Science Matters in Wisconsin 1(21)
Welcome to this week’s issue of Science Matters in Wisconsin. Please share this with a colleague!
-- Professional Development
WIShare Science Meeting February 8th
Location: Baldwin-Woodville HS (http://g.co/maps/69a2n). As always, any ideas you have to share or discuss is fair game. It can be something you have done or are even thinking about doing. Use everyone here as a resource, that is what this is all about! We start sharing about 6:00 and usually wrap up about 8:00. Contact bwysocki@bloomer.k12.wi.us if you have questions.
Leading for Science Learning: An NSELA Professional Development Institute for the Next Generation: Don't miss the opportunity to attend this premier professional development institute hosted by the National Science Education Leadership Association. Held March 25, 2012, at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis, it provides exceptional access to leading researchers and professional development providers in science education and leadership. Individuals from various research universities, Horizon Research, EDC, NSTA and AAAS facilitate three-hour breakout sessions that focus on a variety of topics, including online professional development and resources, building evaluation capacity, building and sustaining leadership, and scientific argumentation as aligned with the conceptual framework that guides the Next Generation Science Standards. For further details and the link to online registration, please visit the NSELA website (www.nsela.org).
-- Science Spotlight
Astronomers have found what appears to be a planet literally boiling away from the blast-furnace heat of its star.
The star, KIC 12557548, is about 1500 light years away, and is one of many thousands being observed by the orbiting Kepler Observatory (KIC stands for Kepler Input Catalog, a list of stars under Kepler’s watchful eye). The observatory stares at one spot in the sky, looking for stars whose brightness dips periodically. There can be many causes of such behavior, one of which is the presence of planets orbiting the star and blocking the light from it as they pass in front of it. This is called a transit, and has proven to be wildly successful; hundreds of planets have been discovered this way.
-- Website of the Week
Help Track Spring's Journey North:Join citizen scientists using technology to track arrival of spring.
When the groundhog wakes up on February 2nd to look for his shadow, he'll find people across the Northern Hemisphere are already on the job. A network of students and other citizen scientists at 40,000 sites are tracking spring with Journey North, a non-profit science education and outreach project. Members of the public are welcome to participate in this spring’s 19th annual global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change. Contribute your backyard observations to a long-term database and monitor signs of the seasons. Help track migration patterns of monarch butterflies, hummingbirds, robin, and other backyard birds; the blooming of plants; changing sunlight, temperatures, and other signs of spring. Thanks to Annenberg Learner, participation in Journey North is free. For information about this spring’s free projects see: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/
-- Video of the Week
Top 10 Quirky Science Party Tricks:
-- 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
