LSAMP program to teach high schoolers about STEM fields
The Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program today (April 12) is providing a learning opportunity about the importance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) for 25 ninth- and 10th-grade students from Lew Wallace STEM Academy High School in Gary.
Purdue students who are part of the spring 2011 LSAMP STEM Student Service Learning Team are hosting the event. Team members are Alexis Bennett, Ariel Garcia, Daniel Williams, Destani Langford, Dynesha Harris, Gabriela Campos, Iman Allawzi, Jamal Enakhimion, Javier Esquivel, Lawrence Nichols, Margaret Ramos-Miller, Ryan Shelley, and Trevor Brown.
Through a series of lectures related to undergraduate research opportunities, hands-on STEM activities and campus laboratory tours, the Purdue students will help the participants understand the importance of pursuing higher education in STEM areas, show that higher education is within their reach and illustrate how STEM fields are fun and exciting areas to research.
The high school students will meet with the directors of the Office of Multicultural Programs in Agriculture, Minority Engineering Program, Multicultural Science Program and the College of Technology Diversity Office. Students also will learn how the Indiana Core 40 relates to admission into Purdue and about STEM-related summer outreach programs and academic year retention programs.
The students will tour the Forensic Science Laboratory. They will learn about real-life crime scene investigations and how forensic science is taught to Purdue students and law enforcement. They will learn how to recover fingerprints from a crime scene and live individuals.
The students also will tour the National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory, which will expose students to various agricultural research problems in disciplines ranging from plant physiology to animal science and from human nutrition to clothing and textile. They will sit in on demonstrations that will focus on soil erosion and soil, air, and water quality issues in agriculture and urban environments.
The Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program is aimed at increasing the quality and quantity of students successfully completing science, technology, engineering and mathematics baccalaureate degree programs. LSAMP’s goal is to broaden the participation of students (K-12, postsecondary and graduate) in STEM disciplines.
