Information for Teachers

Overview
Events

Logistics
To participate

Overview

GEM aims to establish and support a community of 4th-7th grade Twin Cities' girls who are interested in math. The 2007-08 program will fully support fifteen teachers, each with a group of up to ten girls. Whenever possible, these cohorts of girls should include underrepresented minorities and/or underprivileged girls. Girls participate for free; teachers are paid.

On September 29, 2007 and January 26, 2008, teachers will participate in the prep meetings for the fall and spring activities. On the date of the events, teachers will participate in professional development seminars, lead their group of girls through the workshop, and then do follow-up and evaluation after each workshop. If students travel with their teachers, they will have the opportunity to interact with University undergraduate, female mentors during teacher professional development sessions. They can learn about the University and what it is like to be a University student.

There will be a Family Reception to acknowledge students' achievements as part of the Celebration of Pi event that will take place on March 15, 2008.

Events

Tessellating Patterns- Saturday, October 6, 2007
Examine tessellating patterns, and create your own tessellation print. Learn about the symmetry of polygons and how these patterns are linked to nature, art, and science.

Origami- Saturday, November 3, 2007
Visualize geometric concepts by creating geometric shapes using origami-folding sequences. Challenge your problem solving skills by connecting basic geometric shapes to create as many different polyhedra models as possible.

Packing Cannonballs and M&M’s- Saturday, February 2, 2008
What is the best way to pack cannonballs together? It took mathematicians over 400 years to prove that grocery stores had it right all along: the best way to pack round objects is the familiar way that oranges are piled at the store. Learn why it took so long to figure this out, and which other possibilities were discarded along the way. We’ll also talk about M&M’s, bees, honeycombs, tiling, and other important mathematical ideas.

Celebration of Pi- Saturday, March 15, 2008
Come celebrate the Greek letter Pi, which has several uses in mathematics and physics, as well as completing a year in the GEM program. Learn about the uses of Pi and enjoy some Pie!

Logistics

Teachers invite girls to participate in the program from their class, school and/or district.
All events will be held on the University of Minnesota’s Minneapolis campus.
If it is possible, students who do not have transportation to the University should have the option of traveling with their teachers.
Teacher seminars on September 29, 2007 and January 26, 2008 are an opportunity for the teachers to review the lesson plans of the topics being covered during the semester.
On the day of the events (DATES) pre-event conversations run from 8:15-9:15am; workshops for the students on these dates run from 9:30am-noon; follow-up sessions for the teachers run from noon-1pm. During this time students will be able to participate in events that allow them to meet and play with students from the other GEM locations.

How to Participate

Contact Sarah Gregg at 612-625-2861 or itcep@umn.edu if interested in participating. Final choices of the 2007-08 teachers have been made for this year, but you can be added to a list of teachers interested in participating in the future.

This program is sponsored by the Center for Energy and the Environment.
For more information about there programs and services - click here.