NETWORK NEWS
Wishing our Network Partners a happy new year
National Informal STEM Education Network year in review 2018
This past year was busy and successful, as hundreds of NISE Network partners across the country participated in Network projects! It’s exciting to have so many organizations dedicated to engaging people in their local communities in learning about current STEM research. Here are some of our favorite Network moments of 2018 as well as what's ahead in 2019
Congratulations to the recipients of the Explore Science: Earth & Space 2019 toolkit
As the NISE Network's Space and Earth project enters its fourth year, the Network is excited to announce the 350 recipients of the new Explore Science: Earth & Space 2019 physical toolkit, up from 250 recipients from previous years. Toolkit recipients can be viewed online at here; physical toolkits will ship in February with the digital toolkit also available online for download in February. Download 2019 digital toolkit
Building with Biology lives on with NISE Network Partners
Four years ago the NISE Network received a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to tackle conversations in museums between public audiences and scientists about the emerging field of synthetic biology; a very timely topic especially given recent announcements about gene-edited babies using CRISPR techniques. We enjoyed hearing from so many of our partners about their experiences bringing a new topic into their community and would like to thank our project team members and partners who participated in the Building with Biology project. Continue reading for project and evaluation highlights from the past four years and where you can dig deeper for more project resources and data
UPCOMING EVENTS
Upcoming online workshops: Staying connected to the Network and community
NISE Network runs a series of free online workshops to increase the number of professional development opportunities available to our partners, and to create more channels for partners to share their work and learn from each other directly. View full details for upcoming online workshops at http://www.nisenet.org/events.
New to the NISE Network? Getting familiar with Network resources, partners, projects, and events
Tuesday, January 29, 2019; 11am-12pm Pacific / 2pm-3pm Eastern - Sign up
Are you or your organization new to the NISE Network? Or maybe you’re new to your organization but your organization isn’t new to the Network? What does being a NISE Network partner consist of and how can the NISE Network help you in your organizational role? These are great questions and Network project team members are ready to take you on a guided journey of the NISE Network and our many offerings...read more
The Science Behind the 2019 Explore Science: Earth & Space Toolkit - Exploring Earth and Our Solar System
Tuesday, February 26, 2019; 11am-12pm Pacific / 2pm-3pm Eastern - Sign up
This online presentation and discussion covers the science behind the 2019 Explore Science: Earth & Space toolkit activities - Land Cover, Temperature Mapping, and Observe the Sun. After a brief overview of each activity and its materials, our guest presenter will lead a discussion about NASA missions and research exploring...read more
The Science Behind the 2019 Explore Science: Earth & Space Toolkit - Exploring the Universe
Tuesday, March 12, 2019; 11am-12pm Pacific / 2pm-3pm Eastern - Sign up
This online presentation and discussion will cover the science behind the 2019 Explore Science: Earth & Space toolkit activities - Expanding Universe, Space Guess Quest, and Static Electricity. After a brief overview of each activity and its materials, our guest presenter will facilitate a discussion of NASA missions and...read more
FEATURED ON THE WEBSITE
*Updated* NISE Network Fact Sheet
This new NISE Network Fact Sheet provides an overview of the Network and an introduction to the field of informal STEM learning. View and download the NISE Network Information Sheet (2019)
Activity and content training videos now available online for the Explore Science: Earth & Space 2019 toolkit
Get a sneak peek at the Explore Science: Earth & Space 2019 toolkit activity and content training videos! Activity videos are designed to help facilitators better engage visitors in Earth and space toolkit activities while the content training videos provide additional scientific background information for each activity.
Edu-Cathalon: A facilitation strategies and best practices training video for engaging museum visitors in STEM related content
This comedic training video highlights facilitation strategies and best practices for engaging museum visitors with STEM related content. The video follows three competitors in the highly anticipated Edu-Cathalon as they navigate through an obstacle course of museum visitors, including an adult-only group, a school group, and a mixed-age family. Watch the Edu-Cathalon video and see who takes home the coveted gold medal
PARTNER HIGHLIGHT
Thanks for participating in National Chemistry Week 2018!
By David Horwitz, American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society (ACS) hosted its 31st annual celebration of chemistry during National Chemistry Week (NCW) from October 21-27, 2018 and this year more than 90% of ACS local sections hosted activities, which is ACS's highest level of engagement in the NCW campaign in ten years. From Puerto Rico to California, from Alaska to Texas, ACS local sections and NISE Network partners got creative with their NCW events and contests. The NISE Network's ChemAttitudes project, in collaboration with ACS, awarded 44 ACS groups and 206 Network partners an Explore Science: Let's Do Chemistry physical kit for hosting hands-on chemistry events during fall 2018. The best part: more than 70% of kit recipients used the hands-on activities to host an event during NCW to help amplify the NCW campaign of engaging and teaching the public about the value of chemistry in everyday life. Read the full Partner Highlight to learn more about NCW 2018 by-the-numbers and ACS and NISE Net partner collaborative events
SCIENCE IN THE NEWS
Earth and Space News
NASA's Voyager 2 probe enters interstellar space
For the second time in history, a human-made object has reached the space between the stars. NASA's Voyager 2 probe now has exited the heliosphere - the protective bubble of particles and magnetic fields created by the Sun. Now 11 billion miles away from Earth, Voyager 2 still has much to learn about this region of interstellar space. Read more and get the numbers behind Voyager 2
NASA's New Horizons mission reveals entirely new world
Did you see the first images taken of the most distant object ever explored? It's Ultima Thule, the object located in the Kuiper Belt beyond Pluto, and it illuminates the processes that built the planets four and half billion years ago. Read more about the New Horizon's mission to Ultima Thule and see first of their kind images
Chinese lunar rover achieves world first
In another first, China has become the first country to land on the far side of the moon. This landing has lifted some of the mystery surrounding this side of the moon and has now opened a new chapter in human lunar exploration. Read more about this recent Chinese moon landing
Synthetic Biology News
Gene editing of dogs offers hope for treating human muscular dystrophy
Achieved for the first time in a large animal, researchers have fixed a genetic glitch that causes Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a disease that affects an estimated 300,000 boys around the world. Although a small study, the positive findings are that CRISPR restored the protein dystrophin in critical body muscles. Read more about this study and the next steps
Chemistry News
Rabbit gene helps houseplant to more efficiently detoxify indoor air
Studies have shown that household air is more polluted than either office or school air, exposing children and home workers to higher levels of carcinogens than the general population. Researchers have made a genetically modified houseplant that can efficiently remove at least two toxins from the air. Read more about how plants can help detoxify air in your home
Nano News
Nanofiber carpet could lead to new sticky or insulating surfaces
Inspired by nature, engineering researchers have developed a new way to make arrays of nanofibers (that are hundreds of times thinner than a human hair) that could bring us coatings that are sticky, repellent, insulating or light emitting. Read more about this new discovery
COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
New 5-year Federal strategic plan for U.S STEM released
In December, the U.S. National Science and Technology Council’s Committee on STEM Education (CoSTEM) released the new federal strategic plan for STEM education. You can read a summary of the plan from the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) and implications specific to afterschool STEM from the Afterschool Alliance. Click here to download your free copy
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/. Check out upcoming opportunities below.
January
NASA's Night Sky Network - What's up for January 2019
Learn about astronomical events taking place this month
1/20: Total lunar eclipse
If skies are clear, viewers in North and South America, as well as those in western parts of Europe and Africa, will be able to watch one of the sky's most dazzling shows on Sunday night, January 20th, and early Monday morning, January 21st, when the Sun, Earth and Moon align creating a total lunar eclipse. The maximum eclipse will occur at 12:12am Eastern / 9:12pm Pacific; the total duration of the eclipse is just over 5 hours and the duration of the full lunar eclipse is just over 1 hour. Learn more from NASA including eclipse hands-on activities. Look here for the exact time of the eclipse in your area
February
Black History Month / African-American History Month - celebrate people in STEM
- NASA Modern Figures Toolkit
- African Americans in Science and Technology resources from the Library of Congress
- Black History Month resources from AAAS Science NetLinks
2/14: Valentines Day - explore NISE Net related activities and programs
2/17-2/23: National Engineers Week - explore NISE Net related activities and programs
2/21: Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day - explore NISE Net related activities and programs
2019 Year-long events
- International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements, 50th Anniversary
- NASA 60th Anniversary
- Moon Landing 50th Anniversary - Apollo 11 (July 20) and Apollo missions
- NISE Network Online Workshop: Celebrating the Moon, Our Nearest Neighbor (Recorded)
MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2019 Annual Meeting
February 14 - 17, 2019; Washington, DC
Meeting theme is Science Transcending Boundaries. Registration open
American Chemical Society (ACS) 2019 National Meeting
March 31 - April 4, 2019; Orlando, FL
Explore the meeting theme Chemistry for New Frontiers. Registration open
Association of Children's Museums (ACM) Interactivity 2019
May 8 - 11, 2019; Denver CO
Conference theme is FearLESS. Learn more about ACM 2019
Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) Annual Conference 2019
September 21 - September 24, 2019; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Explore next year's theme, Moonshots: Rendezvous with the Future. Learn more about ASTC 2019
