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Check out the US Department of Energy's Fermilab Resources for NGSS and STEM Fact Sheet. To learn more about Fermilab's institutes, look at this poster titled "Implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards - Science and Engineering Practices", presented at Smithsonian Science Education Center, 2015 Regional Leaders Meeting. 

October 25, 2016 

On October 25, 2016, the Smithsonian Science Education Center in collaboration with the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Colorado STEM, and the Colorado Education Initiative hosted a one-day program to Build Awareness for STEM Education (BASE) and to discuss the work currently taking place to scale up the Leadership and Assistance for Science Education Reform (LASER) model in Colorado. Click here to learn more about the Smithsonian Science Education Center's leadership development opportunities and BASE events. 

October 25, 2016

Chevron’s Enjoy Science Project is a US $30 million, 5-year, public private partnership to strengthen Thailand’s competitiveness and innovation by improving science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and technical vocational education and training (TVET) across the country. This Chevron project has integrated the Smithsonian's Science and Technology for Children (STC) curriculum with practical trainings to continuously increase the competency of teachers as well as to enhance their preparation and ability to lead inquiry-based learning activities. The goal is to will help students to think like scientists and put them on a pathway to successful STEM careers. These students will become the driving force behind the achievement of Thailand 4.0. To read more about how the LASER project served as the foundation of the Chevron Enjoy Science Project, go to: The Chevron Enjoy Science Newsletter - Issue No. 8.

October 26, 2016

The Pennsylvania Science Matters e-Blast October 2016 issue highlights two resources related to the Smithsonian Science Education Center. Cheryl Rush Dix will present at the Pennsylvania Science Teachers Association (PSTA) Conference November 30 - December 2, 2016 and will discuss the implementation of a K-12 science program based upon the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for the Erie School District. Cheryl will share lessons learned in developing the curriculum, professional development, and implementation of the new curriculum based on the Smithsonian Science Education Center's Theory of Action. Also referenced in the e-Blast is the November 1, 2016 webinar co-hosted by the Smithsonian Science Education Center, the Department of Energy, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which provided resources, tools, classroom materials, and PD opportunities for P-12 science educators. You can read the e-Blast here. 

When it comes to pushing the boundaries of science, you need to look no further than the European Organization for Nuclear Research (or CERN). Based in Geneva, Switzerland, CERN is a complex of particle accelerators and detectors—the most well-known being their Large Hadron Collider (or LHC), which is the world’s most powerful particle accelerator. Now, you might reasonably ask, “Why are we accelerating particles?” At the core of these experiments is one true objective: to find out what the Universe is made of.

October 28, 2016

Katherine Blanchard, Program Specialist for the Smithsonian Science Education Center's Professional Services Division, traveled to Mexico City, Mexico from October 25-28 to attend the 2016 CLASE conference sponsored by IFIE - Instituto de Fomento e Investigación Educativa (Institute for Educational Research and Development). There she sat on a panel entitled “Learning by Doing” with panelists from Australia and Mexico to discuss the power of STEM education and inquiry-based education. You can learn more about the conference and watch the webcast here.

October 30, 2016

The Smithsonian Science Education Center partnered with two of the Smithsonian Affiliates in October 2016. In North Carolina, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences hosted the Smithsonian Science Education Center's National Advisory Board Meeting and associated activities in Raleigh on October 17th, 2016.  In Colorado, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and the Smithsonian Science Education Center collaborated on workshops on Building Awareness for Science Education in Denver, October 24th-25th, 2016.

October 2016

The Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC) Program Specialist Katie Gainsback attended an i3 Project Directors Meeting with the U.S. Department of Education where she was asked to sit down for an on-camera interview about the SSEC’s ED-funded work. Sound bites from that interview along with other i3 projects were edited into a video answering the question “Why is innovation so important in schools?”

November 1, 2016

The Smithsonian Science Education Center National Advisory Board toured Johnston County Industries (JCI) materials center in Selma, NC. Bill Sharek, President & CEO of JCI, welcomed the group to the Center, provided an overview of JCI’s mission, goals and operations, and lead the group on a tour of the facilities to help the board members understand how Johnston County Industries (JCI) and Johnston County Schools are successfully working together to provide the teachers and students in Johnston County with effective, stream-lined science education procedures and tools.

November 2, 2016

On November 2, 2016, the Smithsonian Science Education Center, sponsored by Carolina Biological, shared strategies and insights on creating, collaborating, communicating, designing and innovating from kindergarten on up at the South Carolina Science Council Annual Conference, held at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center. Participants previewed the Smithsonian Science Education Center's new engineering modules for grades 1 through 5.

November 7, 2016

In October 2015, Museum President and Director Ioannis Miaoulis met with U.S. Senator Edward Markey, U.S. Representative Paul Tonko, and key congressional education committee staff. He also met with the Greek Ambassador to the U.S., Christos P. Panagopoulos, and important contacts at the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Education, the Smithsonian Science Education Center, and the Embassy of the Czech Republic. In every case, Miaoulis discussed the importance of STEM (science, education, engineering, and technology) education, our efforts to introduce K-12 and informal engineering and computer science education, and how we might best collaborate going forward. As a follow-up to this visit, the Smithsonian Science Education Center and The Museum of Science, Boston officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in October 2016 to work together to advance engineering education in schools and informal learning environments.

November 7, 2016

The national organization 100kin10 designed an online resource that outlines a series of activities that teachers could integrate into their classrooms during the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s Active Learning Day on October 25th, 2016 – and, of course, beyond! These brief activities, curated from and by 100Kin10 partners, leading organizations in STEM teaching, are divided by grade level and subject area and designed to facilitate "Active Learning" experiences for teachers and their students.

Read more at http://www.literacyworldwide.org/blog/literacy-daily/2016/05...

November 7, 2016

MSPnet held a webinar on Tuesday, November 1, 2016 at 8:00 pm Eastern Time promoting the availability of Federal resources for P-12 Educators.  The webinar, which was organized by the Committee on STEM Education (CoSTEM), highlighted the work of the US Department of Energy, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, the Smithsonian Science Education Center, and MSPnet. This live broadcast discussed federal funding sources for P-12 educators, professional development opportunities, and detail other tools and resources available for use in the classroom.

November 8, 2016

More than 300 educators from across Central New York converged on Roxboro Road Middle School in Mattydale on November 8, 2016 for a science conference that offers four “live” research lessons in which students and teachers engaged in practices aligned with the new state science standards. This sold out conference was co-hosted by the Onondaga-Cortland-Madison Board of Cooperative Educational Services (OCM BOCES), the Syracuse University School of Education, the Smithsonian Science Education Center, and several local teacher centers.

November 9, 2016

Dr. Marjee Chmiel, Division Director for Curriculum & Communications of the Smithsonian Science Education Center, served as the Keynote Speaker for the Texas Science Education Leadership Association (TSELA) Fall Meeting in San Antonio, Texas on November 9, 2019. There, she spoke on the importance of knowing + doing for STEM education, and connected the Smithsonian Science Education Center’s approach to transforming science education to data demonstrating its effectiveness.

November 9, 2016

Division Director of Curriculum and Communications, Dr. Marjee Chmiel, completed a four-week trip to Southeast Asia where she spoke with Ministries of Education of Indonesia and Malaysia about the work in STEM education being spearheaded by Smithsonian Science Education Center. She served as a juror for the awards for best science teacher of Southeast Asia. She was the keynote speaker of the Mathematics, Science, and Computer Science Education International Seminiar in Bandung, Indonesia. While there, she also met with the Minister of Science Technology and Innovation of Malaysia and toured the Petronas Science Center in Kuala Lumpur.

November 9, 2016

Dr. Amy D'Amico, Division Director of Professional Services for the Smithsonian Science Education Center in Washington, D.C., recently traveled to Baton Rouge for a consultation with The Dunham School Science Department and administrators. Dr. D’Amico spent three days observing in classrooms, meeting with faculty and administration, touring facilities and planning with school leaders regarding the school’s strategic plan for the future of its STEM and Innovation Program.

Visitors from Colombia

Fall 2016 National Advisoary Board Meeting

The Smithsonian Science Education Center held its fall national advisory board events which included a materials center tour, board dinner and board meeting in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina, one of the states where SSEC tested the efficacy of its Leadership and Assistance for Science Education Reform (LASER) model. The tour was held on Monday, October 17th at the Johnston county industries materials center (JCI) in Selma, NC.

November 12, 2016

Eric Nastasi, Division Director of Advancement, and other STEM experts, were interviewed by the New York Family, a monthly family lifestyle magazine focused on the interests, needs, and concerns of New York City parents. Eric discussed what STEM looks like in the classroom and why it’s a vital part of modern-day learning. In particular, Eric shared with readers information about the Smithsonian Science Education Center's STEM-based curriculum, which is used in schools across the country, and locally at the Alexander Robertson School.

November 20, 2016

As Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, and robotic technology advance, highly skilled jobs demanding high wages will be eliminated. As educators, how can we prepare our students for a post-employment society? Dr. Carol O'Donnell, Director of the Smithsonian Science Education Center, has been invited as a panelist to address these questions and more on the panel, "How Education Can Prepare You for the Future of Work." The Global Talent Summit 2017 will take place in Zurich, Switzerland January 14, 2017 and will be streamed live around the world.

November 20, 2016

The Smithsonian Office of Fellowships and Internships highlighted Anusha Holavanahali, a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, who spent her summer developing curriculum at the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC). She used roly polys to help students learn about what animals need to survive, and how to best protect animals in case of habitat changes. 

November 20, 2016

NIBIB's science education page, which recently highlighted the Smithsonian Science Education Center, is meant to be a resource for students, parents, teachers, and anyone interested in biomedical imaging and bioengineering. On the site, you’ll find answers to commonly asked questions about medical imaging and bioengineering technologies and learn about NIBIB-funded research. You’ll also find links to websites, organizations, and events that promote science education and encourage scientific discovery.

November 22, 2016

The "Kata to Grow" website provides users with materials and instructions for introducing a pattern of practical scientific thinking in the classroom, through a 50-minute, hands-on exercise called Kata in the Classroom. Kata recently highlighted the Smithsonian Science Education Center's Good Thinking! video, "That's so Meta(cognitive)." 

November 22, 2016

Fort Collins, CO teacher, Lisa Musante, who was originally trained in aeronautics, is now in her fifth year as the Science & Engineering Interventionist at Tavelli Elementary in Fort Collins. In this post, Mrs. Musante discusses her role as Tavelli's Site Coordinator during the adoption of the Smithsonian Science Education Center's Leadership and Assistance for Science Education Reform (LASER) program in Colorado

100&Change is a MacArthur Foundation competition for a $100 million grant to fund a single proposal that will make measurable progress toward solving a significant problem. 

Watch the Smithsonian's proposal below!