KAEE's Outdoor Learning Symposium

Thursday, May 30, 2024 | 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM ET Northside Elementary School | Midway, KY 40347

The Outdoor Learning Symposium (OLS) is a one-day event designed for K-12 classroom teachers and administrators to attend as teams and leave better prepared to integrate environmental and outdoor education in their school setting. The day is filled with concurrent sessions tailored to meet the needs of administrators and teachers, in addition to team planning and networking time. Schools represented by a team of at least one administrator and classroom teacher can apply for a $250 mini-grant to support student-led outdoor learning projects.

Learn more about OLS, view the full schedule, and register at kaee.org/outdoor-learning.

Register Now

NSTA is proud to celebrate teacher appreciation week and we are honored to recognize educators nationally. Teachers play an essential role in nurturing minds, inspiring curiosity, and instilling a lifelong love of learning. Your efforts extend far beyond the classroom, influencing future generations and enriching our communities. Teachers, this week, we celebrate YOU!   NSTA leadership expresses appreciation for educators in this blog post from NSTA President Julie Luft and a special thank you video from NSTA CEO Erika Shugart.

Share this FREE Downloadable Poster!   Size Options: 24 x 36 18 x 24 11 x 17 8 x 11

For those of you celebrating Black Hole Week, I wanted to share a free lesson on stellar evolution. It has a really cool simulation that allows students to model stellar life cycles by creating stars of varying masses and following them through their life cycles. It also tracks the stars on an H-R diagram as they evolve and charts changes in chemical composition. I’ve included some screenshots below.
Lesson details can be found here: https://infiniscope.org/lesson/17

 

 

About Us

Infiniscope is a NASA-funded project that is transforming Earth and space science education and empowering educators through the creation of high-quality adaptive digital learning experiences, educator professional development, a community of practice, creative tools for designing digital content, and a robust set of educator resources.

Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions.

Kind Regards,

Sina Kirk

Marketing & Communications Manager

Center for Education Through eXploration

School of Earth & Space Exploration

Arizona State University

Tempe, AZ  85287-1404

Sina.Kirk@asu.edu

Every year up to $2,000 is available through our Corcoran Educational Grant for proposals regarding education on native fishes, their habitats or their conservation, including but not limited to:

-Producing and distributing educational materials (books, brochures, posters, displays, video, Internet resources, etc.)

-Stream surveys with education as a primary goal

-Lecturing expenses

-Nature center displays

-School materials and displays

-Field and laboratory supplies

-Teacher training workshops to introduce teachers to core concepts, and any materials/displays that may be developed

Here is a link to the NANFA Corcoran Educational Grant website- https://www.nanfa.org/corcoran.shtml  Our main webpage is- www.nanfa.org

 

For the 2024 cycle, the proposals are due March 31.

The KGA is hosting a webinar called “StoryMap Fundamentals” on Tuesday, 2/27 at 4pm central time. The webinar will explain what storymaps are, share resources for storymaps you can use in your classroom, and describe the full StoryMap Fundamentals Educator Training. Registration is required for this event. Email Jason Minnick at Jason.minnick958@topper.wku.edu, with your name, email, phone number, school name, grade level you teach, and the subject you teach. The webinar will be offered through zoom. We are offering 1 hour of professional development for attending the webinar.

The Esri ArcGIS Online Competition for Middle and High Schools is underway this spring. This is an opportunity for students to use their geographic information systems (GIS) skills to create a storymap about Kentucky and a chance to win $100 for their entry. Winning KY entries will be forwarded to the national competition. You can find out more about the KY competition on the KGA website: https://www.kgalliance.org/2024-arcgis-online-competition.html . You can find out more about the national competition on the Esri website: https://agoschoolcomp-education.hub.arcgis.com/?rsource=https%3A%2F%2Fesriurl.com%2Fagoschoolcomp .

An all-expenses-paid professional learning opportunity for 10 select middle school science teachers Apply Now 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 26 - June 1, 2024, at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Scholars will engage in minds-on, hands-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 thomas.clark@wku.edu.   Learn more & apply at wku.edu/gifted/nss

Hundreds of students huddled around do-it-yourself robots, circuitry models and miniature ziplining ninjas for the first day of Green River Regional Educational Cooperative’s STEM-a-THON.

Stations aimed at teaching robotics, coding, physics and science filled Knicely Conference Center on Tuesday along with around 750 students from 30 different schools across Kentucky.

Kaylee Crowder, a consultant at GRREC, said the event strives to introduce young students to concepts in STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — in ways that anyone can connect with.

“We know that a lot of times, our STEM experiences are reserved for our Gifted and Talented students or reserved for after-school activities,” Crowder said. “We also know that research shows that students with disabilities are just as successful in the STEM industry.

“We wanted to give an opportunity to not only model inclusion for our teachers but to give the students an idea of what STEM could look like for them.”

Crowder said students with learning disabilities often miss out on opportunities or struggle to keep up with traditional instruction. The second-annual STEM-a-THON is, in many ways, designed for them.

Before attending, students with disabilities were paired with another student to help “empower them to their full potential,” Crowder said.

Attendees were greeted with a variety of stations to explore STEM topics and a “playground” filled with robotic games and physics models that teach tangible lessons in engaging ways.

Numerous corporate and community partners helped fund and run the event.

Savannah Denning, a GRREC special education consultant, said the event is also a way to “merge what we’re doing with K-12 with what the workforce is looking for.”

“We want to bridge the gap between what kids are getting in school and what they need to be ready in a workforce,” Denning said.

Denning added that these events also help combat misconceptions about people with learning disabilities being capable workers.

“When we see neurodivergent kids, they pick up on patterns very differently and far more easily than neurotypical brains do,” Denning said. “So when we think about coding, robotics, those patterns just click for them and their brains, and we just want to make sure we highlight that.”

Carrie Cox, education and community outreach manager at the National Corvette Museum, manned a booth next to an eye-catching Corvette on display as up-and-coming engineers ogled the interior. Behind her, students slid toy cars across a long table with differing surfaces to model the impact of terrain on speed.

Cox said their attendance is part of the museum’s growing educational program, which also includes a new gallery that opened in April with interactive exhibits and videos.

“We definitely want to show off that (a Corvette is) a cool car, but it’s also math, science, technology, engineering, robotics, it’s all the things,” Cox said.

Cox said the mission of any museum is educating, but ironically, educational programs like this can sometimes be an afterthought. She said since the gallery opened, the museum has taken more hands-on approaches to better engage young students who visit.

She added that young people today tend to be less interested in cars as a whole, a fact they hope to change through their programs while also encouraging the next generation of designers, engineers and manufacturers.

Trooper Daniel Priddy, public affairs officer for KSP Post 3 in Bowling Green, helped show off some of the department’s latest tech, from drones with cameras to fingerprint scanners to 3-D modeling software to reconstruct accidents and crime scenes.

Priddy said almost none of that technology existed when he began. Now, it sometimes seems like young students know the technology better than he does.

“They’re going to have a leg up on anybody that didn’t grow up on this technology,” Priddy said.

He added that on top of potentially jumpstarting a child’s interest in a law enforcement career, their booth was a chance to interact with young people outside of an emergency.

“A lot of the times when we show up, it’s a bad day for the kids and the family — it could be a house fire or collision or anything like that,” Priddy said. “This is a little different, we can actually interact with them and let them see some of the tools that we use.”

Chelsea Keene, a 5th-grade teacher at Park City Elementary in Barren County, and Ronnie Atteberry, a special education teacher at Park City Elementary, brought students to the event for the first time this year and said each was beyond excited to be there.

“They’re really excited about the hands-on opportunities,” Keene said. “I had one student before we left who said, ‘I can’t wait to get there and actually do things.’ ”

Keene and Atteberry help co-teach math at Park City and said it’s often difficult to incorporate hands-on lessons due to time and resource constraints. They said students with learning disabilities especially struggle with “getting things on paper” and need lessons like those at STEM-a-THON.

“We’re so accustomed to everything having to be on paper that we forget that these hands-on experiences are where they learn most,” Keene said. “I think opening the door to make them realize that they can succeed just as much as anyone else.

Even if they can’t put it on paper, they can still show what they know, and I think that’s a really big thing for them.”

SOMERSET, Ky. (LEX 18) — An elementary school teacher in Pulaski County received an award from a national STEM education program. On Tuesday, the director of the program, called Project Lead the Way, paid a special visit to science teacher Natasha Craft.

Mrs. Craft, the STEM Lab teacher at Pulaski Elementary School, was presented with the Robert and Patricia Kern National Teacher of the Year Award. From her classroom to the hallways, the whole school got to celebrate the honor Mrs. Craft received.

"It is amazing, kind of unbelievable. I couldn't believe it when they told me," says Craft, "I'm very honored to receive that award."

Project Lead the Way is a national STEM curriculum program for schools, which Mrs. Craft worked to launch at Pulaski Elementary, and Principal Angela Adkins says Mrs. Craft has been instrumental in the growth of the program.

"She was really intrigued by this, and she was trained, and implemented this into our school," says Adkins.

The program helps teach students skills in STEM education that will go far beyond the classroom.

"It's about the skills; the problem-solving skills, the teamwork skills, and design--the whole design process that our students have had the opportunity to learn," says Adkins.

"They're learning how to fail forward," says Craft, "They're learning how, when things do not work out right, to recover from that and come up with a new idea; how to work as a team; how to communicate. Everything they do, they have to be able to get up in front of the class and explain what they did and why."

"And we're having fun at the same time," she adds, "We're driving robots, and flying drones, and building, and being engineers."

For this newly-named national teacher of the year, those lessons are bigger than any award.

Mrs. Craft is also a national trainer for the Project Lead the Way STEM program, and Pulaski Elementary School has been named a distinguished school for the program.

Learn more at:

https://www.lex18.com/news/pulaski-co-science-teacher-receives-national-honor

Darby Beane, Sep 26, 2023 Updated Sep 26, 2023

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (WDRB) -- Students in Hardin County are applying their studies to real-world problem solving by helping NASA with research. The focus is on hydroponics, in which plants are grown in water instead of soil.

A group of about two dozen John Hardin High School students, mostly freshmen, are researching hydroponic techniques in Jeremy Hall's agricultural education class.

Hardin County students planning to send research to NASA. (Photo provided by Jeremy Hall)

Hall, in his 24th year teaching, explained that this is a project between groups including the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden in Florida and NASA. He also said his class is working with a corporation called MARSfarm. Use this link to learn more about the products MARSfarm has to offer science teachers! 

Hall said the goal is to conduct research for NASA to help develop hydroponic techniques in the space program. 

"We applied for it and got chosen, and so we're going to be testing about eight different plant cultivars to see performance-wise how they do and we will share that data with NASA in about 28 days. We actually start seeding tomorrow," Hall said Tuesday. 

According to Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, the Growing Beyond Earth program is a "classroom-based citizen science project operated in partnership with NASA, designed to advance NASA research on growing plants in space. It includes a series of plant experiments conducted by students in a Fairchild-designed plant habitat similar to the Vegetable Production System (Veggie) on the International Space Station."

Hall said his students are working in groups as engineers, mission leads, and botanists to conduct the research. There's a poster at John Hardin High School now marking the 'Active Research Site' saying:

"This school is actively testing edible plant cultivars to assist scientists at NASA. Data will help determine which plants will be considered for growth in future space missions."

"All these trials are going into the Artemis project which is the big lunar-based project they're [NASA] hoping to start," said Hall. 

He said students are excited to see their work have meaning in real-world application and said even if their research shows failure, as long as they understand why, it will be valuable information to share. 

"I think one of my kids had a really good point yesterday. They were like, 'Man this is going to be cool when I'm 70-years-old I can tell my grandkids, 'You see those plants? They're growing there on that moon base. I was part of that,'" said Hall. 

Hardin County students planning to send research to NASA. (Photo provided by Jeremy Hall)

While the classroom environment won't be able to replicate scenarios like changes in gravity, Hall said research can show which plant varieties grow the fastest, produce the most, and have the highest nutritional value. He explained that different schools are studying other environmental impacts. 

At the end of the first phase of the trial, Hall said results will be sent to NASA. Students will have the opportunity to join a virtual conversation with NASA engineers and botanists and then together, design another round of experiments where they may change aspects such as humidity or lighting to look at more results. 

Copyright 2023 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.

By Madison Carmouche

Published: Sep. 28, 2023 at 10:18 PM CDT

HAZARD, Ky. (WYMT) - The Challenger Learning Center worked on its newest exhibit for several months before the unveiling on Thursday.

The grand opening gave visitors their first look at what the new Moon, Mars, and Beyond exhibit has to offer.

“Today is just a momentous occasion. We are taking what is 24 years of the Challenger Learning Center and we’re giving it brand new life,” said one of the Challenger Learning Center board members, Sandi Curd.

Officials with the center said they often have students come back and let them know what field trips to the center did for their future.

“They come to the center and their minds get expanded, ‘Oh I might be able to go to college,’” said former President of Hazard Community and Technical College Ed Hughes. “They might be the first in their family to go to college.”

Jody Caudill said, when he was younger, he loved the programs offered by the center and made the trek back from his Space Engineering Master’s program at Morehead State University.

“All of them have something to do with engineering or space and that kind of led me to, well, it really led me to know I want to be an engineer,” said Caudill.

Before all of the work could be completed, the center raised $2.25 million for the new exhibit, using both donations and grants.

“Just because it’s a smaller area, does not at all affect impact, in fact, it magnifies it. It’s just superb that it can be at a center like this too,” said John Siegel, the exhibit fabricator who has also fabricated one-of-a-kind robotic arms for the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, and the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston.

If you are interested in seeing the Moon, Mars, and Beyond exhibit, you can visit the Challenger Learning Center Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Copyright 2023 WYMT. All rights reserved.