Tag: engineering

Blogger Jonathan Dolce

The Art of the Con – plan, host, conduct and maintain!

| Jonathan Dolce|Leave a comment
star wars cosplayer

The Art of the Con The Art of the con or convention is a fine art, but thankfully for you fearless reader, we have on hand Elise VanCise, creator and coordinator of the Annual Astor Library Geek Fest, now in its fourth year!  Elise is the young adult coordinator for the Astor County Library in sunny Astor, Florida. First Things First! J – For the purposes of this article, we’re going to focus on what it takes to plan, host, conduct and maintain a successful con.  But first, what exactly is a Geek Fest and why would a library want to have one? VanCise – Geek Fest is the name we gave to our mini-comic con or convention.  It’s a one-day con where we have cosplay, anything you geek is basically our theme – superheroes, science fiction, horror – anything you want!  This year we have exhibitors that do everything…

Continue Reading
Blogger Amy Koester

Marshmallow Engineering: A School-Age STEAM Program

| Amy Koester|3 Comments

You may have come to expect a full science program from my monthly posts here on the ALSC Blog. Today I’m going to share something a bit different, because my overall goal is to share STEAM programs–and science is just one facet of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math). I want to focus today on a recent school-age STEAM program we did at my library: Marshmallow Towers. It combined engineering and the creative aspects of arts and crafts. Here’s what we did: The Opener: Talking about building. What sorts of things do architects and construction workers have to take into account when they think about building? We talked about design and knowing the materials you’re working with. I also made available lots of the library’s non-fiction titles that give a sneak peak into buildings and construction. Heavily illustrated books like those from David Macaulay and DK Eyewitness were attendees’ favorites,…

Continue Reading
Blogger Amanda Roberson

STEM @ Your Library!

| Amanda Roberson|1 Comment

The Maryland state board of education just approved the following seven Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Standards of Practice for use in schools and many other states are working to create similar standards of practice for their school systems. These practices give guidance to the need to educate our youngest learners to live in a world where the job they will have as adults doesn’t even exist yet. 1. Learn and Apply Rigorous Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics content 2. Integrate Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics Content 3. Interpret and Communicate Information from Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics 4. Engage in Inquiry 5. Engage in Logical Reasoning 6. Collaborate as a STEM team 7. Apply Technology Strategically My colleagues and I recently attended a great conference on STEM and Early Childhood. We learned more about the need for STEM in young children’s education and strategies for childcare providers and early…

Continue Reading