The University of Central Florida's College of Engineering and Computer Science and the National Medal of Technology Program at the U.S. Department of Commerce announce the eighth annual Internet Science and Technology Fair
The ISTF is a national technology literacy program that last year involved 230 student teams from 12 states and two countries. It offers students in grades 3 through 12 an opportunity to work on-line with technical advisors from corporations, federal laboratories, and academic research centers. Students relate National Critical Technology applications to real-world problems and adhere to content guidelines based on national science content standards. The ISTF combines science inquiry and the Internet while helping students develop interpersonal and critical thinking skills, such as teaming, communicating, researching, analyzing, writing, and web developing.
The program officially begins in October and ends in February, when each student team's research findings are presented in a web-page format. A national panel of scientists, engineers and teachers judge teams' final projects on-line with top certificate awards from the National Medal of Technology Program. From now until November 24, 2004, education-related professionals (including but not limited to science, math, and technology teachers) in your state are encouraged to enroll student teams.
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CALIFORNIA SCIENCE EDUCATION CONFERENCE
http://www.cascience.org/conference.html
The conference is the only statewide professional development opportunity for science educators. It will take place in San Jose, October 14-17, 2004. The discounted pre-registration fee ($110 for CSTA members, $160 for non-members) expires on September 27th!
Registration fee includes ALL FOUR DAYS OF:
***Workshops*** Over 200 standards-based workshops for every discipline and every grade level, including earth science, life science, physical science, pedagogy, ELL, assessment, technology, and more!
***Professional Development*** Access to over 100 professional development-qualifying events and the opportunity to earn university credit. There are two PD strands: One for New Teachers and one for NCLB.
***Speakers*** Many exciting featured speakers.
***General Session*** With keynote address by Dr. David Suzuki.
***Closing Ceremonies*** Featuring explorer and environmentalist Dr. Jean-Michel Cousteau.
***Entertainment*** The Saturday Night Dance at the Children's Discovery Museum.
Steps to take:
Step One: Visit the FUNDING information page at
http://www.cascience.org/PDfunding.html
to find out how to secure funding for your conference attendance.
Step Two: FIND OUT about short courses, field courses, the Friday luncheon with Robert Full, the closing luncheon with Penny Patterson and the pre-conference events for new teachers and lesson study to determine which, if any, additional-fee events you wish to attend.
Step Three: REGISTER on line or print the registration form.
http://www.cascience.org/registration04.html
Step Four: MAIL or FAX your registration form with check, credit card, or purchase order by September 27th to the address or fax number on the form.
Step Five: Search the ONLINE PROGRAM OF EVENTS at
http://www.cascience.org/conference.html
to start planning your conference schedule. You can search events by grade, subject, emphasis.
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NASAexplores
NASAexplores is an on-line resource for K-12 educators. Each week, they post new articles, which are geared towards teachers. Then, staff educators take the articles and adapt them for three reading levels: K-4, 5-8, and 9-12. The educators also develop lessons that reinforce concepts in the articles, and these materials support national education standards. The site offers an array of subjects in both the articles and lessons. NASAexplores materials are free of charge, and all materials are archived for easy retrieval. Materials are in print-to-use format--either PDF or web format.
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AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY (AMNH) SCIENCE BULLETINS
The AMNH Science Bulletin Website has been updated to provide news on recent discoveries in biodiversity, Earth sciences and astrophysics. The bulletins present current science news stories through video stories, 3-D graphics, and interactive satellite data visualizations.
http://sciencebulletins.amnh.org/
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ASK DOCTOR GLOBAL CHANGE
http://gcrio.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/gcrio.cfg/php/enduser/home.php
A reference service provided by Global Change Research Information Office (GCRIO) that assists in finding information and data relevant to global environmental change. Provides students with a searchable collection of answers to questions about issues related to climate change and students can submit questions of their own and explore related links.
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NEW NIH CURRICULUM SUPPLEMENTS AVAILABLE FOR CLASSROOM USE
Three new state-of-the-art curriculum supplements on alcohol, human communication, and sleep are available from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Teachers may visit
http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements
to request copies of the new supplements or earlier installments in the series. This popular, K-12 inquiry-based series is available for free. The National Institutes of Health is distributing the supplements to promote inquiry-based, interdisciplinary learning and to encourage students’ interest in science. New supplements include:
* Sleep, Sleep Disorders, and Biological Rhythms (high school)
* How Your Brain Understands What Your Ear Hears (middle school)
* Understanding Alcohol: Investigations into Biology and Behavior (middle school)