The process of researching colleges, understanding your choices, completing applications, and choosing the best school for you, can be really overwhelming. On Sunday, February 24th, 40 students from the Museum’s Upward Bound Math & Science Program, ranging from 9th to 12th grade, had to chance to take some of those first steps with their friends, Upward Bound staff mentors, and even the Superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Alberto Carvalho. They attended the National College Fair at the DoubleTree Hilton Convention Center, sponsored by the National Association of College Admission Counseling and the School Board of Miami-Dade County.

The first person to greet them at the entrance was Superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools Alberto Carvalho and School Board Chair Perla Tabares-Hantman. The students introduced themselves, and Superintendent Carvalho asked them which high schools they represented and congratulated them on their accomplishments in the Upward Bound Program. Then the students had a lot of ground to cover at the Fair. Over 200 colleges from all over the country were present, and students were able to talk to lots of college/university representatives and receive all the admissions information they needed. Students also attended workshops on scholarships and financial aid, college admissions, college prep, SAT/ACT Exam information, and more.

Now there are some informed choices to be made!

From left to right: Oscar, Alex, School Board Chair Perla Tabares-Hantman, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, Jose, Raymond, Omar, Elizabeth, Claudia

With the help of a State Farm Youth Advisory Board grant and the Museum’s Reclamation Project, students participating in the Museum’s Upward Bound program are serving as Eco-Ambassadors to south Florida’s unique environments. We have all seen the PSAs (public service announcements) that make you stop and think, like NBC’s “The More You Know…” series. Now, our student Eco-Ambassadors are creating their own PSAs in a 5-day One Water Workshop. They’re learning about the whole process of creating a PSA, from scripting to filming to editing, and doing it all themselves in small groups of 4 or 5. The teamwork and creativity brought out in a project like this represents the same kind of effort that we need to apply to involving our communities in environmental conservation. These students are taking a first step towards that goal, by creating their PSAs on topics ranging from natural resource exploitation to restoration to environmental economics. The final films will be finished on January 7, and will be posted to the Miami Science Museum and State Farm Youth Advisory Board websites. So be sure to check back! Because the more you know…

A lone mangrove seedling

On Saturday, December 8^th, 60 Upward Bound Eco-Ambassadors joined a group of volunteers from Miami-Dade College in replanting almost 1,000 mangrove propagules at R. Hardy Matheson Preserve. The Preserve is undergoing a major management effort by Miami-Dade County to remove exotic plants, replant native habitats such as mangroves, and create a multi-use protected area for recreational activities.

In all, over 100 volunteers participated in planting mangrove seedlings that had been exhibited on a wall at Miami Science Museum since November 2011, as part of the Museum’s Reclamation Project.  Specifically, they planted young mangrove plants along the banks of the Snapper Creek, a historical waterway. Not only does Snapper Creek have historical significance, as evidenced by a 500 B.C. Tequesta Indian habitation mound, but it is also one of the largest tracts of coastal native habitat in Miami-Dade County. Until recently, the banks of the creek where the volunteers planted were covered in large mounds of landfill which were dumped there as part of periodic dredging of the creek for the purpose of recreational navigation. These mounds were also, until recently, covered in invasive plants such as Australian pine and Brazilian pepper, and devoid of any native vegetation. Thanks to the efforts of these Eco-Ambassadors, this area will once again be covered in mangroves and associated plants which will provide food and shelter for native birds, mammals and reptiles, such as the endangered American crocodile and the West Indian manatee.

This effort is being funded by a State Farm Youth Advisory Board grant to engage local teenagers in restoring local habitat, outdoor learning and telling their own stories about South Florida’s natural areas through film. Click here for more information on the Reclamation Project, the Eco-Ambassadors, and the State Farm Youth Advisory Board.

The eco-ambassadors gather to start the day

The group wades into the water to replant mangroves

In recent times, it seems more and more difficult for humans to avoid negatively impacting nature. But that does not mean that we can’t make a positive impact. The Museum’s eco-art Reclamation Project works to help restore our coastal environments. You can see these efforts every day, on an exterior wall by the Museum’s Wildlife Center. More than 1,100 mangrove seedlings are lined up in biodegradable cups, waiting to be replanted at several restoration sites scattered throughout Miami. Each year, when all the seedlings are taken to be planted, 1,100 more seedlings are brought in to replace the ones that were taken out. This year, as part of a grant from State Farm Youth Advisory Board, students from the Miami Science Museum’s Upward Bound Math and Science program replaced the 1,100 red mangrove seedlings on the wall with new ones they had collected in September from Bear Cut Preserve on Key Biscayne and Matheson Hammock County Park. The seedlings taken down off the wall will be replanted by the Upward Bound students over the next couple weeks at R. Hardy Matheson Preserve, a Miami-Dade County Park, and on Virginia Key. As part of the same grant, students also visited a restoration site at  Oleta River State Park that is currently covered in invasive species. In the spring, students will help restore the site by replanting 1.5 acres. Through these activities, students begin to have a first-hand understand of the importance of nature – because humans and animals need nature in order to survive, and nature certainly needs our help to survive as well.

Every year, the Museum celebrates our Universe, and everyone with a passion for observing, investigating, and learning about it. On a large scale, it’s officially National Astronomy Day. Here at the Museum, we called our celebration AstroJam: A Cosmic Quest. On Friday under a nearly full Moon, and on Saturday under sunny skies, visitors were treated to space-related film screenings, hands-on activities, planetarium shows, a live theater show featuring Galileo, and the chance to look through the Museum’s rooftop observatory on Friday night, and through solar telescopes on Saturday provided by the Astronomy Club from Florida International University. Also on hand at the event was the Southern Cross Astronomical Society, who provided materials for guests and shared news of their weekly observing nights that are open to the public. Visitors received materials from Astronomy Magazine, and were treated to an exhibition of astrophotography sponsored by the Smithsonian Affiliations’ Youth Capture the Colorful Cosmos project, and created by high school students from the Museum’s Upward Bound program. (Click here to see more of the students’ exhibition.) During the event, young visitors went on a “Cosmic Quest” throughout the Museum – every time they completed an activity, they received a sticker on their “quest port card.” Activities included a laser maze, building your own Mars Rover, making ultraviolet jewelry, and lots more. And of course, being so close to Halloween, what event would be complete without a costume contest? A few lucky visitors (like Mario & Luigi, Darth Vader, and Athena) walked away with prizes like Celestron telescopes, a Straddle game (kind of like a space version of Twister), and glow in the dark stars for their rooms. The whole event was a cosmic hit! Check out a slideshow of photos below.

We’ve all seen the amazing images from the Hubble Space Telescope. The details in the colors and swirling patterns are not just beautiful – they also tell a story about what is happening there. Is that cloud of gas and dust a nursery for newborn stars? Are these massive bubbles of gas that have exploded from a supernova? And perhaps most importantly, who creates these images, and how?

As a member of Smithsonian Affiliations, the Miami Science Museum was recently able to answer that last question … in our case, it’s students! As a recipient of a grant from the Smithsonian’s Youth Capture the Colorful Cosmos program, the Museum was able to give students participating in our Upward Bound program the opportunity to remotely operate NASA’s MicroObservatory, a system of robotic telescopes in Arizona. Students chose the objects they wanted to observe, including the exposure time and the filter through which the telescope would take the image. The next day, they received emails from the telescope with their images. Most of the time, the images appeared dark, as if there wasn’t much there. But students learned how to use professional-grade software to adjust brightness scales, reduce the background “noise” of the image, and add color schemes. All of a sudden those seemingly dark images became spectacular images of our colorful cosmos!

MicroObservatory telescopes

Lagoon Nebula (raw image)

The students were not done after they created their works of astrophotography art. Their work has now been combined into a new exhibition at the Museum! Students were also present for the exhibit’s opening weekend (which coincided with AstroJam, the Museum’s annual astronomy event) where they led activities on color, filters, and light, to pass on to Museum visitors their knowledge of telescopes and our Cosmos.

Lagoon Nebula (created by Claudia)

The Sun (created by Raymond)

The Pinwheel Galaxy (created by Giselle)

NGC 891 (created by Odelkis)

Orion Nebula (created by Samwood)

The Dumbbell Nebula (created by Randy)

Youth Capture the Colorful Cosmos Exhibit

Jerry, with his creations

Ivory, with future scientists building a laser maze

Students and facilitators of the Upward Bound Program, President and CEO of the Miami Science Museum Gillian Thomas, and Vice President of Education Dr. Judy Brown accept the AT&T ASPIRE Program Award check from AT&T Executive, JC Flores to support the Museum’s college readiness program. ASPIRE will serve 63 highly motivated, low-income, first-generation college-bound students from five of the lowest performing high schools in Miami-Dade County. Congrats to all!

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The Museum’s Upward Bound program is all about helping underprivileged youth aspire to great levels of achievement in education and in the workplace. Thanks to a generous grant and four-year partnership with the AT&T ASPIRE program, the Museum was able to double the number of 9^th and 10^th graders enrolled in its Upward Bound Math & Science program. Over the four years, the awarded grant of $398,214 has allowed the Museum to hire up to four mentors each year as well as a full-time staff member whose focus is college counseling, in order to improve the participants’ ability to compete for entry into college.

“This program reached out to me and gave me the support and confidence to become the person I am today, which is a strong African American girl that knows where her path lies. My path lies down the road of success, achievements and accomplishment,” said Jessica Joseph, Upward Bound Math & Science participant class of 2011.

From Left to Right: Steve Solomon and Elise Dubois from AT&T; Joshua Reid, Upward Bound student; Gillian Thomas, Museum President and CEO; and Amy Rubinson, Director of Youth Development

AT&T’s ASPIRE program is a $100 million initiative that addresses high school success as well as college and workforce readiness. It is the company’s most significant education initiative to date and one of the largest corporate commitments ever to address high school success and workforce readiness. The program is centered on four key components:

• Awarding grants to school districts, school district foundations and nonprofit organizations focused on preparing students for college and/or the workforce.
• Providing job-shadowing opportunities for 100,000 students, in conjunction with Junior Achievement Worldwide, giving students the chance to see firsthand the job skills needed to be successful in the future.
• Commissioning the next chapter of major research on the high school dropout issue and solutions by directly engaging educational practitioners; and underwriting 100 community dropout-prevention summits, organized by America’s Promise Alliance, to engage education experts and community leaders across all 50 states around the high school dropout crisis and ways to address it.

During the school year, Upward Bound Math & Science students participate in Saturday workshops at the Museum covering a wide variety of topics including hands-on science activities, tutoring and homework help, college preparation, computer lab access and internship experiences. In the summertime, students participate in an intensive six-week field research experience that allowed them to deepen their science, research, and technology skills. All of these components were designed increase the students’ belief in their abilities and motivate them to stay on track to get into, and finish, college.

“In the past two years, 100% of our students have graduated from high school and all of our current senior class students have met the requirements for graduation in 2012.” said Amy Rubinson, Director of Youth Development at the Museum. “We are so proud of the students’ many accomplishments, including several scholarship awards from the prestigious Dell Scholarships to Gates Millennium Scholarships. We greatly appreciate philanthropic organizations like AT&T for providing us the opportunity to keep this important program going.”

Miami Science Museum’s Upward Bound Math & Science program engages under-represented youth in the sciences by encouraging them to stay in school and pursue post-secondary education in science and math. Since the program’s inception, 98% of students enrolled have graduated from high school and over 90% have pursued a college education, compared to 54% graduation rates and 65% college enrollment rates at the Program’s target schools. Currently, Miami Science Museum is the only museum in the country operating an Upward Bound Math & Science Center. All others are university-based. The Museum’s program has received many accolades, including National Award for Museum Service for Excellence in Youth Programming in 2001, and the coveted NSF Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring in 2005.