STEM Scout pilot program

[click23]

Here is an article on the STEM Scout pilot program the Great Smoky Mountain Council is running. This is a coed, 3rd-12th grade program, that focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math

 

 

http://www.wbir.com/story/news/local/five-at-four/2014/09/17/stem-scouts-clayton-bradley-academy/15766027/

 

The programs website.

 

http://stemscouts.org/

[meschen]

Scouting without the outing?

[st0ut717]

There is nothing associating this to BSA as far as i can tell

[BadenP]

And this will be the end of scouting in the Smoky Mt Council. Science/Tech has a place in scouting but should NOT be the entire focus of the program. Without the OUTING it is just not SCOUTING.

[Stosh]

Sorry, but if this becomes a rank requirement, it will be readily pencil whipped in order to not waste time getting out into the woods.

 

Stosh

[st0ut717]

STEM is definatly something that should be stressed IMHO. but as part of the existing program not as a separate program. There are LOTS of opportunities include STEM into the program as it is. Too many to list here. But some examples:

 

Digital Technology

Programming

Robotics

Welding

Environmental Science

Weather

Nuclear Science

Chemistry

 

These can all be leveraged into an event in one way or another during the year.

 

 

 

[qwazse]

Don't sweat it. This is just Learning for Life re-cast with a little more obvious application of "Scout" language.

Smokey Mountain saw a need. It's filling it.

 

The program that st0ut17 deftly laid out, is troop-centric, which caters to about 1/4 of STEM Scouts' population.

[click23]

The way this is laid out, this is a traditional program(not Learning for Life, but that is where I see it belonging) in a new coed unit called a Lab, for 3rd-12th grade. They currently have a DE assigned from the council and a small national staff dedicated to the program. From my engineering background I really like the program, but from my scouting background, they should not be calling it "scouts"

 

This is a nationally approved pilot program, and may be expanded nationally by a vote next May.

[skeptic]

Those that refuse to face the future, will simply recede into the past. STEM has parts that can take the scouts outdoors. Science is still based on nature and its myriad natural functions, many of which can only be truly experienced in the field. Instead of constantly crying how "outing" is being taken out of scouting, try announcing how STEM is being taken along with "outing", and moving forward.

 

There is really no reason for all the "chicken little" blather, except that some REFUSE to see that half full glass, but focus instead on it being half empty. Go out and find minerals and field test them for identity. Go out on flower hikes and use modern technology to help determine their variation and so on. Go on an animal hike and snap photos of them in their natural habitats and take pics of footprints and so on. Go on a landform hike and identify them in their natural state. Then take the raw data back to the STEM labs and improve the overall knowledge.

 

Or, get the lab rats to build you a retro time machine and go back and live in the past where everything was so much simpler.

[click23]

Just to add, from what I have seen there is no "scouting" in it other than the name.

[meschen]

@skeptic Revisit links in the original post. This has nothing to do with the adoption of technology within the Boy Scout program. Its an entirely new program which seems, based on the STEMscouts program website, to have no connection to outdoor activities, or any of the other of the aims and methods of Scouting for that matter. From what the site shows, it is purely lab (classroom) based program. Nothing wrong with that in general, but I fail to see the connection to Scouting.

[Twocubdad]

I think this will be a great fit. It certainly plays to the core strengths of the Boy Scout. Local councils have way overbuilt classroom and lab space at our summer camps. This will be a terrific way to utilize those resources. Besides this is a grossly under served market segment. Children have scant opportunities to learn science these days. There is only one middle school and one high school (out of 12) in our school system specializing in STEM education and only a handful of charter schools. TwoCubSon, the one doing genetic research in college, was limited to starting college with only 26 college credits of math and science.

[NJCubScouter]

I can't quite put my finger on it, but somewhere in TwoCubDad's post I detect just a hint of sarcasm.

[st0ut717]

Frack teach botany while your in the woods. teach astronomy at night rifles, shotgun and arrows make GREAT physics experiments

[skeptic]

@skeptic Revisit links in the original post. This has nothing to do with the adoption of technology within the Boy Scout program. Its an entirely new program which seems' date=' based on the STEMscouts program website, to have no connection to outdoor activities, or any of the other of the aims and methods of Scouting for that matter. From what the site shows, it is purely lab (classroom) based program. Nothing wrong with that in general, but I fail to see the connection to Scouting.[/quote']

 

 

My point is simply that we have a few posters than seem to constantly have to find issue with everything that is not directly camping or hiking, and who reject any innovations or change to "old" methods or material.