Programs

• DOE Science Bowl  LERNet, along with CAS Chemistry, hosted the first regional science bowl at BU in February 2006, and hosted it again in March 2007 and March 2008. The BU Regional Science Bowl '09 will take place on February 28, 2009. (For more information, or to register a team, please visit www.bu.edu/scibowl or click on the link above).  Approximately 30 teams from area schools competed for the right to go on and compete at National Science Bowl in Washington D.C.   Merck was a naming sponsor of the event and many of its employees volunteered to run the competition.
  
  
• Learning Experiences for Young Scientists (LENS) Program: Weeklong summer program during which students from inner city schools engage in engineering activities at BU. Last summer students built a pinhole camera, designed bridges and parachutes, learned how to used ultrasound, designed robotic vehicles with Lego Mindstorms.

• Summer Pathways: This is a one-week, immersive, residential summer program for young women who are entering their junior or senior year in high school and are interested in math and science. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about a broad array of careers and research areas, as well as interact with women working in these fields.

• Mathematics Field Days: Two day-long programs with lectures and large-screen computer projections of chaos and fractals; breakout sessions on various mathematical topics. For high school math students and their teachers.
  
  
• BIO BUGS -- The Biology Graduate Student Association, in partnership with LERNet hosted a "Genetics of Behavior" lab for a week in December and a "Comparative Anatomy" lab for a week in May. Over 350 students participated in these two labs and the BGSA has plans to host one per semester in coming years.
  
  
• Pathways Program: For ten years, LERNet hosted two daylong programs designed for young women in high school who are interested in science, mathematics and engineering. The format was designed to encourage interaction between the students and female scientists, and to familiarize them with the variety of careers in these fields.
  
  
• GK12 Project STAMP/BUF: NSF-funded programs which partner BU graduate and undergraduate students majoring in science, mathematics, engineering and technology with K-12 teachers in Boston, Quincy, Chelsea, and Newton. The GK12 fellows work with teachers to develop curricula that enhance learning of these subjects in the classroom. Over the past four years we have placed 46 fellows in K-12 classrooms. An additional six fellows will be partnered with teachers for the 2008-09 academic year.
  
  
• Johns Hopkins CTY Events: Program co-hosted with Johns Hopkins' Center for Talented Youth (CTY) for gifted 8th and 9th graders and their parents. The topic changes each year -- Past programs have included Exploring the Quantum World, Exploring the Mind and the Brain, Environmental Science, Biotechnology, Marine and Ocean Biology, and Nanotechnology. The theme of the 2008 program is Energy and the Environment, and will take place on Sunday, November 23, 2008. This program is by invitation only and is open only to members of Johns Hopkins University's CTY (Center for Talented Youth).
  
  
• Engineering Days: Program to familiarize students with career options and research in the field of electrical and computer engineering. Includes keynote, lab tours and career panel discussion. Past programs have explored the areas of Biomedical Engineering. Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering.
  
  
• Saturday ScienceLabs: A series of modules developed to help students in high school currently studying physics, better understand its principles and concepts through hands-on activities in BU laboratories and on websites. These sessions take place on Saturday mornings during the school year from 9:00 am to noon. Some of the topics include neuroscience, termite biology, light and optics, quantum chemistry and subatomic particles.
  
  
• Weekday Physics Labs: During certain times of the year when physics department labs are not being used by undergraduates, we open them to high school students and offer them a chance to try some of the undergraduate labs. Several are computer-based labs designed to lead students towards a new discovery in physics. For information on the labs offered last year, please click here. If you are interested in participating in one of the labs please contact Cynthia Brossman.