JANUARY 2023
NETWORK NEWS
NISE Network Year in Review 2022
When reflecting on this past year, we are filled with gratitude to be able to collaborate with all of you! This past year we continued to increase our capacity as professionals and organizations to engage the public in STEM topics throughout the United States. Our strength as a Network comes from our collaboration as dedicated professionals, and our impact comes from the work we all do to engage our local communities.
Thank you to everyone who participates in our community! Here are some of our favorite Network moments of 2022.
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What’s next? Upcoming Opportunities in 2023
We are looking forward to collaborating with NISE Network partners across the United States in 2023! We have compiled a list of opportunities and upcoming projects that we are looking forward to over the next few years.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Online Workshops
The NISE Network hosts free online workshops as professional development opportunities for our partners to share with and learn from each other. Online workshops take place on select Tuesdays at 2pm-3pm Eastern. View upcoming online workshops at nisenet.org/events
• Tuesday, January 17, 2023,
2-3pm Eastern
STEM Identity, STEM Career Interest, and Participation in Out-of-School Time Activities
Learn about how children's and teenagers' participation in out-of-school time activities and hobbies can influence STEM identity and career interest as young adults. Research findings of a recent NSF-funded study include comparisons by gender as well as barriers to participation in out-of-school time activities.
Learn more and register
• Tuesday, February 14, 2023
2-3pm Eastern
Asteroids, Meteorites, NASA Missions & more!
Join us as we learn about asteroids, meteorites, NASA missions to asteroids (i.e. Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), OSIRIS-REx), and more! NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) experts will share background and resources, including Astromaterials 3D, that you can use to engage public audiences.
Learn more and register
• Tuesday, March 14, 2023
2-3pm Eastern
Changing Brains - New Tools for Brain Awareness Week & Beyond
Join us during international Brain Awareness Week to learn about the new public engagement resources available through the "Changing Brains" NISE Network project. Explore ways to engage with the societal and ethical issues inherent in neuroscience research and hear from colleagues who have led successful brain-related programs for Brain Awareness Week and beyond.
Learn more and register
Photo credit: Museum of Life and Science
PARTNER HIGHLIGHTS
Congratulations to our Co-Created Public Engagement with Science Stipend Recipients!
In recent years, many informal science education institutions have worked to employ co-creation as a strategy for including and sustaining community priorities and perspectives throughout Public Engagement with Science (PES) activities, with a particular emphasis on responding to the “problems that communities view as worth solving”; that is, asking communities what issues they would like to see us as ISE institutions address in our programming and working with civic and community partners to address these topics. As the culminating phase of the NSF-funded Building Capacity For Co-Created Public Engagement with Science these partners from around the country will adapt the co-creation model from the project and work with civic and community partners to create and host Public Engagement with Science activities together this spring. We congratulate these NISE Network partner stipend recipients and look forward to their work!
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FEATURED ON THE WEBSITE
- Asteroid, Comet and Meteor resources - A newly discovered Comet, C/2022 E3 (ZTF), is passing near our Sun on January 12th and is closest to the Earth February 2nd. Comets are notoriously unpredictable, it will be viewable with binoculars, and it is possible it could become visible to the unaided eye under dark skies.
Observing advice for the comet - Learn about the latest Artemis news
- Moon resources - The Artemis I Orion spacecraft circled the Moon before returning to Earth Learn about the latest Artemis news
- Webb Space Telescope resources for engaging public audiences
- Solar eclipse resources - because it is never too early to start planning your 2023 and 2024 Solar Eclipse Events!
- COVID-19 museum resources
- Vaccine museum resources
Recorded NISE Network online workshops
View the recordings and resources from past NISE Net online workshops:
- Kick-Start Your Planning for 2023 and 2024 Solar Eclipse Events
(recorded 10/25/22)
Looking for an easy way to discover resources on the nisenet.org website?
Check out our “Browse by Themes and Topics,” featuring curated collections of hands-on activities and resources by themes and STEM topics: nisenet.org/browse-topic
COMMUNITY RESOURCES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
CAISE is transitioning to the new Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) Equity Resource Center - subscribe to stay in the know
The Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) is sunsetting and assisting with a transition to the new Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) Equity Resource Center. If you participated with CAISE and wish to continue to participate in the AISL and larger informal STEM education community, you can subscribe to communications from the new center
Looking for more STEM activities?
Visit Howtosmile.org
Search over 4,000 of the very best STEM activities on the web—along with a new collection focused on at-home learners. Howtosmile has also recently upgraded its backend systems towards improved sustainability and resource link stability. Find handpicked activities from your favorite science museums, public television stations, universities, and other educational organizations. All activities are available to anyone, free of charge. Start searching now and filter by age, material costs, and learning time to find exactly what you need for your educational program, class, or family.
https://www.howtosmile.org/
Connected Science Learning
Read NSTA's journal highlighting STEM education experiences that bridge the gap between in-school and out-of-school settings.
SCIENCE IN THE NEWS
TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY NEWS
Every year, Popular Science has highlighted the innovations that make living on Earth even a tiny bit better. And this past year has been no exception with the James Webb Space Telescope honored as the Innovation of the Year. The article features 100 technological accomplishments for 2022.
Read more
NISE Network resources:
• James Webb Space Telescope resources
CLIMATE CHANGE NEWS
Climate change is causing the weather around the world to get more extreme, and scientists are increasingly able to pinpoint exactly how the weather is changing as the Earth heats up. The annual report from the American Meteorological Society (AMS) compiles the leading science about the role of climate change in extreme weather. Read more
NISE Network resources:
• Exploring Earth: Rising Sea activity
• Climate Resiliency forms including flooding
GENETICS NEWS
When the man known as "father of genetics" turns 200, how do you celebrate? By digging up his body and sequencing his DNA, of course! That's what a team of scientists in the Czech Republic did this year to celebrate Gregor Mendel, whose experiments in the mid-1800s laid the groundwork for modern genetics.
Read more
Learn more about the 200th anniversary and watch videos of Mendel’s life and work.
NISE Network resources:
SPACE NEWS
NASA’s Mars insight lander shut down after more than four years of collecting data on Mars. Dust accumulating on the lander’s solar panels gradually reduced its energy over recent months.
Read more
NISE Network resources:
CHEMISTRY NEWS
Say hello to the toughest material on Earth! A new study reveals the profound properties of a metallic alloy made of chromium, cobalt, and nickel (CrCoNi). Not only is the metal highly malleable and impressively strong, these both improve as it gets colder. This runs counter to most other materials in existence.
Read more
NISE Network resources:
• Explore Science: Let’s do Chemistry kit
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: nisenet.org/seasons
WINTER
- Snow and Snowflakes
JANUARY
- What’s Up Skywatching Tips from NASA
- National Mentoring Month (January)
- Predictions for the New Year (January 1)
- National Bird Day (January 5)
- Some bird feathers (such as peacock feathers) are iridescent due to nano-sized structures within the feathers; for more about iridescence check out:
- NISE Network biomimicry resources
- NISE Network butterfly resources
- National Static Electricity Day (January 9)
- Martin Luther King Day (January 16)
- NISE Network Racial Justice Resources
MLK Day of Service - make it a day on not a day off
Create and find volunteer opportunities through matching programs: - https://www.volunteermatch.org
- https://www.idealist.org
- https://www.justserve.org
- NISE Network Racial Justice Resources
FEBRUARY
- Black History Month / African-American History Month (February)
- NASA Modern Figures Toolkit
- African Americans in Science and Technology internet resources from the Library of Congress
- NASA Museum & Informal Education Alliance resources (log-in required
- Black Lives in Astronomy: A Resource Guide compiled by Andrew Fraknoi
- Celebrating Black Inventors poster from SPIE the international society for optics and photonics
- HistoryMakers ScienceMakers biographies and oral histories of African American scientists and a set of toolkits of hands-on activities connecting to scientists
- NISE Network Racial Justice Resources
- Groundhog Day (February 2)
- Use Exploring Earth: Bear's Shadow activity to make and experiment with shadows
- STEM topics to explore include: signs of spring (animals emerging from hibernation), signs of winter (clear, cold days), and seasons (February 2 lies midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox)
- NASA Space Place Seasons resource
- International Day of Women and Girls in Science (February 11)
- World Radio Day (February 13)
- Valentine's Day (February 14)
- Engineers Week (February 19-25)
- Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (February 23)
- National Battery Day (February 18)
- Great Backyard Bird Count (February 17-20)
- some bird feathers (such as peacock feathers) are iridescent due to nano-sized structures within the feathers; for more about iridescence check out:
- NISE Network butterfly resources
- NISE Network biomimicry resources
NATIONAL MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES
-
Association of Children's Museums InterActivity, April 26-28, 2023, New Orleans, LA
Learn more -
STEM Learning Ecosystems Community of Practice, May 1-3 2023, Jacksonville, FL
Learn more -
Visitor Studies Association Conference, July 11-13 2023, Virtual
Learn more -
ASTC Conference, October 7-10 2023, Charlotte, NC
Learn more -
CAISE InformalScience.org conference calendar
Learn more -
National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) Conferences