Adopt-A-Stream Workshop
Aquascience Workshop
The Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant
Consortium is hosting a workshop at
Gadsden State Community College on
June 8 -12, 2009. Teachers interested in
using aquaculture or aquascience in their
classrooms to teach math, science, or
vocational agriculture are invited to attend.
No prior experience is necessary and
there is no charge for the workshop.
Teachers are responsible for travel,
lodging, and food expenses. Contact PJ
Waters at (251) 438-5690 or
waterph@auburn.edu. Visit
www.alearn.info/aurmerc for more
information.
Mississippi
Science
Spots
April 2009
School Chemical Cleanout
Campaign (SC3) Video
Mississippi Department of
Education
Office of Curriculum and Instruction
601-359-2586
Science Specialist: Mary Wroten
mwroten@mde.k12.ms.us
This symbol indicates items that are
new in this issue of MS Science Spots.
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outdated chemicals pose to students, and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inappropriate, outdated, unknown, and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.
The Mississippi Wildlife Federation, along
with the Mississippi Department of
Environmental Quality, will hold a 2-day
Adopt-A-Stream workshop at Paul B.
Johnson State Park near Hattiesburg, MS,
on June 9 -10, 2009. Two CEU credits are
available. The registration deadline is
May 15, 2009. Visit www.mswildlife.org or
contact Debra Veeder, Adopt-A-Stream
Coordinator at dveeder@mswf.org.
Educational Summer Camps
The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
at MSU is offering four educational
summer camps for students, parents and
teachers. Each camp has a different
theme, including wetland ecology, insects
and plants, and upland ecology. CEU’s
are available. Call 662-325-6686 or go to
http://www.cfr.msstate.edu/wildlife/conserv
ation_camp/.html for more information.
Base Pair/SOAR Program
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute and
the University of Mississippi Medical
Center program, Base Pair/SOAR, is
offering concurrent workshops entitled,
Biotechnology: The Future is Here! and
Microbiology: What Microbes Can Teach
Us on June 8-12 and June 29-July 3,
2009. A $425 stipend, laboratory supplies,
and CEU’s, are offered. Contact
Dr. Donna Sullivan at 601-984-5561 or
dsullivan@medicine.umsmed.edu, or visit
http://basepair.library.umc.edu/.
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Mississippi Science Spots, April 2009
Advanced Placement Institutes
The University of Mississippi and Millsaps
College will offer Advanced Placement
Institutes from The College Board this
summer as follows:
requirements for the course will also
receive a $500 stipend. The registration
deadline is May 15, 2009. Download an
application at
http://www.lumcon.edu/education/cosee/T
eacherflyer04.pdf.
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.
Project MAST
The Mississippi Academy for Science
Teaching (Project MAST) provides
professional development in science
content for middle school teachers in
Mississippi and has now been expanded
to include high school teachers. Summer
workshops will be hosted at Jackson State
University, June 7-19, 2009. Contact
mfadavi@jsums.edu for more information.
Teacher/Scientist Institute
Nine teachers of grades 4-12 are invited to
join research scientists for the Central Gulf
of Mexico - Center for Ocean Science
Education Excellence CGOM-COSEE
Scientist-Teacher Institute, which includes
five days in residence for field activities in
either Alabama or Louisiana, and 10 days
of distance-learning during July. The
content focus is coastal processes,
habitats and organisms, and marine
technology. The grant provides room and
board, a wealth of ocean sciences
education materials, and instruction.
Participants who satisfactorily complete
A Message to Students from
President Obama
In a recent message about education
President Obama included the following
comments directed specifically to
students:
"No matter how innovative our schools or
how effective our teachers, America
cannot succeed unless our students take
responsibility for their own education. That
means showing up for school on time,
paying attention in class, seeking out extra
tutoring if it's needed, and staying out of
trouble.
And to any student who's watching, I say
this: don't even think about dropping out of
school. As I said a couple of weeks ago,
dropping out is quitting on yourself, it's
quitting on your country, and it is not an
option - not anymore…Not when our high
school dropout rate has tripled in the past
thirty years. Not when high school
dropouts earn about half as much as
college graduates. And not when Latino
students are dropping out faster than just
about anyone else. It is time for all of us,
no matter what our backgrounds, to come
together and solve this epidemic."
Mississippi Science Spots, April 2009
International Year of Astronomy
2009
The International Year of Astronomy 2009
(IYA2009) announces the Global
Cornerstone Project, 100 Hours of
Astronomy, scheduled to take place from
April 2-5, 2009. This is a 100-hour,
round-the-clock, round-the-globe event
that includes live webcasts from research
observatories, public observing events and
other activities around the world. The
project invites amateur astronomers,
professional astronomers, educators, etc.,
to arrange events around the world during
this 4-day period. Learn more at
http://www.astronomy2009.org/globalproje
cts/cornerstones/100hoursofastronomy/.
Inspiring Invention Contest
Students in grades K-8 and 9-12 are
invited to participate in the Inspiring
Invention Contest. Students in each
category will create a thirty-second public
service announcement designed to
motivate students to pursue inventing and
innovating as part of their educations and,
later, in their careers. The public service
announcement topics shall be focused on
ideas for an invention that improves a
sport, game, or hobby. Details may be
found at
http://discoveryeducation.com/inspiringinv
ention/contest.cfm. The application
deadline is March 15, 2009.
Third Annual Gravity-Driven
Catapult (Trebuchet) Competition
The University of Mississippi School of
Engineering and the Mississippi Junior
Academy are inviting all students in
grades 7-12 to participate in the Third
2
Annual Gravity-Driven Catapult
(Trebuchet) Competition on April 21, 2009.
Registration forms, a list of participants,
and students’ t-shirt sizes must be
submitted by April 7, 2009. For more
information, contact Maxine Woolsey at
mwoolsey@olemiss.edu or 662-915-1849.
Project MAST Scholarship
A full scholarship for those interested in
becoming high school teachers of physics
or physical science is available through
the Mississippi Science Partnership Office
at Jackson State University. E-mail
Debra.j.divinity@jsums.edu or call 601979-2969 for more information.
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.
National EE Week,
April 12-18, 2009
National Environmental Education (EE)
Week, made possible by Canon USA, Inc.,
promotes understanding and protection of
the natural world by creating a full week of
environmentally-themed lessons and
activities in K-12 classrooms, nature
centers, zoos, museums, and aquariums.
Register your school or organization for
National EE Week, April 12-18, 2009, by
visiting www.eeweek.org/register.
Color Me Physics
New Free Google Resources
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.
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
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.
Color Me Physics is a series of books
created to introduce children to physics in
a fun, exciting way. Color Me Physics:
Coloring Book introduces children to
physics and some of its most famous
characters. The book includes a coloring
page and short description for each of the
ten physicists featured. Color Me Physics:
Activity Book contains games and puzzles.
To learn more, go to
http://www.physicscentral.com/experiment/
colormephysics/index.cfm.
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
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.
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Mississippi Science Spots, April 2009
Do-It-Yourself Podcast
Free Smithsonian Resources
Teachers' Domain
NASA Education is excited to introduce
the Do-It-Yourself Podcast activity in the
For Educators section of www.NASA.gov.
Students can preview and download audio
and video clips of astronauts performing
work in space and on the ground. They
can then use these clips to build their own
podcast or audio/video project. To learn
more and to start making podcasts, visit
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducator
s/diypodcast/index.html or contact
Deana.Nunley@nasa.gov.NASA.
The Smithsonian Center for Education and
Museum Studies offers a searchable
database of more than 1500 science
lessons on various topics. Lessons
include background information, detailed
descriptions of activities, and student
worksheets. Visit the website at
http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educ
ators/index.html.
“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/.
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.
Create A Graph
Create A Graph is a free tool that allows
users to design a graph, enter data, and
generate five types of graphs. An online
tutorial explains and illustrates the different
types of graphs and provides a step-bystep guide to creating examples for
downloading and printing. Learn more at
http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createAgraph.
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.
Free Science and Our Food Supply
Curriculum Kits
The Science and our Food Supply
Curriculum, sponsored jointly by the
National Science Teachers Association
and the Food and Drug Administration,
contains several useful components:
separate guides for middle level and high
school science teachers; an interactive
video, "Dr. X and the Quest for Food
Safety"; and the comprehensive "Food
Safety A to Z Reference Guide." Visit
http://webserver1.grad.usda.gov/conferenc
es/fda_nsta/fdacurriculum.php for more
information.
Seeds Feed the World
“Seeds Feed the World” is a publication
from the National Gardening Association.
Teachers will discover the history of
people/seed partnerships and find ideas
for classroom investigations. Download a
copy from
http://www.kidsgardening.com/special/see
d-news/seedsfeed-03.pdf.
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.
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, April 2009