Science

Federal Science Agencies Release the Nation’s Climate Literacy Guide 

Without scientists from Latin America, we would still be in the dark about why and how the dinosaurs were pushed to extinction.

A Smithsonian educator explains what it takes for athletes to win foot races in record time at the Olympics and on tracks around the world.

Smithsonian Science Education Center attended Climate Week in New York City with representatives from Smithsonian including SERC, STRI, SSEC, and NMNH.

During the week’s events, the Smithsonian Science Education Center brought K-12 sustainable development education to a global stage and joined the discussion on advancing the Global Goals. Some of the events included:

Integrating Climate Literacy into Your Classroom – On July 19, 2023, the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC) co-hosted two in-person sessions at AIB for th 2023 Smithsonian National Educational Summit under the “Life on a Sustainable Planet” conference stand. To begin, Dr. Carol O’Donnell moderated a Deep Dive panel focused on Addressing Climate Literacy in L-12 Schools, featuring panelists Dr.

2023 Nobel Prize Summit: The Smithsonian Science Education Center conducted a 2- hour session on “Trust in Science” featuring the Smithsonian Science for Global Goals project at the 2023 Nobel Prize Summit. This Summit was hosted by the Nobel Foundation and the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) and was held May 24-26, 2023, in Washington, DC, both virtually and in-person.

The next year offers the highly unusual opportunity to see two eclipses of the Sun in North America – a solar eclipse “Double Header.” An annular (ring of fire) eclipse occurs on October 14, 2023, followed by a total eclipse on April 8, 2024.

Carol O'Donnell Delivers a Keynote

Sustainability Mindsets Presented at CIES 2023 

Smithsonian Science Education Center Director Carol O'Donnell co-authored a public report on convergence education. The report is titled Convergence Eduation: A Guide to Transdisciplinary STEM Learning and Teaching on STEM Education and was released by the Interagency Working Group (IWCG) on Convergence Federal Coordination in STEM Subcommittee Committee on STEM Education of the National Science and Technology Council. In the report the IWCG developed  a definition and overarching guidance related to convergence education.