MONTICELLO, Arkansas —Michael Blazier, dean of the College of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, demonstrated how simple mathematical formulas can be used to solve what seem to be vast problems.
Blazier and six faculty members spent eight days this summer to be part of UAM’s STEM, or Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Camp, a pilot program offered in conjunction with the Kansas City Teen Summit. The summit’s mission is to work within rural and urban communities to provide the best benefits in areas of youth empowerment, STEM education, summer youth internships, community beautification, volunteerism, helping the disadvantaged, and etiquette training.
To show that math has real-world applications, Blazier posed a problem to a group of high school students: How do you calculate the amount of usable wood that can be extracted from a forest.
“Imagine going out to 200 acres of forest with a million plus trees on it,” he said. “You can’t measure every one of them, so what we do is take a sample of them.”.
KCTS President Brenette Wilder sees this camp as a way to give back. Wilder is a University of Arkansas graduate with a degree in chemical engineering. She is from Altheimer, and her husband, is from Wilmot, both in southeastern Arkansas.
“My goal is to give back to the community of Wilmot,” she said. “STEM was a subject that kids were not introduced to in a hands-on way. We want our kids to be exposed to STEM opportunities both inside and outside the classroom.
“If I can do it, they can do it,” Wilder said. “And I want them to see that STEM is fun. It doesn’t have to be seen as too tech or too challenging. They can do it if they have an interest in it.”
