Citizen Science Opportunities and Projects

There are some interesting Citizen Science opportunities that could be a great fit for student civics projects that they may not have thought of.


CZ-Tip - Sign Up for Coastal Citizen Science
Community-based data collection helps fill gaps left by government, private, and nonprofit groups with limited funds to research, explore, and protect vast natural systems.

Community Science - Mass Audubon

Citizen Science - for teachers from UMass

Salem Sound Coastwatch Volunteer

OurEcho Challenge - STEM Innovation Competition

The OurEcho Challenge is a STEM innovation competition that ask U.S. middle school students to take a closer look at biodiversity in their communities then do something to protect it. Students identify threats to local ecosystems and then propose solutions to help preserve, protect or repair those natural resources. 

 
Entries will be accepted through April 22, 2021, and free standards-aligned biodiversity resources are available to support teachers and students year-round. 

10 Finalist Teams will join EarthEcho for a live broadcast virtual celebration, where they will present their innovative ideas. The top 3 teams will be awarded grants of up to $5,000 to turn their projects into a reality.

Click here for more info and to enter

Online Event: Leveling the Playing Field in STEM

Black and Latinx Americans are underrepresented in STEM jobs. The root reasons are myriad: limited access to quality education, discrimination in recruitment and promotion practices, and disparities in STEM-based programming across youth communities to name a few. A range of perspectives and having as many voices at the table as possible will be crucial to solving the global issues before us.

Join On Point host Meghna Chakrabarti for a wide-ranging conversation with field experts on how to develop solutions to reverse these trends.

Register here

https://www.wbur.org/events/663375/leveling-the-playing-field-in-stem

Time & Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2021, 6:00 pm

Panelists

• Tarika Barrett - CEO, Girls Who Code
• Nigel Jacob - co-chair, Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics
• Adrian Mims - founder and national director, The Calculus Project
• Karl Reid - former executive director, National Society of Black Engineers

Join the conversation! Submit your questions to us before and during the event here.

STEM Everyday Podcast

STEM EVERYDAY PODCAST
dailystem.com/stem-everyday-podcast

Scout Report says: "Nearly 200 episodes with resources for STEM educators... May be particularly useful for educators looking for unique ways to get "non-science" oriented students interested in the vast possibilities that STEM subjects can create. It shares expertise from educators at all grade levels, from university professors to kindergarten teachers. Most episodes are approximately 30 minutes.

NYT 2nd Annual STEM Writing Contest

The New York Times invites students to choose an issue or question in science, technology, engineering, math or health, then write an engaging 500-word explanation. 

Contest Dates: Jan. 19-March 2, 2021. 

Students ages 11-19 anywhere in the world attending middle or high school can participate.

Take a look at the full guidelines and related resources on this page.

Here is a PDF one-page announcement for students.

Science and Social Justice

I attended a PBS Learning Media Educator Peer Exchange webinar last night about Science and Social Justice and found it pretty interesting.

Here is the slide deck and I'd be happy to discuss more of it if you are interested!

Also see GBH Research

Tomorrow's Engineers Website

This is a UK site but may still have some interesting/useful things for you or your students.

FE News: New website to help inspire the next generation of diverse engineers. "brings together free advice and guidance, curated from across the engineering community, to support practitioners in providing young people with engineering careers inspiration. The website includes the latest thinking on a range of topics, from how to run virtual events and top tips for ensuring an inclusive approach, to how to survey young people and improve engaging outreach activities."

Middle School DESE/One8 Science Grant

The Department is partnering with the One8 Foundation to launch a new middle school OpenSciEd Cohort Program! 

The school grant application is due Friday, February 12. To learn more about the grant opportunity, eligibility, and expectations, see this flyer and the online application. Building off the three-year middle school pilot, DESE is working to scale the innovative middle school science curriculum to schools across the Commonwealth. As part of the new cohort, schools can apply for grants to help implement the program, access in-state training, and receive additional support and complimentary programming.

The One8 Foundation is hosting an information session and office hours to help schools complete the application. Please click on a link below to register.

• Information session: 3:00-4:00 on Wednesday, January 20
• Office hours: 8:00-9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, February 3
• Office hours: 3:00-4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 9

Citizen Science - Smithsonian Magazine

Twenty-Four Ways to Turn Outdoor Passions Into Citizen Science

By Marcello Rossi from SMITHSONIANMAG.COM
DECEMBER 29, 2020

Heading into the new year, consider collecting scientific data while skiing, hiking, surfing, biking and partaking in other adventures

Museum of Science at School Signup

From the Museum of Science in Boston - some of these FREE programs may be of interest! According to DESE we have 28.9% of students who are classed as "economically disadvantaged" which means we would qualify for priority bookings that begin on January 7!

Hello Educators,

We hope you had a nice break and were able to recharge. At the Museum, we were busy putting the finishing touches on our next season of MOS at School offerings!

Starting on January 19, we'll have presentations around Earth, Space, and Life Sciences as well as special one-time offerings about climate change for high school students. These free programs are offered via Zoom webinar from our Boston, MA Museum during school hours (Eastern Standard Time).

Priority reservations for schools with free and reduced lunch participation at or above 35% and/or a population of economically disadvantaged students at or above 25% as well as Catholic Schools will be open at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 7.

To book a program, call Science Central at 617-723-2500.

General reservations for all other schools will be open at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, January 11.

Science Friday Projects for Home or School

Came across these over the weekend - some great lessons from Science Friday

Some examples:

• Challenge: Create Something New Using Plastic Bags - Your challenge is to repurpose plastic shopping bags to create something new and useful. The sky’s the limit, whether you’re making a prom dress, area rug, a dog poncho, or a kite!
• Challenge: Make Your Own Paint - Say you run out of paint, what should you do? Make paint from scratch! Learn about pigments and get experimenting in this DIY paint challenge.
• Challenge: Cardboard - What can you build with cardboard? Build something really impressive out of cardboard in this open-ended cardboard challenge for all ages.
• Challenge: Simulate A Sneeze - Make sneeze art, and learn a bit about fluid dynamics in the process
• Go On A Metal Hunt! - A magnet and a penny will help you become a human metal detector.
• Science Friday Remote Learning Kit - Teachers, Science Friday has updated some of our classic education resources so you can assign them directly to students from your Google Drive.
• ... and more!

After the Fact podcast focuses on science

After the Fact is an excellent podcast that I've listened to sometimes. It's done by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Each week they take a specific statistic or data point and use it as a jumping off point for a discussion and interview. Some of these might work for your students, and even if they don't, you may find them of personal interest!

This season's theme is Conversations on Science—what it is, how it’s conducted and explained to the public, and how it affects our lives.

"During the pandemic, the world is living through a science experiment. We’ll examine that as well as how scientists build trust with nonscientists, how to increase diversity among researchers, and how science becomes public policy. We speak with scientists and researchers—from Dr. Anthony Fauci and Pew Biomedical Scholar Pamela Bjorkman, who are on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, to “Science Friday” host Ira Flatow and physicist and bestselling author Carlo Rovelli, who speak about the scientific process and why it matters."

Mass. STEM Week Oct 19-23

Massachusetts STEM Week 2020 takes place from October 19 – 23 (inclusive of the weekend before and after), and is organized by the Executive Office of Education and the STEM Advisory Council in partnership with the state’s 9 Regional STEM Networks. It is a statewide effort to boost the interest, awareness and ability for all learners to envision themselves in STEM education and employment opportunities, and compliment the formal instruction happening in the Commonwealth beyond STEM week.
The theme for the third annual statewide STEM Week is “See Yourself in STEM,” with a particular focus on the power of mentoring. Women, people of color, first-generation students, low-income individuals, English language learners, and people with disabilities are underrepresented in STEM industries and make up an increasing portion of the overall workforce, but the demographics of STEM fields have remained largely the same. We need more young people to see themselves in STEM.


More info at https://www.massstemweek.org/

The weird physics of upside down buoyancy

Discover article a about it:
These Tiny Boats Can Float Upside Down on Levitating Liquid
It might look like a magic trick, or an optical illusion of sorts. But no, your eyes don’t deceive you — that little boat you see above does, indeed, float upside down.

A good magician doesn’t reveal their tricks. Scientists, however, do the exact opposite. A team of researchers in France detail this phenomenon in a new study published today in Nature, showing how vigorously shaking a container full of silicone oil or glycerol can create a levitating pocket of liquid that allows these small boats to float upside down.

“These phenomena are so counter-intuitive,” says Emmanuel Fort, a coauthor on the study. “People who came to see the experiment in the lab thought it was a trick or thought it was science fiction,” like the levitating pools in the movie Tomorrowland. And the researchers themselves were also taken aback by the sheer strangeness of it all. Fort, a professor at ESPCI Paris and a researcher at the Langevin Institute, describes the research as “a succession of surprises and astonishment.”

National Geographic Kahoots

Many of you may know about these already, but just in case you don't, National Geographic has 24 geography and science and social studies related Kahoots you may be able to use

TEST YOUR GEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE WITH KAHOOT!