The Next Idea FEMMES , Females Excelling More in Math, Engineering and Science, is a group of University of Michigan graduate students and faculty who are working to get girls in the 4th through 6th grades excited about science and to get them thinking about going into STEM fields. They do this through hands-on activities and presentations that show science in action. We reported on FEMMES back in 2014 and decided to check back in three years later. Hillary Miller , a PhD candidate in cell and

The Next Idea Bullying in Michigan and around the country is a serious problem – one that parents, educators and others are striving to solve. One Michigan college is offering a unique approach to this serious problem. Mott Community College’s Honors College is home to a group of students who transform themselves into clowns and reach out to school children with an anti-bullying message.

The Next Idea If you're a certain age, you probably remember watching educational films in science class on a noisy projector.

The Next Idea The key to a successful future for Michigan includes turning out graduates with skill sets needed to fill the jobs of the future. It also includes increasing access to postsecondary education for low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented students. The upcoming Michigan Pre-College and Youth Outreach Conference will explore these challenges, and will focus on the urgency of college access.

The Next Idea One of the central challenges in Detroit’s revival: making sure that all boats rise. That good things are happening for long-time Detroiters, not just the newcomers and new businesses setting up in the city. Capital Impact Partners created its Equitable Development Initiative after realizing how little of its money went to projects led by minority developers. The program is designed to bring more minority developers into Detroit’s revitalization.

The Next Idea Scientists have known for a while that America’s bee population is in trouble — some types are even ending up on the endangered species list. Pollinator insects like bees are crucial to food production, and, in agricultural states like Michigan, keeping that population alive and healthy is a big deal. A small but colorful pilot project at the Michigan Department of Transportation aims to provide some late season meals for those hard-working bees.

The Next Idea “There ought to be a law.” It’s easier said than done. The truth is that making policy is an incredibly complex process. For each bill there are multiple stakeholders, and they all demand different things from the outcome. Teachers can illustrate that complexity for their students through role-playing simulations around policymaking, but even simulations can be too much for one instructor to organize.

The Next Idea Let’s say your boss wants you to assemble a team to work on a complex problem at your company, or your agency, or your non-profit. You think about your best and brightest people with some knowledge of the problem, you buy some bagels and coffee, and get together, right? Turns out, you might not be approaching this kind of problem solving in the best way.

The Next Idea You've probably heard of One Thousand and One Nights . It's a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales in Arabic from what's known as an Islamic Golden Age collected over many centuries. The English-language version is The Arabian Nights . Something else stemming from that bygone era is coming to the Michigan Science Center — an exhibition called 1001 Inventions: Untold Stories from a Golden Age of Innovation.

The Next Idea Former AOL CEO and Revolution LLC founder Steve Case 's " Rise of the Rest " will make its second pit stop in Ann Arbor on Wednesday. “It’s really emerging as a strong startup city," Case said. "It’s sort of the center of gravity in terms of a lot of the innovation in Michigan and a lot of people are beginning to understand there are great startups there.”