Education
Attracting more of our nation’s most promising young minds to scientific and technological fields of study requires an intensified focus on STEM skills—science, technology, engineering and mathematics—in our schools.
SENSE IT is Beacon Institute’s answer to this challenge. Developed with Clarkson University, SENSE IT offers high school teachers new ways to engage students in hands-on exploration and application of critical STEM skills, while bringing sensor technology into the classroom. The goal is to help students gain an appreciation for the Hudson River and concurrently develop crucial 21st century workforce skills using REON and the Hudson River as a laboratory.
SENSE IT was piloted at Tech Valley High School in the Capital District. Thanks in part to the success of the pilot, the National Science Foundation awarded Beacon Institute and Clarkson University $1.4 million to expand SENSE IT across three regions in New York State.
Through the SENSE IT curriculum modules, designed to integrate into any high school STEM curriculum, students learn the engineering process by designing, constructing, programming and testing water monitoring sensors, with the ultimate goal of interesting students in STEM-based career paths.
To date, 41 teachers from 31 school districts across the Capital District, Potsdam area and Hudson Valley have participated in intensive two-week professional development workshops to learn how to implement the SENSE IT curriculum in their classrooms. Participation in the program requires long-term commitments from teachers and schools.
“For New York State and the nation to remain competitive in the global economy it is essential we develop math, science and engineering skills in young students,” said John Cronin, Director and CEO of Beacon Institute. “By combining an environmentally-driven purpose—the monitoring and protection of critical waterways—with advanced technological skills, we are preparing a new generation of innovators and leaders who can address one of our most pressing regional, national and global environmental challenges—threatened water resources.”
The Environmental Consortium of Hudson Valley Colleges and Universities
Developed by Beacon Institute and Pace University, the Environmental Consortium includes more than 40 institutions of higher learning. Directed by Michelle Land of Pace University, the Consortium is dedicated to transforming the Hudson Valley into an extended laboratory and classroom for policy analysis, multi-institutional field programs and cooperative regional studies.
