Published by Brunsell on 31 Aug 2011
Discovery Education and Intel have teamed up to create Curiosity in the Classroom, a website designed to bring teachers, students and families on a journey through life's biggest questions.
Published by Brunsell on 31 Aug 2011
Published by Brunsell on 31 Aug 2011
Welcome to this issue of Science Matters in Wisconsin. Check out SMWi on Facebook to receive news and professional development updates throughout the week. http://www.facebook.com/sciencematterswi
Please share this Facebook page (and this newsletter) with your colleagues…especially those new to your school or to the profession!
–Special Requests
1. If you are involved in a regional science sharing group (ie: physics sharing group) please contact me or have the group coordinator contact me (brunsele@uwosh.edu). Sharing groups are an excellent way to network with other science teachers and provide valuable professional development. I would like to help regional groups share meeting times and information through Science Matters in Wisconsin.
2. Shelley Lee, the Wisconsin DPI Science Education Consultant, is on Twitter. Follow her at @wisDPIscience for just in time science information. http://twitter.com/#!/wisDPIscience
–Federal Legislation Alert
Legislators in the U.S. House of Representatives have crafted a bi-partisan resolution on the importance of science education in the U.S. The resolution calls for an increased emphasis on science as legislators work to reauthorize ESEA (No Child Left Behind). Read more about the resolution and, if you are inclined to do so, write your legislators here: http://www.sciencematterswi.com/support-science-education-by-supporting-house
–Professional Development
The UW Oshkosh Science Outreach office is providing a free workshop focused on space science for 4th and 5th grade teachers. September 24 & October 8. Find details here: http://www.sciencematterswi.com/uwo-science-outreach-lofty-teacher-workshop
Teacher workshops will be held on September 25th at the Wisconsin Science Festival in Madison. Find details here: http://www.sciencematterswi.com/professional-development-opportunities-925
–Website of the Week
Find recent scientific research news and breakthroughs at http://www.research.gov Check out the “news” and Science, Engineering and Education Innovation (SEE Innovation) sections for short descriptions of scientific research awards and discoveries.
–Science Spotlight
I bet you are expecting Hurricane Irene news… You can find plenty of that elsewhere. Let’s do evolution instead! A 160 million year old fossil found in China provides the earliest evidence of an animal using a placenta to nourish young. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14651218
OK, one piece about Irene. Follow the link to a nice quote from Bill Nye about climate modeling and the link between Irene and climate change. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/08/30/scitech/main20099349.shtml
Check out Science Matters in Wisconsin’s Daily Science News Digest: http://paper.li/scimatters_wi/1313980410 (or at www.sciencematterswi.com)
–Resources
Please share this resource with your elementary colleagues! NSTA Press has two excellent books for elementary teachers. Picture Perfect Science and More Picture Perfect Science provide dozens of inquiry based science lessons keyed to high quality children’s literature. Lessons use a learning cycle approach that includes guided exploration and assessment instruments. These two volumes are excellent resources for both science and literacy instruction at the elementary level. Sheep in a Jeep (force and motion) is possibly my favorite elementary science activity! NSTA provides a free sample chapter from both books at the links below.
Picture Perfect (2nd edition): http://www.nsta.org/store/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9781935155164
More Picture Perfect: http://www.nsta.org/store/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9781933531120
– Contact
To subscribe to Science Matters in Wisconsin, please visit - http://bap.nsta.org/Content/Home/BecomeAContact/Default.aspx
For questions about Science Matters in Wisconsin, please contact me:
Eric Brunsell, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh brunsele@uwosh.edu
Published by Brunsell on 30 Aug 2011
Published by Brunsell on 30 Aug 2011
Published by Brunsell on 30 Aug 2011
From the STEM Ed Coalition-
We hope you enjoyed the summer. As the August Congressional recess comes to an end and the school year is beginning across the country, we are asking you to encourage members of the House of Representatives to co-sponsor House Resolution 378. This Resolution, which the Coalition helped to draft, emphasizes the importance of STEM education to our country's future and urges the House to give "strong consideration" to the question of how best to integrate science, along with math and reading, into the K-12 school accountability system as Congress reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, otherwise known as No Child Left Behind. By clicking "yes" below you will enter the Coalition's website, where you will be able to send a personalized letter to your member of the House of Representatives urging them to co-sponsor H.Res. 378. Once you enter this new website, you will be able to enter your contact information, see a sample letter, and edit it as you like. All information sent over this website is confidential. Yes, I will send a letter to CongressEvery letter you send will help strengthen and improve the way Congress treats STEM education as it reauthorizes ESEA/NCLB. There are many new members of the House that need to hear from their constituents on this important matter.
You are encouraged to forward this link to all of your networks and distribute as widely as possible. Below is further background information on House Resolution 378 and background on the issue of school acountability. Thanks for your support.SUPPORT HOUSE RESOLUTION 378 SUPPORT SCIENCE EDUCATION
On July 28, 2011 Representatives Judy Biggert (R-IL) and Rush Holt (D-NJ) introduced House Resolution 378. H. Res. 378 is a bipartisan resolution that calls for the House of Representatives to give strong consideration to the role of science education in the educational accountability system as it works to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (No Child Left Behind).
Read H. Res 378 http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.RES.378:
Background: While science is tested, only English Language arts (ELA) and mathematics assessments are counted in the current accountability system under NCLB. As a result, time spent on science has been greatly reduced in schools nationwide. A Center for Education Policy report (Instructional Time in Elementary Schools: A Closer Look at Changes for Specific Subjects, February 2008 ) found that a majority of the nation's school districts increased time for English Language arts (ELA) or math and reduced time by at least 75 minutes per week in science.
Science education is critical to our nation’s future. In July 2011 a U.S. Department of Commerce report found that:
The STEM workforce has an outsized impact on a nation’s competitiveness, economic growth, and overall standard of living . . . STEM jobs are the jobs of the future. They are essential for developing our technological innovation and global competitiveness . . . Regardless of educational attainment, entering a STEM profession is associated with higher earnings and reduced joblessness. For college graduates, there is a payoff in choosing to pursue a STEM degree, and for America’s workers, an even greater payoff in choosing a STEM career. (STEM: Good Jobs Now and for the Future, U.S. Department of Commerce, July 2011)
What You Can Do: For years, our Coalition has advocated including student achievement in science alongside math and ELA as a required element of the revised accountability system under ESEA
It is important to get a large number of members of Congress (in the House) to cosponsor House Resolution 378. The number of Representatives listed as co sponsors will determine the level of support for this issue.
Ask your representative in the House to support House Res 378:
Published by Brunsell on 29 Aug 2011
Published by Brunsell on 29 Aug 2011
Published by Brunsell on 29 Aug 2011
Published by Brunsell on 26 Aug 2011
