You’re invited to get a Sneak Peek in Oklahoma City’s Adventure District. For one night only, visit four Adventure District locations to learn about educational programs, speak with representatives about educational resources, receive refreshments and free supplies for your classroom and students. Oklahoma City’s Adventure District, located at the crossroads of I-35 and I-44 has it all for you – all in one central location.
Tuesday September 28, 2010
Come and go from 4-7 p.m. (attractions will close at 7 p.m.)
Participating locations:
Remington Park – 1 Remington Pl. – START HERE for CHECK IN on Sept. 28 (both registered and non-registered participants)
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum – 1700 NE 63rd St.
Oklahoma City Zoo – 2101 NE 50th St.
ASA National Softball Hall of Fame and Museum – 2801 NE 50th St.
WIN:
Visit all four locations to be eligible for a drawing for GRAND PRIZES including FREE field trips, attraction memberships, suite packages and more! Also receive free refreshments and supplies for your students and classroom at the participating locations.
Kansas City is the destination and NSTA’s Conference on Science Education is the activity planned for Oct 28-30, 2010. Register by Sep 17 to save the most on topnotch professional development for science educators. Teachers at every stage in their careers should consider the benefits of a getaway to build skills and get inspired. Workshops, presentations, short courses and renowned speakers will offer wide-ranging options at this conference. Choose to be inspired.
Take a look at some of the scheduled sessions.
Evolution: Variation, Selection, and Time, Middle-High School
Modeling the Spectrum-Explore a complete unit from pre to post assessment that looks at different methods to examine the electromagnetic spectrum. Middle-High
Science and Math Lessons for the Biological Sciences-Integration and differentiation included. Middle School
Polymerically Perfect Sodas: Teaching the Science and Technology of Plastics, Middle-High, Informal
Amazing Thing Cells Can Do, Middle-High School
Climate Change: Classroom Tools to Explore the Past, Present, and Future-Middle-High, Informal
STEM in Action: The Bridge to the Real World, Elem-High School
Improving Assessments, Increasing Rigor, High School
Activities from Across the Earth System, hands-on, inquiry-based activities spanning the five “spheres” of Earth system science. Handouts provided. Elem-High School
Science + Writing + Learning-implement science notebooks in your classrooms. Notebook components, math integration, supporting data, and assessments will be addressed using student examples. Elem-Middle
Inquiry Matters: Incorporating Inquiry into Elementary and Middle School Physical Science, Elem-Middle School
Featured Presentation-Kenneth Wesson, Understanding the History of the Brain as the Foundation for Future Learning
Wind Energy Science for the Classroom, Short Course (ticketed), Middle-High School. Learn about the science and engineering behind wind energy. Activities and lesson plans.
Biology Day, Physics Day, and Chemistry Day: Focus on your discipline
Symposia: Exemplary Science Program-Best practices for producing superior student learning.
Field trip (ticketed): Conservation Connections-Hands-on nature in the heart of Kansas City. Think about “Tree Trackers” and “Backyard Birds.”
For more information on the conference, visit www.nsta.org and use the personal browser to view sessions in which you’re interested.
Oklahomans for Excellence in Science Education (OESE), the National Science Foundation (NSF-0845314), and the University of Oklahoma Biological Station (UOBS) present a professional development workshop on Teaching Evolution in the 21st Century for Oklahoma high school science teachers and undergraduate and graduate students in science education. The workshop will be held Friday Sept. 17 (6:00 PM) through Sunday Sept. 19, 2010 (3:00 PM) at the University of Oklahoma Biological Station on Lake Texoma, OK.
Topics covered will include: The nature of science and latest developments in evolutionary biology, resources on teaching evolution and services available for teachers, curriculum development and state standards, and dealing with classroom and community controversy. Teachers will have the opportunity to present their favorite lesson plans and discuss any problems they have encountered in teaching evolution.
Instructors include Julie Angle (Teaching and Curriculum Leadership, OSU), Dr Richard Broughton (Zoology, OU), Dr. Ola Fincke (Zoology, OU), Dr. Victor Hutchison (Zoology, OU), Dr. Cecil Lewis (Anthropology, OU), Bob Melton (Science Curriculum Specialist, Putnam City Schools), Dr. Stanley Rice (Biological Sciences, Southeastern OSU), and Dr. Frank Sonleitner (Zoology, OU).
Participants will earn a certificate of participation for professional development credit.
Attendees will receive two books on teaching evolution: Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science, and The Virus and the Whale: Exploring Evolution in Creatures Large and Small. Accommodations and meals at the UOBS and a stipend to cover travel are included.
The only cost for participants is a $25 registration fee. Deadline for registration and payment of fee will be Sept. 1, 2010. Early registration is advised since places are limited to 30 registrants. Registrants will receive a confirmation letter with maps and additional information.
Further information, registration forms and payment information are on-line at: www.oklascience.org/teachers.pdf and at www.ou.edu /uobs/teachers.htm . To sign up for the Oklahoma Evolution list serve and for many teaching resources, news, events, books, humor, petition on science only in science classes, and much, more see the OESE web site: http://www.oklascience.org
A New U.S. National STEM Initiative for Grades 5-12 to inspire the next generation of spaceflight engineers and space scientists
June 7, 2010—The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) provides middle and high school classes across the U.S. the ability to propose experiments to fly in low Earth orbit, and to celebrate that accomplishment with their local community and with national and global audiences. Entire school districts can participate, with student teams proposing experiments like professional scientists and engineers.
Phase 1 of the program is a unique and historic opportunity to propose an experiment to fly aboard STS-134, the final scheduled flight of the Space Shuttle. Selected student experiments would fly for 10 days aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour. Launch is tentatively scheduled for November 2010, but a launch slip to mid-January is expected, enabling this student spaceflight experiments opportunity.
We want the final voyage of the Space Shuttle to also mark a new beginning for private sector sponsored student experiments in space, which organizations on the SSEP Team have pioneered. The flight of Endeavour will be used as a gateway to Phase 2 of the SSEP—sustainable, ongoing access to space for grade 5-12 students inspired to propose experiments for low Earth orbit aboard the International Space Station (with transport via the Russian Progress and Soyuz vehicles), and on suborbital space flights.
The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) will immerse students across a local community in an exciting, high profile scientific investigation that is designed and owned by the students—the Flight Experiment Opportunity—and leverage the excitement by wrapping powerful, community-wide science education programming around the experience—the Community Program. It is about engaging students, their teachers, and their families in science education, with a focus on the process of inquiry, and in a manner that is customized to a school district’s strategic needs in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education.
Visit the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program Website for full details about this time-critical program opportunity, and a call to action in your community.CLICK HERE
Project Learning Tree Early Childhood Experiences Activity Guide
Open to In-service and pre-service teachers, methods faculty, nonformal environmental educators, daycare instructors, head start teachers…
July 19th, OKC University, Time: 9:00 – 3:00
Cost: $15
The new state specific PLT based guide, the Oklahoma Children’s Garden, will also be featured. Participants will receive both guides. Interested? Simply email Christina at christina.stallings@oda.state.ok.us to register!
Specific workshop details will be forwarded once you are registered. Bring a friend
From the 4/26/2010 – NSTA Reports—Henry Kepner, Jr.
The Common Core State Standards Initiative adds a new twist in American education: the creation of common core state standards in mathematics and English/language arts, which each state may choose to adopt. The National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) launched the initiative in March 2009 after the nation’s governors agreed in concept to adopt a uniform set of standards. To date, 48 states have signed on to the effort. Subsequently, the Department of Education applied increased leverage for implementing these standards by linking some funding to the adoption of the standards. In contrast to previous federal attempts, state leaders are driving this movement toward “national standards” with accountability consequences.
Establishing common standards across the country is an important, but minor piece of the action for U.S. educators and students. Greater challenges lie ahead before the standards will have impact. Until accountability measures are completely revised, it is foolish to expect educational focus to change at the school or classroom level. Similarly, substantive reworking of curriculum materials and instructional practices—along with the placement of topics—is needed before implementation by teachers. Finally, comprehensive professional development will be necessary to support teachers in preparing their students.
In the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (1989), NCTM made a clear statement: This is the mathematics we value for all K–12 students. The NGA-CCSSO standards take on a heightened position: This is the basis for educational accountability through state and federal assessment initiatives. Initially, the NGA-CCSSO effort omitted connections with and input from the professional education organizations, as well as classroom teacher representation. The current mathematics document has core mathematics standards for understanding and skills at each grade, K–8, and standards for mathematical categories at the high school level (Algebra, Functions, Geometry, Statistics and Probability, and Modeling). The draft standards are consistent with NCTM’s recommendations over the decades. Many reviewing populations have expressed strong concerns about specific topics, uneven levels of detail, and the use of what is known about student learning progressions in making grade placements.
Standards for Mathematical Practice (pages 4–5), which I view as an extremely important and potentially powerful component, support much of the NCTM Process Standards history. These standards require students to
- make sense of problems and persevere in solving them;
- reason abstractly and quantitatively;
- construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others;
- model with mathematics;
- use appropriate tools strategically;
- attend to precision;
- look for and make use of structure; and
- look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
From the NCTM perspective, these Standards for Mathematical Practice form a basis of student learning and must be applied consistently to the implementation and classroom instruction of the remaining two sets of standards focused on what students should understand and be able to do. I see the greatest challenge and responsibility of NCTM and our sister professional organizations as providing guidance in professional development, materials creation, and assessment that support building these mathematical practices in our students.
For the mathematics-science connections, there is recognition of the importance of experiencing mathematical connections—both within mathematics, such as algebraic-geometric and numerical-algebraic-data representations, and beyond. The Mathematical Practice of modeling with mathematics recognizes an opportunity to build and use mathematical models that fit experimental data and provide ways to describe natural phenomena. Our collaborative role is to ensure curricular and instructional opportunities—along with assessments—are tied to specific understanding and skills standards.
Students’ strategic use of appropriate technology in solving problems is a standard for mathematical practice. This standard is not well connected to grade-level or content-area standards for understanding and skills in the remainder of the document. We are concerned this omission will limit use of technology in instruction and assessment. Collaboration with science teachers is necessary to ensure all students are prepared to use technology strategically in settings where real data, messy numbers, and complex relationships are involved. We seek your help in identifying assessments and instructional settings where students demonstrate competence in doing mathematics in real-world scenarios.
The Common State Standards Initiative builds on a current public acceptance of a lockstep standards/curriculum at each grade level. While compelling politically, the result will minimize curricular innovations and sequencing that have been a positive influence in building varied curricula in this country. If this set of standards is widely adopted, it is likely each grade, K–8, will have the same content focus and outcomes. This national approach does not address the responsibilities of dealing with student diversity.
The Common Core State Standards Initiative has generated provocative discussion within the mathematics education community and beyond. However, the development process for these standards unfortunately has produced something that falls short of the best this country could have produced for its students. There must be a well-developed process for rapid and repeated standards revision based on findings and critical review of professional development efforts and student assessments in each state.
The anticipated adoption process is yet to unfold in each state, and the subsequent consequences—especially the unanticipated ones—will provide us with many challenges!
Drafts of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies and Science are available online at www.corestandards.org/Standards/K12.
Sponsored by the Oklahoma Science Teachers Association, the Oklahoma Science Safety Summit is designed to focus on the topic of safety in science classrooms and will bring sharp focus to needs, practices, and responsibilities of teachers and schools. This is designed as a Trainer of Trainers workshop and will provide the tools and knowledge to enable participants to lead the yearly training required in every school district in Oklahoma.
Science Laboratory Safety: A Training of Trainers (Grades K–12)
A one-day session, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
This session is designed to help teachers and administrators understand the Oklahoma science safety laws and requirements for Oklahoma public schools.
Participants will use a laboratory checklist to analyze safety conditions in their schools and receive materials designed to assess and support laboratory safety in elementary, middle, and high schools.
In this session, you will:
Analyze sample laboratory and classroom facilities.
Determine responses to common laboratory accidents.
Learn how to select and maintain appropriate science safety equipment and materials.
Engage in activities that lead to an understanding of current safety laws, rules, and regulations.
Analyze events that lead to common accidents and determine how to respond to them.
Presenter for the summit is Jim Collins of the Charles Dana Center at the University of Texas.
Jim’s extensive research in safety practices and procedures in Texas resulted in a recentstrengthening on the Texas state laws regulating school safety and safety practice in Texas. His work includes the Texas Safety Standards for Kindergarten–Grade 12 and An Analysis of Laboratory Safety in Texas.
Go to the Dana Center (http://www.utdanacenter.org/sciencetoolkit/safety/) for more information about the science safety toolkit.
Summit At-A-Glance
Location:
July 30 – Howell Hall (science building) on the campus of the University of Central Oklahoma,
Time: 9 am until 4: pm (8:30 Registration and continental breakfast)
Cost: $50 per person. Purchase orders to OSTA are accepted. Space is limited to a maximum of 30 participants. All participants receive a copy of a CD of Safety Kit resources, continental breakfast, lunch, and a 1 year complimentary new membership in OSTA (not good toward OSTA membership renewals).
If you prefer to pay for Registration by check or Purchase Order you may print and mail in the online form or use the registration form on the Conference page on this website.
Online registration for this year’s BioBlitz! at Kaw Lake is now open! The inventory will be Friday Oct 8th 3:00 p.m. until Saturday Oct 9th at 3:00 p.m. with base camp at Camp McFadden on the western shore of Kaw Lake. If there is sufficient interest, we may also hold a camp fire discussion on Saturday evening.
There are a few changes to this year’s registration procedure. Please read carefully the following information before registering –
Online preregistration is open from April 12 – October 3. Cost is $5 for students, $15 for non-students.
Late on-site registration will be more expensive: $10 students and $25 for non-students.
You must register by September 20 to be guaranteed a t-shirt.
Everyone must register individually, including students (except children 5 and under – they may attend for free).
BioBlitz! will only be cancelled or postponed in the case of severe, dangerous weather. BioBlitz! will be held if it rains. There will be no refund of registration fees in the event that BioBlitz is cancelled or rescheduled. Your registration fee will be considered a donation to the BioBlitz! and used to organize future events.
Registration includes:
2 nights tent camping at Camp McFadden during event (bathhouse with showers available to all participants)
Event t-shirt
Friday night picnic
Saturday morning early, light breakfast
All educational activities held during weekend
Cabins and RV hook-ups are available at an additional cost. There are six cabins that sleep 10 people for $35 per night. There are six electric RV sites (no sewer) for $15 per night. If interested, please contact me to make reservations. These are available on a first-come first-serve basis.
Also, if you would like to participate as a BioBlitz! educator by leading an activity or helping with the Junior Biologist program, please let me know. We would love to have new people helping to make BioBlitz! fun and educational.
National DNA Day is a unique day when students, teachers and the public can learn more about genetics and genomics! The day commemorates the completion of the Human Genome Project in April 2003, and the discovery of DNA’s double helix. This year, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) will celebrate DNA Day on April 23. Visit http://www.genome.gov/10506367 for classroom resources to help you celebrate DNA Day 2010.
