From Oklahoma State Department of Education Science Director Jana Rowland, it’s this month’s JANAGRAM!
New Storybooks from the Space Place
Sometimes there’s just nothing as cozy as curling up with a good storybook.
Whether you prefer turning real pages or virtual pages, you will enjoy the five spacey storybooks on The Space Place. Joining our classic stories in verse “Professor Starr’s Dream Trip” and “Lucy’s Planet Hunt” are the new stories “What¹s in Space,” “Supercool Space Tools”, and “The First Annual Planet Awards”. All are available as richly illustrated online books with interactive page turning or viewable and printable Adobe Reader files. So settle down with a good and fun book at: <http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/storybooks>.
Physics fun
Explore physics the exciting way, by trying out simple experiments with the Marvin and Milo characters at < http://www.physics.org/interact-wide-template.asp?hsub=1>. The Physics web site also has short video clips at http://www.physics.org/interact.asp and interesting Physics facts at <http://www.physics.org/facts/>.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Video Game
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is launching a new online video game aimed to encourage kids to go outside and learn about the environment. Designed for children ages 8 to 11 years old, Neighborhood Explorers is accessed through the Service’s Let’s Go Outside! website at <http://www.fws.gov/letsgooutside/ > .
The journey through the game begins when you meet three children – Mia, Lucy and Steve. They form a Neighborhood Explorers Club, called the NX Club, and share information about planting gardens with native plants, backyard bird watching and urban wildlife. By exploring the tree house, you can learn about endangered species, conservation heroes and threats to our natural world. Other activities include recording nature sightings in your own back yard, a race against time to find a missing praying mantis in the midst of an urban neighborhood, and identifying birds in a variety of habitats. When you finish a game, you can receive a gold, silver, or bronze patch, depending on how many points you score. You can also receive patches for documenting environmental projects and local wildlife.
The Bridge – Ocean Science Education Teacher Resource Center – This is a site where teachers will find a selection of the best online resources for ocean sciences education. The goal of the site is to provide educator with content-correct and content-current marine information and data; to support researchers in outreach efforts; and to improve communications among educators and between the education and research communities. See <www.vims.edu/bridge>.
Biology/Life Science lessons on the Bridge web site
There are some interesting lesson plans available on this site. Ocean science topic links are viewed by subject. The lesson plans link has data/graphing activities available that would be useful in the Biology classroom. The Coral Snapshots: Biodiversity in Marine Protected Areas activity involves students in analyzing ocean floor photographs, recording data from random points shown, and then drawing conclusions from the data. The activity can be found at <http://www2.vims.edu/bridge/DATA.cfm?Bridge_Location=archive1109.html>.
All of these data activities are at <http://www2.vims.edu/bridge/search/bioarchives.cfm>
Ocean Video Clips
Check out the Ocean Explorer YouTube videos. These are short video clips that can be used to grab students’ attention or for writing prompts.
Available at <http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/rss/youtube_playlist.html>.
Earth Science Week
Now is the time to make plans for Earth Science Week, held Oct. 11-17, 2009. The 12th annual Earth Science Week will celebrate the theme “Understanding Climate” with a wide range of exciting activities, programs, and resources designed to help young people understand the large-scale weather patterns that make up climate.
Dig up fossil evidence of past life, record observations of cloud patterns, or visit science centers and parks. Conduct activities described on the Earth Science Week website at <http://www.earthsciweek.org/forteachers/index.html>.
For more ideas, see recommendations at
<http://www.earthsciweek.org/forplanners/index.html>.
To learn more or to order an Earth Science Week 2009 Toolkit, visit the event website at <http://www.earthsciweek.org>.
Real-time Water Data from USGS
This is an interesting site to view real-time information on water flow across the US. Click Oklahoma on the US map and then click a station in your area to see graphs displayed for amount of water flow. Link is <http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/rt >.
EPA Climate Change Toolkit for Middle School
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently released a new free collection of resources to enhance middle school students’ understanding of climate change impacts on the United States’ wildlife and ecosystems.
“Climate Change, Wildlife, and Wildlands Toolkit for Formal and Informal Educators” contains case studies and activities based on climate science, environmental education, and stewardship information. The toolkit is available online at <http://www.globalchange.gov/resources/educators/toolkit>.
IEEE LAUNCHES NANOTECHNOLOGY SITE WITH EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
To explain the ins and outs of the technology, IEEE, has launched TryNano.org, <http://www.trynano.org/ >, a web site developed in conjunction with IBM and the New York Hall of Science. The site provides an overview of nanotechnology and also provides information about applications and nanomaterials.
Featured lessons are: Exploring at the Nanoscale (8-14), What is a Nanometer? (8-11), Sugar Crystal Challenge (8-14), and Nano Waterproofing (8-18).
DISNEY’S PLANET CHALLENGE
Disney today announced the nationwide launch of Disney’s Planet Challenge, a project-based environmental competition for 4th – 6th grade classrooms that will empower students to make a difference in school, at home and in their local communities Participation in the program is free, and enrollment is open today at <www.disney.com/planetchallenge>.
For the project, students are asked to identify an environmental issue in their local community and come up with a solution that they manage and document from start to finish. Past examples range from implementing campus-wide water conservation programs and electronics recycling drives to protecting local habitats. Classrooms will develop a portfolio that will be evaluated on environmental-relevance, student learning, changes in practices and attitudes, community involvement, lasting benefits to students, school and/or community and originality.
The Disney’s Planet Challenge web site provides tailored lesson plans customized to reflect the curriculum standards of each state for each grade level (grades 4-6). Teachers can easily find and download relevant lessons to help them link their class project to their state standards. National, regional and state winners will receive an array of Disney prizes including a class celebration at Disneyland® for the national grand prize champion. The winning class will also have a chance to meet a Disney Channel star and the class and its winning project may be featured on the Disney Channel. Other prizes include thousands of dollars in classroom grants, class screenings of the next Disney nature film, Oceans, and more. Additionally, winning teachers will receive a one year NSTA membership. The grand-prize winning educator will also receive an expense paid trip to the national 2011 NSTA conference where he or she will be recognized at the NSTA awards banquet. For more information, visit <www.Disney.com/planetchallenge>.
NASA Education Invites Students to Drop Everything!
NASA’s Dropping In a Microgravity Environment, or DIME, allows students in high school and in middle school to design and build an experiment that will be operated in a NASA research drop tower. This will put the students’ experiment in microgravity, just as if it were in space.
New for school year 2009-10 will be a two-part DIME with separate competitions for high school teams and teams of students in grades 6-9.
Four teams in the high school DIME competition will be invited to visit NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, and operate their experiment in the drop tower. Four additional teams will send their experiment to Glenn for the drop tower staff to operate it. Teams comprised of students in grades 6-9 will compete for the opportunity to build an experiment to be operated in the same drop tower by NASA drop tower staff.
Proposals are due on Nov. 2, 2009. Competition selections will be announced in mid-December and drop tower operations will be conducted in April 2010.
For more information about this opportunity, visit
<http://spaceflightsystems.grc.nasa.gov/DIME.html> .
The Experiment of the Week – Robert Krampf’s Science Education
In addition to presenting his science shows, educator Robert Krampf also shows people that science can be fun and understandable. Part of that effort is his Free Experiment of the Week list. If you join the Experiment of the Week List, each week you will get a new experiment that you can try yourself. (This is a not a U.S. Government website. NOAA is not responsible for the content of external internet sites).
See <www.krampf.com/news.htm> .
NASA Mission to Mercury – On Sept 29
Classes Across America Can Participate Live
On September 29, NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft will fly by the planet Mercury at 5:55 pm EDT. It is a historic mission to the last of the eight planets in the solar system that has not been fully seen. MESSENGER is changing that. The event, and the 2 days of analysis of the science data following the event, will be covered LIVE from MISSION CONTROL and the Science Operation Center by 7 MESSENGER Fellows (some of the best science educators in the nation) on Twitter and Facebook. We’ll be working hand-in-hand with mission scientists. We’ll be tweeting and facebooking over the three days, starting Sept 29, answering questions from classes across America, and engaging them in live conversations about the excitement and the experiences of the researchers as the data streams back to Earth. BE PART OF THE ADVENTURE!!!! We have set up a special Blog on the Universe (BotU) post that provides
a one-stop-shop to all the official web sites; and background info on the event for your CLASS, your SCHOOL, and your DISTRICT to ACTIVELY participate. It’s an opportunity for your students to get a remarkable behind-the-scenes look at REAL science and engineering in this moment of history. At the post: an overview of the opportunity; the educational goals; the schedule of events; bios and links to twitter/facebook for all us “Voices of Mission Control”; how to connect and participate (it’s easy!); and MOST importantly, ideas for lessons leading up to and after the Mercury flyby, and full details of the specific questions that scientists are going to be asking through the eyes (the instruments) of the MESSENGER spacecraft.
For two days following the flyby, we’ll be reporting live on what the scientists are finding in the data pouring back to Earth through NASA’s Deep Space Network. And we INVITE you to jump into the conversation through the magic of Web 2.0! Students can get invested in the questions being posed by the scientists BEFORE the spacecraft arrives, and get involved in the live conversation regarding what the scientists are finding in the preliminary data in the 2 days FOLLOWING the flyby.
The link to the Special Post at BotU: http://bit.ly/3kDn7b
Engineering in Fashion
Most people don’t think “engineering” when they think about clothing, runway shows, hair products and cosmetics. However, they should.
Engineers are involved in all types of apparel design. From space suits for NASA, to protective clothing for fire fighters, to bulletproof vests for law enforcement, to athletic apparel that wicks away the sweat of marathon runners, to scuba suits and shoes – engineers are involved in assessing the performance needs of the clothing, and deciding on and/or developing the materials needed to improve the item’s performance. More information at <http://www.engineeringedu.com/celestes_blog/2009/09/fashion.html >.
Energize your classroom with winning curriculum!
Elementary, middle and high school teachers across the United States competed for thousands of dollars of classroom materials in the Engineering Education Service Center’s first Engineering Curriculum Contest. The winners were selected from over 20 entries and best reflected high levels of creativity, innovation and student engagement.
From Spider Silk to Tsunamis to Mini-Skateboards and Water Purification, this year’s entries were outstanding examples of hands-on activities that help students learn and retain more math and science concepts
Winning curriculum is available as a free download on the Engineering Education Service Center’s website. The Engineering Education Service Center’s 2009 Curriculum Contest was sponsored solely by the Engineering Education Service Center in an effort to reward teachers that are tackling this challenge.
See <http://www.engineeringedu.com/contestcurr.html>.
PBS Series, Sid the Science Kid
Produced by The Jim Henson Company in partnership with KCET, this PBS Kids series encourages preschoolers to explore the foundations of science in everyday occurrences, such as melting popsicles and sneezing. In the series’ sketch-comedy format, Sid, an inquisitive youngster, tackles the everyday ideas that preschoolers find fascinating (Why do bananas go “bad”? Why do my shoes seem to shrink? How does a bird fly without a plane?).Check out the series website at <pbskids.org/sid> for video clips, printables, information for parents and teachers, and science activities, along with a new online game, focusing on weather and learning.
Grants
National Gardening Association: Youth Garden Grants
The National Gardening Association (NGA), with support from The Home Depot, will award Youth Garden Grants to 100 schools and community organizations throughout the U.S. with child-centered garden programs. Priority given to programs that emphasize one or more of these elements: educational focus or curricular/program integration; nutrition or plant-to-food connections; environmental awareness/education; entrepreneurship; and social aspects of gardening such as leadership development, team building, community support, or service-learning. Applicant schools and organizations must plan to garden with at least 15 children between the ages of 3 and 18. Five programs will receive gift cards valued at $1,000 (a $500 gift card to The Home Depot and a $500 gift card to the Gardening with Kids catalog); 95 programs will receive a $500 gift card to The Home Depot. All winners will receive educational materials from NGA. The application deadline is November 2, 2009. Application guidelines and forms are available on the NGA website. See http://www.kidsgardening.com/YGG.asp
Environmental Education Grant Opportunities
To encourage teachers and youth leaders to develop effective environmental education programs, environmental projects and/ or strategies, the Environmental Quality Education Committee, working with the Department of Environmental Quality, offers grants each fall. A total of $20,000 is available this year from funding received from the sales of the environmental license tags. You must be an Oklahoma teacher, public or private (Pre K – 12), school environmental club, youth group leader, and/or organization with a youth component to apply for the grant. Proposals must be submitted (postmarked and e-mailed) by December 1, 2009.
Visit http://www.deq.state.ok.us/pubs/lpd/eegrant09.pdf
Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant
Lowe’s will donate $5 million to public schools and public school parent teacher groups – at more than 1,000 different public schools per school year. It’s almost that easy when you take advantage of Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant program. Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation (LCEF) knows how hard you work for your kids and your community and we’re dedicated to helping your parent-teacher group achieve even more for your school. Apply for our Toolbox for Education Grant now and build on your already impressive parent group success with Lowe’s.
See <http://www.toolboxforeducation.com/faq.html>
Toshiba 7-12 Math and Science Grants
The mission of Toshiba America Foundation is to promote quality science and mathematics education in U.S. schools. Grants are made for programs and activities that improve teaching and learning in science and mathematics, grades K-12. The Foundation focuses its grant making on inquiry-based projects designed by individual teachers, and small teams of teachers, for use in their own classrooms. Average award amounts are between $9,000 – $17,000.
Proposal Deadline: 10/1/09. More information is available at http://www.taf.toshiba.com