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STEM Saturday classes expand into Naperville

January 17, 2013

STEM Saturday!Responding to requests from suburban parents, STEM Outreach is offering the popular STEM Saturday classes at both NIU’s DeKalb and Naperville campuses.

Parents have joined the STEM Outreach staff in looking for ways to get K-12 students excited about science, technology, engineering, and math.

“Our DeKalb-based classes tend to sell out overnight, and we are hoping for a similar response from families in the NIU-Naperville area,” said Jeremy Benson, who conducts the classes with help from NIU students in STEM majors.

STEM Saturdays offer hands-on activities that allow students to learn through actual experience.

This season’s classes cover topics ranging from building their own Rube Goldberg machines, to studying the life found in local streams and rivers, to learning about the science of color and light, and the ever-popular kitchen chemistry. Computer-aided design classes for high school students are being offered for the first-time and will be located in the CAD lab at NIU’s College of Engineering and Engineering Technology.

Students can sign up for just one or as many classes as they want. NIU-Naperville offers morning and afternoon sessions for all classes. Afternoon classes will be added for any morning sessions that fill up at the DeKalb campus.

Parents are encouraged to attend the classes with their students and get in on the fun. For classes including 2nd and 3rd graders, parents of younger students are strongly encouraged to attend.

Class descriptions, schedules and registration information are available online.

STEM Saturday!Times

  • Morning: 9 a.m. to noon
  • Afternoon: 1 to 4 p.m.

Where

  • DeKalb: Faraday Hall Room 105 and/or the Engineering Building
  • Naperville: Room 166

Grades

  • Fourth through eighth grades, except as noted below.

Cost

  • $25 per session (DeKalb)
  • $35 per session (Naperville)
  • $5 for students who qualify for discounted school lunch programs.
  • $5 discount per student for families registering multiple students

Dates

STEM Saturday!January

  • 19 – DeKalb: Junk Box Wars: Rube Goldberg
  • 26 – Naperville: Kitchen Chemistry

February

  • 2 – DeKalb: Computer Aided Design I (High School)
  • 9 – Naperville: Programming & Robotics I
  • 16 – DeKalb: Computer Aided Design II (High School)
  • 23 – Naperville: Programming & Robotics II

March

  • 2 – DeKalb: Design it, Build it! I
  • 9 – Naperville: Electronics & Soldering I
  • 16 – DeKalb: Design it, Build it! II
  • 23 – Naperville: Electronics & Soldering II

April

  • 6 – DeKalb: Aquatic Biology
  • 6 – Naperville: The Science of Sound
  • 20 – DeKalb: Exploring the Spectrum
  • 27 – Naperville: Exploring the Spectrum

May

  • 4 – DeKalb: Exploring the Cosmos (Middle and High School)

Parking is free at both locations. Scholarships are available for students who qualify for discounted school lunch programs. For additional information, contact Benson at (815) 753-0533 or jjbenson@niu.edu.