Events Archive
Black Inventors and Innovators: New Perspectives
November 16-20, 2020
Join the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation for a week-long webinar series drawing renewed attention to historic and contemporary inventors of color and Black technology consumers, while discussing strategies for building a more equitable innovation ecosystem. Visit https://invention.si.edu/black-inventors-and-innovators-new-... for more information.
NOVEMBER 16-20, 1:00-2:30 pm ET, DAILY
Session Schedule:
November 16: Underrepresentation & Invisibility Speakers: Rayvon Fouché, Professor of American Studies, Purdue University Lisa D. Cook, Professor of Economics and International Relations, Michigan State University Moderated by: Cathleen S. Lewis, Curator, Space History Department, National Air and Space Museum
November 17: Pipelines & Pathways: Invention Education, Training, & Mentoring Speakers Amy E. Slaton, Professor, Department of History, Drexel University James Holly, Jr., Assistant Professor of Urban Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics Education, Wayne State University Moderated by: Yolanda L. Comedy, Science and Technology Policy Consultant
November 18: Black Inventors & Innovators at Work Speakers Tyrone Grandison, Chief of Technology Officer, Pearl Long-Term Care Solutions Tahira Reid Smith, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University Moderated by: Monica M. Smith, Head of Exhibitions and Interpretation, Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, National Museum of American History
November 19: Commercialization & Institutions Speakers Kara W. Swanson, Professor of Law and Affiliate Professor of History, Northeastern University School of Law Shontavia Johnson, Associate Vice President for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Clemson University Moderated by: Crystal Marie Moten, Curator of African American History, Division of Work and Industry, National Museum of American History
November 20: How Have Black Individuals & Communities Experienced Technology? Speakers Charlton McIlwain, Vice Provost for Faculty Engagement and Development, New York University André Brock, Associate Professor, School of Literature, Media, and Communication, Georgia Tech Moderated by: Eric S. Hintz, Historian, Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, National Museum of American History
The National Museum of American History welcomes visitors of all ages and abilities. Real-time captioning (CART) will be provided for online programs. For other questions about accessibility, please email nmahprograms@si.edu. Two weeks’ notice is preferred. The Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center gratefully acknowledges The Lemelson Foundation for its generous support of the Black Inventors and Innovators: New Perspectives webinar series.
Minnesota Science Teacher Association's Conference on Science Education | Teaching Youth about the Science of COVID-19: How can they protect themselves, their families, and their communities? | Virtual
November 12-17, 2020
On Tuesday, November 17, the Smithsonian Science Education Center's Katherine Blanchard and Alexa Mogck will be presenting at the Minnesota Science Teacher Association's Conference on Science Education, providing a workshop on the SSEC's COVID-19 module for elementary strand teachers.
As schools and districts develop plans for their 2020-21 school year, science educators will play an important role in educating students about COVID-19 and the underlying science and social science of the pandemic. At the Smithsonian, we believe that students are more likely to engage in protective behaviors if they understand the science of WHY they are being asked to engage in these behaviors (e.g., wearing face masks, physical distancing, contact tracing, sorting through claims and evidence, etc.) To that end, the Smithsonian Science Education Center and its collaborators developed a free hands-on guide for youth and their families, available in 25 languages to support English Learners: https://ssec.si.edu/covid-19. This webinar will demonstrate some of the practical hands-on activities science educators and caregivers can use with students to help them better understand how to protect themselves and others from COVID-19. For more information, contact BlanchardKP@si.edu.
ScIC4 "Science Is Cool" Virtual Unconference
October 24, 2020
Science is Cool is a series of free virtual unconferences by PocketLab. Since March 2020, ScIC has attracted the participation of over 30,000 science teachers and education professionals globally. Speakers and partners are businesses, scientists, innovators, and passionate educators just like you. We believe that continuing to educate and innovate is key to contributing to our communities. The Smithsonian Science Education Center will be presenting on Distance Learning and Digital Resources from the Smithsonian.
Learn more about Science is Cool here: https://www.scic-conference.com/.
Cultural Relevancy in STEM Classrooms
October 17-24, 2020
Southern University and A&M College and the Smithsonian Science Education Center will host a two-day virtual professional development workshop for grades K-12 STEM teachers and their administrators funded by Shell Oil Company to:
- Build awareness about the importance of culturally proficient teaching for all populations
- Encourage STEM teachers to modify their methods of instruction and integrate classroom environments in ways that enable all students to envision themselves in past, present, and future contexts
- Address “unintentional” racism and develop strategies to confront racist concepts and ideas
- Develop a community of learners to provide ongoing support and share resources
The Cultural Relevancy in STEM Classrooms Professional Development offers an opportunity for K-12 educators to improve cultural competency in teaching practice by engaging in conversations and activities designed to promote culturally relevant mindsets and pedagogy.
If you are interested in learning teaching strategies that will assist you in fostering a learning environment that ensures academic success for every student and builds their confidence to appreciate themselves and the world around them, then this professional development is for you!
To learn more about this event contact Sherrell Lewis at LewisSM@si.edu.
1st South East Asia STEM International Conference (SEA-STEM-IC): Using the UN Sustainable Development Goals to Teach Inquiry-based STEM Education in Challenging Times | Virtual
October 20-22, 2020
In the era of COVID-19, racial and gender inequities, climate change, and the digital divide, STEM educators play a critical role in helping students discover, understand, and act on real-world challenges that affect us. In this session, the Director of the Smithsonian Science Education Center, Dr. Carol O’Donnell, will discuss teaching inquiry-based STEM education (IBSE) in complex times and how the Smithsonian is using the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework for helping students maintain high interest in STEM as a path to doing social good. Dr. O’Donnell will draw on the Smithsonian Science Education Center’s recent chapter published in the book “Education Around the Globe: Creating Opportunities and Transforming Lives” (https://www.infoagepub.com/products/Education-Around-the-Globe) and will share free curriculum resources for STEM educators to guide their instruction.
To register for the event, go to: http://stem.id/2020/.
To view the keynote, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu5_WbaG4pQ.
American Women of Science Symposium | The Double Bind: The Price of Being a Minority Woman in Science: Dr. Shirley Malcom Reflects on 44 Years of History | Virtual
October 20, 2020
In "The Double Bind" panel, Dr. Shirley Malcom, Senior Advisor and Director of SEA Change at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, talked with three Smithsonian educators about her seminal 1976 report, The Double Bind: The Price of Being a Minority Woman in Science, 44 years after its publication. SSEC Director Dr. Carol O'Donnell, Under Secretary for Education, Ruki Neuhold-Ravikumar, and Katrina Lashley, Program Coordinator at the Anacostia Community Museum were panelists during this event as apart of the American Women of Science: Recovering History, Defining the Future virtual symposium.
In the report, Dr. Malcom and co-authors argued that the struggles to be scientists were greater for women of color than for white women or men of color. The persistently low numbers of women of color in STEM in 2020 support this claim, and the limited number of teachers of color in STEM education (less than 1 teacher of color for every 50 students of color) perpetuate this disparity. Yet, despite progress in graduating more women of color in STEM fields, women of color continue to be underrepresented at the advanced levels in most STEM fields and do not persist in these positions for a variety of factors (Pew Research, 2018). This panel addressed question such as: What barriers existed for women of color in science when Dr. Malcom first authored her report 44 years ago? What barriers still exist today? What progress have we made? What tools and methods can educators and science writers like AAAS use to reach new audiences and inspire the next generation of women in STEM?
To view the full schedule and register, click here: https://womenshistory.si.edu/events/american-women-science.
Citizen Science SDG Conference: Smithsonian Science for Global Goals | Berlin, Germany | Virtual
October 14, 2020
In this session, we discuss how we integrated citizen science into Smithsonian Science for Global Goals (SSfGG)--a series of free online Community Research Guides for youth ages 8-17, which contain carefully sequenced transdisciplinary science lessons interwoven with education for sustainable development. Through the development of a series of modules (e.g., Mosquito!, Food!, COVID-19!, Biodiversity!, Sustainable Communities!) the Smithsonian Science Education Center began to use the SDGs as a framework for engaging youth in discovering, understanding, and acting on the science of global issues faced by their communities. However, one of the challenges with abstract global goals is how to apply them concretely in local settings. This session discusses how we integrated citizen science into the SSfGG program, designed to incorporate place-specific data and community perspectives to ensure local relevance to bring about transformational impact. We argue that it is not enough to teach students that the SDGs exist. Instead we are seeking new ways for learners ages 8-17 around the world to embody the SDGs in their communities every day. In other words, the goal of the SSfGG project is to not only teach students the science behind these socio-scientific issues, but to drive students’ capabilities to act to use this science to do social good in their communities and the world. But, to drive students to act, we need to assess their propensity for changing their own behaviors, or micro-actions. This session discusses how the Smithsonian is working with Aarhus University to embed “extreme citizen science” into SSfGG through digital citizen science tools and games based on behavioral economics developed by Dr. Jacob Sherson and his team at ScienceAtHome. We also discuss how we are using their Citizen Science Notebook as a tool for students to move up the “ladders of participation” in citizen science from “traditional citizen science” to “extreme citizen science,” which “takes into account local needs, practices, and culture and works with broad networks of people to design and build new devices and knowledge creation processes that can transform the world” (University College London, 2019).
For additional information, please contact Kate Echevarria at EchevarriaK@si.edu.
Nebraska Association of Teachers of Science Annual Fall Conference “Using a Learning Model to Guide Cohesive Lesson Development in Science Education”
October 3, 2020
In this session, the Smithsonian Science Education Center will provide an example framework for developing a sequence of lessons for your K-12 classroom, museum, or learning center that draws on the "Smithsonian Science for Global Goals" Community Research Guides, which help youth ages 8-17 discover, understand, and act on the most pressing socio-scientific challenges of our time (such as food security, renewable energy, biodiversity, and climate science). These freely available guides are based on the Smithsonian’s Global Goals Action Progression learning model, which combines key pieces of inquiry-based science education, social and emotional learning, education for sustainable development, and civic engagement. Learn how to turn set of seemingly disparate set of “free lessons” into a cohesive “curriculum” that first helps you understand students’ identity, cultural context, and learning disposition toward science; then engages students in questioning and investigating the issue using their community as their laboratory; supports students critical reasoning and systemic understanding of the issue from multiple perspectives; and then finally encourages students to use their new scientific knowledge to take action in their own communities. The presenters will use their new “COVID-19! How Can I Protect Myself and Others?” community research guide for youth as an example lesson sequence.
Smithsonian K-12 Science Education Action Planning Institute
July 28-30, 2020
The Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC) is holding its first fully virtual, free leadership development event this summer, from July 28-30. Through a series of live and asynchronous meeting opportunities, individuals and teams will tackle the challenge of ensuring K-12 science education remains a critical component in their classrooms and communities during COVID-19 and beyond.
This institute is open to educators, parents, community members, and industry stakeholders dedicated to ensuring educational continuity for all students. Teams and individuals will attend sessions most relevant to their needs on topics like social emotional supports, evaluating digital resources, facilitating three-dimensional science investigations remotely, and equity and accessibility. Participants will then create action plans to articulate meaningful connections between their knowledge and practice.
To learn more about this program, contact Katie Gainsback at gainsbackk@si.edu.