MARQUETTE, Mich. (WJMN) – A new educational group is in the planning stages. It would combine Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) with nature.
Erik Johnson with Moosewood Nature Center in Marquette wants to start a STEM club. To do that, he is looking for a group of about 6 interested parents to help organize the club. He’s looking for people with a variety of interests and backgrounds to take STEM ideas and apply them to studying nature.
“One of the things I don’t want to do is I don’t want to compete with other STEM clubs. Because we do have sort of unique thing here at Moosewood where we can bring it in to nature into a controlled nature setting and take everything stem and apply it to a nature setting here. some places focus on just computers. We can be a little more diverse,” said Johnson.
Moosewood already has a variety of STEM materials like a 3D printer and underwater robots, to support the plan.
“The neat thing is we have our own ecosystem right outside the building here. with a fenced in area where we can take a microscope outside where we can look at soill, we can look at bugs. It doesn’t necessarily have to be all about computers. But we can definitely use computers for that kind of stuff too. We have a digital microscope. there are some cool things we can do with it,” added Johnson.
Once he has a group of parents to meet and form a structure for the club, then he’ll be able to apply for funding. The final step would be to find interested youth and begin meetings.
If you’re interested in joining the effort, email Moosewood Nature Center at MoosewoodNC@gmail.com
Moosewood recently started a Dino Dig program with a dinosaur skeleton that Johnson built. During a recent Facebook video, Johnson talked about how the dinosaur becomes part of the STEM world through paleontology.
The next Dino Dig is coming up Saturday at noon outside of Moosewood Nature Center. The latest addition to the program also includes something on a smaller scale for kids to uncover.
