SAMEC E-News: 03-02-07
Can You See the Stars?
UA Science Teacher's
Colloquium Series
Arizona ACS High School
Chemistry Teaching Award
Rio Rico High School has
biology and chemistry or chemistry/physics opening
Opportunity for Female High
School Students Interested in Math and Science
Non-credit descriptive
astronomy course will be taught at The Learning Curve
Need Teachers for Changes in
Altitudes Program
Free e-book on the Subject of
Rock Breakdown Features
Educational E-Journal Links
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Can You See the
Stars?
Join thousands of other students, families and citizen-scientists
hunting for stars during March 8 - 21, 2007. Take part in this
international event called GLOBE at Night to observe the nighttime sky
and learn more about light pollution around the world. GLOBE at
Night is an easy observation and reporting activity that takes
approximately 15-30 minutes to complete. Citizen-scientists record the
brightness of the night sky by matching its appearance toward the
constellation Orion with 1 of 7 stellar maps of different limiting
magnitude. They then submit measurements on-line at
www.globe.gov/globeatnight/. Resulting maps of all observations are
created and placed back on-line by the GLOBE at Night staff within the
couple of weeks that follow. The five easy star-hunting steps,
for which more information is provided on-line, are: 1) Find your
latitude and longitude. 2) Find Orion by going outside an hour
after sunset (about 7-10pm local time) 3) Match your nighttime
sky to one of our magnitude charts. 4) Report your observation on
our website. 5) Compare your observation to thousands around the
world. Helpful and user-friendly ancillary materials such
as a teacher packet and science standards, a family packet, and student
games and information are provided on-line at http://www.globe.gov/globeatnight/.
You can also subscribe to our mailing list to receive updates and
results of this campaign. Visit http://www.globe.gov/globeatnight/ and
click on “subscribe” at the bottom of the webpage. During the
2006 event over 18,000 people from 96 countries submitted observations,
including data from every U.S. state. Help us exceed these numbers in
2007! GLOBE at Night is a collaboration between the National
Optical Astronomy Observatory (http://www.noao.edu),
The GLOBE Program (http://www.globe.gov),
Centro de Apoyo a la Didactica de la Astronomia, Windows to the
Universe (http://www.windows.ucar.edu),
The International Dark-Sky Association (http://www.darksky.org)
and Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.
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UA Science
Teacher's Colloquium Series
The Science Teacher's Colloquium Series is a forum for K-12 science
teachers to learn about cutting edge research at The University of
Arizona (UA). From nanotechnology to Earth-sized virtual radio
telescopes, the Ice Age to gene science, the UA is advancing in all
areas of science as it reinforces its continued position as one of the
top public national research universitys. One hour of professional
development credit is offered for attending each seminar. This
series is sponsored by The University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary
Laboratory, the UA/NASA Space Grant Program, the Space Imagery
Center and the Science and Mathematics Education Center, which provide
funding for this program.
Location: UA Kuiper Space Sciences Lecture Hall Room 308
For additional information visit: http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/COLPL/
or
http://samec.lpl.arizona.edu/k12educators/seminars.html
or contact samec@lpl.arizona.edu
* March
27, 2007, 7:30-8:30 pm "New Views of Saturn," Bob Brown,
Professor, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
The Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) on the Cassini
Mission reveals images of Saturn as never seen before. VIMS has
several unique capabilities. It is able to identify the chemical
composition of a surface, atmosphere, or Satrun's rings by measuring
the visible and infra- red energy. VIMS is, in essence, a color camera
that takes pictures in 352 different wavelengths between 300 nm and
5100 nm, but its main strength lies in its ability to "see" objects in
the infrared potion of the spectrum where human eyes and ordinary
cameras can't see. The resulting views are not only breath taking, but
uncover phenomena in the Saturn system never seen before. A limited
number of tours will take place after the lecture in the VIMS group
facility.
* April
24, 2007, 7:30-8:30 pm "Mars: Up Close and Personal", Alfred
McEwen, Professor, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (Location: UA Kuiper
Space Sciences Lecture Hall Room 308)
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Arizona ACS High
School Chemistry Teaching Award
The Southern Arizona Section of the American Chemical Society announces
its 2007 Southern Arizona ACS High School Chemistry Teaching Award.
The purpose is to recognize, encourage, and stimulate outstanding
teachers of high school chemistry in Southern Arizona. The nature of
the award consists of a plaque, a cash prize of $500 for the
teacher, and a $500 donation to the teacher?s school for use by
the awardee for educational supplies. The winner will
automatically be nominated by the section for the American
Chemical Society's annual Regional Award in High School Chemistry
Teaching. The award will be presented at the Southern Arizona Section's
April awards reception. The awardee, the nominator, and selected
students will be invited to attend. The award, originally funded
by Research Corporation of Tucson, is made possible due to the
generosity of the members of the local section. Past Recipients
include: Jill Christman, Canyon Del Oro High School; Brenda
Wolpa, Canyon del Oro High School; Ann Marie Condes, Catalina
Foothills High School; Teresa Potter, Rio Rico High School; Ellen
Caldwell, Palo Verde High School; Gayle Brickert-Albreicht,
Tucson High School; Elyse Wexler, Sabino High School; Patricia
Merha, Amphitheater High School Eligibility: Any high school chemistry
teacher in the Southern Arizona Section geographic area (Pima, Pinal,
Greenlee, Graham and Santa Cruz counties) may be nominated for
the award. The submission deadline is March 15th.
Nomination information: Contact Kathryn Louie, Ph.D. by phone at
(520)626-8695 or 626-2044 or by email at klouie@email.arizona.edu
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Rio Rico High
School has Biology and Chemistry or Chemistry/Physics opening
Rio Rico High School has a biology and chemistry or chemistry/physics
opening for the 2007-8 school year. RRHS is a school of 1400
students in a rapidly growing rural school district in the beautiful
high desert Santa Cruz Valley south of Tucson. We have a
competative salary schedule and a wonderful, diverse student
population. An Open House will be held for prospective teachers
on Friday March 16, 2007 from 10-2:30. Preregistration is
required. Attendance at the Open House is not required but
encouraged. For further information contact Teresa Potter at tpotter@santacruz.k12.az.us
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Opportunity for
Female High School Students Interested in Math and Science
The CURIE Academy is a one-week summer residential program for high
school girls who excel in math and science, enjoy solving problems, and
want to learn more about careers in engineering, Cornell University's
world-renowned faculty and graduate students lead academy participants
in classes, lab sessions, and project research. Participants work in
teams to solve problems that mirror real-life situations. In addition,
social events, panel discussions, and other out-of-classroom activities
provide participants with opportunities to network informally with each
other and Cornell faculty, staff, and students.
Primary goals of this program include: Exposing girls to the exciting
opportunities existing for them in engineering; Helping girls
understand that women belong and are needed in the science, technology,
engineering, and math (STEM) fields BR; Demonstrating the connections
between the study of engineering and solving problems affecting people
and society. Please share the enclosed information with current
sophmore and junior girls who have an interest in STEM fields. We also
encourage you to share this information with science and math teachers
so they may distribute it to their students. You will find all program
materials including the application online at http://www.engineering.cornell.edu/curie
Applications from girls who belong to groups severely underrepresented
in engineering-African Americans, Native Americans, and
Hispanics/Latinas are encouraged. If you have questions about the
program, please contact us at cj38@cornell.edu
or (607)255-0735 Eligibility and application requirements may be
found at http://www.engineering.cornell.edu/curie
The application must be postmarked by April 16, 2007.
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Non-credit
descriptive astronomy course will be taught at The Learning Curve
A 6-week non-credit descriptive astronomy course will be taught at The
Learning Curve at the University of Phoenix campus, 555 E. River
Rd. The content is all parts of astronomy, but described and
explained in words, not mathematics or numbers. No prior
knowledge is needed. The lectures are on Tuesdays, 1:30-3:30 pm,
March 27 - May 1. They will be given by Kitt Peak astronomer
Helmut Abt. The tuition for the course is $115. Contact The
Learning Curve at 520-777-5817 or info@thelearningcurvetucson.com
or P.O. Box 41776, Tucson, AZ 85717-1776.
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Need
Teachers for Changes in Altitudes Program
During the course of 2005, the Arizona Space Grant Consortium (AZSGC)
began a new program, Changes in Altitudes, to provide the opportunity
for teachers and students to fly atmospheric experiments on high
altitude weather balloons. We are now entering our 3rd year and once
again are seeking interested teachers, who would like to apply for this
great opportunity. In the past, we have had teachers from all
over Arizona as part of this program, from Cottonwood, Sierra Vista,
Many Farms, Tuba City, Tucson, Picacho, Surprise, Flagstaff, Camp
Verde, Kaibeto and Phoenix. The program, which is administered by the
Northern Arizona University NASA Space Grant program, is made possible
by the Education and Public Outreach program of The University of
Arizona’s Phoenix Mars Lander 2007 mission. In each year of the 4 year
program, the AZSGC will select five teachers from across Arizona who
will be provided with hands-on training, building and launching of
small balloon satellites to become part of a state-wide balloon
satellite program. The program will support these teachers to
develop four small student teams at their home schools to design,
build, and launch four small payloads spaced over a two-year period.
This is a 2 year commitment for the teachers, the school administrators
and the Changes in Altitudes program. The application form is
available online at http://www.spacegrant.nau.edu
Click on “Changes in Altitudes." You can send it in online
or by mail at the address in our letterhead at the top of this page, to
the attention of Kathleen Stigmon. Applications will be accepted
until Friday, April 6th, at which time 5 teachers will be chosen based
on their applications and support of their school. In addition,
you will need to have your supervisor or principal complete the online
recommendation form which can also be found at our website.
The cost of the training, materials and room/board is paid for by the
grant. A partial travel stipend will also be awarded. The
workshop shows the selected teachers how to develop, build and
ultimately launch the payload via a weather balloon. It will also
show them how to train their students to re-create the payload and
participate in the launch activities as well.
Once the teachers are trained, they will help their students build
scientific payloads that measure the physical properties of the Earth’s
atmosphere as a function of time during the ascent and descent of the
high altitude weather balloon, such as pressure, temperature and
relative humidity. The students will also imbed a photographic
camera that takes photos of the Earth’s surface and its
atmosphere. The launches take place in the Spring and Fall/Winter
of each year according to NAU’s schedule. Each teacher will bring
their student team to the launch and participate in the final details,
the launch, the balloon chase and a closing meeting. All costs
for room and board, supplies, food and transportation will be covered
by NAU except for a $60 per student participation fee that is due one
month prior to the launch date. This fee helps to cover some of
the travel and launch costs and can be paid through school funds, tax
credit funds or by the students themselves. Each school will have the
opportunity to participate in 4 launches over the course of 2
years. This will enable them to have 16 different students in the
program during this time period. We hope to reach as many
students possible and ultimately hope to enable each school to
establish the elements of a small weather balloon satellite program
that can be sustained by the school districts at a minimal cost. If you
have any questions, please feel free to contact us at (928) 523-8067 or
via email at spacegrant@nau.edu.
Our Website, listed above, has further information about this program
which you can access by clicking on the “Changes in Altitudes” button
on the homepage. In addition, to get a first hand look at
what an actual launch looks like, please go to
www.nau.edu/insidenau/ and look at Show #106, segment #3 of the
online TV show. You can access this by clicking on “Watch
InsideNAU, the TV show” at the top of the page. This show will be
the current episode until March 1st, and as of March 2nd, you will need
to click on “Previous Episodes” to locate Show #106. We look
forward to hearing from you and seeing how this type of program would
benefit your
students.
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Free e-book on the Subject of Rock Breakdown Features
The Planetary Science Institute has just released a free e-book on the
subject of rock breakdown features in different environments, which you
may find to be useful for your own research or for future field trips:
http://www.psi.edu/staff/bourkepubs/atlas/
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Educational E-Journal Links
* Carolina Biological online tips: http://www.carolina.com/tips/
* CONTINUUM (The first edition of the Governor's P-20 Council
newsletter): http://www.governor.state.az.us/P20/
* Education News and Research Reports: http://www.queuenews.com/AZnews
* Education Week: http://www.edweek.org/
* No Child Left Behind: http://www.ed.gov/nclb/
* NSTA Express: http://science.nsta.org/nstaexpress/nstaexpress_2006_10_23.htm
* NSTA Science Class (High School Edition): http://science.nsta.org/enewsletter/2006-11/member_high.htm
* NSTA Web Seminars: http://institute.nsta.org/web_seminars.asp
* Physics Teacher Online: http://phy.ilstu.edu/jpteo/
* Teacher Magazine: http://www.teachermagazine.org
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This information was sent to approximately 3100 science and mathematics
educators and is posted at the SAMEC website:
http://samec.lpl.arizona.edu/resources/e-news.html
The SAMEC e-newsletter is provided to you by
The University of Arizona Science and Mathematics Education Center,
Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, http://samec.lpl.arizona.edu
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