CCSU Summer Youth STEM Programs - Tech It Out 2018!

CCSU is hosting 22 different programs for kids this summer.  All the programs are based in STEAM (STEM with the Arts!) and are designed to spark innovation, fun and learning while on our college campus.  Summer really is coming!

For the complete program listing Click Here

For information call Christa Sterling at 860-832-2277 or email  <csterling@ccsu.edu>

World's Largest K-12 Science Competition

Want to add a fun, competitive element to your classroom that encourages a life-long love of STEM? Engage your students through the Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision science competition! ExploraVision is open to K-12 students and engages young minds in real-world problem solving with a strong emphasis on science, creative thinking, and Next Generation Science Standards goals. Winning teams receive savings bonds, classroom prizes, an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. to present their ideas to scientific leaders, and much more. Download our FREE downloadable Tips for Teachers guides for more information! All K-12 students and teachers in the U.S. and Canada are eligible to participate in ExploraVision. Register now!

Week of the Young Child - April 24-28, 2017

The Week of the Young Child™ is an annual celebration hosted by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) celebrating early learning, young children, their teachers and families.     

 

We're so excited for a week long celebration of our youngest learners! Start planning your celebration today with event ideas and activities below!

Music Monday!   April 24, 2017 Sing, dance, celebrate, and learn Through music, children develop math, language, and literacy skills - All while having fun and being active! This year, make up and record your own unique version of a song or write your own, and share it on NAEYC's Facebook page or post to Twitter using the hashtag #woyc17. TRY THIS: Find the beat to connect music, movement, and math. Practice clapping, drumming, or stomping to the beat of the music while counting.

Music resources for families and teachers

NAEYC For Families also has a great collection of family-friendly songs and musicians to inspire more ways to learn with music!

Tasty Tuesday   April 25, 2017 Healthy eating and fitness at home and school This fun, food-themed day is about more than just cheese and crackers. Cooking together connects math with literacy skills, science, and more. With the rise in childhood obesity, you can encourage healthy nutrition and fitness habits at home and in the classroom. Create your own healthy snacks and share the recipes and photos of your creations on NAEYC's Facebook page or post to Twitter using the hashtag #woyc17.  TRY THIS: Measure your ingredients while making your snacks! Ask children if they’d like the same or different amounts of each ingredient. For more fun ideas on how to incorporate cooking into your classroom activities, check out how one NAEYC-accredited center prepared for the day! Cooking and nutrition resources for families and teachers Download the Week of the Young Child Taco Cookbook! Work Together Wednesday   April 26, 2017 Work together, build together, learn together When children build together they explore math and science concepts and develop their social and early literacy skills. Children can use any building material—from a fort of branches on the playground to a block city in the classroom, or a hideaway made from couch pillows at home. Build and share pictures of children’s creations on NAEYC's Facebook page or Twitter using the #woyc17 hashtag. TRY THIS: Practice organizing blocks by size! Try building a block tower with large blocks on the bottom and little blocks on top! 'Building Together' resources for families and teachers Artsy Thursday   April 27,2017 Think, problem solve, create Children develop creativity, social skills and fine motor skills with open-ended art projects where they can make choices, use their imaginations, and create with their hands. On Artsy Thursday celebrate the joy and learning children experience when engaged in creative art making. Use any materials—from crayons to paint, clay to crafts! Create and share a photos of your children’s creations on NAEYC's Facebook page or Twitter using the #woyc17 hashtag. TRY THIS: Bring art outdoors! Offer dark and light paper, chalk and pastels, and suggest children create their own versions of the day and night sky! Open-ended art resources for families and teachers Family Friday   April 28, 2017 Sharing family stories Engaging and celebrating families is at the heart of supporting our youngest learners. NAEYC applauds family members’ role as young children’s first and most important teachers.  Share pictures and stories about your family on NAEYC's Facebook page or post to Twitter using the hashtag #woyc17 as we celebrate the unique role families play in their children's learning and development. TRY THIS: Invite parents for a Family Friday breakfast, where children can prepare and share breakfast treats with their families! Resources for engaging and celebrating families

Quick - I just found out about this and the pre-registration date is 2/23!

Part art show/part science project, the Inspiration to Innovation (i2i) Challenge is a fun way for students to explore nature and investigate STE(A)M (science, technology, engineering, art and math) while inspiring creative thinking.

Pre-Registration Deadline extended to February 23!

WHY PARTICIPATE IN THE i2i CHALLENGE?

For Educators: The STEM + Art = STE(A)M—Inspiration to Innovation (i2i) Challenge was developed to give students the opportunity to further their understanding of how STEM subjects and art relate, and the importance of that symbiosis. The i2i Challenge provides educators with community support and a framework to encourage creativity through imagination and incorporate STEM subjects.

For Students: STEM + Art = STE(A)M—Inspiration to Innovation (i2i) Challenge allows students to explore the integration of art concepts and STEM subjects. The i2i Challenge provides students with a supported framework for discussion of STEM subjects. Students’ observations and classroom discussions serve as the foundation for the students’ exploration of the relation between art and STEM and the impact they have on each other.

This exploration will lead students to a better understanding of the symbiotic relationship between art and STEM and encourage them to use their imagination and knowledge to further develop those concepts in new and creative ways.

For more information or to register, visit http://www.tmsc.org/i2i. 

K-12 Science Competion

Dear Educator,

How are you challenging your STEM students this year? For 25 years, Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision has encouraged teams of K-12 students and teachers to create future technologies that improve society—all while aligning with the Next Generation Science Standards. Winning teams receive $10,000 U.S. Savings Bonds, an expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. to present their ideas to scientific leaders and more.

All K-12 students and teachers in the U.S. and Canada are eligible for ExploraVision. Register now!

Teach younger students the engineering process and help older students prepare for college with ExploraVision. Not only does it give your students an exciting, hands-on learning experience, but teachers who coach an ExploraVision team can utilize the program broadly, incorporate the competition into their curriculum, and use it as a way to work toward the goals of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) by engaging students in problem solving and critical thinking.

New LibGuides!

Check out the two newest SERC Library LibGuides!

STEM / STEAM - 2015 

and while still "Under construction" STEM / STEAM 2016

We will continue to added to the STEM / STEAM 2016 LibGuide as the year progresses, so remember to check back in periodically throughout the year!

Webinars

Content provided by: 5 Steps to Building an At-Risk Student Model It is important for school districts to create and implement "On-Track Early Warning Systems" in order to identify students that are at risk for academic failure, disengagement, and mental health concerns. Through the systematic use of data, educators can promote more effective prevention and intervention services, while better understanding the root causes of these student issues. In this webinar, we will address the importance of implementing an "On-Track Early Warning System." We will also take a deep look into what a comprehensive "Early Warning System" looks like, including how data is most effectively used to build one. Also included will be an exploration of the following: Research-based methodologies and measures for identifying at-risk students A step-by-step process to create and implement an Early Warning System Existing models in use today, reviewing the most predictive indicators and cut points. Guest: Chris Balow, Ph.D., director of professional development, Illuminate Education Dr. Balow has been involved in education for over 30 years with former roles including district administrator of research & assessment, district RTI coordinator, district lead school psychologist, and university adjunct lecturer. His areas of expertise include assessment design, MTSS/RTI, student academic, and behavioral and social/emotional interventions. This webinar will be moderated by Jim Yang, senior director of marketing, Illuminate Education REGISTER HERE Content provided by: The Power of Data and Digital Resources: Boosting Science Achievement Through Informed Instruction What role can digital resources play in driving engagement, authentic understanding, and incremental gains in K-12 science? Join this conversation between education leaders as they reveal how digital resources have been a key driver in their summative and formative assessment efforts. Barb Reinert from Scottsdale Unified School District, Ariz., will share how her team has garnered widespread science gains by helping educators prepare students for state assessments using a targeted collected of digital resources. Luis Solano from Collier County Public Schools, Fla., will explain how his educators are using technology enhanced tools in classrooms to maximize formative assessment efforts and provide students with a relevant and engaging learning experience. Guests: Barbara Reinert, curriculum science specialist, PreK-12, Scottsdale Unified School District, Ariz. Luis Solano, associate superintendent, curriculum & instruction, Collier County Public Schools, Fla. This webinar will be moderated by Amy Gensemer, director of science curriculum, Discovery Education REGISTER HERE

Supermoon Lunar Eclipse - Blood Moon or Harvest Moon

I know I am getting this information out sort of okay, late----

Hopefully you can go back to some of these sites to use the added information next week:

Supermoon lunar eclipse:  How science explains the epic night sky event - space.com - be sure to go to this site to check out the latest pics and info after the lunar eclipse

September 27 / September 28, 2015 - Total Lunar Eclipse - timeanddate.com

Super Blood Moon eclipse on night of September 27-28 - Earthsky.org

OH NO --- here is the bad news --- you are going to have to rely on the above links ---- the conditions are supposed to be bad for us in Connecticut!

Viewing conditions:  Supermoon to coincide with lunar eclipse in rare celestial event Sunday night - AccuWeather.com

Okay, while I was researching articles for the STEM LibGuide which I hope to post out at the end of the month ---- I stumbled upon this article in EdTech Focus on K-12:

Google Spotlights 20 Student Science Fair Finalists

20 teens and their brightest STEM concepts come to life in the latest Google Science Fair.

 by D.Frank Smith

Check out what some of these 20 global finalists and their science projects were ---- 

1. Matthew Reid, U.K. — Arduorbiter: Democratizing low-Earth orbit
2. Pranav Sivakumar, U.S. — Automated search for gravitationally lensed quasars in the Sloan digital sky survey
3. Anela Arifi and Ilda Ismaili, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Catch it on the Wing: Production of hydrogen storage material and biodiesel from chicken feathers and fat
4. Zhilin Wang, Singapore — Affordable renewable energy
5. Anika Cheerla, U.S. — An automated diagnosis of Alzheimer's
6. Alexey Tarasov, Russia — Exploring the logic of ternary logic in electronics
7. Girish Kumar, Singapore — Revup: Improving learning through automated study questions
8. Tanay Tandon, U.S. — delivering rapid, portable and automated blood morphology tests
9. Anurudh Ganesan, U.S. — Vaxxwagon: a reliable way to store and transport vaccines
10. Eliott Sarrey, France — Bot2Karot: gardening through a a smartphone-activated robot
11. Calvin Rieder, Canada — Extracting clean water from air: Solar-powered potable water
12. Wei-Tung Chen, Taiwan — Calculating the 3D position of an object from a single source
13. Isabella O'Brien, Canada — recycling shells to reduce ocean acidification
14. Lalita Prasida Sripada Srisai, India — Absorbing water pollutants with corn cobs
15. Deepika Kurup, U.S. — clean drinking water through solar-powered silver
16. Laura Steponavičiūtė, Lithuania — Detecting the environmental changes of nanotechnologies
17. Krtin Nithiyanandam, U.K. — Improving diagnoses and treatment of Alzheimer's with a new, molecular "trojan horse"
18. Yo Hsu and Jing-Tong Wang, Taiwan — Knock-on fuel: Detecting impurities in gasoline with sound-pattern analysis
19. Adriel Sumathipala, U.S. — A rapid, portable and affordable means of early detection for cardiac disease
20. Olivia Hallisey, U.S. — using silk to better store and easily transport Ebola antibodies

Did things seem a little off today - Perhaps it is the pull of the BLUE MOON!

July to Bid Farewell With an Illuminating Blue Moon

                              

A blue moon shines above Stockton Springs, Maine, in 2013. (Photo/AccuWeather Astronomy Facebook Fan Barbara)

By Katy Galimberti, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer

July 31, 2015; 2:47 PM ET

A blue moon, which occurs only once every few years, is set to grace skies Friday night.

However, the moon will not be cast in any colored light. Blue moon refers to the second full moon in a calendar month or the third full moon of four in a season.

The blue moon will occur at 6:43 a.m. EDT Friday, the moment the moon becomes full. However, onlookers will be able to view the moon on Friday night.

Additional information on the Blue Moon:

Blue Moon: What Makes Tonight's Event So Special, ABC News

Tonight, Look For A Rare (But Not Quite Blue) Moon, NPR

Blue moon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Next Blue Moon is July 31 - EarthSky

What is a Blue Moon? - Time and Date

Rare blue moon rises tonight - CNN.com

Full Moon on Friday Is a Blue Moon: Here's Why - Space.com

Blue Moon Full Moon Rises Tonight: What to Expect

Check out these workshops coming up at SERC --- Workshops fills up quickly so get your registrations in!

Math for English Language Learners (K-5)

Wednesdays 2/25/15 and 3/25/15 from 9:00 – 3:30 at SERC

Join us for a two day workshop which addresses key issues for ELLs such as language acquisition principles, appropriate scaffolding of content, assessment protocols, and effective use of technology in an effort to maintain rigorous, standards-aligned instruction.

Participants will learn specific math instructional strategies that provide the necessary supports to ensure that ELL students understand and are able to apply appropriate math content.

For further information or to register go to https://15-21-063.eventbrite.com

Math Instruction for Struggling Math Learners

Wednesday, December 10, 2014 and Thursday, January 22, 2015 from 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

This professional learning opportunity will introduce teachers to best practices in math instruction specifically aimed at struggling math learners. It will examine some of the research-based practices in detail and show how they align with the CT Core Standards for Mathematics.

For more information or to register, go to https://15-21-064.eventbrite.com

Science Content Literacy: Grades 6-12

Friday, November 14, 2014 and Wednesday, December 17, 2014 from 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. 

In this two day workshop science educators will learn reading comprehension techniques that will improve outcomes for students, grades 6-12, as well as increase their meaningful participation and achievement in the science content area. Topics include the authentic use of graphic organizers, content-specific vocabulary activities, science notebooks, and reciprocal teaching strategies; receive an overview of differentiation, gradual release, and inquiry-based instructional models; and better understand the commonalities between literacy comprehension skills and science processing skills.

For more information or to register go to https://15-26-092.eventbrite.com