GEMS
Great Explorations in Math and Science
Central Michigan University ● EHS 464 ● (989)774-1710 ● Web: gems.cmich.edu ● Email: gems@cmich.edu
GEMS SPRING 2015 WORKSHOPS
Friday, January 30, 2015 ● (Grades K-6)
Build It!
Festival
1.
Acid Rain
This GEMS festival session includes a wide assortment of
classroom learning-station activities that emphasize construction,
geometric challenges, and spatial visualization. Activities involve
students in free exploration of materials and lay the foundation
for mathematical challenges.
Friday, February 20, 2015 ● (Grades 6-8)
In this stimulating unit, students learn about acids, bases, and the
pH scale; make “fake lakes” and determine how their pH changes
after an acid rainstorm; present a play on the effects of acid rain
on aquatic life; determine the effects of various dilutions of acid
on seed germination; and hold a town meeting to discuss possible
solutions to the problem of acid rain.
1. Math on the
2.
Menu
Treasure Boxes
1.
Mystery Festival
1.
EHS 129
1:00-4:00 pm
Cost: $5.00
Guide Cost
(optional): $18.40
Friday, February 27, 2015 ● (Grades 3-5)
In this engaging series of cooperative activities, students plunge in to
help the fictional Rosada family as it opens, equips, and expands a
Mexican restaurant...with all the attendant real-life mathematical
challenges. Students eagerly apply different problem-solving strategies
as they plan and enlarge the tostadas menu, determine different
combinations of ingredients, analyze costs, set prices, and address
interior logistics when the restaurant expands to a second location.
Friday, March 20, 2015 ● (Grades K-3)
From postage stamps to bottle caps, a child's precious collections are
natural starting points for guided exploration and mathematics
activites, and can galvanize discussion of environmental concepts. In
this engaging, innovative series of mathematics activities, children
create personal collections of recycled, "found," and inexpensive
objects and investigate their properties, calling many important science
and math skills into play.
Bubble Festival
EHS 129
1:00-4:00 pm
Cost: $5.00
Guide Cost
(optional): $22.40
Friday, April 3, 2015 ● (Grades K-6)
EHS 129
1:00-4:00 pm
Cost: $5.00
Guide Cost
(optional): $14.40
EHS 129
1:00-4:00 pm
Cost: $5.00
Guide Cost
(optional): $14.40
This learning-station approach to guided discovery encourages
independent thinking and cooperative learning while bringing great fun
and excitement to the classroom. From "Bubble Shapes" and "Bubble
Measurement" to "Bubble Skeletons" and "Body Bubbles,” this includes
a wide assortment of classroom learning-station activities that
emphasize construction, geometric challenges, and spatial visualization.
EHS 129
1:00-4:00 pm
Cost: $5.00
Guide Cost
(optional): $16.80
Friday, April 17, 2015 ● (Grades 2-8)
EHS 129
1:00-4:00 pm
Cost: $5.00
Guide Cost
(optional): $20.40
This unit explores many key content areas and emphasizes the
important distinction between evidence and inference. The many
crime-lab procedures include thread tests, powder tests, DNA
comparison, chromatography, and fingerprinting.