OSGC Educational Resources Blog

Want to know more about global climate change?
What: Global Climate Change Institute for Teachers: Elementary
Where: Western Oregon University
When: Three dates to choose from
Friday, July 11, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
Time: 8:30-4 pm
Cost: FREE! Includes snacks and lunch. (charges apply if taking the class for one graduate credit or if you choose to stay overnight in university housing)

What to expect:

• Gain an understanding of what global climate change is and how it will impact the Pacific Northwest
• Explore ways your school and students can initiate changes to reduce your school’s carbon footprint.
• Learn how Global Climate change curriculum connects with national and state science standards
• Participate in lessons and hands-on activities suitable for use in k-5 classrooms
• Receive copies of the lessons along with supplies to take with you
• Examine children’s books that can be integrated with the global climate change curriculum
• Possible follow up school visit and assistance from GIFT staff during the 2008-09 school year

Limit: 24 elementary teachers each day
For more information contact: Dr. William Schoenfeld or Dr. Adele Schepige at gccift@wou.edu

NASA Quest LIMA Challenge for Students in Grades 4-8

In this challenge, students become scientists and propose Antarctic research. The Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica is the first true-color high-resolution satellite view of the Antarctic continent. Using this view of Antarctica, students must develop a research question and debate the value of studying the chosen feature. Registration is currently open and educational resources are available online.

For more information, visit http://quest.nasa.gov/challenges/lima

For a second time, students from Alaska and Argentina will have an opportunity to compare polar climates and environments through the GLOBE program’s Seasons and Biomes Project Pole-to-Pole Videoconference, which will take place on April 8, 2008.

Seasons and Biomes is an inquiry- and project-based initiative that monitors the interannual variability of seasons in different biomes. GLOBE schools are organized by biomes into eight Global Learning Communities and students monitor local seasons through regional-based research campaigns. Seasons and Biomes is one of four GLOBE Earth System Science Projects (ESSP); future student research campaigns will target the other three ESSPs: Watershed Dynamics, From Local to Extreme Environments, and Investigating the Carbon Cycle in Terrestrial Ecosystems.

Students from around the world will be able to join in a follow-up Web chat and forum on April 10-11, 2008. The Web chat and forum are open to all students. They will be able to ask scientists questions about current polar and boreal forest research, their own research interests, and topics that will lead to successful school/student research projects.

For more information, visit: http://globe.gov/fsl/html/templ.cgi?ipy_video08&lang=en&nav=1 . Links to the Web chat and forum will be posted on this Website.

The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies is sponsoring an Earth Day photo contest for middle school students. Interested students are asked to photograph something that is changing in their local environment. They are to take the photo between Tuesday, April 22, and Tuesday, April 29. The change could be occurring in the student’s backyard, outside the student’s school, in a local park or even off in the distance. Participants must research and write an explanation of the change documented in the photograph.

The contest is open to all U.S. students in grades 5-8.
Entries must be received by e-mail or postmarked by May 9, 2008.

For more information about the contest and how teachers can use it in the classroom, visit http://www.strategies.org/EarthDayPhoto

The 2008 MY NASA DATA Teacher Workshop will take place at NASA’s Langley Research Center on June 22-27. This workshop will include hands-on sessions designed for educators of students in grades 6-12. The workshop will focus on the implementation and use of Earth system science data sets developed for the pre-college education community as part of the MY NASA DATA program.

Participating teachers will explore topics in Earth system science (especially atmospheric science), educational application of data sets, and hands-on classroom activities. Participants will take informative field trips and benefit from the expertise of nationally recognized atmospheric researchers. The teachers will also explore how data sets can be used to enhance their curriculum and how students can use this data for inquiry-based learning and research.

Applications must be postmarked by April 9, 2008. For more information, visit http://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/workshop.html

“Floods and Flows: Exploring Mars Geology on Earth,” a NASA-sponsored workshop for educators, will be held July 13-19, 2008. Spend the week with planetary scientists visiting the site of ancient Glacial Lake Missoula and tracing its flood waters through Montana, Idaho and into Washington. From these field experiences and accompanying classroom activities, participants will build an understanding of surface processes on Earth, including water flow, volcanism, glaciation and sedimentation. Attendees will extend their understanding to interpret what the features on the surface of Mars suggest about the past environments and history of the Red Planet.

The experience will be divided between the field and lab, where participants work with classroom-tested, hands-on inquiry-based activities and resources that can be used to enhance Earth and space science teaching in the classroom. Participants receive lesson plans, supporting resources and presentations.

Applications are due April 7, 2008.

For more information about the workshop and to submit an application online, visit http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/fieldtrips/2008/floods20081st.shtml

POLAR-PALOOZA is a national tour featuring public presentations entitled “Stories From a Changing Planet.” These tales of adventure and science are told by a charismatic “cast” of characters, using HD video and authentic props — such as a piece of ice core 2,000 years old, or a caribou parka — to bring polar research to life. Each stop on the tour will include special programs for schools, workshops for K-12 educators and museum volunteers, briefings for local news media and business leaders, and camp-ins for Girl Scouts and Boys and Girls Clubs.

March 13-14, 2008 — Washington, D.C.
April 17-19, 2008 — Salt Lake City, Utah: Utah Museum of Natural History
April 21-22, 2008 — Norman, Okla.: Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History
May 4-6, 2008 — Anchorage, Alaska: Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center
May 8-10, 2008 — Fairbanks, Alaska: University of Alaska Museum of the North
May 24-25, 2008 — Raleigh, N.C.: North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
Sept. 12-13, 2008 — Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Sept. 19-20, 2008 — Chicago, Ill. : Chicago Museum of Science and Industry and the Adler Planetarium
Oct. 22-24, 2008 — Richmond, Va. : Science Museum of Virginia
Oct. 27-29, 2008 — St. Louis, Mo. : St. Louis Science Center
Nov. 11-12, 2008 — Boise, Idaho: Discovery Center of Idaho
Nov. 14-15, 2008 — Denver, Colo. : Denver Museum of Nature and Science

For more information about the Polar-Palooza events, visit http://passporttoknowledge.com/polar-palooza/pp04.php

Are you an Eco Hero?

In an effort to acknowlege the accomplishments of young people (age 8-16), Action For Nature will award cash prizes of up to $500 to young Eco-Heroes from around the world for their outstanding accomplishments in environmental advocacy, environmental health, research or protection of the natural world. Their individual initiatives will inspire others to preserve and protect our fragile environment.

If you or somebody you know is an eco hero, just fill out the application available at the Action For Nature website found here: http://www.actionfornature.org/eco-hero/ecoheroawards.html

The application deadline is February 28. 2008.  Full rules and project guidelines are available at the website.

Join NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Science Foundation and the National Science Teachers Association for three, free Web seminars on the topic of the International Polar Year. Designed for educators of grades 5-8, the seminars will focus on land and marine adaptations to extreme conditions, species migration, and the role of humans in polar ecosystems. The presenters will share their expertise, answer questions from the participants and provide information regarding Web sites that students can use in the classroom.

The Web seminars are 90-minute, live professional development sessions that use online learning technologies to allow participants to interact with nationally acclaimed experts, scientists, engineers and education specialists funded by NASA, NOAA and NSF. Each Web seminar is a unique, stand-alone program. Archives of the Web seminars and the presenters’ presentations will be available online. The Web seminars in this series are scheduled for Dec. 30, 2007, Jan. 17 and Jan. 24, 2008. Each seminar will begin at 6:30 p.m. EDT.

Online registration for each is now open.
http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/fall07/IPY_Birmingham/webseminar.aspx

Today’s pressing environmental problems need innovative solutions.  Scholastic and the American Museum of Natural History invite students in grades 6-10 to submit their winning innovations in the “youinnovate21…It’s Your Environment” challenge.

To enter, students need to write a 300-500 word essay explaining the environmental problem they want to solve, their idea, how it will solve the problem , and how they would let people know about the innovation.  Winning innovations will be selected based on creativity, scientific and practical soundness, writing skills.

The deadline for entries is December 15. Students may enter as an individual or as a class. For complete contest rules, click on the You Innovate button at http://scholastic.com/scienceexplorations