Upper School Students Participate in Global Online Conference

Over 250 students from 10 countries in 9 different Global Online Academy classes are presenting their projects online this week at the very first GOA Catalyst Conference! Classes include Comparative Politics, Digital Journalism, Energy, Game Theory, Gender Studies, iOS App Development, Neuropsychology, Organic Chemistry in Modern Life, Advocacy, and Medical Problem Solving. The projects are focused on advocating for change in their local communities. The conference will be entirely asynchronous, allowing participants worldwide to attend and interact with the conference presenters. The student’s advocacy will fall into one of three categories: raising awareness, promoting grassroots action, or promoting institutional change. Within our BB&N community, Dr Cataldo's Neuropsychology class will present, as will BB&N students in the following GOA courses: Advocacy,Gender Studies, and Game Theory. If you are interested in following the conference and seeing what issues BB&N participants are tackling, register at http://goaconference.org/register/ And follow along on twitter with #GOAndchangeit

Upper School Tech Byte #9- Engineering Project

Upper School science teacher Mike shared a project completed by the students in his "Engineering Principles and Practice" course, which is offered as a Science elective.  Students used Google SketchUp, 3D modeling software, to design a space tackling the issue of urban sprawl.  The example Mike shared featured a 100% self-sustainable, all-inclusive community space complete with apartments, underground parking, a restaurant, a gym, a pharmacy, and a clothing store.  The building's highlights included solar panels as well as a geothermal system for heating and cooling.

Upper School Tech Byte #8- Prezi and Kickstarter in Science

Students in Leah’s Current Topics and Research in Science and Technology class completed a unit on climate change. Their assignment was to learn how climate change impacts populations around the world directly and indirectly then create a fundraising campaign to combat climate change impacts in Ethiopia. During the research process, students Skyped with representatives from NGOs.  The two-week project culminated with students' creating Prezi presentations describing the problem and emailing them to all BB&N students asking them to vote for one of three initiatives.