A New NGSS Design Badged Unit

(from NGSS Now) BSCS has just shared a new Middle School unit that has received the "High Quality" ranking from the NextGenScience Review panel. This unit is free of charge to those interested in using it and it may be found on the NGSS website. In this BSCS life science unit, A Medical Mystery, students investigate why 13-year-old M’Kenna is feeling sick and losing so much weight. Using models, reasoning, and argumentation, students explain the difference between M’Kenna’s and a healthy person’s digestive systems in order to ultimately make sense of why she feels sick. The unit was awarded the NGSS Design Badge by the NextGenScience Peer Review Panel.

See the unit and the corresponding EQuIP Rubric for Science evaluation report here

NASEM Science Standards Implementation Coffee Chat Webinar Series

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Board on Science Education is hosting a five-part webinar series based on the recent summit on Taking Stock of Science Standards Implementation. Each webinar will highlight a different topic including data from national implementation research, science in rural and informal education settings, science teacher education, and instructional shifts.

Learn more and register here.

EdReports- High School Science Reviews

EdReports is a non-profit organization with a mission to empower educators with independent, credible, evidence-rich information about instructional materials to ensure students have what they need to be college and career-ready. They are accepting applications for reviewers for inaugural high school science review beginning in early April 2022.

Who is EdReports looking for? EdReports is a by educator, for educator organization. Currently, classroom educators, district specialists, state specialists, non-formal educators, retired educators, and those pursuing advanced science education degrees participate in reviews. The profile of a science reviewer includes expertise in the Next Generation Science Standards and a commitment to quality instructional materials.

What can I expect if selected to be a reviewer? EdReports plans to review five biology NGSS programs in the inaugural review. If selected, you will sit on a team of five reviewers who will be examining one set of materials with the support of EdReports’ science team. Reviewers can expect the following:

• New teams will begin with an in-depth training in April

• Each reviewer spends about 5-10 hours per week throughout the process, including attending a one-hour virtual call with their team

• A second event may be scheduled approximately halfway through the review to continue calibration and to provide cross-review team support for the inaugural high school reviews

• Reviews are expected to be completed late 2022

• Reviewers receive a host of benefits including more than 25 hours of professional development, a stipend per series reviewed ranging from $1,750 - $2,500 depending on the role you play on a review team, opportunities to learn with national experts in the field, and much more.

How do I apply? Visit EdReports’ website to learn more about becoming a reviewer and complete an application. Once you apply, an application task will be sent requesting demonstration of your NGSS knowledge. Following receipt of the application task, EdReports will schedule a 30-minute interview to learn more about you and share more about the upcoming review.

NITARP for 2022 is now available! It's available at our website: (Link)

NITARP, the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program, gets teachers involved in authentic astronomical research. We partner small groups of educators with a mentor professional astronomer for an original research project. The educators incorporate the experience into their classrooms and share their experience with other teachers. The program runs January through January. Applications for the 2022 class of educators are available now and due on Monday, September 13, 2021. The program is funded completely via NASA ADAP, and is contingent on the availability of funding.

Some things that make our program different from many (if not most) other astronomy programs for educators: (1) Each team does original research using real astronomical data, not canned labs or reproductions of previously done research; (2) Each team writes up the results of their research and presents it in a science poster session at an American Astronomical Society meeting (the AAS is the professional organization for astronomers in the US). The posters are distributed throughout the meeting, in amongst other researchers' work; the participants are not "given a free pass" because they are educators and students. Each team also presents the educational results of their experience in the program. (3) The program runs over 13 months, not just a few days or weeks. (4) Teachers are encouraged to involve their students from the beginning of the program.

Most of our educators are high school classroom educators, but 8th grade, community college, and informal educators have participated as well. The kinds of educators we are looking for are those who already know the basics of astronomy, and are interested in learning exactly how astronomy research is conducted. All educators must be US-based.

This program involves three trips — to an American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting in January 2022, to Pasadena, CA in summer 2022, and to the AAS meeting in January 2023. The January 2021 meeting is in Salt Lake City, UT; the January 2022 meeting is in Seattle, WA.

While most of the work on these teams is done remotely using video conferencing and other online collaboration tools, the structure of the program heavily relies on three different face-to-face visits, necessarily requiring interstate travel and meeting in groups. If the January 2022 AAS meeting is held online because of the pandemic, we may not be able to have a NITARP class of 2022. We will monitor the situation closely and inform applicants of progress as decision points come up.

The application itself consists of short answers to a few questions. We release the questions in May so that you have time both to hear about the program and to get started writing; the website to which you need to upload your PDF answers will be available no later than early August. Please let us know if you wish to be explicitly notified via email when the site is open for submissions.

For more information, please see website ( Link ), or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at our central email, nitarp@ipac.caltech.edu.

Direct link to the PDF application instructions is here: (Link)

EdReports is a non-profit organization with a mission to empower educators with independent, credible, evidence-rich information about instructional materials to ensure students have what they need to be college and career-ready. They are accepting applications for reviewers for inaugural high school science review beginning in early April 2022.

Who is EdReports looking for? EdReports is a by educator, for educator organization. Currently, classroom educators, district specialists, state specialists, non-formal educators, retired educators, and those pursuing advanced science education degrees participate in reviews. The profile of a science reviewer includes expertise in the Next Generation Science Standards and a commitment to quality instructional materials.

What can I expect if selected to be a reviewer? EdReports plans to review five biology NGSS programs in the inaugural review. If selected, you will sit on a team of five reviewers who will be examining one set of materials with the support of EdReports’ science team. Reviewers can expect the following:

• New teams will begin with an in-depth training in April

• Each reviewer spends about 5-10 hours per week throughout the process, including attending a one-hour virtual call with their team

• A second event may be scheduled approximately halfway through the review to continue calibration and to provide cross-review team support for the inaugural high school reviews

• Reviews are expected to be completed late 2022

• Reviewers receive a host of benefits including more than 25 hours of professional development, a stipend per series reviewed ranging from $1,750 - $2,500 depending on the role you play on a review team, opportunities to learn with national experts in the field, and much more.

How do I apply? Visit EdReports’ website to learn more about becoming a reviewer and complete an application or apply now [HERE]. Once you apply, an application task will be sent requesting demonstration of your NGSS knowledge. Following receipt of the application task, EdReports will schedule a 30-minute interview to learn more about you and share more about the upcoming review.

Celebrate trees by joining the GLOBE citizen science community in the 2021 Community Trees Challenge, where Science is Better Together!

Who can participate: Everyone! (students and teachers at all grade levels, informal educators, and the public in GLOBE countries.) While getting out and taking observations might not be possible for everyone, this challenge provides multiple ways to participate and learn all about trees.

How to participate: During the 2021 Community Trees Challenge, the GLOBE Program is asking citizen scientists to observe, learn, engage, and create as they track their progress on the Trees Challenge Activity Tracker. You can choose the best journey for your interests, or try to complete all the activities. Work together as a family, as a group of friends, or independently.

By completing these activities, you will improve your science observation skills, enrich your understanding of trees as part of our landscape, learn why NASA studies trees, be a part of a NASA-sponsored citizen science project, as well as join a citizen science community. Your observations of tree height contribute to a global database that is free and open so that anyone – scientists, students, communities, and citizen scientists – can conduct research.

• Feb 7 - Apr 15 eeDoubleCourse $100 ~ 1 graduate credit hour available (additional $85) ~ approximately 4 hrs per week ~ receive PLT, WILD, WET, WILD Aquatic, and either LEP or GUW & PLT Early Childhood

• Feb 7 - Apr 15 Kansas Green School Leader eeCredential $125 ~ 1 graduate credit hour available (additional $85) ~ receive PLT, WILD, WET, WILD Aquatic, and either LEP or GUW & PLT Early Childhood

• Feb 7 - Feb 25 Project Learning Tree & Project WILD eeCourse $50 ~ approximately 4 hrs per week~ receive PLT and WILD

• Feb 28 - Mar 28 Project WET & Project WILD Aquatic eeCourse $50 ~ approximately 3 hrs per week ~ receive WET and WILD Aquatic

• Mar 28 - Apr 15 Leopold Education Project eeCourse $50 ~ approximately 4 hrs per week ~ receive LEP

• Mar 28 - Apr 15 Growing Up WILD & PLT Early Childhood eeCourse $50 ~ approximately 4 hrs per week ~ receive GUW & PLT Early Childhood

Questions? Contact Ashlyn Kite-Hartwich at akite@kacee.org 785-889-4384

Click HERE to register and for more details on each eeCourse and eeCredential

The KidWind Challenge, which officially kicked off in 2009, is an annual event that allows students to explore the power of wind by building and testing their own wind turbines and then competing against other teams in their age division (4th-8th or 9th-12th). The top two winners in each age division from each of the regional challenges move on to compete at the statewide competition. Winning teams at the statewide KidWind Challenge are invited to the National KidWind Challenge. For 2022, there will be six regional challenges in Kansas, as listed below. If you have any questions, please reach out to us at ksenergyprog@ksu.edu.

North East Regional - Tuesday, February 22, 2022 - Overland Park, KS (Link)

South Central Regional - Thursday, February 24, 2022 - Hutchinson, KS (Link)

South West Regional - Tuesday, March 1, 2022 - Dodge City, KS (Link)

North West Regional - Thursday, March 3, 2022 - Oakley, KS (Link)

North Central Regional - Wednesday, March 9, 2022 - Manhattan, KS (Link)

South East Regional - March 11, 2022 - Burlington, KS (Link)

Learn more at: https://kansasenergyprogram.org/kidwindchallenge

The National STEM Scholar Program is Seeking middle school science teachers who:

• enjoy the creativity in teaching

• are eager to share ideas with colleagues

• are excited about networking with peers from across the U.S.

• would like financial and academic support for great ideas

The National STEM Scholar Program works to inspire the creativity and passion of middle school science teachers, ten of whom will be selected for this prestigious program. The next set of Scholars will be hosted by The Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science and The Center for Gifted Studies from May 29 - June 4, 2022 at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Scholars will engage in hands-on, minds-on science activities; connect with speakers and thought leaders in STEM education; learn with skilled science educators; and develop a creative Challenge Project for classroom implementation. Each Scholar will receive a Chromebook and funding for Challenge Project supplies and materials.

National STEM Scholars will share midpoint progress with their colleagues while attending the National Science Teachers Association annual meeting in April 2023. Mentoring will be provided throughout the year by Western Kentucky University faculty.

All expenses, including travel costs, materials, mentoring and Challenge Project supplies will be covered by a grant from the National Stem Cell Foundation.

If you have questions, please call 270-745-6323 or email gifted@wku.edu.

Learn more and apply at: wku.edu/gifted/nss

The Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP) is the most prestigious youth award in the world for a water-related science project. The prize taps into the unlimited potential of today’s high school students as they seek to address our water challenges. The competition is open to any high school student in grades 9-12 who are 15 years of age by August 1st of the competition year. All research papers must be uploaded online no later than April 15th of each year to compete in their state’s competition. All state winners will receive an all-expenses paid trip to the SJWP National Competition. The national winner will receive $10,000 and an all-expenses paid trip to Stockholm, Sweden to participate in the SJWP International Competition

The U.S. Stockholm Junior Water Prize competition, which is celebrating its 25th year in 2022, is made possible through a collaborative effort between the Water Environment Federation and its local Member Associations (MAs) across the country. Each state competition is sponsored by an MA and has a designated state organizer. Each state identifies and sends a winner (or winning team) to the U.S. national competition which is currently held the second week of June at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Do you have a high school student that would like to participate in this competition and have a chance to win a trip to North Carolina next summer? Please have them contact Becky Lewis for paper ideas and more information. For more information about the Stockholm Junior Water Prize, go the website: http://www.wef.org/SJWP/ or contact Becky Lewis – 316-303-8702 or rlewis@wichita.gov.

The Fermilab Education and Public Engagement Office is planning a multi-day virtual event for our annual Open House, starting on Wednesday, February 9, and concluding on Sunday, February 13. Each day will include virtual tours, online classroom presentations, interactive activities done at home, talks, and live-streamed demo shows. With the virtual format, we will engage audiences with the excitement of Fermilab science locally, nationally, and internationally.

The Fermilab Office of Education and Public Engagement is looking for up to 12 teams of no more than four high school students each to create a virtual, interactive activity that demonstrates a physics principle or concept for younger children.

Teams that are selected will record their activity to be featured throughout each day of the event, in order to share their activities with the thousands of people from across the world that will attend our virtual Family Open House.

We will fill up to 12 spots with activities that meet the following criteria:

1. Appropriate for an age group from preschool to middle school.

2. Interactive for the children made with simple materials the students can find at home requiring adult supervision. If the video is done in more of a demonstration format clear instructions to not try this at home.

3. All appropriate safety precautions were identified and explained in the application.

4. Write up of activity with appropriate explanations and identified safety hazards to be shared with families during the event submitted at the time of application.

Submit your activity idea by completing the linked application by December 13. We'll notify you by December 17 if your activity has been accepted.