In addition to the letter and number of the day, Sesame Street will be featuring some exciting new topics in the show’s 42nd season: engineering, science, and math!

Researchers have long noted that students who watch the show as children tend to do better in school, so incorporating science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts can be seen as part of a larger effort to boost STEM learning in the U.S.

In an interview with ABC News, the show’s executive producer Carol-Lynn Parente remarked, “It all boils down to a curriculum of asking questions, observing…making a hypothesis, and testing it out.” This season will also see a new role for orange monster Murray with a segment called “Murray’s Science Experiments.”

Whether you have a younger sibling who is curious about engineering, or still enjoy the charming antics of Elmo, Big Bird, and friends, now is a great time to start tuning in to Sesame Street.

NanoDays

The 2011 annual NanoDays, is coming in the spring, March 26-April 3. It’s not too early to get ready now.

This nationwide festival focuses on educational programs about nanoscale science and engineering and its potential impact on the future. NanoDays events are organized by participants in the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net), and take place at over 200 science museums, research centers, and universities across the country, from Maine to Hawaii.

Many NanoDays celebrations will combine simple hands-on activities for young people with events exploring current research for adults. One popular 2010 activity involved visitors working together to build a giant balloon model of a carbon nanotube. (Real carbon nanotubes, which are 1/50,000th of the width of a human hair, have extraordinary strength and unusual electrical properties that make them useful in electronics and materials science.)

Other NanoDays activities demonstrate different, unexpected properties of materials at the nanoscale — sand that won’t get wet even under water, water that won’t spill from a teacup, and colors that depend upon particle size.

Some NanoDays participants host public forums, discussions about the risks and benefits of particular appllications of nanotechnology. Many participating universities host public tours of their laboratories that work with nanoscale science and technology.

How to participate:

Being part of NanoDays is easy: host an eventsabout nanoscale science and engineering during NanoDays, March 26 – April 3, 2011. NISE Net can help with materials and ideas, and in return, asks participants to file a report about their events.

Last year, some 200 NanoDays events were held across the country, including hands-on activities and demos, speaker events, theater presentations, art shows, lab tours, lectures, deliberative forums, and science cafes. Through NanoDays, the NISE Network aims to reach audiences across a diverse geographic distribution, people with disabilities, and under-represented audiences in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math).

What can you do for NanoDays?

You can host a day or a week of activities on the theme of nanoscale science and technology. The NISE network has developed a host of resources to, including products in their online catalog and their NanoDays kits.

The Digital Kit: provide the information about hands-on activities, and include guides and tips to help you stage your NanoDays events, including downloadable guides and printable signage files.

Free online download is available to anyone who registers on nisenet.org, particularly for international locations outside the United States, K-12 educators, libraries, and other educational organizations. Many of the activities use inexpensive, readily available supplies. Contents include a planning guide, marketing materials, and hands-on activity guides with supply lists.

The Physical Kit: physical kits, which will be mailed out in January 2011, are available by request; apply online between October 20 and December 10, 2o10.

Reporting Requirements: If you host or co-organize a NanoDays event, NISE NET requests that you report back to the Network about your experiences. They report this to the National Science Foundation; it also help all of their partners to learn from each other and improve their ability to engage the public. A link to an online reporting form will be provided on the website.

About NISE: The Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net) is a national community of researchers and informal science educators dedicated to fostering public awareness, engagement, and understanding of nanoscale science, engineering, and technology.

“An Engineering Education Makes a World of Difference” is a new website from the National Academy of Engineering that highlights role models who have used an engineering education to innovate products, processes, and services that improve human health, welfare, and happiness. Twice a week for each week from Monday, January 31 through Thursday, July 14, the site will release a new video (less than 30 seconds long) to be posted to the web and which can be “pushed” to individual cell phones. You can  text “CASEE” to 21534 to subscribe to the twice-weekly videos.

In addition to the role models, the site provides links to other sites that explain what engineering is and where visitors can find out more about engineering.

eGFI is featured in the “WHERE can I find out more?” section.

Learn More at http://engineeringaworldofdifference.org

Need some help with your homework? Look no further than Khan Academy.

The website features over 1,800 mini-lectures on subjects including mathematics, history, finance, physics, chemistry, astronomy, and economics.

All online tutorials are produced and narrated by Salman Khan, who has a master’s in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT. Usually under 15 minutes in length, the videos are low-tech and conversational, with Khan using step-by-step doodles and diagrams on an electronic blackboard to explain various concepts.

Khan Academy has become a web sensation: the videos are viewed 70,000 times a day and have received over 37 million views worldwide. Not only that, but all of the videos are available on YouTube as well.

The project started when Khan, who was living in Boston at the time, agreed to help tutor his cousins in New Orleans. Because of scheduling conflicts, he recorded videos for them on YouTube so that they could watch his explanations at their own pace.

When other users started tuning in, Khan realized he could provide a useful education to anyone, anywhere.

Image: Outlook India

Harry Potter Day

The Maryland Science Center invites everyone to join a “magical celebration of the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” in their IMAX theater. The film will be accompanied by a day filled with activities for kids big and small.

• Attend a Potions class with a sinister professor you might recognize.
• Use the magic of imagination in the Davis Planetarium to explore Harry Potter characters in the night sky at 2:00pm, 2:40pm, and 3:20pm.
• Plant some magic in Herbology class.
• Visit with the Sorting Hat to see which house you will be sorted into, and then make your very own crest to take home.
• While you’re here, follow the Marauder’s Map to find various horcruxes hidden throughout the Science Center.

All events are Noon-4pm, free with paid admission, and free for members.

Date: Saturday, November 20, 2010

Time: Noon-4:00PM

Location: Maryland Science Center

Cost: Free with paid admission and free to members

Who should attend: Members, Families, Muggles, and Magicians

Please check the Website for more information.

Level

NASA’s Spaced Out Sports Design Challenge

U.S. Students in grades 5-8 are invited to participate in Spaced Out Sports, a national design challenge that applies Newton’s Laws of Motion by designing a game for the International Space Station astronauts to play in space.

The goal is for students to learn the “science behind the game” on Earth and in microgravity. Students will submit game demonstrations via a playbook and video.

Awards:

1st Place – NASA schoolwide celebration

Top 3 Teams — games played and broadcast on the space station

All Contributing Schools — participation in a Digital Learning Network webcast with astronauts on the space station.

Application Deadline: Entries must be postmarked by Feb. 1, 2011.

Student and Educator Resources

Spaced Out Sports student and educator resources include posters, bookmarks, curriculum guides, a career video and Digital Learning Network Modules. All include NASA astronauts, engineers and celebrity sports figures engaging students in relevant space-sports connections by explaining and demonstrating the “science behind their work and/or game.” Featured are: NASA astronauts Leland Melvin and Nicole Stott; Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin; NASCAR’s Juan Pablo Montoya; basketball’s Temeka Johnson; football/Super Bowl champions New Orleans Saints; and hockey’s Ryan O’Reilly and the Colorado Avalanche.

Guide activities and DLN modules include talk shows that explain application of Newton’s Laws in sports and space, followed by Science and Sports Challenges, where students design/construct sporting equipment and games and predict the difference between a game played on Earth and in microgravity.

Spaced Out Sports is managed by NASA’s Stennis Space Center Education through the Teaching From Space Office at NASA’s Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston.

For more information and to register for the challenge, visit: http://education.ssc.nasa.gov/spacedoutsports.

Eligibility

2011 SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Environmental Excellence Awards

Since 1993, the awards have recognized the outstanding efforts of students and teachers across the country who are working at the grassroots level to protect and preserve the environment. Eligibility: All K-12 schools in the United States are eligible to apply. Projects must be sponsored by a formally recognized school group, such as a grade level, classroom or club. Public, private and licensed home schools are all eligible to apply. Individual students (e.g., science fair projects) and the previous year’s award-winning educators and projects are not eligible to apply.

DEADLINE: Dec. 1.

Awards:

Eight projects will be selected. Each winning group will receive:

• $10,000 to benefit the award-winning project
• All-expenses-paid trip for three (3) students and one (1) adult leader to a SeaWorld or Busch Gardens park for a special awards event

From the eight projects, one (1) outstanding environmental educator/leader will be recognized. That educator will receive:

• $5,000
• All-expenses-paid trip for themselves and one (1) guest to a SeaWorld or Busch Gardens park for a special awards event
• All-expenses-paid trip to the 2011 National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) national conference

Please check the Website to learn more and to register.

Location

“The Science of Gingerbread”

2010-11 Contest

The Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana, CA, is seeking delectable gingerbread creativity from children, adults, businesses, and organizations. Try your hand at creating a delicious masterpiece out of gingerbread, icing, and other edibles in this year’s competition. Submissions will be accepted Nov. 20-29, 2010 and on display November 26, 2010 – January 2, 2011.

What’s in it for participants?

• An exclusive Gingerbread party to kick off the festivities
• A unique holiday team building experience
• An opportunity to display your logo/organization in Discovery Science Center for 6 weeks
• A chance to win cash prizes in the several categories.

Visit the Center’s gingerbread fact page to learn about the spice, including its use during the Crusades as a food preservative and medicine, and 16th-century English gingerbread “portraits.”

2010-2011 Gingerbread Contest Dates

• Bring Your Entry to Discovery Science Center: November 20-29, 2010; 11am – 4pm (Please note that the Center is CLOSED on Nov. 25, Thanksgiving Day)
• Gingerbread Houses on Display: November 26, 2010 – January 2, 2011
• Winner Announcement: Friday, December 10 at the Participants Awards Party

Entry and Submissions

Please see the Website for Contest Rules and Regulations

Download Entry Form

View Competition Ideas & Examples

View Tips to Get Started

Dates and Locations:

Mother Daughter TEA (Technology Engineering Aptitude)

Train the Trainer – Professional Development

Attend a 1-day professional development workshop and leave with your own toolkit to hold a Mother/Daughter TEA (Technology Engineering Aptitude) Workshop in your location.

Facilitated by Celeste Baine, Director of the Engineering Education Service Center, contributor to nationwide efforts to increase engineering student enrollment, a biomedical engineer, and author of over 20 books on engineering education and careers.

Packages begin at $999; check Webite for details. Cost includes: all the materials to facilitate the workshop, prizes for attendees and a copy of Ideas in Action for each girl that attends. You may opt to have your own T-shirts printed, create your own take-home engineering projects, or create your own kits to help your local teachers.

Featured at the workshop:

• 6 hours of hands-on instruction (8:30 AM – 3:30 PM)
• A Take-Home Toolkit so you can hold your own Mother/Daughter Workshops
• Continental Breakfast
• Lunch
• Engineering T-Shirt
• Certificate of Professional Development hours

Hotel and transportation not included.

For more information, please visit the Engineering Education Service Center Website

Space is limited – early registration is encouraged.

Engineering Education Service Center 1004 5th St | Springfield, OR 97477