Science Teachers Of Missouri (STOM)

National Lab Day -- Date TBD -- 1st Week of May

Saturday, May 01, 2010

Join National Lab Day

On November 23rd, 2009 President Obama announced National Lab Day as part of the Administration’s Educate to Innovate campaign. National Lab Day (NLD) is an effort to bring more authentic, hands-on, discovery-based lab experiences to students.

This year’s National Lab Day will culminate in a series of events and activities at the local, regional and national level during the first week of May 2010. But it is more than just a day. It is a nationwide movement to support science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education in our schools. It is teachers working with community volunteers and communities rallying around teachers and scientists and other STEM professionals donating their time and expertise to our schools. National Lab Day seeks to foster partnerships between teachers, schools, STEM professionals, volunteers, federal agencies, and professional organizations that will continue long after the first National Lab Day.

NLD Partners

National Lab Day is a partnership between federal agencies, foundations, professional societies, and other STEM-related organizations. The National Science Teachers Association is a founding partner of NLD. The National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Energy are among the federal agencies providing support and expertise. The Jack D. Hidary, Bill and Melinda Gates and the MacArthur Foundations are joining with industry to finance the effort.

Getting Started

It’s a simple process to join National Lab Day. Teachers register on the National Lab Day website (www.nationallabday.org) and describe the project they want or need in their classroom. Whether its additional lab equipment, personal mentoring from a scientist, a visit to a working lab, technology support, internships, help with a lesson plan, up-to-date career information, help with a science fair project, or just an extra set of hands for a class project, teachers know best what is needed to improve their students’ hands-on learning experiences.

NLD is teacher driven. After posting their projects and requests, teachers will be matched with a list of local volunteers. These volunteers-- university STEM students, local scientists, engineers, STEM professionals and other members of the community who have also joined the NLD hub--will form a local community of support, helping the teacher to achieve desired objectives. The NLD website will also connect teachers to the resources, funding opportunities, and information on relevant programs and events that they need. Teachers can also use the site to connect with volunteers, raise funds, and schedule face-to-face meetings and events.

The Role of Volunteers

Volunteers will be able to browse teacher requests and will be automatically notified of any “matches” to teacher requests. Volunteers can respond to specific teacher requests or they can offer general expertise, resources, and/or assistance.

Learn more about National Lab Day at www.nationallabday.org, and join the scores of teachers who have already signed up to bring more hands on learning to their students.

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Registration: AAAS MS & HS Assessment Study

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

An Invitation to Participate in the Field Testing of Middle School and High School Science Assessment Items

AAAS Project 2061 is developing assessment items to measure middle and high school students' understanding of important science ideas from the National Science Education Standards and the AAAS Benchmarks for Science Literacy. We are recruiting middle and high school science teachers willing to field test our multiple-choice test items with their students in March, April, May, or June of 2010.  Students must be in sixth through twelfth grade, but it is not necessary that they have had formal instruction on the topic being tested.  As an incentive, each participating teacher will receive a copy of Volume 2 of the Atlas of Science Literacy or a $50 gift card from Borders or Barnes and
Noble. The assessment should take no longer than 45 minutes to complete.

The guidelines for participation are as follows:
. You must be a middle or high school science teacher.
. Your students must be in 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade.
. You must obtain permission to participate from the appropriate school or district personnel.  Please do not register until you obtain permission.
. You must complete a short class information sheet after administering the test.
. You must return all testing materials, whether completed or not, to AAAS Project 2061 within four weeks of receiving the materials. (Pre-paid shipping envelopes will be provided to return the testing materials.)

This study is not intended to evaluate teachers or students. Individual student and teacher data will remain strictly confidential. Individual students will not be identifiable. Our only interest is to learn how students respond to these test items so that we can design test items that are valid measures of what middle and high school students know about important science ideas.

If you are willing to participate, please click the link below and complete the registration form that follows. After clicking on the link, you will be taken to a page that is very similar to this page.  Participation in this study is limited, so registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. If necessary, we will also adjust our selections to
achieve representation from urban, rural, and suburban schools from different parts of the country. Teachers who are selected to participate will be notified by email. Teachers who are not selected will be given priority for participating next year.

Click here if you are willing to participate:  http://register.p2061.org.

If you have any questions about the study, please contact p2061assessment@aaas.org.

Cari F. Herrmann Abell, Ph.D.
Research Associate
AAAS/Project 2061
1200 New York Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20005
Tel: 202-326-6648
Fax: 202-842-5196
www.project2061.org
www.sciencematerialscenter.com

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2010 NSTA National Conference

Thursday, March 18, 2010

K-9 “Missouri is a State of Mines – Rocks, Minerals and our Environment” workshop

Sunday, July 18, 2010

AAAS/PROJECT 2061 WORKSHOP

Wednesday, October 06, 2010