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Science of the Olympic Winter Games
This from the National Association of Science Teachers:NBC Learn, the educational arm of NBC News, has teamed up with the National Science Foundation (NSF) to produce Science of the Olympic Winter Games , a 16-part video series that explores the science behind individual Olympic events, including Downhill and Aerial Skiing, Speed Skating and Figure Skating, Curling and Hockey, and Ski Jumping, Bobsledding and Snowboarding.This project between the NSF and NBC Learn uses the global spotlight of the Olympics to make science more accessible and more interesting to students by showing how science helps athletes fulfill the Olympic motto: Citius, Altius, Fortius or Swifter, Higher, Stronger.
You can watch the videos here or download lesson plans here on science topics as diverse as: conservation of momentum and hockey; torque, friction and aerial skiing; lung power and cross-country skiing; drag and aerodynamic suit technology; composite materials and ski design; and more!Download Olympics lesson plans From: NSTA Express/NSF
Beavers in the City
   About a week ago, I was visiting a friend who lives in North Seattle near Lake City Way. After I arrived, she gathered up her dog, her son, his two friends, and me and led us on a secret mission. She kept the destination of our neighborhood walk a secret, even as the kids pleaded to know where we were going, and when we neared a shopping complex, insisted that the secret destination really, truly must be the Toys 'R Us. But no.
As we neared a boggy wetland beside a quiet neighborhood street, Amy motioned at the mud, pond, and drowned trees. She explained that this used to be a small neighborhood park with a creekside trail, "But," she asked, "What do you think happened here?"
As we rounded the corner, the mystery revealed itself: several large trees chomped, chiseled, and felled by beavers. The more we poked around, the more beavers signs we discovered. Their dam. Their dome-shaped lodge. Two beaver "slides" where they entered and exited the water. Several more tree trunks that the beavers had partially chewed through, and other trees protected with cages of wire fencing.
The beavers were a good reminder that everywhere, every day, wild animals are going about their lives in the city just as we are going about our human lives, often too busy and distracted to notice the amazing secrets tucked under rocks, nestled in tree limbs, and paddling upstream.
Photos by Amy Lang.
Science + Video + Students + Environment
What do you get when you teach South Seattle middle schoolers about urban water issues and show them how to shoot and edit a short film? DUMPER, a student video about storm drain pollution.This website features a video produced by students at Asa Mercer Middle School who were participating in a summer camp curriculum produced by Laughing Crow Curriculum. The 2007 summer camp focused on urban water quality issues. In partnership with Edge Media, the students created a culminating video to share information about what they learned during the two-week camp. Check it out: DUMPER: A Student Project Video.
Publication Announcement: Recasting Content in a New Light
I am excited to announce the publication of a resource for informal educators, science teachers, and curriculum developers. Recasting Content in a New Light: A Guide for Adapting Formal Education Materials for Informal Settings is a guide co-authored by Kristen Bergsman of Laughing Crow Curriculum for NASA's Space Telescope Science Institute and Pacific Science Center. The guide is a useful resource for anyone who wants to translate curriculum materials originally developed for classroom environments for use in out-of-school time settings.The 29-page guide includes information on out-of-school-time settings, information on how to adapt materials to meet the needs of the out-of-school-time environment, tips on adapting curricular materials without reinventing the wheel, and a useful curriculum adaptation template.To download a PDF of this guide, visit NASA's Science Mission Directorate website here.
Engage: The Science Speaker Series
This from Pacific Science Center and the UW...... Graduate students in the sciences at the UW get a lot of cutting edge training but rarely in the ways of explaining their research to non-specialists. Engage: The Science Speaker Series is a pilot program where PhD students build their skills of communicating with the public about their work. This year, we showcase the research of mostly Astronomy PhD students; next year we will plan a seminar whose sole purpose is to make an engaging science talk the entire family would understand and appreciate.This is brought to you by the UW Graduate and Professional Student Senate and the Forum on Science, Ethics, and Policy. Admission is free. Venue: Physics and Astronomy Auditorium, Room 118, UW Campus. Public talks are every other Wednesday. Doors open at 6:45pm, talk will be about 30 minutes with lots of timefor questions. For more Information, click here. Next up: Feb 10 Weeds are More than Plants out of Place: Mechanisms of Plant Invasion Feb 24 Galaxies in a Different Light: Astronomy in X-rays, Optical, IR, and Radio March 10 Big Bang to an Immigrant Sun: The Birth and Life of Spiral Galaxies And there's more. Check out their website. From: PSC/UW
Student Opportunity to Shadow Organ Transplant Staff
Donate Life Today, in partnership with Swedish Medical Center, Virginia Mason Medical Center, and Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center have an opportunity for high school students to job shadow organ transplant staff at these medical centers in Seattle and Spokane. What an amazing opportunity to open a student's eyes to this medical specialty. For more information, please contact Molly Schoeb via email or phone 425-201-6617. More info here.
Brower Youth Awards
The Brower Youth Awards recognize people ages 13 to 22 living in North America who have shown outstanding leadership on a project or campaign with positive environmental and social impact. "Outstanding leadership" means that you played a major leadership role in creating, organizing and implementing your project or campaign. We are looking for the person with the vision, motivation, and leadership skills that made the project or campaign work. We gauge impact by how your efforts benefited the environment and community in terms of measurable results (e.g. acres of wildlife habitat protected or restored, number of people engaged in social issues because of the project, numbers of children no longer exposed to toxins, etc.), as well as movement-building and raising awareness. Click here for more information. From: Earth Island Institute
Island Fauna of Vieques
      Vieques is a small island, 7 miles off the shore of Puerto Rico. The island straddles the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean and is known for its picture-perfect white sand beaches. About two-thirds of the island was once appropriated by the U.S. military to build a base, train soldiers, and practice dropping bombs. Now, the military has vacated the island and the base has been transformed into a national wildlife refuge that is mostly inaccessible to people. The entire island is home to a variety of wildlife, including sea creatures that inhabit the nearby coral reefs, birds that call from the coconut palms, herds of wild horses that wander the island freely, a bizillion ants and termites, and a variety of lizards, iguanas, and bearded dragons. The photos in order are: - Ants sipping water from our breakfast table.
- Treasures collected from a beach in the wildlife refuge: corals, shells, sea fans, and sponges.
- Small lizard scaling beach rocks.
- Bearded dragon in the tree by our guest house's pool.
- Iguana munching on tree leaves.
- A herd of wild horses alongside the road.
Teachers as Park Rangers
North Cascades National Park's Teacher-to-Ranger-to-Teacher (TRT) Program is now accepting applications from teachers in the Puget Sound area to fill one Teacher-to-Ranger-to-Teacher (TRT) position. The TRT works in North Cascades National Park for up to 8 weeks from June-September. During their time in the park, the TRT explores the area and learns about the National Park Service while carrying out duties a sa National Park Service interpreter. Specific duties include, but are notlimited to, researching and presenting on-site and outreach programs for youth and families, creating curriculum-based activities, and working on specific education projects determined by the park. When the TRT returns totheir school they (1) incorporate activities related to the National Park Service into their classroom curriculum during the school year and (2) during National Parks Week they wear the NPS uniform and conduct activities related to the National Park Service and give presentations to their classes, a possible school assembly, and/or their colleagues. The TRT receives a $60/day stipend, housing, and a full class-A uniform plus access to excellent National Park Service and visiting researchers. For more information, email Cindy Bjorklund. From: NPS
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