Spring 2015

Engineering is Elementary
in Action
What they
Learned
Students at St. Matthew learned:
• A lot of plants and animals are all
connected in the ecosystem.
• When one thing disappears, all parts of
the ecosystem will be affected.
• The yarn and rubberband attracted
the oil, but the coffee filter seemed to
attract more water than oil.
Students at Susie C. Altmayer learned:
• Which materials would work best for
building & creating walls.
• Some materials are good for building
one thing, but not another.
Engineering is Elementary, created by the Museum of Science, Boston,
is a flexible, inquiry-based curriculum that Einstein has been piloting to
supplement our current units. It helps highlight and integrate additional
engineering activities in our curriculum.
Students in Jennifer Lenz’s fifth grade
class at St. Matthew in Green Bay
piloted A Slick Solution, which
teaches about cleaning up an
oil spill, with their Ecosystems
unit. Using their knowledge of
ecosystems, they tested water
quality and the oil absorbing
properties of different materials
as they experimented with ways to
clean up an oil spill. They tested yarn,
a cotton ball, an eyedropper and more
to see which would succeed.
At Susie C. Altmayer Elementary School in
De Pere, Joy Conway’s third grade class piloted
A Sticky Situation with the Rocks & Minerals
unit. After examining clay, sand and soil in wet
and dry states, the students started testing
materials by spreading the wet samples on
tiles. Drawing on what they learned about the
properties of earth materials, students
planned and then will build, test
and improve different walls.
The first phase of piloting is
Students at St. Matthew learned
wrapping up this spring.
about cleaning up oil spills
Next fall we will begin
phase two of the piloting
process. This will include having more schools
piloting the curriculum, and gathering information
about how the Engineering is Elementary
supplements work with the Einstein units. The
supplements will tentatively be available for rental
with Einstein units starting in fall 2016.
At Susie C. Altmayer, students learned
about different earth materials that can
be used for building
Engineering is Elementary piloting is just one way we
are updating our curriculum to meet the evolving needs
of the schools and helping them create science, technology,
engineering and math literate students.
Spring 2015
Thank You Science Expo Sponsors!
Presenting Sponsors
Schreiber Foods
Wisconsin Public Service
Main Stage Sponsor
OMNOVA Solutions
Science Fair
Ameriprise Auto & Home Insurance
Science Fair Prizes
Akzo Nobel Pulp & Performance Chemicals Inc
Scholarship
Michigan Tech Mind Trekkers
Area Sponsors
Bemis Company Inc
Foth
Georgia-Pacific
Green Bay Packers
Guardian Pipeline
Northeast Wisconsin Technical College
Sanimax USA LLC
Time Warner Cable
Support Science
The Einstein Project is 501(c)3 that relies on support
from the community to keep our units economically
priced for schools. In a time of shrinking school
budgets, your contributions are as important as ever.
Media & Location
101 WIXX
Fox 11 WLUK
PMI Entertainment Group
To make a monetary donation please go to our
website, click on “support kids”. You can donate
online or print out our contribution form and mail it in.
To find out more about donating, or to volunteer
please email einstein@einsteinproject.org.
Thank you for your support of
hands-on education!
Over 4,000 people stopped by Shopko Hall to enjoy the
13th Annual Science Expo. We could not have done it
without the help of our sponsors and volunteers!
Thank you for helping us create this day of hands-on
science fun! See you next year!
www.einsteinproject.org
New
Board
Members
February saw the addition of two new board members.
Bruce Gamble leads the Enterprise Engineering team at Schneider National, the team
is responsible for the mathematical optimization and simulation models that support
Schneider’s operational decision support tools. Originally from western Canada, Bruce
came to Green Bay in 1996 after having been a professor at Northwestern University and
has lived in Wisconsin ever since.
“I believe that many of the most impactful, longest-lasting contributions to society come from
individuals possessing a strong intellectual curiosity,” Bruce said about being excited to contribute
to Einstein. “Nurturing and reinforcing that intellectual curiosity in children has the potential to
create enormous future benefits for everyone.”
Bruce Gamble
Mark Williams is the President of Williams Auto Body and has been involved with Einstein for
many years. All three of his children used Einstein all through their elementary school education,
and their love of science has pushed all of them to a career path in the medical field.
“As I got to know more about Einstein, being on the Ashwaubenon School Board for the past 25
years, I kept seeing our district test scores near the top of the districts in the area and it proved
to me that the hands-on approach the units provide for the students to learn and succeed and
make it fun to learn is valuable to our educational process,” said Mark about deciding to join the
Einstein board.
We are excited to welcome these two new board members to our Einstein team!
Mark Williams
Saying Good-bye to Two
Einstein Champions
Einstein recently lost two long time champions, John Veits Jr.
and Bob Kramer.
John was volunteering at Einstein almost from Einstein’s
beginning. After a career Larsen Co., he dedicated his time to causes that
interested him including the National Railroad Museum and the Weidner Center.
The Einstein staff referred to John as one of the Three Musketeers along side
friends Dave Page and Bob Saunders. John was a kind and gentle person with a
bit of a love for Snickers bars.
Bob started helping out at Einstein in 2008. Having been an
Accounting Professor at St. Norbert College for almost 30
years, he told us he enjoyed helping at Einstein because he
had a good idea what it took to teach and he liked knowing
he was helping out a classroom.
John receiving a volunteer award.
After retirement, Bob also spent quite a bit of time giving
back, not only at Einstein but also at the National Railroad
Museum. Another love was golf and he also made time for
pool and bridge.
Bob working in the volunteer room
We are so thankful for the time and love these two wonderful
people shared with us. We wish their families happy
memories!
www.einsteinproject.org
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1255 Einstein Way
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Save the Date
Einstein Academy- July 27-30, 2015
The Einstein Project Staff
Kelly Ellis - Executive Director
Katy Compton - Communications Manager
Kristi Franz - Production Team Leader
Johnny Froelich - Production Associate
Annie Goffard - Executive Assistant
Abby Krueger - Professional Development Specialist
Linda Leupold - Production Associate
Sean Martin - Production Team Leader
Chris Nielsen - Resource Development Director
Carol Pearson - Professional Development & Purchasing Director
The Einstein Project Board of Directors 2014/15
Randy Janssen, President - Edward Jones Investments
Bryan Spaeth, Vice President - Associated Bank
Chris Pahl, Treasurer - Metzler, Timm, Treleven, Pahl, Beck
Dennis Derricks, Secretary - Wisconsin Public Service
Mark Albers - Wipfli Hewins Investment Advisors
Tom Atwell - Nicolet National Bank
Gordi Black - Bay Tek Games
Paul Blindauer - GEI Consultants
Mary Conard - East De Pere School District
Todd Cullen - Georgia-Pacific
Kelly Ellis - The Einstein Project
Jeff Frick - St. Norbert College
Bruce Gamble - Schneider National
Michelle Johnson - Scheriber Foods
Michelle Langenfeld - Green Bay Area Public Schools
Kris Nystrom - Community Volunteer
Sean Sanders - Festival Foods
Mary Joan Van Dyke-O’Leary - Foth
Neil Van Dyke - Foth
Randy Van Straten - Bellin Health
Mark Williams - Williams Auto Body
Al Zeise - Zyquest, Inc.
A Big Thank You to our Print Sponsor:
Brown County Graphics
The Einstein Project
Phone: 920.884.8800
Toll Free: 888.824.8877
Fax: 866.479.7892
www.einsteinproject.org