News

WHRO has received funding to create an online high school Environmental Science online course and make it available to divisions across the Commonwealth of Virginia for free. We are currently building a team of teachers to work as environmental science content experts on this project. To learn more, go to:

https://corporate.whro.org/employment-opportunities/job-listings/10-employment-opportunities/130-es-content-developers

Winter Edition of The Science Educator Now Available

In this first issue of 2021, you will discover: VAST RISE awardees Results of the annual election VERSE - a new benefit for members New resources for teaching and learning

Download your copy here.

When we began the year, one of our goals was to provide more professional content for VAST members. Then came the challenge of the pandemic and we rose to the occasion by transitioning the annual PDI to a virtual format. That gave us a unique opportunity that we think you will appreciate and be able to use throughout 2021 and beyond!

Prior to the PDI, keynote speakers and presenters shared videos and pdfs. During the PDI, all the Zoom presentations were recorded in both video and audio files, chats were transcribed, and some presenters provided pdfs.

Even if you weren’t able to attend the PDI, or you did attend but missed an interesting sounding presentation, we have created a comprehensive web page with all the files organized for easy access. From this page VAST members can access all instructional materials including, video and audio recordings and pdfs from the 2020 virtual PDI!

Need points for recertification or just want to expand your science knowledge or instructional pedagogy, there are over 120 presentations to explore across a wide range of science disciplines and levels. To learn more, VAST members go to: www.vast.org/2020pdipresentations/

We are pleased to publish the Winter 2020 issue of the Journal of Virginia Science Education, which is available to VAST members on the website. Additionally, JVSE invites pre-service and in-service teachers, school administrators, science education faculty, and informal science educators to submit papers for the Summer 2021 issue of JVSE. The theme is Strategies to Support Learning the Age of COVID-19 and we’d love for you to share lesson activities, solutions, and research associated with all you’ve learned over the past year! Submissions unrelated to the theme are also welcome!!! Submissions due March 1, 2021 and the Summer issue will be published July 1, 2021. Winter break is a great time to reflect on your practice over the previous semester! If you have questions, please reach out to Amanda Gonczi and Jenn Maeng, journal co-editors at journal@vast.org.

Member download: https://vast.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/JVSEv13n2Winter2020.pdf

Check out the latest issue of The Science Educator.

JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY
Center for the Advancement of Sustainable Energy (CASE)
WIND AND SOLAR ENERGY WORKSHOP
in partnership with The NEED Project
MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND REGISTER TODAY!

DATE
October 30, 2020
Virtual Workshop
Zoom details will be provided closer to workshop date

HOW CAN YOU ATTEND?
Click and complete your registration!
http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=hyzzrodab&oeidk=a07ehck41q59b394e4b

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

• 5^th-12^th grade teachers
• CTE educators

FOR THE ATTENDEES:

• Substitute reimbursement/stipend
• pre workshop materials
• NEED curriculum packet

 

Agenda

Before workshop: Pre-test (emailed link)

8:45 a.m.            Teachers begin to log in

9:00 a.m.            Introductions, norms, goals        

Introduction of sponsors and facilitators, Zoom norms and expectations, and goals for the workshop

9:10 a.m.            Renewable Energy Mentimeter Teachers participate in fun online response forum

9:30 a.m.            Science of Energy transformation and forms and sources

10:00 a.m.          Candy Collector and Electric Connections

10:55 a.m.          Quick Break

11:00 a.m.          Introduction to Wind Energy 

11:15 a.m.          Wind energy activity breakout   

Breakout groups will do Wind Can Do Work and Build an Anemometer and report back.

12:15 p.m.          Break for lunch 

12:45 p.m.          Wind Reporting – Successes and challenges

1:00 p.m.            Introduction to Solar Energy

Teachers will learn about solar energy, its limitations, and its benefits

1:15 p.m.            Quick Break

1:20 p.m.            Solar Energy Activity Breakout

Build a Solar oven challenge and work with UV beads and report back

2:05 p.m.            Solar Reporting – successes and challenges

2:20 p.m.            Wrap-up             

                              Posttest and evaluation links shared

2:30 p.m.            Adjourn

 

QUESTIONS?
Contact Wendi Moss at wmoss@need.org or
call 1-800-875-5029

Virginia Academy of Science Mentorship Assistance Program

If you are a high school teacher with an interest in having a mentor work with your class, please fill out the form found at: https://secure4.hsc.edu/forms/view.php?id=116443

Deadline Approaching for The Teaching of Geology Mini-grant Proposal

The reviewers are looking for proposals that will result in more hands-on activities, and a better understanding of the importance of geologic resources, and/or geologic principles.

All K-12 educators, public and private, are eligible to apply.

Deadline is August 20.

Click here for more information.

The Summer Edition of The Science Educator Is Now Available

In this issue, dedicated to the November PDI, you will discover:

• unique experiences being planned;
• the schedule at-a-glance;
• exciting keynote speakers;
• a wide variety of presentations on every level; and,
• details on over 120 live and prerecorded sessions!

Click here to download your copy.

Last year the Virginia Academy of Science launched a new outreach effort in which mentors recruited from the Commonwealth’s colleges, universities, and research centers worked long-term with students in high school classrooms on a research project of local interest.  For 2020-21, there will be a strong need for supporting K-12 classrooms across the Commonwealth that will be suffering from uncertainty about the ability to meet in person and to work on science projects. To that end, we are looking to recruit both mentors (grad students, postdocs, instructors, scientists, etc.) and high school teachers who would like their students to participate in a virtually-driven long-term research project.  To do this, we would like to offer high school instructors the opportunity to either do a project of local interest or to participate in a “Citizen Science” type initiative in which their class will work with others across the Commonwealth and (sometimes) the nation in the collection and analysis of data. 

If you might be interested in serving as a mentor in this project, please fill out the form found at: https://secure4.hsc.edu/forms/view.php?id=117158 

If you are a high school teacher with an interest in having a mentor work with your class, please fill out the form found at: https://secure4.hsc.edu/forms/view.php?id=1164432