Sugary drinks like soda are not good for our health. The Center for Science in the Public Interest has made a video showing what they call The Real Bears to counter the polar bear commercials that Coke uses to advertise their product. And while the Coke commercials are certainly cute and entertaining, the CSPI video is probably more factual. You can watch it on YouTube or see it below. Download a fact sheet with citations here.
Welcome back to the 2012-2013 school year! I hope everyone had a great summer. Let’s work together to make this the best school year yet 🙂
Want to win $25,000?
Then submit an essay to an International Science Essay Competition answering the following question…
Are we alone in the universe?
Wow, getting paid $25,000 to write an essay about a cool science topic! It doesn’t get much better than that. For full details, visit this site: http://www.newfrontiersinastronomy.org/student-essay-competition.html
If you have never seen this, you should definitely check it out – very funny 😎
I received the following announcement about a contest and wanted to pass it along. GIS is an interesting and fun technology so the contest sounds like it would be fun.
K-12 GIS Contest
Maps Tell the Story: The Adventure in Your Community
Entries Due: March 23, 2012
The Delaware Geographic Data Committee is sponsoring a K-12 GIS Contest for students in Delaware. The term GIS stands for Geographic Information Systems which is a way that many business utilize GeoSpatial technologies to make informed decisions. Everything is spatially located and referenced and many professions use this technology every day. The GIS professionals in Delaware love encouraging students to become aware of this technology and how it’s used. One way we encourage students is by sponsoring a contest during our GIS Conference. This K-12 contest is highlighted at the Delaware GIS Conference being held in April 2012. The GIS professionals in Delaware really enjoy viewing the entries and the hard work and ideas of the students of our great State!
This contest will provide students with an opportunity to study and map an Adventure in Your Community. The term “Community” can be interpreted broadly to fit your existing curriculum. A few examples are: neighborhood, town or city, county, state, region, country, continent, the world or any other geographic area. The term “Adventure” can be interpreted to mean a personal experience or an historical event. Use your imagination and allow the kids to use theirs for this great contest.
You can enter as individual students, small group projects, or as a classroom. There are three categories: Posters, GIS Electronic Map, and Multi-Media (PowerPoint’s, websites, podcast, or video). There are also grade Divisions (K-2; 3-5; 6-8; and 9-12). There will be winners for each of the categories in all grade divisions. So think about how to incorporate this contest into your classroom and get those creative juices flowing. We love seeing the entries!
For more information about the contest feel free to visit our website: http://www.mygeoworld.org/
Thank You!
Miriam Pomilio
GeoEducation Subcommittee
Delaware Geographic Data Committee
I recently received this email from Jennifer Sykes from Delaware Technical Community College. They have a summer research course that sounds quite interesting. The program is free unless you want college credit. I have pasted her email below.
The Biology and Chemistry Department at Delaware Technical Community
College’s Stanton Campus is offering an exciting summer experience for
high school students. Please pass along the below information and
attached flyer to school administrators and teachers that would be
interested in sharing this opportunity with their students. If you would
like color copies of the flyer to distribute or post, I am more than
happy to send them to you.
If anyone has questions about or would like to register for the program,
they can contact me directly. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Sykes
Department of Biology & Chemistry
Delaware Technical Community College
400 Stanton-Christiana Road
Newark, DE 19713
(302) 453-3725
SMART Start to Research Techniques is 2-week, half day summer experience
gives high school students the opportunity to earn college credit while
learning about research techniques used in the fields of biology,
chemistry, and biotechnology. The summer experience will be held at
Delaware Tech’s Stanton campus on July 16-20 & July 23-27 at 8:30 a.m. –
12:30 p.m.
Faculty from the Biology and Chemistry Department at Delaware Tech will
be teaching students both laboratory and field research techniques.
Hands-on field research will include the investigation of local
waterways through macro-invertebrate sampling and water quality testing.
Laboratory research techniques will include DNA isolation, amplification
(PCR) and sequencing. Guest speakers and field trips are scheduled
throughout the camp.
This program is free for students not seeking college credit. For
students interested in receiving college credit, a payment of $124.25
(the cost of tuition and fees) will be required. Please note that space
is limited and preference will be given to students seeking college
credit.
Don’t like your junior research proposal? Did you put it together in a hurry and would rather do something else but you don’t know what to do? I recently received an email from the director of the Delaware Biotechnology Institute, Kelvin Lee. In the email he stated that they don’t really have many student research opportunities available at DBI but…
“We don’t have much of an infrastructure to support summer research projects at this time – except on an ad hoc basis. At this point, we could try to collect statements of interest from various Charter students and try to “shop them” to faculty to see if there is interest. An equally effective approach is to have interested students peruse the relevant websites of various faculty at our Institute and at UD in general, and then have them reach out directly to ask if those faculty are able to take summer research interns. Many faculty do host interns (some volunteer, some paid) during the summer.”
This is a great idea. The university even has a ‘research’ link on their homepage that talks about research opportunities and internships for UD students. Perhaps they would take Charter high school students as well. It couldn’t hurt to ask. So you should go to the UD website (www.udel.edu) and look around the site for opportunities and contact information. Send a professor and email and ask if there are ways you can get involved. It is a great opportunity for you to develop an excellent junior research project as well as a way to get your foot in the door at UD.
The University of Delaware has a summer internship program for aspiring math and science teachers. If you are a rising junior or senior and are interested in investigating this opportunity then you should checkout the website below. The applications are due by April 9, 2012. You will even earn $1,500 during your internship!
The Sewanee Environmental Institute (SEI) Pre-college Field Studies Experience is now accepting applications for the Summer 2012 program. Deadline for applying is April 10th.
SEI’s Pre-College Field Studies Experience is
Students will have the opportunity to explore Sewanee’s ecologically diverse 13,000-acre campus under the guidance of faculty members who are passionate about environmental education. This program provides an interdisciplinary introduction to environmental studies.
For more information about the SEI program, highlights, cost and an application, please go to: http://sei.sewanee.edu/
We have possible financial aid available for an exceptional student with a keen interest in this type of study and financial hardship. That student would need to be nominated by a teacher or counselor for consideration.
Please forward this information to students interested in environmental studies that might benefit from this field-based immersion experience and include us on summer opportunities listings you share with your students.
A printable flyer describing the program can be found at http://sei.sewanee.edu/
For more information please contact us directly.
Rachel Petropoulos
Program Coordinator
sei@sewanee.edu
Sewanee Environmental Institute
http://sei.sewanee.edu
Scientists have reversed Alzheimer’s disease in mice using the skin cancer drug bexarotene. This does not mean it will work in humans but it is a potentially exciting step forward. You can read the CNN news article here and listen to an interview with one of the study researchers at the NPR Science Friday website here.
