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E-Blast May 13, 2010
May 13 - May 26 - Science Matters Network Michigan eBlast
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In this E-Blast
- Leadership
- The Science Matters Network in Michigan
- Science Humor
- Science Matters to Parents
- Science Matters to Students
- Grants
- K-12 Science Teachers - Something for All Grades
- High School Science Teachers
- Middle School and High School Science Teachers
- May Contest Winners
Here are your science education resources and announcements for May 13 - 26, 2010 provided by the Science Matters Network. These science education highlights are emailed to Key Leaders, Points of Contact and State Partners. Please forward them on to other science educators in your school. If you have questions or comments, please forward them to:
David Bydlowski
Michigan Coordinator-Science Matters Network
or
Sue Campbell
MSTA Representative
Please Note: If you do not receive the full e-blast you can view it at: http://msta-mich.org/smn or request a Word version by emailing: bydlowd@resa.net You can also listen to the e-blast, as a podcast, by visiting: http://k12science.net and clicking on Podcasts or you can subscribe at iTunes by searching for k12science in the iTunes Store.
Delegating work works, provided the one delegating works, too.
Robert Half
Thank you to Herm Boatin, Science consultant and lecturer, University of Michigan-Dearborn, for contributing this leadership quote.
The Science Matters Network In Michigan
2a. Your Certificate of Appreciation for 2009-2010 is Ready for You to Download
Are you a Science Matters for Science Super Key Leader, Key Leader, or Point of Contact? You can now print your certificate of appreciation for the 2009 -- 2010 school year, signed by Michigan's Superintendent of Public Instruction, Mike Flanagan. Just visit: http://msta-mich.org/index.php/bapawards
add your name, select your award, and print! Thanks for all the work you have done to promote Science Matters in Michigan.
You were sent an email this week inviting you to complete an on-line Michigan K-12 Teacher Needs Assessment and Resource Survey. The survey has been designed to gather information from teachers and other educators about their needs and access to resources that facilitate teaching and learning of science.
The survey is a collaborative effort of the Michigan Mathematics and Science Centers Network, the Michigan Department of Education, and the Michigan Science Matters Network. It is being facilitated by Science and Mathematics Program Improvement (SAMPI) at Western Michigan University.
Your participation in the survey will assist them in collecting information that will be used to develop future statewide programs and services for teachers and schools. Please keep an eye out for the email describing how to access and complete the survey.
student comes into his lab class right at the end of the hour. Fearing he'll get an "F", he asks a fellow student what she's been doing. "We've been observing water under the microscope. We're supposed to write up what we see." The page of her notebook is filled with little figures resembling circles and ellipses with hair on them. The panic-stricken student hears the bell go off, opens his notebook and writes, "During this laboratory, I examined water under the microscope and I saw twice as many H's as O's."
One day on the Tonight Show, Jay Leno showed a classified ad that read: "Do you have mole problems? If so, call Avogadro at 602-1023."
Q: What is the name of the molecule bunny-O-bunny?
: An ether bunny
4a. Helping Your Child Learn Science
Why is the sky blue?
Why do things fall to the ground?
How do seeds grow?
What makes the sound and music?
Where do mountains come from?
Young children ask their parents hundreds of questions like these. In search of answers, we use science to both enlighten and delight. Being "scientific" involves being curious, observing, asking how things happen and learning how to find the answers. Curiosity is natural to children, but they need help understanding how to make sense of what they see and to relate their observations to their existing ideas and understandings. This is why parental involvement is so important in children's science education. When we encourage children to ask questions, make predictions, offer explanations and explore in a safe environment, we lend them the kind of support that they need to become successful science students and scientific thinkers. A booklet that parents can get for free is entitled, "Helping Your Child Learn Science." To download your copy, just visit: http://www2.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/science/science.pdf
This booklet includes a range of activities for families with children from preschool age through grade 5. The activities use materials found in your home and make learning experiences out of everyday routines. The activities are designed for you to have fun with your child while developing and reinforcing science skills.
5a. Science on Saturday for 1st and 2nd Grade Students is May 15
The Van Andel Education Institute will be offering Science on Saturday, on Saturday, May 15, 2010. Science on Saturday is a fun and exciting program for both students and adults. Experience "Thinking and Acting Like Scientists." Use all your senses to explore land animals and aquatic animals. Take home one of the organisms.
This May's Science on Saturday is for students currently in 1st or 2nd grade, and an accompanying adult. Adults fully participate in all program activities. Choose from one of two sessions: 9:30 - 11:00 a.m. OR 12:30 - 2:00 p.m.
Cost is $20.00 total per student/adult team. For more information or to register, visit: http://www.vai.org/vaei
or call (616) 234-5528.
5b. Outdoor Youth Camp Scholarships for 12 - 15 Year Olds
SCI-Novi is excited to have the opportunity to inform you that they have up to eighty scholarships available to the Riley Wilderness Youth Camp (RWYC) (previously known as the Michigan Wilderness Student Adventure (MWSA)) which is being held at the Howell Nature Center in Howell Michigan hosted by the Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC ). The renaming of the youth program is in honor of SCI-Novi member George F. Riley and the Riley Foundation who have financially sponsored this program this year and for numerous years in the past. The dates of the actual program are: Sunday August 1st, 2010 to Friday August 6th, 2010.
Deadline for scholarship applications is June 30th, 2010 or until 80 qualified applicants are approved. Please go to:
to find out more information about the program and or apply.
5c. NASA Opportunity for Students in Grades 9 - 12
High school students throughout the United States are invited to participate in NASA's Interdisciplinary National Science Program Incorporating Research Experience, or INSPIRE, through the program's Online Learning Community. Applications are being accepted through June 30, 2010. NASA will make selections for the program in September.
Selectees will participate in an online learning community in which students and parents have the opportunity to interact with their peers and NASA engineers and scientists. The online community also provides appropriate grade-level educational activities, discussion boards and chat rooms. Participants and their families also gain exposure to the many careers and opportunities at NASA. Students selected for the program will have the option to compete for unique grade-appropriate experiences during the summer of 2011 at NASA facilities and participating universities throughout the nation. INSPIRE is designed to encourage ninth- through 12th-grade students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math. The summer experience provides students a hands-on opportunity to investigate education and careers in those disciplines.
INSPIRE is part of NASA's education strategy to attract and retain students in the science, technology, engineering and math disciplines critical to NASA's missions. For more information about this opportunity, visit http://www.nasa.gov/education/INSPIRE
If you have questions about this opportunity, please e-mail your inquiries to INSPIRE Project Manager Steve Chance at steven.h.chance@nasa.gov.
May 15, 2010: Deadline for students between the ages of 13 and 22 to apply for the Earth Island Institute Brower Youth Award. For more information, please visit: http://www.broweryouthawards.org/article.php?list=type&type=54
May 15, 2010: Science Saturday for 1st and 2nd graders at the Van Andel Education Institute, in Grand Rapids, MI. For more information, please visit: http://www.vai.org/vaei or call (616) 234-5528.
May 27, 2010: Deadline for middle school students to enter America's Next Young Scientist Competition. For more information, please visit: http://www.youngscientistchallenge.com/
May 28, 2010: Deadline for high school students to enter the Poetry Essay Contest on the Environment. For more information, please visit: http://www.shmoop.com/news/2010/04/12/poetry-essay-contest-ipad/
June 1, 2010: Deadline for students under the age of 19 to enter the Show Green Student Film contest. For more information, just visit: http://www.showgreentv.org
June 30, 2010: Deadline for 9th - 12th grade students to apply for the INSPIRE program. For more information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/education/INSPIRE
June 30, 2010: Deadline for 12 - 15 year olds to apply for the Michigan Out-of-Doors Youth Camp Scholarships. For more information, please visit: http://www.scinovi.com
September 5, 2010: Deadline for K12 students to enter the Trash to Treasure competition. For details, visit: http://pbskids.org/designsquad/contest/index.html
6a. ASM Materials Education Foundation Teacher Grants of $500
To help K-12 teachers bring the "real world" of materials science into the classroom, the ASM International Foundation, a scientific and engineering society, is awarding 10 "Living in a Material World" grants of $500 each. The grants are awarded to enhance awareness of materials science and the role of materials scientists in society. ASM International has local chapters across North America, and its members are willing to work closely with local teachers to develop and implement these lessons. Teachers must apply by May 25 at the ASM Teacher Grants website. Awards will be made in August. Please visit: http://asmcommunity.asminternational.org/portal/site/www/Foundation/Educators/TeacherGrants/
May 15, 2010: Next deadline for the Pepsi Refresh Grant. Please visit: http://www.refresheverything.com/
May 21, 2010: Deadline to apply for the High School Science Teaching Prize from AAAS. For more information, please visit: http://www.aaas.org/aboutaaas/awards/hs_scied_leadership/
May 25, 2010: Deadline to apply for the ASM Materials Education Foundation Teacher Grants of $500. Please visit: http://asmcommunity.asminternational.org/portal/site/www/Foundation/Educators/TeacherGrants/
May 26, 2010: Deadline to apply for the Toyota International Teacher Program for 6th - 12th grade teachers. For more information on this fully funded opportunity, please visit: http://www.toyota4education.com
K-12 Science Teachers-Something for All Grades
7a. Duck Regatta and a Free Day at the Cranbrook Institute of Arts
Great Lakes Guardians, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect and preserve precious water resources in Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties, will host the second annual Duck Regatta June 6, 2010. Cranbrook has again generously agreed to open its Bloomfield Hills campus to the event, which will raise funds for Great Lakes Guardians' clean-water initiatives benefitting the Friends of the Rouge, the Clinton River Watershed Council and the Huron River Watershed Council.
Admission to the event and the duck regatta is free and includes a variety of family-friendly attractions, including climbing walls, inflatable play areas and free admission to the Cranbrook Institute of Science, which will offer special activities for visitors. DTE Energy is the presenting sponsor of the 2010 Great Lakes Guardians Duck Regatta.
For a $5 per duck donation to Great Lakes Guardians, supporters may sponsor rubber ducks and watch them race for prizes across Kingswood Lake. Supporters may sponsor ducks by calling (800) 544-2435 or by email: ducks@versacom-inc.com. Duck sponsorship is not required for event attendance.
Prizes for the fastest ducks include a Caribbean cruise for two, two nights at a water park, a full-year car wash service, restaurant gift certificates and museum passes made possible by generous sponsors. All sponsoring organizations have the opportunity to participate in the exclusive Admiral's Cup race, which features brightly colored and creatively branded decoy ducks.
For more information on sponsorship opportunities, visit http://www.greatlakesguardians.org, call 313-982-1400 or send an e-mail to greatlakesguardians@versacom-inc.com.
7b. Michigan JOINT Education Conference
Thurston High School, Redford, Michigan
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
The third annual Michigan Joint Education Conference features sessions directed at teachers and administrators on integrated education, curriculum and instruction. .5 SB-CEUs are available for the conference. The Michigan Joint Education Conference is hosted by Michigan Council for Social Studies (MCSS), Michigan Council for the Teachers of Mathematics (MCTM), Michigan Science Teachers Association (MSTA), Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning (MACUL) and Michigan Association of Middle School Educators (MAMSE). Other partnering organizations include: Michigan Association for Media in Education, Michigan Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators, Michigan Business Education Association, Michigan Council of Teachers of English, Michigan Education Association, and the Michigan Department of Education.
Registration: Please visit: http://www.mijec.org/registration
Prices remain at 2009 fees - $49 for Members, $79 for non members, until June 4, 2010.
"For those of you looking for credits this summer, registration is open for Seminars on Science from the American Museum of Natural History. The courses are fully online and can be taken for up to 4 graduate credits each. You can sign up now at: http://learn.amnh.org
Courses include: Evolution; Earth: Inside and Out; The Solar System, Genetics, Genomics, Genethics; The Diversity of Fishes; Water: Environmental Science and more. Since the courses are web-based, there is no need to come to the museum at any time and all courses are led by both an experienced classroom teacher and a PhD research scientist. Sign up today and get $50 off your registration cost!" If you have questions, contact Katie Rasmussen at jrasmussen@amnh.org
7d. Submit Science Student Work and You Can Get a $150 Gift Card
EdSteps, currently under development by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), will be a resource for teaching and assessment. Its centerpiece will be a large, public library of student work samples in five key skill areas that are typically difficult and costly to assess. For each skill area, student work will be presented in a continuum-a gradual progression-from emerging to accomplished work. The EdSteps continuums will allow teachers, parents, and students themselves to measure individual students' progress over time and answer questions about whether students are on track to success. The continuums' work samples will help teachers, parents, and students answer a central question for student growth: Where is a particular student now, and what should he or she do to improve?
EdSteps is currently collecting work in Writing and Global Competence. EdSteps is explicitly seeking student work from science classrooms-from pre-school to twelfth grade-to ensure that the student work continuums reflect the work, taking place in science courses. Teachers who upload work samples are eligible to win $150 gift cards.
Please visit: http://www.edsteps.org
to learn more about EdSteps and to start submitting work.
Interested in learning how to teach forensic science concepts in your elementary, middle school or high school class? Want to start a forensic science course? Are you teaching a forensic science class and want to hone your skills or knowledge base? Need graduate credits in science? If you answered any of these questions with a "Yes!" than this summer workshop is what you need.
Date: August 9-13, 2010
Location: Portage Northern HS (Portage, MI, near Kalamazoo)
Times: 8am-3pm
Cost: $300 (which includes handouts, some electronic files and new textbook)
Graduate Credit: 2 hours in Forensic Science from MSU (graduate fees to MSU must be paid)
For More Information Contact: Kathy Mirakovits at kjmirakovits@chartermi.net or kmirakovits@portageps.org or phone: 269-323-5403 or 269-720-6937
May 21, 2010: Endangered Species Day. For more information, please visit: http://www.stopextinction.org/esd.html
June 5, 2010: World Environment Day. For more information, please visit: http://www.unep.org/wed/2010/english/
June 6, 2010: 5th Annual Duck Regatta at the Cranbrook Institute in Bloomfield Hills, MI. For more information visit: < a href="http://www.greatlakesguardians.org/">http://www.greatlakesguardians.org
June 23, 2010: 2nd Annual Michigan No Child Left Inside Summit at the University of Michigan-Dearborn campus. For more information, please visit: http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135-3308_3333---,00.html
June 23, 2010: Michigan JOINT Education Conference at Thurston HS in Redford, MI. For more information, please visit: http://www.mijec.org/registration
June 26, 2010: Great American Backyard Campout. For more information, please visit: http://www.backyardcampout.org
July 18 - 23, 2010: Academy of Natural Resources at the Ralph A. MacMullen Conference Center in Roscommon, MI. For more information, please visit: http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10369_46264_50044---,00.html
August 9 - 13, 2010: Forensice Science PD for K-12 Teachers at Portage Northern HS in Portage, MI. For more information, please contact Kathy Mirakovits at kjmirakovits@chartermi.net
October 8-10, 2010: MAEOE Conference in Pellston, MI. For more information, please visit: http://www.michiganenvironmentaled.org/
June 18, 2010: Deadline for teachers to apply to attend the AP Summer Institute through the Lapeer Public Schools. For more information, please visit: http://www.lapeerschools.org/LEHS/SummerInstitute/
June 23, 2010: Third Annual Joint Education Conference at Thurston High School in Redford, MI. For more information, please visit: http://www.mijec.org/
July 12 - 16, 2010: Teachers Forensic Science Workshop at Lawrence Technological University. For more information, please contact: 248-204-3617 or msedir@ltu.edu
Middle School and High School Science Teachers
9a. Cell Phone Science Workshop for MS and HS Teachers
Join other outstanding physics and technology teachers from across the Midwest to discover the fundamental science and engineering of cell phones and other wireless communications. We live in a world with instantaneous global communications. Over 270 million Americans have cell phones. Our students use iPhones, BlackBerrys, and other wireless devices every day. Despite the ubiquitous nature of modern communications, most students (and teachers!) don't have a clue of the science behind these wonderful, technological marvels. Three high school teachers working with engineers from Cingular, Motorola, and the University of Michigan have developed an exciting and innovative 3-week program.
The Square One Education Network will host the 2-day workshop. The workshop will be at the Macomb Intermediate School District in Clinton Township, MI June 23rd and June 24th from 8:30 AM till 3:30 PM. Square One will pay for training, invited speakers, meals, and a complete classroom set of equipment for participants. CEU credits will also be available. Mark Davids and Rick Forrest, authors and designers of the program, will lead the sessions. The deadline to apply is May 18, 2010. Conference Details will be updated on the Square One website at: http://www.squareonenetwork.org
9b. World Environment Day Contest
The Project Earth World Environment Day Contest is designed to highlight the efforts of students in grades 6-12 to become more environmentally sustainable and for teachers and students around the world to share and learn from each others ideas and efforts. The winner of the contest will be announced on World Environment Day, June 5, 2010, and will be awarded $500. All participants will receive a participation certificate. The last day to enter the contest is May 22, 2010. For more information, please visit: http://www.projectearth.net/
May 18: Deadline to apply for the Cell Phone Workshop for MS and HS Teachers in Troy, MI. For more information, please visit: http://www.squareonenetwork.org/events.html
May 22, 2010: Deadline to apply for the World Environment Day Contest for 6th - 12th graders. For more information, please visit: http://www.projectearth.net/
May 30, 2010: Deadline for 2nd and 3rd year science teachers to apply for the New Science Teacher Academy. For more information, please visit: http://www.nsta.org/academy
June 1, 2010: Deadline to post a project for the National Lab Day Video Contest. For more information, visit: http://www.nationallabday.org/contest
June 22, 2010: MEECS Water Quality Unit Workshop at Cranbrook Institute of Science in Bloomfield Hills. For more information, please visit: http://science.cranbrook.edu/educational/teacher/
October 16, 2010: Vernier Workshop in Grand Rapids, MI. For more information, please visit: http://www.vernier.com/workshop/directions/directions.html?id=2428
October 18, 2010: Vernier Workshop in Detroit, MI. For more information, please visit: http://www.vernier.com/workshop/directions/directions.html?id=2429
This month we have six wonderful prizes to give away. The prizes are gift cards.
To win one of these prizes, send an email to:
David Bydlowski
State Coordinator for the Michigan Science Matters Network
You MUST INCLUDE your name AND mailing address AND your school name/district.
You may only enter once and only one entry per email address. Respondents 2, 12, 22, 32, 42, and 52 will receive a prize. We will post all of the winners in our next E-Blast. Good luck to you and thank you for being part of the Michigan Science Matters Network.
To subscribe to the Science Matters Network in Michigan e-blast, please visit: http://nsta.org/sciencematters
Click on Teachers, then click on Become a Point of Contact.
To unsubscribe from the Science Matters Network in Michigan e-blast, please contact your Key Leader or email David Bydlowski, Michigan Coordinator for the Science Matters Network, at bydlowd@resa.net.