Digital Commons Network^™

Personal Reflections / 12.22.15, José M. Torres

Personal Reflections

Warmest wishes of the holiday season to you and your families! With 2016 upon us, it’s a great time to reflect on an incredible year. While the lack of a fiscal year 2016 State of Illinois budget has pre-empted much of our thinking, we can be proud of making advancements in key areas. I’m so pleased with your work, efforts and results. Each member of our IMSA Community— faculty, staff, students, parents, alumni, Board of Trustees and IMSA Fund Board members, our vendors, partners and stakeholders—pulled together in 2015. Our collaborative and supportive efforts made a difference in advancing IMSA.

Personal Reflections / 12.18.15, José M. Torres

Personal Reflections

Here's to victories big and small as we wind down 2015. Senate Bill 2039, the bill that in part authorizes IMSA to spend our Income Fund, was passed yesterday by the Senate and signed by Governor Rauner after clearing the House last week. As a reminder, the IMSA Income Fund consists of earned revenue coming from IMSA student and program fees. While this is not State funding, the Illinois General Assembly must authorize IMSA to use this revenue. The authorization is up to $3,050,000, but we can only spend the funds that we generate. With the current balance in this …

Full Member Of The International Science Schools Network, International Science Schools Network

ISSF Documents - Other Years

No abstract provided.

Personal Reflections / 12.8.15, José M. Torres

Personal Reflections

I hope that you had a restful, safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday with your friends and families. I’d like to share an update with you—the IMSA community has a reason to be thankful with regard to yesterday's session of the Illinois General Assembly and our overall financial position.

Through the work of our business office and our faculty and staff, we are now projecting that our existing locally-held funds, which we are using to pay bills in the absence of a budget, will be fully committed at the end of February. This is a month later that than we had …

Crusades Primary Source Quest: Lesson Plan, Kitty Lam

History of Cultural Contact

In this lesson, students will assess the nature of Christian-Muslim interaction during the Crusades by examining multiple accounts by individuals who participated in or were observers of the Crusades. In this activity, students pretend that they are researchers who have discovered new primary sources related to the Crusades. These documents cover a range of topics from conflict to religion to everyday life. The purpose of this exercise is to have students explore the meaning of the Crusades beyond the concept of holy war. This exercise also mimics, to a certain extent, the process that historians go through when conducting archival …

Crusades Primary Source Quest: Student Handouts, Kitty Lam

History of Cultural Contact

The scenario:

About 30 years ago, a group of archeologists discovered excerpts of texts written by people who had witnessed the Crusades, buried inside the tomb of a scholar who died in the late 13^th century. The archaeologists hired Bernard, an archivist at the Museum of the Middle Ages, to analyze the texts and determine just exactly what these documents were and who wrote them. Unfortunately, before Bernard had finished his task, aliens had abducted Bernard and the team of archeologists who discovered the documents. No one heard from any of these people again, and the discovery was forgotten …

Silk Road Traveler Identity Quest: Text, Kitty Lam

History of Cultural Contact

Who wrote this text?

“In the country of ‘the lord of elephants’ the people are quick and enthusiastic, and entirely given to learning. They cultivate especially magical arts. They wear a robe thrown across them, with their right shoulder bare; their hair is done up in a ball on the top, and left undressed on the four sides. Their various tribes occupy different towns; their houses are built stage over stage.”

Recipient Of The 2015 Alumni Titan Award, Michael Suh '97

Alumni Titan Award

Mr. Suh currently serves as the treasurer and chair of the Finance Committee for the IMSA Fund Board of Directors. Mr. Suh has been a loyal and generous donor to the IMSA Fund for 10 years. In 2006 he became an advocate for the IMSA Fund to establish an endowment program. His advocacy for “stability and investment” was a critical factor in influencing IMSA and the IMSA Fund to establish its first endowment. Mr. Suh graduated from the University of Chicago with a BA in Economics, Mathematics and Statistics and an Administration MBA from the University of Chicago in Analytic …

Recipient Of The 2015 Alumni Distinguished Leadership Award, Gabriel Demombynes '89

Alumni Distinguished Leadership Award

As an economist at the World Bank, Dr. Gabriel Demombynes works on issues of poverty and inequality in developing countries. He is best known for his work arguing for the greater use of the scientific method in evaluating international development programs. Together with co-author Michael A. Clemens, he published a groundbreaking critique of the Millennium Villages Project, a high-profile rural development project implemented in several communities in sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Demombynes holds both a BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering and a BA from the Plan II Liberal Arts Honors Program at the University of Texas at Austin, as well …

First Place Academic Poster, Robyn Whittle, Peter Corkill

ISSF Documents - Other Years

No abstract provided.

Is Stem For All? Perspectives Of Black And Latino Students On Stem Motivation, Adrienne Coleman

Publications & Research

This presentation takes an intricate look at the factors that motivate gifted and talented Black and Latino students to engage in science, technology, engineering and mathematics(STEM). According to the literature, the U.S. workforce could employ as many as 140,000 additional Black and Latino college graduates in STEM fields annually if the gap in college completion by Blacks and Latinos closed to roughly match that of the White and Asian student graduation rates. Thus, the goal of this presentation is to inform administrators, educators, and programs of a 5-step motivation-based program that encourages Black and Latino students to engage in STEM.

Topic 6: Aristotelian Ethics: The Virtue Of Success, Lee Eysturlid

Considerations in Ethics

No abstract provided.

Issues In Modern Genomics, Sarah O'Leary-Driscoll

Considerations in Ethics

Breaking News or Science Fiction?

• CRISPR technology, a way to use bacterial proteins to make precise, targeted changes to the DNA of living cells, is under development by multiple scientists.
• The subsequent release of the process and data surrounding it has scientists around the world proclaim that a “new era” of in Molecular Biology has begun.

Personal Reflections / 11.11.15, José M. Torres

Personal Reflections

Happy Veterans Day! Thank you to all in the IMSA family who have proudly served our country. We were excited to host Lieutenant Commander Chris Dargis ’89 during yesterday’s annual Veterans Day Convocation as he shared how his experience at IMSA had a lasting impact on him and his service to the U.S. Navy helped to shape his leadership.

Unfortunately, I missed Lt Cdr Dargis’ presentation because I was at the State Capitol in Springfield. I’m pleased to report that yesterday the Illinois House of Representatives passed House Bill 4305 with 115 votes. The “Lottery Bill,” as it has become …

2015 Indian American Read-In, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

Cultural Read-Ins

This event was co-sponsored by the Indian Student Association, Peer Multicultural Educators (PME), the IRC, the English team, and the History/Social Science team.

Performance by: Indian Student Association

2015 Lgbtqa Read-In, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

Cultural Read-Ins

This event was co-sponsored by Spectrum, Peer Multicultural Educators (PME), the IRC, and the English team.

Silk Road Traveler Identity Quest: Lesson Plan, Kitty Lam

History of Cultural Contact

In this lesson, students will explore intercultural contact in the Silk Road trade networks by examining the writings of Xuan Zang, a 7^th century Chinese Buddhist monk who made a pilgrimage to India to collect Buddhist texts. The text used in this exercise is Xuan Zang’s Record of the Western Regions, which was a text commissioned by the Tang Chinese Emperor. This text includes rich details of the communities Xuan Zang visited.

2015: "Go With The Flow", Paul Nebres '16, Kushagra Gupta '16, Jason Chen '16, Noor Michael '16

Distinguished Student Work

In a famous incident in August 2010, a Chinese traffic jam stretched for over 100 kilometers and stranded drivers took over two weeks to get from one side to the other. Stemming from a routine lane closure for road maintenance, the traffic jam soon spiraled out of control, as cars piling up at the jam greatly outnumbered those leaving the other end. Sadly, in todays overpopulated world, these sorts of nightmare scenarios are only becoming more and more common, from chronic traffic jams in congested Chinese cities to Carmageddon in Los Angeles. For drivers, these extensive traffic jams can be …

2015: "No Safety, Know Pain : Know Safety, No Pain", Brice Wang '16, Joy Qiu '16, Daniel Sohn '16, Angad Garg '16

Distinguished Student Work

In the world we live in today, many people live in urban or suburban areas. For this reason, residents of these metropolitan areas should be aware of the safety of the city they live in so they can take necessary precautions and educate youth about what actions are safe. In addition, judging the safety of a city allows the government of the city to analyze what factors and laws make other cities safer, and how they can replicate these conditions to make their city a safer place as well.

Big Ideas “Ted” Talk Session: Inspiring Innovation And Inquiry, Lawrence Bergie, Britta W. Mckenna

Publications & Research

The day will begin with six stories from innovative school districts, told in a short, engaging, “TED” talk format. After each story, David Chan and Henry Thiele will lead a time of reflection, sharing ideas, thoughts and connections. School professionals will share their stories about themes including: Inspiring Innovation and Inquiry.

Moving Education In2 The Future: Creating The Next Generation Of Innovators, Lawrence Bergie, Britta W. Mckenna

Publications & Research

What started as planning for the next generation of inquiry-based learning led to an entirely new center for innovation and entrepreneurship! Hear how this innovative idea moved to the design of a physical innovation hub and see how IMSA has transformed a former computer lab IN2 a working prototype of their future space.

Dive into the many aspects of creating innovation spaces: design process, STEM foundation and entrepreneurship cornerstone, Makerspace development through a student leadership and service initiative, collaboration potential with community partners and local/regional business entities, student inquiry and research potential and the ability to showcase area emerging technology …

Maximizing Communicative Competency In A Classroom, Yinshun Wang

Faculty Publications & Research

Developing students’ communicative competence is a primary goal of many language classrooms. This session will present various strategies to encourage learner agency. The presenter will introduce strategies to execute fast-paced communicative learning activities that bypass mechanical activities and task-based student assessments to measure students’ proficiency in interpretive, interpersonal and presentational modes of communication. Examples of lesson plans and student work from a high school Chinese classroom will be provided.

Personal Reflections / 10.11.15, José M. Torres

Personal Reflections

I grew up watching the TV series Mission Impossible and now enjoy watching Tom Cruise on the big screen as he portrays agent Ethan Hunt. I love how the main characters, faced with insurmountable odds, always manage to solve the conflict—in the end, the good guys win!

Today, as I write this personal reflection, I am reminded of the introductory scene in Mission Impossible. The classic one begins, “Good morning / afternoon / evening, Mr. Phelps. Your mission, Jim, should you choose to accept it...” The recording continues, weaving an intricate plot with twists and turns and revealing the potential …

Give Up, Catch Up, Or Keep Up With Innovation? An Educator's Dilemma, Britta W. Mckenna

Publications & Research

Don't look now, but your students want more than the three R's for their school experience. Innovation, technology, entrepreneurship and the Maker Movement are changing what our students want to do and be in the future beyond what we can imagine today. Schools and teachers need to figure out how to respond to the DIY generation of makers emerging and be prepared to reshape education. In an information-rich age of smart phones, online learning, coding, gamification, apps, Internet of Things and digital badges, are today's schools ready for tomorrow's students?

Evolution Practice 2, Imsa Biology Team

Evolution

Evolution Problems

Crash Course Evolution Videos Bibliography, Imsa Biology Team

Evolution

No abstract provided.

Genetic Drift Simulation, Imsa Biology Team

Evolution

Genetic drift can be defined as a random fluctuation in gene frequency. More specifically, it tells us that different alleles may increase or decrease in a population in proportion to one another over time, just by chance, rather than due to any fitness advantage.

Mechanisms And Speciation 2: Evolution On The Web Questions, Imsa Biology Team

Evolution

The website below, sponsored by UC Berkeley, is a reliable source for information about evolution. This will give you the introductory information about the mechanisms of Evolution.

Mechanisms And Speciation 1: The Modern Synthesis, Imsa Biology Team

Evolution

The Modern Synthesis or Synthetic Theory of Evolution is an explanation of evolution that is based on modern genetic principles. According to the Modern Synthesis (a.k.a. Neo-Darwinism):

Evidence Of Evolution 2: Definitions For Evolutionary Evidence Lab, Imsa Biology Team

Evolution

This lab activity was designed to provide you with opportunities to make inferences and draw conclusions about evolution and the common ancestry of various animals based on their anatomical characteristics and comparative anatomy. You will be given tasks to accomplish or questions to answer at each of 11 stations. In order to do this successfully, you must make careful observations of the specimens on display. You must also know the following definitions before beginning this activity: