STEM(in) with Steph

This past week I teamed up with Mesa County 4-H Agent Melissa Wonnenberg to bring the CSU STEM Mobile Energy Trailer to the Mesa County Safety Fair. Grand Valley Power electrical coop sponsored our attendance at this awesome event where over 2,000 mesa county elementary school children were able to come and learn about safety and energy! The kids were introduced to may types of energy production including crank, click circuits, fruit powered, and wind energy.  Thanks to our Partners Grand Valley Power for sponsoring our trailer at the fair! Melissa Models! The kids really enjoyed tinkering with the clip circuits and following new pathways and connections to try to make things move or light up! Sometimes their paths didn't work, but with a few helpful hints, they were able to make things happen. The trailer itself is equipped to be totally run on power generated from solar cells OR wind power, but since we were inside the mall, those sources were not available to demonstrate. Ho

 This last week has been very busy, but very rewarding as well! A while back I was invited to guest speak to the Johnson Elementary School 2nd Grade classes about Livestock Animals. My topic to share was 'Livestock Animals, their attributes, and how they help humans solve problems' . This is a very exciting topic to me because animals are a crucial part of human life all over the globe. Cattle Each class began with a quiz about their knowledge of proper names for species, and boy/girl. I laugh a little right now because the first slide I put up was of cattle - but every class yelled "COWS!". I explained that was not right because technically cows are the female, but no one would judge them for calling cattle, cows...hahaha! After we had some fun naming livestock, the kids were challenged to match the animal with a product it provides. We then brought up the web of products and discussed many things we knew animals provided and a lot of things we d

Happy Happy Superbowl weekend! If you didn't watch, you missed out on a great championship game yesterday. FYI - My team WON!!!! Hurrah! (If you don't know who won....I guess I can wait until you get back from googling it....) Ok, now onto something just as cool. Let's talk about the Physics of a Perfect Punt (You didn't think I was done with football yet did you?). I love learning how things work and how to do something better, so while watching the big game, I wondered; What does it take to make a perfect down field punt? The answer is Physics! Let's see what former NFL punter Craig Hentrich has to say about the Perfect Punt. Science Behind the Perfect Football Punt Makes sense, right? The perfect punt is about Initial Speed, Launch Angle, Air Resistance, and desired Range & Hang Time the play requires. All of these variables work together for the punter to make the perfect game punt! Lets talk application! For younger kids, pull together craft recyclables fro