This workshop will introduce techniques on establishing a learning environment that values and demonstrates the benefits of diversity, confronts bias and bigotry, and expands students’ access to STEM education so they can grow, learn, and to be challenged and reach their full potential.
How can a Makerspace increase student achievement? How does a Makerspace address; diverse learners, increase student and teacher voice, professional development, and more? Learn how Concord Public Schools’ journey to designing a Makerspace opened the doors to creating opportunities that foster critical thinking, problem solving, and 21st century skills.
Model My Watershed is a free, web-based application that invites students to explore the condition of their local watershed with a scientifically valid watershed model. The curriculum allows students to analyze data while they explore authentic science experiences in their local watershed, and use real-data simulations to teach Environmental Sustainability.
This session will help teachers and administrators develop their capacity to integrate the science and technology/engineering (STE) and ELA/Literacy standards. Participants will build a shared understanding of the complementary ELA/Literacy and STE standards by grade level and identify opportunities to integrate across content areas.
How are both natural and human forces shaping the land where we live? Using a combination of field ecology in the Schoolyard and land cover change map based activities in the classroom, Teacher Emilie Cushing, will share how she is structuring an exploration into student analysis of how the landscape around her school and town is changing over time. Her students are collecting, recording project data and contributing that information to a region-wide network of Schoolyard field sites based at Harvard Forest. Schoolyard Ecology Program Coordinator, Pamela Snow, will share how teachers in grades 6-12 can participate in the "Our Changing Forest" project or similar work in getting students actively involved in Citizen Science projects led by professional Ecologists and supported year round by education and science staff at an internationally recognized ecological research institution.
Workshop participants will participate in a hands-on activity that involves calculating approximately how much carbon is being stored in the forests in several Massachusetts' towns. Teacher Emilie Cushing developed this activity for use in her classroom and will offer workshop participants the chance to be the students during this workshop. Land Cover Change maps used in this workshop are all available as free downloads online. Many other related free online resources will also be referenced.
Compost at school in a classroom worm bin or outdoor compost bin for sustainability and integrated science learning of life science standards. Bring a 14-gallon or larger plastic tote to make your worm bin; worms provided free! Demonstration of easy outdoor compost bins available from DEP's Green Team program. Great tie-in with school gardening and sustainable life skills.
With rising greenhouse gases, bio-engineers have learned to apply observations from decomposers towards biofuel solutions. In this workshop, learn to extract enzymes from mushrooms (based on their natural decomposing abilities/niche), optimize their reaction rates and model the genetic engineering of a bacterial plasmid (using genes from mushrooms) for biofuel production.
Hazardous weather, such as thunderstorms, hurricanes, and winter storms can cause property damage, bodily injury or even death. Understanding the causes and forecasting of such events is an important skill in New England. This workshop is one of a series produced by Project ATMOSPHERE, an initiative of the American Meteorological Society. It will introduce educators to AMS/National Weather Service resources for teaching about weather.
Now in its fifth decade of production, NOVA remains committed to producing in-depth science programming. This session will explore NOVA’s free resources for educators that address environmental justice topics—ranging from Flint's water crisis to the impact of climate change on coastal communities—using video, interactives, and virtual reality.
Engage student inquiry projects with Web GIS Storytelling. Use the story within digital Geographic Information System maps to create a stronger narrative based on student-collected data. In this presentation, beginners are introduced to Web GIS mapping and the Story Maps application to analyze student data on community environmental issues.
