Sunday Academy, a part of Nurturing American Tribal Undergraduate Research and Education (NATURE) program supported by National Science Foundation and North Dakota Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (ND EPSCoR), is in its 10th year reaching out to Native American high school students in North Dakota. One Sunday each month, from September to April, approximately 20 area high school students meet at one of the tribal colleges to participate in science, technology, engineering and mathematics enhancement activities on a variety of subjects. Faculty from NDSU and UND travel to tribal colleges and work with tribal college faculty and high school teachers in the instructional activities.
As in all other NATURE activities, connection to the Native American culture is always emphasized. Hands-on activities also play an important part. Lessons are conceived, developed and delivered collaboratively. The program started with one tribal college and has expanded to include five tribal colleges. The participating institutions include: Cankdeska Cikana Community College, Fort Totten; Fort Berthold Community College, New Town; Sitting Bull College, Fort Yates; Turtle Mountain Community College, Belcourt; United Tribe Technical College, Bismarck; NDSU; and University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.
The 2010-11 Sunday Academy lesson topics and instructors include:
1. Fun with Physics and Computers
Mafany Mongoh, Sitting Bull College
Alan Denton, NDSU physics
Anne Denton, NDSU computer science
2. Hydrogen Bonding and Surface Tension of Water
John Lohnes, Four Winds High School
Lane Azure, Cankdeska Cicana Community College
Yechun Wang, NDSU mechanical engineering
3. Laws of Electricity
Joe Twobear, Solen High School
Prakash Ranganathan, UND electrical engineering
4. How Acidic They Are?
Chris Dahlen, Cankdeska Cicana Community College
Julia Zhao, UND chemical engineering
Hanying Xu, UND Environmental Analytical Research Laboratory
5. Food Safety: The Importance and Analysis of Aflatoxin in Corn
Nina McCain, McLaghlin High School
Deland Myers Sr., NDSU School of Food Systems
Clifford Hall, NDSU School of Food Systems
6. Muscle Contraction and Grip Strength
Renee Aalund, Turtle Mountain High School
Valerie Malatree, Turtle Mountain High School
7. Shapes of Nature: Fractals
Miles Pfahl, Turtle Mountain Community College
Luther Olson, Turtle Mountain Community College
Chad Ulven, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, coordinates the Sunday Academy component of NATURE.
To learn more about NATURE and Sunday Academy, visit www.ndepscor.nodak.edu/NATURE/sundayacad.html or contact G. Padmanabhan, professor of civil engineering and director of the NATURE program, at g.padmanabhan@ndsu.edu or 1-7043.
