The coaching season begins at the start of the school year. The competition season starts in the winter when the participating schools select up to eight students to compete at local competitions in February. This year, American Academy placed 9th in the team competition. (There were 45 teams represented). Our eight students were: Gary North, Shawn Ong, Matthew Haney, Nick Collins, Nick Anderson, Sarah Saltiel, and Tanay Nunna. Gary and Matthew were returning participants as they competed last year also. Shawn Ong and Gary North scored #5 and #24 respectively (out of an estimated 250 students) and this has earned them the opportunity to go to the College of Mines in Golden on March 8th and participate in the state MATHCOUNTS competition.

Crow Canyon

The sixth grade is almost ready to go! April 6th the bus leaves American Academy at 7:00 AM and returns April 12th. The STEM department will be sending detailed information out to 6th grade parents soon.

Science Carnival for Grades K through 3

Science Carnival is an approach to involve early elementary students in scientific principles through fun projects and experiments. Science Carnival activities heighten students' interest in science in a fun way. It encourages science teachers to find new and exciting ways to involve young minds through "hands-on" experiences. Science Carnival activities emphasize participation, teamwork and cooperation and are non-competitive. Activities are chosen because of their relationship to American Academy's science curriculum and include events from various science disciplines of life science, physical science and earth science. Science Carnival is run like a physical education field day. Again the emphasis is on learning, active participation, interaction between children and parent volunteers, and having fun. At Science Carnival every child is a winner! If you are interested in helping us plan and execute fun day, please contact Ms. Cline, Mr. Astler or Ms. Doke in the STEM department

Science Fair

The American Academy Science Fair for 5th grade and 4th grade is just around the corner. The 5th grade Science Fair will take place on April 22nd and the 4th grade will be presenting their projects on April 23rd. We are in need of judges for the both days. If you have a background in science, engineering or math we would love to have you share your expertise with our students by judging Science Fair. Please contact Ms. Doke if you can help us on either day.

Mag/Lev for Fifth Grade

The 5th grade will be studying MagLev Vehicles during their next STEM week beginning May 5th. Using the repulsive force of like magnetic poles, maglev vehicles are an amazing mode of transportation that encourages understanding of magnetic repulsion, friction, propulsion systems, equations, analyzing and graphing data.

Virtual CO2 Cars

The next STEM week for 8th grade will involve designing and building a virtual CO2 Car using SolidWorks CAD software. This week will begin on April 14th

Data Collection Technology Computers and Handhelds

Vernier has recently introduced a powerful and intuitive interface for science education. The LabQuest handheld allows students to collect data using sensitive state of the art probes. Once data is transferred to the computer, students are able to graph and use powerful analytical tools for assessing the data.

Junior Solar Sprint Car Competition and Hydrogen Fuel Cell Car Competition

Mr. Astler and Mrs. Chapleski are currently preparing students to participate in the JSS and HFC competitions in May at Dakota Ridge High School. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory hosts the U.S. Department of Energy's Junior Solar Sprint/Hydrogen Fuel Cell (JSS/HFC) Car Competitions. Middle School teams from all over the Colorado Region participate in this fun, educational and exciting event. Teams work together building solar and/or hydrogen fuel cell cars to compete in race and design categories. A "Spirit Award" is also presented to the team recognized for good sportsmanship.

Building of solar and hydrogen fuel cell cars for the JSS/HFC car competitions require skills in both math and science. The primary goals of the JSS/HFC program, is to generate enthusiasm for science and engineering at a crucial stage in the development of young people. The competition also helps improve students' understanding of scientific concepts and renewable energy technologies; and encourages young people to consider technical careers at an early age.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center(GSFC) has asked Mrs. Cline to beta test a new program with American Academy Students

The program is called Cosmic Times and was created by GSFC. To learn about the program, follow this link http://cosmictimes.gsfc.nasa.gov/

The year 1919 is on their Web site currently, and 1929 will be added shortly. Cosmic Times was created to highlight significant periods of time in aerospace history. The program consists of a newspaper and contains articles relevant to that year. In the Cosmic Times, students read the newspaper articles and teachers are then provided with four different activities. The articles and activities are appropriate for all levels of learners in middle school and high school

GSFC is looking for teachers that would like to beta test this program in their classroom. Mrs. Cline will be asked to share her comments with GSFC during the teacher workshop day at the 24th National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo. She will be meeting with the GSFC astrophysicists that created the program.

American Academy has been Chosen to Pilot Test the Space Academy's New Online Lab

The Space Foundation, Lockheed Martin, and Space Class will be doing a national rollout this spring of a new online science lab. AA middle school students are going to be kicking off this event soon. This should be a great exposure for our school

The Colorado School of Mines is hosting a robotic competition sponsored by the Mikkelson Foundation

Student teams of four members will design and construct LEGO Mindstorms robots to seek out and remove simulated landmines. This mission focuses on the real world problem of global de-mining efforts

Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth grade students will receive information regarding this opportunity soon