FLEXE/GLOBE Teacher Workshop
Mississippi
Science
Spots
Project Learning Tree (PLT)
Workshops
The J.L. Scott Marine Education Center in
Ocean Springs, MS, is hosting a
FLEXE/GLOBE Teacher Workshop on
July 21-22, 2009. This opportunity for
teachers to learn about the ecology of
deep-sea hydrothermal vents and
hydrocarbon seeps will also show
teachers how to use the FLEXE project to
study these extreme environments in the
classroom. Room and board will be
provided for all participants. Teachers will
receive a $ 200 stipend for completing the
two-day workshop. Find more information
at http://www.globe.gov/flexe or contact
Johnette Bosarge at 228-818-8893 or
Johnette.Bosarge@usm.edu.
Project Learning Tree® is an awardwinning, multi-disciplinary environmental
education program for educators and
students in PreK through grade 12. PLT,
a program of the American Forest
Foundation, is one of the most widely used
environmental education programs in the
United States. Contact the Mississippi
PLT State Coordinator at
handerson212@gmail.com to learn more
about the upcoming workshops scheduled
below.
Woods, Water & Wetlands!
Advanced Placement Institutes
University of Southern Mississippi--July 18
Lafayette Public Schools--July 24
William Carey University--September 26
July 2009
Mississippi Department of
Education
Office of Curriculum and Instruction
601-359-2586
Science Specialist: Mary Wroten
mwroten@mde.k12.ms.us
The Coastal Wonders Environmental
Education Program, on the coast of
Alabama, is offering, "Woods, Water &
Wetlands!" July 13-14, 2009. In this 2day, 1-night teacher workshop,
participants will take a closer look at the
Weeks Bay estuary and surrounding
habitats. The cost is $55 per person,
which includes lodging, meals, and
materials. Contact Audrey Preston at
251.928.2248 or
coastalwonders@bellsouth.net.
This symbol indicates items that are
new in this issue of MS Science Spots.
The University of Mississippi and Millsaps
College will offer Advanced Placement
Institutes from The College Board this
summer as follows:
University of Mississippi (July 20-July 24)-http://www.outreach.olemiss.edu/ProfDev/t
eacher/apinstitute.html.
Millsaps College (July 12 - July 17) --.
http://www.millsaps.edu/conted/api/index.s
html or call 601-974-1130 for a complete
brochure.
1
Mississippi Science Spots, July 2009
Science Reading Collections
The Literacy Empowerment Foundation, a
non-profit organization, has created
science reading collections that can be
used to support elementary science
curricula. The high-quality, softcover
books are available for kindergarten
through second grade reading levels.
Information and an order form are
available at: http://www.lefbooks.org.
Best Practice Institute
On September 18-19 the Roger F. Wicker
Center for Creative Learning at MUW will
host its first Best Practice Institute for
educators. The focus of this year's institute
will be Assessing Student Learning. There
is no fee for participation but registration is
required. CEUs will be available for
$20.00. Nationally-known experts in
assessment will present at the institute.
Find registration information at
www.muw.edu/ccl. Click on Assessment
Institutes 2009 located on the left side of
the main page to access the registration
forms. Call 662-241-6101 if there are any
questions.
School Chemical Cleanout
Campaign (SC3) Video
Communities and school districts across
the country are recognizing the risk that
improperly stored, hazardous, and
outdated chemicals pose to students, and
are creating programs to help schools
responsibly manage their chemicals. View
the video at
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/partnerships
/sc3/video/index.htm to learn more about
what is being done to remove
inappropriate, outdated, unknown, and
unnecessary chemicals from K-12
schools; raise awareness of chemical
issues in schools and promote sustainable
solutions; and prevent future chemical
mismanagement through training,
curriculum change and long-term
management solutions.
2009 Thacher Scholars Award
The Institute for Global Environmental
Strategies (IGES) announces the 2009
Thacher Scholars Award. This national
competition is for high school students to
demonstrate the best use of geospatial
technologies or data to study the Earth.
Learn more at
http://www.strategies.org/docs/ThacherAn
nouncement2009.pdf.
Earth Week Contests
The American Geological Institute (AGI) is
sponsoring three national contests in
conjunction with Earth Science Week
2009, October 11-17, 2009. All U.S.
residents are encouraged to enter this
year’s photography contest, "How Climate
Shapes my World." Students in grades
K-5 are eligible to enter the visual arts
contest, "The Climate Where I Live.” The
essay contest, "Climate Connections," is
open to students in grades 6-9. To learn
more about Earth Science Week and
these contests, visit
www.earthsciweek.org/contests.
Free Science Videos Online
Find streaming videos at
www.vega.org.uk. Included are career
profiles of 14 young working scientists, a
primary level workshop on the states of
matter, and much more!
Sun Shadows Project
Online PreK Science Game
Help your students become “citizen
scientists” by taking part in an international
research project. The Sun Shadows
Project is looking for help in studying the
relationship between the seasons and the
length of shadows. The Sun Shadows
Project students are looking for fellow
scientists, to measure shadows and
submit findings online at
web.me.com/lhuffman/Project_Circle.
A free game for preschoolers allows
children to help animals find their way
home by clicking on the photograph
matching the description of the habitat
each animal prefers. Short live-action
segments then show the animal in the
correct habitat. Find more information at
http://pbskids.org/mamamirabelle/games.h
tml.
2
Mississippi Science Spots, July 2009
Resource Catalog
Blog on the Universe
New Free Google Resources
The Gateway to Educational Materials
catalog (www.thegateway.org) offers quick
and easy access to more than 50,000
educational resources. Resources from
federal, state, university, nonprofit, and
commercial sites are easily found through
a sophisticated search engine.
Dr. Jeff Goldstein, Center Director for the
National Center for Earth and Space
Science Education has just launched “Blog
on the Universe,” which is dedicated to
helping teachers of science make science
an adventure. Every week, new
conceptual nuggets and challenges are
introduced to foster deep and inspiring
discussions in the classroom and at home.
Read the first post of “A Teachable
Moment in the News” at
http://blogontheuniverse.org/.
Google Inc. recently announced the
launch of “Ocean” in Google Earth, a new
feature that enables users of Google Earth
to dive beneath the water surface, explore
3D underwater terrain, and browse oceanrelated content contributed by leaders in
ocean science and advocacy. “Mars 3D,”
Google's newest virtual tour of the galaxy
enables travel to Mars with the click of a
button. See high resolution imagery and
3D terrain, observe where various Mars
Rovers and Landers have touched down,
and much more. Google Earth can be
downloaded for free at
http://earth.google.com.
Plants Database: Up and Growing
The USDA website http://plants.usda.gov
provides standardized information about
native plants in the United States. View
over 40,000 plant images and download
fact sheets for plants of interest.
HotChalk’s Weekly Science
Experiments
HotChalk's LessonPlansPage.com is a
collection of over 3,000 lesson plans from
Preschool through High School and
beyond. A special feature of the site is the
Weekly Science Experiments page. Visit
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/SciExper
iments.htm to learn more.
Science NetLinks
Science NetLinks, is part of Thinkfinity, a
partnership between the Verizon
Foundation and 11 premier educational
organizations. Science NetLinks' role is to
provide a wealth of standards-aligned
resources for K-12 science educators,
including free lesson plans, interactives
and reviewed Internet resources. Learn
more at www.sciencenetlinks.com.
H1N1 Resources
Check out “Viruses/Infectious Diseases:
What’s Really Bugging You,” a middle
school lesson from Science NetLinks. It
explores viruses/infectious diseases, and
how they can infect the human body,
compromise the immune system, and
interfere with normal human body
functions. Find the lesson at
http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/lessons.cf
m?BenchmarkID=6&DocID=519.
Sylvan Dell Publishing
School Resource Grant
Sylvan Dell Publishing is on a mission to
bring science and math to children through
literature. Each picture book includes a
3-5 page education section and free online
resources such as teaching activities,
interactive quizzes, and audio books.
Schools may also apply for a School
Resource Grant, which provides access to
all Sylvan Dell eBooks, featuring
selectable English and Spanish text and
audio. For more information visit
http://www.sylvandellpublishing.com.
Mississippi Science Spots, July 2009
Free Science Curriculum Materials
Grades 6-12
Find free PowerPoints truly designed for
classroom instruction, content videos,
interactive simulations, graphic organizers,
teaching illustrations and more at
www.cpo.com. Choose the “For
Educators” tab, and then click on the area
of interest. For more information or to
receive free samples of selected materials
related to the 2010 Mississippi Science
Framework, contact Alen Brown at
abrown@cpo.com or 877-213-2113.
Free "NanoLeap into New Science"
Module
Mid-continent Research for Education and
Learning (McREL), and the Stanford
Nanofabrication Facility (SNF) have
released the first of two instructional
modules from the "NanoLeap into New
Science" project funded by the National
Science Foundation (NSF). The new
modules integrate real-world nanoscale
3
science and engineering research into
high school chemistry and physical
science courses. Each standards-based
module includes teacher guides,
assessments, student activities, and
experiments. Learn more at
http://www.mcrel.org/nanoleap/ps.
Two Forks, Idaho
“Two Forks, Idaho” is an online science
mystery story that challenges readers to
discover who is at the bottom of a smalltown crime. Combining scientific
knowledge, problem-solving skills, and an
interesting narrative, the story will be
engaging to curious students, and will
expand their imaginations to consider
scientific knowledge as a necessary,
worthwhile, and interesting field of study.
Find information at
www.acessexcellence.org/AE/mspot/twofo
rks/.
Free Science Lesson Plans and
Samples from ETA/Cuisenaire
Key science concepts relate to fascinating
environmental, historical, and cultural facts
and offer a variety of opportunities to
practice essential science skills, including
organizing data, using classification
systems, designing experiments,
conducting investigations, identifying
ecosystems and species, and
understanding and using scientific
vocabulary. Visit the website at
http://www.etacuisenaire.com/resources/le
ssons/lessons.jsp or contact
kalck@etacuisenaire.com to learn more.
The Futures Channel
Teachers' Domain
One of the main goals of The Futures
Channel is to produce mini-documentaries
and multi-media content that educators
can use to enliven their curriculums and
connect mathematics, science,
technology, and engineering to the real
world. More information may be found at
www.thefutureschannel.com.
“Teachers' Domain” is a free digital library
of multimedia resources for K–12
audiences, focusing primarily on life
sciences. Teachers and students can use
classroom-ready streaming video clips,
audio clips, and interactive activities.
There are over 150 resources from
broadcast programs such as Nova, A
Science Odyssey, and ZOOM. Teachers
can integrate Teachers' Domain content
into their existing curriculum. Learn more
at http://www.teachersdomain.org.
Mop Top Shop
Mop Top Shop, an educational website for
children, profiles the contributions of
African-Americans in the fields of science,
mathematics, and technology. The site
provides educational games, activities,
information and assessments. For more
information, visit
http://www.moptopshop.com/.
Fact Monster
Fact Monster, www.factmonster.com, is an
online almanac, dictionary, encyclopedia,
and homework reference designed for
students needing a one-stop site for all
their reference needs.
The Exploratorium
The Exploratorium offers free hands-on
activities for middle school students. The
activities, using easily obtained materials,
can be done at home and/or in the
classroom. Each is followed by an
explanation of the scientific principles
utilized in the activity. Visit
http://www.exploratorium.edu/explore/han
dson.html for more information.
Forensics in the Classroom
Court TV has developed, as part of a
continuing educational partnership with the
American Academy of Forensic Sciences,
“Forensics in the Classroom.” Download
this free standards-based curriculum
supplement at
http://www.courttv.com/forensics_curriculum.
Simple Machines Website
Teaching simple machines is now SIMPLE
using the lesson plans, demonstrations,
experiments, and ideas found at
http://www.crestcapital.com/tax/motion_en
ergy_and_simple_machines.aspx.html.
Subscribe to MS Science Spots
Administrators and educators who wish to
subscribe to this newsletter may add their
names to the mailing list by sending a blank
email to mwroten@mde.k12.ms.us with the
subject line, “Listserve.”
4
Mississippi Science Spots, July 2009