Secondary Science Newsletter
October 12
Oklahoma's best science PD is coming to Edmond!
The Oklahoma Science Teachers Association Fall Conference
Coming October 31-November 1, 2014
OSTA “Flips” for Science
Registration for the OSTA Fall Conference is Now OPEN
The University of Central Oklahoma is once again the host for the OSTA Fall Staff Development Conference “OSTA Flips for Science”
UCO’s Howell Hall Science building on the campus of the University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond.
Saturday, November 1, 2014
8 am until 4:00 pm
$30 per person full Member registration, includes refreshments before and during the conference as well as lunch.
When you register for the conference, be sure to check your attendance at the OSTA Awards Reception on Friday, October 31st. Join as we celebrate the accomplishments and achievements of outstanding science educators from across the state. The reception will be held on downtown OKC on Film Row at the Dunlap-Codding Law Firm. The address is 609 W. Sheridan.
Registration Discounts are available to Full time College/ University Students. Student volunteers can also receive a waiver on the cost of registration in exchange for service to the association during the conference. Contact Dr. Beth Allan to schedule volunteer time and obtain a registration discount code. Volunteer opportunities are limited.
On-line payment is preferred.
This is a Members-Only Conference.
Join OSTA HERE
Register for the Conference by logging in to your OSTA Memberclicks account (Login required).
Sam Rhine Genetics Conference
Norman High School.............November 13th
Tulsa Community College - SE...........November 14th
Each school must pre-register on line to attend the conference.
Each school that pre-registers will receive an updated set of conference notes the week before the conference.
Only those who are pre-registered will be able to receive information regarding time changes, delays, postponements, cancellations etc.
Please pre-register on line at www.samrhine.com
Follow Sam's weekly updates on twitter: @samrhineguc
2014-15 Conference Topics:
I. Basic Concepts in Human Cancer:
A. Mitosis - programmed cell birth (symmetric & asymmetric) and Apoptosis - programmed cell death
B. All human cancer originates from a single somatic cell - that acquires some type of DNA Damage
C. All cancer is Genetic.....BUT most cancer is NOT Inherited
D. How tumors form - multiple mutations over 20-30 years - lead to invasive, life threatening tumors
E. Tumor Heterogeneity - all tumors are very complex mixtures with multiple clones of mutated cells
I I. Cancer Stem Cells - Cancer Cells with "Stemness"
A. Ability to Self Renew and Differentiate - often migratory and resistant to chemotherapy/radiation
B. Some human leukemias can be 'cured' with an antibody molecule vs. CD47 cancer cell marker
I I I. Human Tissue Engineering - producing human tissues and organs in the laboratory
A. National 'Waiting Lists' for Organ Donations and sources of transplantable body parts
B. Man Made: skin, nose, urinary bladder, ear, artery, cornea, liver, lung, kidney and heart
C. Liver in vitro via liver cell jet printer / Decelluarization & Redelluarization for organ production
D. Encapsulated cell therapy for Type 1 Diabetes
E. Producing hearts with iPS stem cells in mammalian chimeric embryos
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For conference details & pre-registration go to:
www.samrhine.com and click on 'Schedule'
Any questions - you may call or text Sam directly at (317) 439-7493 Thank you!
"Feedback evaluation data indicates numerous students are making
career decisions almost every day during these programs"
Nominate yourself or a colleague to serve on the OSTA board
There's still time to identify the outstanding teacher/leaders who can contribute to the future of Oklahoma Science Teachers Association and Oklahoma science education through service on the OSTA Board of Directors. Any active Oklahoma science teacher who is a member is eligible to run and be elected to OSTA office. Nominations this year are for terms beginning in 2015 for the offices of OSTA President-Elect (to serve as President 2016 and past-President 2017), Middle Level Director, College/University Director, Director at Large, and Secretary/Historian. Self nominations are welcome. The OSTA Board of Director Nomination form is online and found here. Hurry, Nominations close October 17th!
OK STEM Centers is looking for a few good teachers
OK STEM CENTERS…
is a statewide network of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Master Teachers (MT’s), The network is dedicated to providing regional, high quality professional development for PreK-12 teachers with the goal of improving student achievement in STEM.
OK STEM CENTERS activities will be held in collaboration with Career Tech Centers/regional universities where resident content experts can be a resource for each Master Teacher.
Master Teachers will be required to attend monthly training at the University of Central Oklahoma, do online content modules provided by the National Science Teachers Association, develop lesson plans for a statewide STEM Teacher Website to support the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science, and work at least 2 afternoons a week with their regional partners and/or teachers. Master Teachers are also encouraged to conduct at least one weekend training a month and will be required to conduct a summer professional development institute.
Minimum Requirements:
- Current K-6 teacher and/or 6-12 Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics Teacher
- Masters Degree and/or National Board Certification Preferred
- Demonstrated experience and/or interest in being a teacher leader
Participants will receive an $800.00/month stipend during the school year and a $1500/month stipend in June and July.
To apply go to: OK STEM CENTERS Application
For MORE INFORMATION please contact:
Dr. Beth AllanBiology DepartmentUniversity of Central Oklahomaeallan@uco.edu(405) 974-5775Science Olympiad Mentoring Workshop: Mentors Needed!
Casady School is hosting a Science Olympiad “Mentoring Workshop” on Saturday, October 25, from 8:30 AM to 11:30 AM on the campus of Casady School in OKC. The goal of this workshop is to bring together experienced mentors and Science Olympians from across Oklahoma as a means of encouraging growth in the students and their events. For example, a medical doctor might meet with students preparing for the “Anatomy and Physiology” event, or a geography teacher might mentor students in the “Road Scholar” event.
We need mentors! We are looking for teachers, coaches, parents, meteorologists, paleontologists, geologists, physicists, petroleum engineers, etc., who are willing to volunteer their time. On the morning of Saturday, October 25, mentors will host one or two 75-minute sessions wherein they will work with groups of students to help them prepare for specific events.
There will be two sessions: Session 1 will run from 8:30-9:45 AM, followed by a 30-minute break, and Session 2 will follow from 10:15-11:30 AM.
Mentor’s Workshop Information sheet
Please sign up at the link below if you are able to mentor for one or both sessions:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/11jEwRMCkCBmsMedt4aJnyN9tzzdEYd6V66DtzgIwiEA/viewform?usp=send_form
Additionally, please share this link and information with anyone you think might have the time and expertise to mentor the Science Olympiad students. The “Mentoring Workshop” will only be as good as we make it; the more mentors we have, the more beneficial it will be for everyone involved. The workshop is new to the Oklahoma Science Olympiad program, and we are looking forward to the unique learning opportunity it provides the students.
For more information, please contact Shannon Semet or Bob Melton.
Science Standards Framework Project- Applications being accepted
Announcing Science Standards Framework Project
The Oklahoma State Department of Education is seeking K-12 classroom educators to participate in the development of the Oklahoma Science Standards Framework. The Oklahoma Science Standards Framework will provide educators with information and resources to develop curriculum aligned to the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science. The framework will not serve as curriculum itself. The Oklahoma Science Standards Framework will be modeled from a similar resource developed in Minnesota (the Minnesota Mathematics and Science Standards Framework see link http://www.scimathmn.org/stemtc/).
To find out more about this opportunity and how you can apply go to https://www.ok.gov/dcs/solicit/app/solicitationSearch.php?status=open-pending and download a copy of RFP 2650000297. Please follow all instructions and if you have any questions, please contact the Contracting Officer listed on the first page of RFP Kathy Hallum, email: Kathy.hallum@omes.ok.gov or phone: 405-521-3851
Middle School Teacher Award
If you are a middle school science teacher, please consider applying for the National Middle Level Science Teachers Association (NMLSTA) Hurd Award. The Hurd Award honors a middle school science teacher who has made contributions to their community and/or demonstrates exemplary teaching. The award, $1000, helps to defray the cost of attending the NSTA national conference. Here's the link: http://nmlsta.wordpress.com/hurd-award/ Deadline December 31st.
K-8 Ag in the Classroom grants
Edmodo
Cool Tech Tool of the Week: GoSoapBox
Polls and Discussion in GoSoapBox are the meat and potatoes of the service. The Polls tool allows you to survey your audience by having them select an answer choice in response to a question. The Discussions tool allows you to have audience members reply to open-ended questions.
One of the simplest yet effective survey options in GoSoapBox is a tools called a Confusion Meter. The Confusion Meter allows members of your audience to simply say, "yes, I get it" or "no, I don't get it." The Confusion Meter, like all of the GoSoapBox survey tools, can accept anonymous feedback.
Want to gather questions from your students to use to inform your instruction? GoSoapBox has you covered. You can use the Social Q&A tool to have students submit their questions to you. Students can see each other's question submissions and vote them up if they want to.
Scroll through the SlideShare below to see visuals of all of the features of GoSoapBox.
Getting Started with GoSoapBox - September 2013 from gosoapbox
Applications for Education
GoSoapBox allows you to create an event prior to your presentation or lesson. You can select all of the questions and question formats ahead of time. When your presentation or lesson starts, give your students the link to the event and they can access respond to the questions when you prompt them to respond. The Confusion Meter is the simplest tool in the GoSoapBox collection, but might be the most useful for some teachers.
Samsung Solve for Tomorrow contest
Application deadline October 31
For more info visit http://www.samsung.com/us/solvefortomorrow/contest/#apply
Instructional Strategy of the Week:
Click here for more instructional strategies.
Need Resources?
And please send me awesome lessons or ideas so that I can share those across the district.
Safety Reminder
Please review the following documents before beginning any activity that may pose a risk to students (directions for locating these resources are in parentheses).
- Science Class Safety Information Sheet (R:\Safety Information\Internal Policies)
- Secondary Science Safety Notebook (R:\03 High School Resources\Science\Secondary Science Safety)
- Review all documents in R:\03 High School Resources\Science\Secondary Science Safety
If you have any questions at all regarding safety in the science classroom, please contact me.
Important Dates
- Pets in the Classroom Grants (PK-8th)- now open
- Fund for Teachers Travel Grants- opens October 1
- Classroom Makeover Contest submissions due October 24
- Oklahoma Science Teachers Association conference- November 1
- Native American STEM Competition and Conference- November 24
- PASCO STEM Educator Award nominations (provides funding to travel to NSTA conferences)- November 30
- AP Grants- due December 15
- High school benchmark dates: October 9, December 5, March 11, May 6 (except biology)
- Middle school benchmark dates: October 9, December 19, March 11, May 13 (except 8th grade)