn't good enough, 66% of the students, whether individually or in a group, said they enjoyed hands-on projects most. Do you know what this means? We have students who want to use their hands, getting involved in the lesson and understanding what they are being taught. It also means that hands-on activities in the classroom could lead to tinkering, which could lead to inventing and engineering.
The survey found that in addition to hands-on learning students were interested in nontraditional settings. The survey also showed that students wished they knew more about STEM and that teachers' being excited about STEM would help them to get excited about it too.
With programs such as the Lemelson-MIT program (which encourages inventors and innovators) and the presidential campaign Educate to Innovate (which aims to increase the student's involvement in science, technology, engineering, and math) in our corner, next year's survey results may be even higher.
To read more about the survey results, check out http://mit.edu/invent/n-pressreleases/n-press-10index.html.
Check out some of our best-seller hands-on kits:
Ortho Box
Wood Framing
Straw-Bale House