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Below is information on programs currently being offered by

the College of Sciences and Mathematics

for students in kindergarten through high school.

Please click on the program titles for more information.

Programs/ Activities:

Fall Y.E.S. - Fall Y.E.S. is a Saturday science camp offered free to 100+ students in grades 7-9. Students explore hands-on, minds-on activities in mini-courses like Astronomy, Environmental Science, Forensics, Polymer Chemistry, Paleontology, and Biology.

Spring Y.E.S. - Spring Y.E.S. is a Saturday science camp offered free to 100-200 students in grades 3-6. Students explore hands-on, minds-on activities in mini-courses like Astronomy, Kitchen Chemistry, Geometry of Puzzles and Games, and Carnivorous Plants.

Summer Y.E.S. - Summer Y.E.S. is a 3-day or 5-day summer science camp experience for students in upcoming grades 1-9. Students participate in dynamic faculty-taught mini-courses, such as River Creatures, Polymer Chemistry, and Medical Forensics. A residential option allows campers to stay in campus dorms during the week. Typical attendance is 100-250 students each summer.

Getting Under The Surface (G.U.T.S.) - G.U.T.S. is a bimonthly evening program aimed at students in grades 1-8 and their parents or grandparents. Each evening session includes dinner followed by a 90-minute science activity featuring a “Getting Under The Surface” theme, with common objects such as toasters or cell phones, or techniques like DNA fingerprinting, that can be demystified using simple scientific concepts.

Arboretum Days - In the summers of 2001 and 2002, science education students at AU worked with COSAM faculty to develop a series of outdoor science activities to be used by K-12 classrooms when visiting the Donald E. Davis Arboretum. To encourage visitation at the Arboretum by K-12 groups, COSAM started the new “Arboretum Days” program in the fall of 2004. Arboretum Days targets K-8 students and occurs prior to all home football games. Students who attend have the opportunity to be actively engaged in activities that are intended to help them learn more about the outdoors and appreciate the Arboretum as a special resource.

AU Explore - Beginning in the spring of 2005, COSAM initiated a new science and math open house day called AU Explore. The 2006 event attracted approximately 1800 students in grades 5-12 to the AU campus to participate in dozens of activities including an outdoor science-theme carnival, dozens of make-n-take activity sessions, a science career EXPO, a wildlife pick-n-pet tent with a variety of wild animals, and much more.

Medical Technology Open House - Each year, the chemistry department acknowledges National Laboratory Week by inviting 200+ K-12 students and teachers to participate in a one-day open house. Activities include guided tours through AU lab facilities and hands-on experiences with medical technology equipment. In 2005, the event began being held in conjunction with AU Explore.

LIFE in Science (Leadership Institute for Females Exceptional in Science) - A new initiative which began in summer 2006, LIFE in Science provides mentorship and other resources needed to increase the enrollment of females in the physical sciences and mathematics. The program includes a 5-day summer residential camp for approximately 15 academically excelled high school girls from across the state, plus a year-long mentorship program that will facilitate interactions between LIFE participants and AU female science and math college students and faculty .

Student Competitions:

BEST Robotics (Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology) - BEST is a non-profit, volunteer organization whose mission is to inspire middle and high school students to pursue careers in engineering, science, and technology through participation in a sports-like, science- and engineering-based robotics competition. BEST Robotics Inc. (BRI) is a non-profit, volunteer organization based in Dallas, TX. Started in 1993 with 14 competing schools and 221 students, today BEST has over 700 middle and high schools and over 10,000 students participating each fall. There is no fee for schools to compete in BEST.

Alabama BEST - Alabama BEST is co-hosted by Auburn University's College of Sciences and Mathematics and Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. Alabama BEST is open to all public or private schools in Central Alabama, including Birmingham. Our mission is to impact K-12 education across Alabama through schools’ participation in Alabama BEST. By impact, we mean to help prepare today’s youth to become technologically proficient, thus prepared for tomorrow’s workforce.

Tennessee Valley BEST - Tennessee Valley BEST is co-produced by Auburn University's College of Sciences and Mathematics and Samuel Ginn College of Engineering in partnership with Calhoun Community College in Decatur, Alabama. It hosts teams from across North Alabama.

The South’s BEST - The success of the “Alabama BEST” robotics program resulted in the formation of several new BEST competition sites in the south and east, including Bearcat BEST (Cincinnati), Bulldog BEST (Starkville, MS), Georgia BEST (Marietta), Jubilee BEST (Mobile), Music City BEST (Nashville), Tennessee-Valley BEST (Huntsville), Philadelphia BEST, Connecticut BEST (New Britain). In fall of 2003, Auburn University became the southeastern regional championship site, The South’s BEST, for high school and middle school teams from all the above local BEST sites. This program continues to impact thousands of middle and high school students each year.

Science Olympiad - Science Olympiad is a one-day sports-like science competition involving approximately 2,000 Alabama K-12 students each year. COSAM scholarships are offered to 15 students on the winning high school team. Auburn hosts two separate Olympiad events each year – one for middle and high school students and a separate event for elementary students.

COSAM Invitational (formerly Physics/Chemistry/Geology Invitational) -
Each year the departments of Physics, Chemistry/Biochemistry, and Geology/Geography invite the brightest high school students in the state to participate in a one-day contest (written test, lab activities, and departmental tours). Six to ten students are offered COSAM scholarships.