Welcome to this week’s issue of Science Matters in Wisconsin.  Please share this with a colleague!

-- Professional Development

Georgia Tech, in partnership with NASA, provides online professional development courses and certificates.  Enrollment is now open for Spring 2012 opportunities. http://www.nasaepdn.gatech.edu/

WSST Foundation Grants Due Dec. 22

The Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers Foundation has a number of grant opportunities available to support innovative projects and your professional development.  Check them out here: http://www.wsst.org/node/66

-- Science Spotlight

- How a collapsing scientific hypothesis led to a lawsuit and arrest.

This story about research into the retrovirus called XMRV is a fascinating look at bias, scientific ethics, and the process of peer review.  It is an excellent example for students to show how ideas are tested and verified by the scientific community. http://tinyurl.com/arstecnicaxmrv

-- Website of the Week

Edheads is an organization that provides engaging web simulations / activities for kids.  Current activities focus on simulated surgical procedures, cell phone design (with market research), simple and compound machines, and weather prediction. http://edheads.org/

-- Video of the Week

- Was this NFL Flop Real or Fake?

A couple of weeks ago, Jerome Simpson of the Cincinnati Bengals was shoved by the Browns’ Fujita after the whistle.  Simpson went flying…and Fujita was flagged for a personal foul.  In this entertaining blog post, physicist Rhett Allain uses the conservation of momentum and video analysis to determine if Simpson faked his flight. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/11/was-this-nfl-flop-real-or-fake/

-- Contact

To subscribe to Science Matters in Wisconsin, please visit - http://bap.nsta.org/Content/Home/BecomeAContact/Default.aspx

For questions about Science Matters in Wisconsin, please contact me:

Eric Brunsell, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh  brunsele@uwosh.edu