Earth Science Week Update

From http://www.earthsciweek.org/newsletter/

EARTH SCIENCE WEEK UPDATE
American Geological Institute
Vol. 7, No. 2: February 2009

IN THIS ISSUE…

* Climate to Be Theme of Earth Science Week 2009
* Make Connections With Geoscience Partners Network
* NASA Webcasts Target Grades 3-8 Teachers
* AGI Reports on Geoscience Education, Workforce
* Young Earth Scientists to Gather in China
* Ward’s Natural Science an Earth Science Partner

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Climate to Be Theme of
Earth Science Week 2009
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AGI is pleased to announce the theme of Earth Science Week 2009:
"Understanding Climate." Being held October 11-17, Earth Science Week 2009 will promote scientific understanding of a timely, vital topic: Earth’s climate.

Begin planning now for activities and resources designed to help students and citizens answer key questions. How do geoscientists determine the causes of weather patterns? What is the difference between weather and climate? How has our climate changed in the past - and how is it changing now?

AGI hosts Earth Science Week in cooperation with sponsors as a service to the public and the geoscience community. Each year, local groups, educators, and interested individuals organize celebratory events. Earth Science Week offers opportunities to discover the Earth sciences and engage in responsible stewardship of the Earth.

The program is supported by the U.S. Geological Survey, NASA, the AAPG Foundation, and other major geoscience groups. To learn more about Earth Science Week, related resources, and ways to participate, go to http://www.earthsciweek.org.

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Make Connections With
Geoscience Partners Network
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To facilitate partnerships between educators and others in the geoscience community, AGI is launching the Geoscience Partners Network (GPN). Soon you’ll be able to use a powerful online tool - the GPN Map on the Earth Science Week website at http://www.earthsciweek.org - to identify geoscience partners near you, access relevant information, and network with colleagues to forge meaningful partnerships.

Want to organize a field trip or a classroom visit? Teachers can make the most of Earth Science Week and other educational opportunities by working closely with professional scientists, university professors, local employers, nonprofit representatives, environmental educators, and government leaders in the geosciences.

Planned to launch in the months prior to Earth Science Week 2009, the GPN Map will pinpoint local contacts near you for AGI Member Societies, state geological surveys, agencies such as USGS and NASA, universities offering geology programs, parks, museums, and other groups. To recommend an organization for inclusion, please contact AGI’s Jason Betzner (jpb@agiweb.org).

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NASA Webcasts Target
Grades 3-8 Teachers
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NASA Langley Research Center, working in cooperation with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and the Virginia Department of Education Region 2 Math/Science Coalition, is offering a series of professional development webcasts for teachers of grades three through eight.

Airing 4-5:30pm EST, upcoming webcasts on Earth system science topics will include:

* Solar Radiation and the Atmosphere (March 19),
* Tides (April 16), and
* The Story of Ocean Heat Storage (June 18).

NASA is a longtime Earth Science Week partner. The webcasts can be viewed on the NASA Digital Learning Network at http://dln.nasa.gov/dln/.

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AGI Reports on Geoscience
Education, Workforce
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Trends in Earth science education are a major focus of "Status of the Geoscience Workforce 2009," a report recently released by AGI’s Workforce Program. The first chapter, "Trends in Geoscience Education from K-12 through Community College" (http://www.agiweb.org/workforce/reports.html) details U.S. students’ access to Earth science education.

For example, most states include Earth science in the curriculum for grades six to eight, according to the report. The number of states requiring Earth science has increased only slightly in recent years, however, from five in 2002 to seven in 2007. For the past 26 years, the share of high school students taking Earth science courses has not exceeded 25 percent.

Based on original data collected by AGI as well as from federal sources, professional membership organizations, and industry, the report describes the supply and training of students, workforce demographics and employment projections, and trends in geosciences research funding and economic indicators. Produced with support from the AGI Foundation, the entire report is available online (http://www.agiweb.org/workforce/).

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Young Earth Scientists
To Gather in China
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The Young Earth Scientists for Society (YES) network, an association of geoscientists under age 35 representing geological societies worldwide, in collaboration with the International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE), is organizing an international conference for young earth scientists, policy makers, advisors and decision makers.

The YES Congress will be held at the China University of Geosciences, in Beijing, China October 25-28, 2009. The conference will discuss global climate, environmental, and geological challenges and establish an interdisciplinary global network committed to solving these challenges.

Abstracts for oral presentations, poster presentations, and roundtable symposia are due by March 30. To learn more, visit http://www.yescongress2009.org/index.php.

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Ward’s Natural Science
An Earth Science Partner
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Ward’s Natural Science, an Earth Science Week partner, provides a wide range of geoscience education materials, from classroom and field equipment to lab activities designed specifically for teaching Earth science.

Earth science materials available through Ward’s include geology apparatus and collections, fossil reproductions and specimens, meteorology equipment, lab activities, models, rock and mineral specimens, books, charts, maps, posters, audio-visual materials, and computer software. A supporter of education for nearly 150 years, Ward’s offers additional information and a free newsletter at http://www.wardsci.com.

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The American Geological Institute is a nonprofit federation of 45 geoscientific and professional associations that represents more than 120,000 geologists, geophysicists, and other earth scientists. Founded in 1948, AGI provides information services to geoscientists, serves as a voice of shared interests in the profession, plays a major role in strengthening geoscience education, and strives to increase public awareness of the vital role the geosciences play in society’s use of resources and interaction with the environment. For contact information, please visit http://www.earthsciweek.org/contactus/index.html.

Earth Science Week Update

The latest Earth Science Week Newsletter is available. There is lots of interesting and helpful things included in it.

Earth Science Week Update

EARTH SCIENCE WEEK UPDATE
American Geological Institute
Vol. 6, No. 8: August 2008

IN THIS ISSUE.
* Earth Science Week 2008 Coming Soon: Get Ready
* Global Effort Offers Unique Teaching Resources
* NASA to Students: Plant Ozone Bioindicator Gardens
* AGI Website Monitors Pulse of Earth Science Education
* Art Contest Encourages Learning About Trees

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Earth Science Week 2008
Coming Soon: Get Ready
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Heading back to school? Now is the time to make plans for Earth Science Week 2008. The 11th annual Earth Science Week will celebrate the theme "No Child Left Inside" with a wide range of exciting activities, programs, and resources designed to help young people explore Earth science firsthand.

Pitch in to promote science literacy. Dig up fossil evidence of past life, record observations of cloud patterns, or visit science centers and parks. Conduct activities described on the Earth Science Week website at http://www.earthsciweek.org/forteachers/index.html. For more ideas, see recommendations at http://www.earthsciweek.org/forplanners/index.html.

This year's event is shaping up to reach even more than last year's total estimated audience of over 5 million people. For the past decade, AGI has organized Earth Science Week to foster public and professional awareness of the status of Earth science in education and society. To learn more or to order an Earth Science Week 2008 Toolkit, visit the event website at http://www.earthsciweek.org.

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Global Effort Offers
Unique Teaching Resources
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Educators internationally are contributing to a new online resource called Earth Learning Idea (ELI). ELI offers a wide variety of Earth science instruction ideas, all designed to provide practical tools for teachers and teacher-trainers.

For the International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE), ELI is publishing one activity a week through 2008. Each activity is designed to maximize student participation, learning, and enjoyment while minimizing cost. Strategies promote interactive teaching and students' investigational and thinking skills. Visit ELI at http://www.earthlearningidea.com. The site also offers a blog at http://www.earthlearningidea.blogspot.com.

IYPE, officially spanning from February 2007 to December 2009, is a major focus of Earth Science Week 2008. IYPE aims to demonstrate new and exciting ways Earth science can help future generations meet the challenges of ensuring a safer and more prosperous world. Outreach includes educational ventures such as lecture tours, geology excursions, articles, competitions, and many other items and activities. To learn more, visit http://www.esfs.org online.

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NASA to Students: Plant
Ozone Bioindicator Gardens
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NASA is launching a new website to help students plant ozone monitoring and bioindicator gardens at their schools or in their backyards. The website expands on the May activity - "Plant an Ozone Monitoring Garden" - of the Earth Science Activity Calendar for the 2008-09 school year, featured in this year's Earth Science Week Toolkit.

NASA encourages teachers to bookmark the site and visit often. This fall you'll find background information on ozone-induced plant injury, training in identifying ozone injury to specific plants, activities and links for getting involved, and learning resources for educators and citizen scientists.

The site is designed to help young people discover the importance of understanding ozone in the Earth's atmosphere and in their own backyards. As the site develops, you'll have the opportunity to share data with NASA - and eventually with students and researchers worldwide as part of the larger GLOBE project. Visit http://ozonegarden.larc.nasa.gov/index.html to learn more.

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AGI Website Monitors 'Pulse'
Of Earth Science Education
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Worried about the weak heartbeat of education in your schools? You can check The Pulse of Earth Science Education, AGI's website that monitors Earth science education trends nationwide. The site, new last year, offers detailed, up-to-date information on the status of geoscience education in every state, as well as guidance for advocates.

For each state, AGI provides the most recent available data on:
* teacher certification requirements and numbers teaching related subjects;
* relevant courses that middle and high school students must take;
* K-12 enrollment levels in Earth science and related subjects;
* coverage of Earth science within state science standards;
* state assessment of students in Earth science;
* textbooks adopted and relevance of relevance to Earth science; and
* contact information for state education agencies.

The website, at http://www.agiweb.org/education/statusreports, features findings that many find surprising. Find out whether your state is one of the many where Earth science is included in education standards, but fails to carry through to curriculum requirements or high school exit exams. The site also offers an Advocacy Guide with recommendations for taking action within your state and local school systems.

The information presented is based on available data collected from numerous sources. Viewers are invited to help update information by contacting AGI at aeb@agiweb.org.

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Art Contest Encourages
Learning About Trees
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Earth Science Week offers students lots of opportunities to show what they know about geoscience! In addition to traditional essay, photo, and art contests and this year's new International Year of Planet Earth-Earth Science Week photo contest (http://www.earthsciweek.org/contests/index.html), the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) has announced an art contest for U.S. students in grades two to four.

Challenging students to explore trees and their importance to the world, the contest encourages early elementary students to go outside and directly observe trees in their communities, do science activities with their classes or at home, read stories and books, search relevant websites, and then draw pictures showing what they learned. The contest supports national education standards in science and geography.

Entries are due October 24. The first-place artist will receive a $100 gift certificate to Crayola.com or Amazon.com, and his or her artwork will be used on IGES's holiday e-card. Second- and third-place winners will receive $75 and $50 gift certificates, respectively. Participation certificates will be available online as PDF files for teachers or parents to download and print. Check the IGES contest website for details, including changes from previous years, at http://www.strategies.org/artcontest.

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The American Geological Institute is a nonprofit federation of 44 geoscientific and professional associations that represents more than 120,000 geologists, geophysicists, and other earth scientists. Founded in 1948, AGI provides information services to geoscientists, serves as a voice of shared interests in the profession, plays a major role in strengthening geoscience education, and strives to increase public awareness of the vital role the geosciences play in society's use of resources and interaction with the environment. For contact information, please visit http://www.earthsciweek.org/contactus/index.html.