Teaching Science 2.0

Welcome to this week’s issue of Science Matters in Wisconsin.  As a quick reminder, this is the new title for WSN eNews.

– Professional Development

Environmental science workshops: http://www4.uwsp.edu/cnr/leaf/Educators/professional_development.aspx

Western Wisconsin Science teacher Sharing Group will be held on October 5^th at Altoona High School from 6:00 – 8:00. Details: http://www.sciencematterswi.com/west-central-sharing-group

NASA’s Endeavor Science Teaching Certificate Project to Award 50, New, K-12 STEM Fellowships

Applications due October 31, 2011 : http://www.us-satellite.net/nasa/endeavor 

– Science Spotlight

Physicsts using CERN have found evidene that neutrinos travelled faster than the speed of light.  This is an amazing discovery that will have profound impacts on physics.  Or, maybe not.  The experiment was incredibly difficult to undertake.  The results are extraordinary. Can they be replicated?  Can these results be independently verified?  Although some scientists are dismayed that these results were released before being verified, it has given us a great “insiders” view of the scientific process.  In this article, some big name physicists respond to the news: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=ftl-neutrinos&WT.mc_id

– Website of the Week

From the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board

PBS LearningMedia™ is your destination for easy, instant access to thousands of classroom-ready, digital resources including videos and interactives perfect for the Interactive Whiteboard, plus audio and photos, and even in-depth lesson plans. You can search, save, and share with ease. Best of all, PBS LearningMedia™ is free for educators. Register today!

http://ecb.pbslearningmedia.org/

http://www.ecb.org/

– Resource

New, Free Science Education Materials from the National Institutes of Health 

Enrich your science education curriculum with free materials from one of the National Institutes of Health. Our latest offerings include:

• Inside Life Science, a series of short articles about the science of health
• The September 2011 issue of Findings magazine, which features two young and interesting scientists:

·      George Hightower of the University of California, San Diego, who studies how HIV can infect the brain

·      Cara Altimus of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who explores how light and darkness relate to the body’s daily rhythms, sleep disorders and certain brain diseases

http://pull.msg-edu.com/p/7896-1DAD/9251347/html003-publications.nigms.nih.gov.htmlhttp://pull.msg-edu.com/p/7896-1DAD/9251347/html003-publications.nigms.nih.gov.html

Electronic versions (PDF, HTML and EPUB) of our popular science education booklets

Browse and order free print copies of these and our many other materials at
http://publications.nigms.nih.gov/eblast/mdr/index.html

– 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

Posted via email from Science Matters in Wisconsin

Date: Wednesday October 5^th

Time: Doors open at 5:45 for pizza and snacks, sharing begins at about 6:00.  Should conclude about 8:00

Location: Altoona High School, 711 7^th St. West.  Altoona WI 54720 (Use the main entrance and follow signs to science rooms)

Meeting Details:

Part 1 – Whole group discussion.  Theme: Class webpages, Web 2.0 tools, SMART board and other technology based resources/lessons.

Part 2 – Subject specific breakout sessions.

·         Biology theme: ongoing research projects in the biology room (what you have been doing, what are you thinking about doing, ways to fund these projects, and motivation/support to go and do it).

·         Chemistry theme: How to get through the “boring” stuff.  (i.e. measurement, sig figs, notation, and other early year essentials)  Ways to make it interesting and to help it “stick.”

·         Physics theme:  Kinematics (traditional start to the year) or non-traditional beginnings (different units/topics you begin with)

·         Earth/Space Science: I don’t want to leave anyone out, but I’m not sure how much interest has come from these areas.  If there is interest we will split them off as well.

PLEASE NOTE: Themes are just a starting point and suggestion.  By no means are you limited to sharing something awesome that doesn’t fit in those themes.  They were just picked as topics that might be of interest this time of year.

Anyone and everyone is welcome to bring something to share, no matter how big or small you think it is, but YOU DO NOT HAVE TO.  Feel free to simply join us for some great science teaching discussions and networking.

Technology Notes:  Altoona HS is equipped with projectors in each room and one SMART board.   Projectors are connected to a desktop computer so BRING A FLASH DRIVE with any files you want to project and share.  We will be creating a group Wiki for easy file sharing as well. 

Please forward this information on to all your science teaching colleagues.  There is sure to be something for everyone!

I look forward to meeting all of you on the 5^th!

Brad Wysocki

Chemistry/Physics Teacher

Bloomer High School

bwysocki@bloomer.k12.wi.us

Posted via email from Science Matters in Wisconsin

STEMCareerDayFlyers.pdf Download this file

Welcome to this week’s issue of Science Matters in Wisconsin.  As a quick reminder, this is the new title for WSN eNews.

– Professional Development

Phox Valley Physics and Physical Science Share Group:  First meeting Wednesday September 21st at Appleton East.  More info at http://www.wapt.org/News/2011/Phox1.pdf

Contact information for the Milwaukee Area Physics Share (MAPS) and Stevens Point Area (SPASH) group at http://www.uwec.edu/wapt/sharegroups.html

– Student Field Trip

Take your high school students to STEM Career Day at UW Stout on November 4^th.  Students can tour labs and learn more about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.  Students (with a parent or guardian) can also attend without going as a school group.  See the attached flyer for more information.

– Science Spotlight

When scientists struggle with a problem for over a decade, few of them think, “I know! I’ll ask computer gamers to help.” That, however, is exactly what Firas Khatib from the University of Washington did. The result: he and his legion of gaming co-authors have cracked a longstanding problem in AIDS research that scientists have puzzled over for years. It took them three weeks. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/09/18/computer-gamers-solve-problem-in-aids-research-that-puzzled-scientists-for-years/

– Website of the Week

This beautiful website shares stories from around Wisconsin (from the Birkebeiner in Hayward to farming in Bangor) that describe the impact of climate change. http://climatewisconsin.org/

– TED Talk

All over the planet, giant telescopes and detectors are looking (and listening) for clues to the workings of the universe. At the INK Conference, science writer Anil Ananthaswamy tours us around these amazing installations, taking us to some of the most remote and silent places on Earth. http://www.ted.com/talks/anil_ananthaswamy.html

– Resource 

Just for fun, check out this list of 20 lame science jokes: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/20-bad-science-jokes-eric-brunsell

– 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

Posted via email from Science Matters in Wisconsin

Posted via email from Science Matters in Wisconsin

Phox Valley Physics and Physical Science Share Group:  First meeting Wednesday September 21st at Appleton East.  More info at http://www.wapt.org/News/2011/Phox1.pdf

There are also contact information for the Milwaukee Area Physics Share (MAPS) and Stevens Point Area (SPASH) group at http://www.uwec.edu/wapt/sharegroups.html

Posted via email from Science Matters in Wisconsin

The event will include a nano-technology presentation by Maryuri Roca (Lawrence University) and time for questions and discussion. Lunch will be provided.  Details here: http://www.sciencematterswi.com/new-chemshare-saturday-october-8-paper-discov

NSTA provides a number of competition and award programs for teachers and students.  Find details here:http://www.sciencematterswi.com/nsta-awards-opportunities

The BTC Institute provides hands-on biotechnology field trip opportunities for K-12 students. Learn more here:http://www.sciencematterswi.com/biotechnology-field-trips

– Science Spotlight

Ha!  I was right.  You are dumber for watching SpongeBob.  Well, at least 4-year olds perform worse on cognitive tests immediately after watching a 9 minute clip…  What, I can’t generalize that to everyone?

Details here: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/09/13/spongebob-not-the-best-test-prep-for-your-4-year-old/

– Website of the Week

PhET from the University of Colorado provides dozens of fantastic simulations for physics, chemistry and biology. The website also includes a collection of teacher contributed activities, lab experiences, homework assignments, and conceptual questions that can be used with the simulations. http://phet.colorado.edu/

– From NASA

This is the Year of the Solar System.  September’s theme is gravity.  October’s is Moons and Rings: Our Favorite Things. Check out the Year of the Solar System website for lessons, webinars, and teacher resources:http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/yss/

The MY NASA DATA Project works to make NASA Earth Science data accessible to the K-12 and citizen scientist communities. The principal activity of the project is to create “microsets” from large scientific data sets, and to wrap these with tools, lesson plans, and supporting documentation so that a teacher can use the information in the classroom.http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/

– TED Talks

At age 14, in poverty and famine, a Malawian boy built a windmill to power his family's home. Now at 22, William Kamkwamba, who speaks at TED, here, for the second time, shares in his own words the moving tale of the invention that changed his life. (6 min)

http://www.ted.com/talks/william_kamkwamba_how_i_harnessed_the_wind.html

– 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

Posted via email from Science Matters in Wisconsin

Posted via email from Science Matters in Wisconsin

Posted via email from Science Matters in Wisconsin

DESC1112.docx Download this file

Posted via email from Science Matters in Wisconsin