Put focus on your areas of improvement this New Year! Making
a New Year’s resolution is an opportunity for improvement, and it doesn’t have
to mean cutting out your sweets!
Taking the opportunity to set goals for yourself can only
push you in the right direction! Sending education goals for your students or
children is a great resolution! 2020 is the next year of great innovation, and
make sure the children in your lives become the next generation of scientists!
High Touch High Tech has been inspiring students through
hands-on education for 25 years! Make STEM a priority in your students life
this year!
“Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family.” – Kofi Annan
A quality and well-rounded education is important through
the life among all age groups, casts, creeds, religion or region. Education is
the process in which knowledge, understanding, values, skills, beliefs, moral
habits, and necessary change will be achieved.
Knowledge is the ticket to overcoming economic status and
being victorious over personal and social issues. Education is a birth right to
anyone who wants to make more of life than crime and creates a better and more
peaceful society. By providing education, we transform minds, and therefore
construct change.
Education allows individuals to have a confidence in life
that cannot come from any other source. And educated person becomes a good
citizen. We dream of a future geared towards success, and that is only possible
through a worthy education.
High Touch High Tech believes education is the
greatest gift you can give. Education can happen wherever there are people
willing to learn. Give your children the gift of education this holiday season,
and make STEM learning an essential part of their
High Touch High Tech delivers
quality, hands-on STEM activities for kids. Our educational and enriching
programs ignite a child’s natural curiosity about science, and help to build
problem-solving skills, self-esteem and the confidence to try something new.
What programs does High Touch High
Tech offer?
High Touch High Tech offers
programs in each area of the STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics)
fields! Our programs have been adapted to facilitate your state’s education
standards! By enlisting High Touch High Tech’s assistance, you can feel
confident knowing we are teaching your students the curriculum necessary for
standardized tests!
What supplies do I need to
prepare?
The scientist will bring all
supplies and clean up materials with them! Teachers have no preparation for
their in-school field trip!
How are High Touch High Tech’s
programs funded?
There are multiple options to
teachers to fund their High Touch High Tech program! Most commonly, program
fees are paid by parents as an in-school field trip, or PTA/PTO programs. If
neither of these are an option, High Touch High Tech can access grant dollars,
or work with corporate sponsors to bring your students a fun science lesson!
What information is needed to
schedule a High Touch High Tech program?
To make a program reservation,
High Touch High Tech will need: Number of Classes, Number of Children per
class, program Name, and Preferred dates!
Why should I choose High Touch
High Tech?
High Touch High Tech has been
inspiring students since 1992, and we have proven to be a resource to teachers.
Our young scientists don’t just view science, they do science! Your students
will take the excitement we instill upon them a lifelong science passion!
As our world becomes more complex, constantly evolving and adapting, the importance for the next generation to have problem solving, research and comprehension, and evaluation skills grows higher in demand. The STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) disciples are building blocks developing critical thinking, creativity, and decision-making abilities in our students. To accurately prepare our students, or next generation of adults, a fluency in STEM is essential.
Growth for careers in the STEM fields have tripled in the last decade. It is projected that more than 2.4 million jobs when unfilled due to a lack of qualified STEM graduates. Today students are increasingly unprepared to contribute to the fast-pasted, competitive world, and STEM enrichment education is the tool to influence change.
Teachers know how to teach STEM.
Elementary teachers are
generalists, teaching all areas of study with very little specialization.
Research has shown that most STEM graduates have their spark by grade 3, so the
focus on elementary education is magnified. By 8th grade, 50% of
students have lost interest, or deemed STEM fields irreverent to their
education or career plans. Students aren’t being given the tools to have
confidence in STEM, and they’re tuning out.
High Touch High Tech understands the importance of students being given an exciting STEM education. We understand the anxiety that teachers feel when teaching an almost foreign STEM curriculum, and we reinforce their education standards. High Touch High Tech adapts to local and national educational requirements, providing students an exciting, memorable experience, and teachers with the support they need to accurately prepare their students.
STEM reaches all students.
Black and Hispanic Americans make
up 27% of the U.S. workforce, but only account for 16% of STEM occupations.
Previously this underrepresentation has been attributed to a lack of diverse
mentors in these fields and limited access to advance STEM education courses.
Of black and Hispanic Americans in
STEM jobs, 52% say that they are less likely to have a quality education to
prepare them for their fields. Additionally, 45% say that there is little to no
encouragement to pressure STEM-related subjects during early, formative years.
High Touch High Tech has been an advocate for education all students,
regardless of socio-economic background. STEM careers out-earn all other fields
by 10-15%, making education a key in breaking the impoverished cycle.
As members of our community, and citizens of our planet we must actively work to solve the STEM education crisis. Without a focus on STEM, our world will no longer be advancing, adapting, and growing. High Touch High Tech is steadily adapting to new education trends and standards, technological advances, and scientific discoveries to steer our youth towards STEM successes. For more than 25 years we at High Touch High Tech have made STEM our priority and mission, and we will continue to do so.
Sources Cited:
U.S. Department of Education. Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Math, including Computer Science. November 2019. Retrieved
from: https://www.ed.gov/stem
Have you ever pretended to be a monkey? Swinging from a tree with long tail sounds
like a lot of fun! What do you know about monkeys? What makes monkeys different from other
animals? Where do monkeys live?
A monkey is a small to medium-sized primate that lives in
tropical climates. Primates are an order of mammals characterized by their
large brain, usage of hands, and complex behavior. Their dexterity, or skill,
with their hands is something that sets them apart from other mammals. Many species of primates have opposable
thumbs or toes and nails instead of claws. Primates range in size from the 1 oz
Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur to the over 400lb eastern gorilla! It is easy to
sometimes confuse different primates like apes and monkeys, but scientists have
organized all primates into various categories.
Scientists organize and classify species depending on their
origin and unique features. The groupings start with a general commonality and
get more specific as the scientist continues their classification. For instance, there are 2 main suborders of
primates: Strepsirrhini (lemurs and lorises) and Haplorhini. Within the Haplorhini
classification, there are the infraorders tarsier and simian, and within the
simian infraorder is where you find monkeys, apes and humans! And from there
the classification only gets more complicated as you delve into families,
genus, and species. There are upwards of about 400 species of primates, but
only around 200 species of monkey!
How can you tell the difference between a monkey from the
other primates? Monkeys have tails! Generally, monkeys have tails and apes do
not. Their tail is a unique feature. All
monkeys have tails, but only some have a prehensile tail. A prehensile tail can
hold a monkey’s whole weight! It’s almost
as if they have a 5th limb as they hang and swing through the trees
with their arms, legs AND tail!
Monkeys live in tropical rainforests, mountains, and
grasslands in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Old world monkeys like baboons
and macaque live in the continents of Africa and Asia. New world monkeys like capuchin monkeys and spider
monkeys live in Central and South America.
They all live in regions close to the equator and most are arboreal, meaning
they live the majority of their life in trees, but some are terrestrial. Terrestrial monkeys live mostly on the ground
but can still go up into the trees for safety and food. Old and new world
monkeys are categorized by their geographical origin and also by the shape of
their nose; broad nose for new world and narrow nose for old world.
Additional features that are unique to monkeys are their
ability to use tools and that they live in social groups. It can vary from species to species but
generally groups of related females live together with a handful of unrelated
males. Being mammals, monkeys breastfeed
their babies just like humans! Living in a social group allows them to survive
and thrive because they can work together to gather food and raise their young. There is also safety in numbers and their
tree lifestyle also keeps them safe!
Do you know of any other animals that live in social groups?
Monkeys, wolves, apes, and elephants are all examples of animals that live in
social groups. Ants and bees are
examples of insects that live in social groups.
Birds will migrate in social groups but otherwise just pair up to raise
chicks. Animals will create social groups to help keep each other safe, find
food, and even to raise their young together!
Now when you visit
the zoo, you’ll be able to tell which primates are monkeys! Monkeys are amazing
animals!
“I get to do what I enjoy and inspire the next generation of scientists! We always need more scientists!” – Hemlock Hayden, High Touch High Tech Scientist in Western North Carolina
Each year, more than 16 million students across the globe
participate in a High Touch High Tech program! Our scientists share the common
goal of inspiring students through exciting science! At this very moment,
somewhere on the planet, there are students exploring STEM with High Touch High
Tech!
There are no two days for a High Touch High Tech scientist that
are the same. Whether our scientists are
preparing for a weeklong science summer camp, or have a day full of elementary
school programs, scientists will always begin their day by collecting supplies!
Our scientists bring all materials needed for our programs, from writing
utensils to cleaning wipes! We want our presence in our education facilities to
be seamless and have no strain on your resources!
The difference between High Touch High Tech and other STEM
education enrichment companies is that we come to you! From the convince on
your classroom, or any space available in your school, High Touch High Tech
delivers an in-school field trip! There is no need to worry about scheduling a
bus, doing head counts, or packing bag lunches!
Once our scientists have gotten settled in your classroom,
we start with a WOW! experiment! These range from a volcano explosion, to
pushing a needle through a balloon without it popping! Our WOW! experiments get
your students excited about the program they’re about to enjoy, giving them a
focus on the lesson ahead!
High Touch High Tech programs adapt to your state’s
education standards and curriculum! Students can learn the physics basics in
Newton’s Day in the Park, grasp the conceptions and instruments of meteorology
in Weather or Not, and discover atoms in ChemFun! Teachers can rest assured
that when a High Touch High Tech scientist enters their classroom, that they
have the support to reach your ever-increasing standardized test goals.
Our scientists have backgrounds in science! Dr. G of High
Touch High Tech Maine was a college professor and has a PHD in Organic
chemistry! Scientists at High Touch High Tech love science and want your
students to love it too! Our scientists lead students through their experiment,
allowing your students to make discoveries for themselves. This method of
teaching is called playful learning. Playful learning is shown to be a more
effective method of teaching, allowing students to learn and master more
abstract concepts!
During 90-minute elementary school program, students will complete
3 or more experiments! Once the students have concluded the program, scientists
conclude the lesson by touching back on each discovery in the program! Each
day, a High Touch High Tech scientist hears, “I’m going to be a scientist when
I grow up!” I never knew science was this fun! This is the best day of my
life.” Our students reassure us that our goal of STEM inspiration has been
reached!
Our scientist will pack and clean up, we even bring our own wipes! Then our scientist is on to inspire the next group of future scientists!
