Webinar: Service-Learning & Sustainability
Posted on October 30th, 2011 by Jaimie Schock
The U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development’s K-12 and Teacher Education Sector is offering a free webinar about engaging students in relevant learning. This webinar is designed to help educators apply the lens of sustainability to their service-learning projects and programs and will feature several case studies. It will be held on November 10, 2011, 5:00 p.m. EST.
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Tags: Service Projects, Sustainability, Teacher Resources, Web Resources, Webinar
California officials and business leaders want to correct what they say is a failure to invest enough time, money and training to teach science well. Only 10% of elementary students regularly receive hands-on science lessons, a recent survey found. Just one-third of elementary teachers said they feel prepared to teach science, and 85% said they have not received any training during the last three years.
In this activity, students in grades 5 – 7 learn how motion capture technology (mo-cap) enables computer animators to create realistic effects. They learn the importance of center of gravity in animation and how to use the concept in writing an action scene. 
Can cash incentives boost student interest and achievement in science, technology, engineering, and math? The U.S. Navy must think so, for it has signed onto a White House effort to support military families that includes a public-private national STEM initiative that, among other things, pays bonuses to those who score well on Advanced Placement exams.
Safer highways. Cool phone apps. Green buildings. Thrilling roller coasters. What do all these things have in common? All bear the stamp of engineering design – a process of brainstorming, building, testing, and refining to create a product, service, or system within time or resource limits.
Most states and school districts strive to raise graduation rates. But does a diploma mean high school students are ready for college and careers? Not by a long shot, the latest school progress reports from New York City’s board of education suggest.
The Senate is moving forward with a draft reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that includes a major push for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The bipartisan bill to fix No Child Left Behind represents 10 months of negotiations between Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin and his Republican counterpart, Sen Mike Enzi from Wyoming. Hearings are scheduled for November 8.
Are science and math textbooks slated for the scrap heap? In Munster, Ind., they’re already history. The well-regarded school district tossed out the traditional tomes for 2,600 students in grades 5 -12 in favor of video-rich, online science and math content accessed by school-issued laptops. 
Despite the anxiety triggered by last spring’s nuclear disaster in Japan, nuclear power is still a key part of this country’s energy mix. Industry and universities are enlisting help from teachers in preparing the next generation of nuclear engineers and technicians. 
