In the midst of winter’s snowfalls, it’s time to consider what you (and your students) might be doing this summer.  Here is a list of all the different summer program  opportunities for science teachers and students I’ve run across recently.
Firstly, NSTA publishes a list of professional development opportunities here. Their list includes:

• The STORM Project (June 20-25; Deadline Feb 26th for priority). Learn about air quality and meterology at the University of Northern Iowa; for middle school and high school science teachers. Expenses paid. Information here.
• Connecting Humans and Nature through Conservation Experiences. Penn State course in environmental science and conservation biology through a practicum in Costa Rica and Panama. Application by Feb 28th. Information here.
• A field course in measuring and monitoring biodiversity at El Eden Ecological preserve. August 7-14; Deadline March 15. Study tropical biodiversity near Cancun. Email Daniel_Bisaccio@Brown.edu
• Sheila Schwartz Family International Leading Science Teachers Seminar. Learn cutting edge science in Israel. July 7-15, Application deadline March 31. Information here.
• Botanical Society of America’s Summer Institute. June 21-29; Deadline April 9. Learn to develop student-centered plant investigations. Information here.
• PlantIT Teacher Institute. HS science teachers exploring investigative cases in biology. July 12-23 at Texas A&M. Deadline April 9. Information here.
• Deep Ecology and Sustainable Living Short Course. July 25-August 7 in Costa Rica, Deadline April 23. Information here.
• Physics of Atomic Nuclei. Free residential summer program at Michigan State. Learn about research at the superconducting cyclotron and conduct experiments. August 1-6 (teachers), Aug 8-13 (students). Information here.

Exploratorium Teacher Institute (June 21-July 16; Deadline April 1)

This is where I cut my eyeteeth in hands-on inquiry learning and I can’t recommend it enough.  These institutes are the best 4 weeks you’ll ever have, and you’ll become part of a vibrant and intelligent set of science and math teachers.  If you want to know more about what you might be getting into, listen to the podcasts that I made about the institute on the bottom of the page.    Information here.

Galileo Learning (Varies)

Galileo Learning is a Bay Area company looking for educators to run its summer camps:  Galileo Summer Quest (for entering 5th through 8th graders);
The Tech Summer Camps (for entering 4th through 8th graders).  More information here.

Yellowstone (Varies)

Write off your vacation by taking a class in the Yellowstone Association summer field seminars.   Information here

Astronomy Camp (Varies; March-October)

A teacher says, ” I did the teacher version of this astronomy camp a number of years ago and it remains the best PD I’ve ever done (Exploratorium notwithstanding, of course) with lots of time on very large telescopes. One of the highlights from my experience was “discovering” Pluto. [But]… the website (which has drastically improved) still doesn’t do a good job on conveying the experience.  And Don (the guy who runs the thing) is fantastic.”  Camps run March through October.  Information here.

Univ of California – COSMOS (July 11-Aug 7th, San Diego; ?? Irvine; Deadline March 1 & 15)

Deadlines for San Diego and Irvine are in March.  Each Fellow works with a team of university faculty to implement the academic portion of COSMOS. Teacher Fellows serve as the pedagogical bridge between high school student learning and university faculty teaching. They directly participate in all classroom and laboratory work as well as field trips, typically a Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. commitment.   Check here

Cornell Institute for Physics Teachers (July 5-17 and 25-30)

Get graduate credit in physics in this intensive summer institute, which was recommended by a teacher.  The CIPT graduate courses contain lectures, lab tours, and innovative, inquiry-based laboratory experiments. Lectures and lab tours are designed to update high school physics teachers on recent advances in diverse topic areas.   Information here.

Modeling Workshops (Varies)

Modeling Workshops are peer-led. Modeling Instruction is one of two K-12 science programs designated by the U.S. Department of Education as EXEMPLARY.  Modeling Workshops in high school physics, chemistry, and/or physical science will be held in summer 2010 in Arizona, Alabama, Miami FL, Iowa, New Orleans LA, Maine, Michigan, Minneapolis MN, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pittsburgh PA, northern Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Dallas TX, and Wisconsin.  Modeling Workshops will be held also in Georgia, Chicago IL, Kansas, South Dakota, and Washington, pending funding.  Modeling Workshops in 11th grade biology will be held in Pittsburgh PA and Tennessee, for teachers in Physics First/Capstone Biology sequences.  Stipends and/or free tuition at most sites, usually for in-state teachers.  Information here.

For Students

NASA programs in Mountain View, CA.  Information here.

Caltech Young Engineering and Science Scholars (YESS).  Information here.

JPL (the Caltech/NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)  SpaceSHIP (Summer High School Internship Program) here.

Girls on Ice 2010 Expedition.  FREE, wilderness science education program for high school girls. Each year a
team of 9 teenage girls and 3 instructors spend 11 days exploring and learning about mountain glaciers and alpine landscapes through scientific field studies with professional glaciologists and mountaineers.  July 26 to August 5, 2010 on Mount Baker, Washington State.
Information here. (applications are due March 1, 201)

Summer Science Program (SSP).  A teacher says, “My younger sister did it and is now in a PhD program in Physics at Berkeley.  She loved it and met many other like-minded students there.”  Information here.

Astronomy Camp. A teacher says, ” I did the teacher version of this astronomy camp a number of years ago and it remains the best PD I’ve ever done (Exploratorium notwithstanding, of course) with lots of time on very large telescopes. One of the highlights from my experience was “discovering” Pluto. [But]… the website (which has drastically improved) still doesn’t do a good job on conveying the experience.  And Don (the guy who runs the thing) is fantastic.”  Camps run March through October.  Information here.

Image by freeparking

I am a science education and communications consultant -- view my website for my full range of services.

Here’s a list o’ lists, a compilation of compilations, all sorts of science geek resources that you might find helpful!

First, here’s a list of blogs about women and science (mine made the list, woo-hoo!).  This is a nice little list with descriptions of each of the blogs and their perspective (from Under the Microscope, via the Feminist Press)

Top 10 viewed science videos from Biocompare. They say: From an 80’s hair metal power ballad about electrical impedance-based cell monitoring systems to a “disco hit” on PCR reagents, you can have a laugh and learn.  Who says science can’t be fun?

100 Killer iTTunes Feeds for Serious Science Geeks. If you’ve got a penchant for getting your science education via podcast, here’s a list to browse (from Online Colleges)

Top 200 Education Blogs. If there’s something you’re looking for, there must be something on that extensive of a list (from the Guide to Online Schools)

Best Open Science Courses on the web.   (From Online Colleges)  and similarly, Free Online Courses.  A collection of courses in just about every subject imaginable from MIT, Yale, Berkele, etc.  (From Guide to Online Schools)

Geek on.

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NBC Learn has a bunch of free online educational videos, such as word roots and documentaries.  Now, with the NSF, they also have a set of videos all about the winter olympic games!  The science of snowboarding, hockey, figure skating, and more!  I took a look and was favorably impressed — they’re about 5 minutes long, well produced and give a variety of explanations.  They’re mostly physics related, it appears, and would be great supplements to a high school or college physics class.  And the science of snowboarding has a great visual demonstration from my old mentor, Paul Doherty (but he’s not snowboarding!)

I am a science education and communications consultant -- view my website for my full range of services.

It seems to be in vogue to teach about climate change.  Thank god.  I mean, is there anything else more confusing nowadays?  Teaching students just to wade through the puddles of mud being slung across party lines is a message in media digestion in itself!

Luckily there are many resources being developed to help educators teach about climate change.  Here I’m listing a bunch that I’ve been running across.

1.  Free standards-based climate change films (polar regions)

From CIRES in Boulder comes a set of films for use in the classroom.  Sadly, they’re right now out of DVD’s, but you can see all the clips on their website. They say:  “The film contains 7 stand-alone segments appropriate for use in all kinds of science classrooms and informal settings from the middle level through college. The segments illustrate the problem of climate change and how scientists are working in Alaska and Greenland to understand it. Each segment is about 10 minutes long.  The video was developed to align strongly with the National Science Education Standards across all science subjects”

Segment 1: Introduction to Climate Change
Segment 2: Polar History
Segment 3: Studying Alaskan Permafrost
Segment 4: Ice Core Drilling
Segment 5: Studying Glaciers
Segment 6: Studying Sea Ice
Segment 7: Conclusion and Solutions

2.  Hot questions about climate change

Also here in Boulder (working for NCAR/UCAR), my fellow blogger Sharon Glassman has created a set of 30-second climate change videos, such as “What difference can a few degrees make?” (embedded below).  She says:  “The segs are fun, trustworthy, free – and designed to be spread through the atmosphere of the Web and friendship.”
©UCAR

3. Climate Discovery online courses

Also from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) are a set of online courses. They are accepting registrations for winter term (starting Jan 22nd) here.   They cost $225 and there are several courses available.  They say:  “Are you seeking a K-12 professional development opportunity that will enhance your qualifications, competency, and self-confidence in integrating Earth system science, climate, and global change into your science classroom? The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) offers a series of six and seven week online courses for middle and high school teachers that combine geoscience content, information about current climate research, easy to implement hands-on activities, and group discussion. The courses run concurrently from January 22 through March 14, 2010.”

4.  How to effectively teach climate change

One teacher recommends a glacial melt activity here.  And a carbon calculator for kids.

CIRES has been working on a set of resources to help teach about controversial projects like climate change.   They have a set of helpful resources here. In particular:

• Common misconceptions about climate change (PDF)
• Climate change clicker quiz (PPT)
• Edutopia’s Taking the fear out of teaching global warming (HTML)
• Dealing with controversy (PDF)

5.  I also have a few activities and webcasts on climate change myself:

• Several hands-on activities about weather and climate here and here (such as a rice model of the composition of the earth’s atmosphere, and a model of how carbon dioxide resonates in the infrared).
• A set of webcasts – climate in the past (a synopsis of the included activities here) and in the future (a synopsis of content and activities here).

Also recommended are the following two books:

I am a science education and communications consultant -- view my website for my full range of services.

I’m recently enamored with the blog from ASSETT (Arts & Sciences Support of Education through Technology) at the University of Colorado — they have great short posts on different technology tid-bits for use in the classroom.

Recently, they’ve had a selection of science blogs, along with detailed synposes of what you’ll find on each blog.

Geology Rocks

Biology

Physics

Chemistry
(and also a post on serial podcasts in chemistry)

They suggest using these to supplement a lecture, give students some outside reading, or provide insight into the life of a professional scientist.

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If you’re a teacher — of physics, or any other physical science — and haven’t yet picked up a copy of Edward Redish’s Teaching Physics with the Physics Suite , I’m making a bid right now that you do so.

I finally read it — really read it — instead of just browsing through a chapter that I needed to reference for a paper.  For a slim volume, it is a surprisingly powerful compilation of effective teaching techniques based on research, and what you as an instructor need to do in order to implement them to their maximum power.

First he goes through a wonderfully succinct summary of what cognitive research can tell us about teaching — the book is worth buying just for these 30 clear pages.

He goes on to discuss exams and homework — the goals of assessment and different types of questions.  He has a resource CD with a bunch of research based surveys, like the Force Concept Inventory, or different attitude surveys.  He then gives a quick look at some of the major research-based teaching methods, like Peer Instruction (PI), Interactive Lecture Demonstrations (ILDs), Tutorials, and Just In Time Teaching (JiTT).  It’s certainly more useful for teachers of physics (at any level) but I think that most people teaching the physical sciences will come away with something useful from the book.

Here’s a gem.

I had been teaching for 20 years before I realized that when students asked me questions, I was responding as a student rather than as a teacher.  Having been a student for 20 years, having been rewarded for giving good answers to teachers’ questions, and having been successful at getting those rewards, I had a very strong tendency to try to give the best answer I could to any question posed.  Once I realized (embarassingly late in my teaching career) that the point was not getting the question answered correctly but getting the student to learn and understand, I shifted my strategy.

Now, insted of answering students’ questions directly, I try to diagnose their real problem.  What do they know that they can build an understanding on?  What are they confused or wrong about that is going to cause them trouble?  As a result, instead of answering a question right off, I ask some questions back.  Often, I discover that students are trying to hide a confusion by creating questions that sound as if they know what they are talking about.  Helping them to find resources within themselves that they can bring to bear often makes all the difference.

Redish, “Teaching Physics with the Physics Suite,” (2003), p. 190.

I am a science education and communications consultant -- view my website for my full range of services.

I feel like I keep posting these, I should compile them.

Currki :  Currki, an open source website for educational materials k-12 has over 80,000 members who are educators and teachers.

TeacherTube TeacherTube is a video sharing website based on YouTube. It is designed to allow those in the educational industry, particularly teachers, to share educational resources. To dates TeacherTube has 380,000+ members.

Next Vista Learning Next Vista is an  online library of free videos for learners everywhere. NextVista.org believes learning is stronger with teachers and students from all over the world contributing content. They have a membership of 6,000 contributors.

Watch Know: A collection of some of the best free educational videos made for children, findable and watchable on one website. Lots of wonderful videos on science, compiled from multiple sources.

Meet me at the Corner ( www.meetmeatthecorner.org) is a series of videos for children in the form of a video podcast.  Each video is linked to fun websites and a Learning Corner of questions and extended activities.  New episodes are uploaded every two weeks.  The author says:

Take a look at the new virtual field trip to Divide, Colorado to the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center. Our young host Amanda learns about reestablishing the wolf population in the southwest and hears the howl of a wolf pack

Free Documentaries allows you to stream documentaries, for free.  Here’s a short article about it from a school librarian, Joyce Valenza.

NASA’s educational search engine allows you to browse for videos and other educational content.  (Another tip of the hat to Joyce Valenza for this one).

Photo:  Flickr by djcramer at http://www.flickr.com/photos/cramer/810819/.

And here is a useful article by Joyce Valenza about a tool for
(a) showing shorter clips of YouTube videos without editing software
(b) Showing YouTube videos without showing user comments or links to other videos (which may not be appropriate for the classroom)

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I’ve been really enjoying a blog put out by the University of Colorado’s ASSETT (Arts and Sciences Support of Education through Technology) program.  They have frequent posts on technology that relates to higher education, and how it really impacts your classroom.

For example, connecting with students by Facebook; considerations, or whether to mentor via FB — tools like Evernote for organizing your own thoughts and to do lists — or creating a class website using Blogger.  Though it’s written for Univ. of Colorado faculty, most posts are widely applicable.  And they’re short and to the point!

I am a science education and communications consultant -- view my website for my full range of services.

Here are a few collections of videos of science teaching and learning — useful for learning how to teach.

Annenberg:

http://www.learner.org/resources/series90.html

http://www.learner.org/resources/series126.html

TIMSS

http://nces.ed.gov/timss/video.asp

I am a science education and communications consultant -- view my website for my full range of services.

If you’re looking to beautify your classroom, here are some links to some free science posters. No guarantees as to quality, but these links should be a helpful start!

http://www.johnny-lin.com/posters.html#powersoften
http://www.tufts.edu/as/wright_center/products/svl/posters/posts.html
http://www.mii.org/teacherhelpers.php
http://www.surfnetkids.com/games/Science_Games/
http://www.scattercreek.com/~zimba/freeforteachers.htm#posters

I am a science education and communications consultant -- view my website for my full range of services.