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Newsletter: June 2019


NETWORK NEWS


NISE Network is Creating Sustainable Futures

How can our museums help people and the planet thrive, today and tomorrow? The Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability in Science and Technology Museums project provides professional development, educational materials, and other resources to help museums integrate sustainability into their program, operations, and community partnerships. As a partner of this Arizona State University initiative, the NISE Network helped to create the sustainABLE kit of hands-on activities in 2016, and is excited to take over the leadership of this project. Read more

Sustainability in Science & Technology Museums Family Day. Photo: Arizona State University


Sustainability Fellowship: Applications Due July 1st

New and existing partners are invited to participate in the 2019-2020 Sustainability Fellowship program. Submit your application to participate in a program for museum staff who are interested in developing sustainability-related projects. A total of 90 Fellows will be selected in 2019-2020 to participate in professional development, including an in-person meeting in Tempe, Arizona. Learn more about program activities, eligibility, and how to apply

 

Even More Explore Science: Earth & Space 2019 Partner Events

All across the country between March and May, Network partners hosted events to engage the public in Earth and space science. Take a look at a collection partner images that we've gathered together to highlight these events

 

NanoDays 2019 Events All Across the Country

Many partners have shared images of their 2019 NanoDays events; we've gathered together just a few to highlight the different ways partners continue to use their NanoDays kits and resources to engage the public. View NanoDays 2019


UPCOMING EVENTS


Join the NISE Network at the Upcoming Association of Science-Technology Centers Conference in Toronto, Canada

The ASTC 2019 Annual Conference is being hosted by the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, Canada from September 21-24, 2019. The NISE Network is hosting a preconference intensive workshop and invites partners to sign up to learn more about a framework for designing and facilitating hands-on informal chemistry activities that increase learners’ interest, relevance and self-efficacy. Learn more about the pre-conference workshop and other NISE Network activities at ASTC


ONLINE WORKSHOPS


The NISE Network runs a series of free online workshops as professional development opportunities for our partners. View upcoming online workshops

 


Learn More About the 2020 Explore Science: Earth & Space Toolkit

Tuesday, Sept 10, 2019
2-3pm ET/11am-12pm PT

Join the NISE Network to learn more about the Earth & Space project, how your organization can get involved and receive the new 2020 toolkit. Learn more


FEATURED ON THE WEBSITE


Big or Small, Make Your Apollo 50th Anniversary Celebration Event a Moonshot! (Recorded)

This workshop covered Apollo related programming ideas and resources by staff from NASA’s Museum Alliance, the Lunar and Planetary Institute and from NISE Network partners who shared and ways they're collaborating with local experts. View the recording and resources from the 5-14-2019 online workshop

 

Stories & STEM: Explore the Power of Narrative to Engage Audiences and Enliven Hands-on Science Programs (Recorded)

Learn more about the Collaborative Summer Library Program’s 2019 summer learning theme: "A Universe of Stories," and other resources and projects that use story and narrative to engage participants in STEM topics. View the recording and resources from the 4-30-2019 online workshop  
 


Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing - Apollo 11

July 20, 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the first humans landing on the Moon on July 20, 1969 as part of NASA's Apollo 11 lunar mission. The NISE Network has links for your Apollo Moon Landing 50th Anniversary events. Recently added Apollo resources include:

  • NASA Apollo Anniversary event map
  • Videos: NASA eClips videos
  • Planetarium shows
  • Visitor stories - oral history project

 

Association of Children's Museum (ACM) Interactivity 2019 - NISE Network Resources

Thank you to partners that stopped by the NISE Network booth and came to the Partner Breakfast. Now available online are the presentation slides from the Partner Breakfast and several Network concurrent sessions that focused on techniques and facilitation skills, chemistry programming and safety, and technology use. 


PARTNER HIGHLIGHTS


The Universe Unfolds at the Children's Museum of Brownsville in Texas

By Felipe Pena, Children's Museum of Brownsville

 

The Sun, Earth, Universe exhibition has been a great addition to the Children’s Museum of Brownsville! The modules were easy to arrange and incorporate into the floor space, and the bilingual content in this exhibition is appreciated since their audience includes residents of northern Mexico. The museum is geared to children 0-8 so they extended the experience to younger guests by incorporating other visuals and activities into the exhibition space, including a "planet toss" game, a dress up area, and a hurricane simulator that was converted into a rocket. Read the full Partner Highlight


Sustainable Decision Making Framework for Exhibits

By Dave Laubenthal, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI)
Like most hands-on museums, OMSI ends up with a backlog of older exhibits that still have value but don’t have a current place in their galleries. In 2016, OMSI participated in the Sustainability Fellowship program at Arizona State University, and for their project worked to develop a decision-making framework to guide their museum through an efficient and well-considered process to extend the life and/or value of these objects. Read the full Partner Highlight


Sustainability and Citizen Science at Long Island Children's Museum (LICM)

By Claire Flynn, Long Island Children's Museum


Through participation in the Sustainability Fellowship program, LICM created a Milkweed Garden and offers programming that allows visitors to participate in the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project, a citizen science project based at the University of Minnesota. This project was chosen as a way to create an experience that involved visitors in citizen science and gave them a way to consider how climate change is affecting their local community. Read the full Partner Highlight


STEM THROUGHOUT THE YEAR


Discover activity ideas for incorporating current science, engineering, and technology content into events, special programming, holidays, and seasonal activities by visiting http://www.nisenet.org/seasons/.

 

June 

NASA's Night Sky Network - Astronomical events for June

6/8: World Oceans Day

6/20: Asteroid Day
6/23-6/29
National Mosquito Control Awareness Week

 

July

7/5: Pride in STEM Day
7/20: 
Moon landing 50th anniversary - NISE Network list of resources

 


2019 Year-long events


SCIENCE IN THE NEWS


Earth & Space News

"We are going" to the Moon, to stay, by 2024. Watch this short video by NASA that explains how

Why Apollo 10 stopped just 47,000 miles from the moon
Soon we will recognize the 50th anniversary of the first humans to walk on the moon, but it's also important to celebrate the many pathfinders who made this historic mission possible. Read more about the crew of Apollo 10 who performed a full dress-rehearsal of the Apollo 11 mission


Shrinking and quaking hints at Moon's tectonic life
Fifty years ago Apollo astronauts left short-lived seismometers on the moon's surface that recorded various tremors, some of which could be explained as a result of Earths's gravitational pull or from meteorite impacts. But some shallow moonquakes were not able to be explained until recently


Chemistry News

Watch the American Chemical Society's Reactions video, What the Smell of Freshly Cut Grass Really Means


Synthetic Biology News

At the intersection of art and science
Through the use of synthetic biology, scientists revived the smell of a plant, and its flowers, extinct for nearly 150 years by sequencing DNA from preserved specimens. Learn more about this collaboration between scientists and artists, Resurrecting the Sublime exhibition on display in NYC

Campbell's soup changed tomato's DNA
Through the use of CRISPR technology, researchers could theoretically design the perfect crop. If you have a particular gene that you want to use to improve a trait, for example by gene editing, it may be that the outcome is not going to be what you expected. Read more about how Campbell 'perfected' the tomato


Is cell-cultured meat ready for the mainstream?
With the allure of being slaughter-free, antibiotic-free, and better for the environment, cell-cultured meat has the science to create it. It's more about governments around the world figuring out how to regulate these products. Read more


Nano News

'Ant bridge'-inspired nanoparticle assembly fixes broken electrical circuit
Inspired by how ants accomplish complex tasks like getting across large gaps, scientists developed a nanoparticle self-assembly that can fix two-dimensional broken circuits through magnetic manipulations. Read more


NATIONAL CONFERENCES


Visitor Studies Association (VSA) Conference

July 10-13, 2019
Detroit, Michigan

Learn more


American Chemical Society (ACS) 2019 Fall National Meeting & Expo

August 25-29, 2019
San Diego, California
Learn more


Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) 2019 Annual Conference 

September 21-24, 2019
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Registration now open