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Newsletter: June 2023

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JUNE 2023  


NETWORK NEWS

Children measure temperatures using a tool

Summer STEM Fun 
The summer months are full of opportunities to engage children and adults in STEM topics and take time to observe the natural world around us. Many of your institutions are already deep into summer camp planning and implementation. Some resources you may find helpful when planning summer public engagement activities are:

Summer camp resources nisenet.org/camps

Sun and sand activities

Night sky observations: Take advantage of warmer weather to encourage your audiences to view the night sky nisenet.org/astronomy 

Summer reading, book recommendations, and nature journaling nisenet.org/books 


UPCOMING EVENTS

NISE Net Online Workshop logo

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, June 13, 2023
2-3pm Eastern

Activating Outdoor Spaces - Pocket Parks, Pollinator Gardens, and More!

During this workshop, we will learn about successful strategies for using your outdoor space to engage meaningfully with audiences of all ages, while also integrating sustainability practices. Presenters will share their tips and experience around creating garden spaces, pocket parks, enhanced trails, revitalized outdoor areas by removing invasive species, and much more. Join us and discover new ways to utilize your outdoor spaces for more effective visitor engagement while also putting sustainability into practice at your museum.
Learn more and register 


PARTNER HIGHLIGHTS

 

Wonder Works Space Weekend 2023 - Story Blocks Activity Table

Pizza and Planetary Science at Wonder Works Children’s Museum in Oak Park, IL

We recently heard about a very successful event hosted by partners at Wonder Works Children’s Museum that integrated multiple years of NISE Network Explore Science: Earth and Space toolkits into one fun-filled family Space Weekend. . .

Our visitors at the museum tend to be very young (birth to age 8, with the majority falling between 2-6 years old). In an informal setting where their experiences might not always involve an adult, some of the materials can be too advanced for these very young learners. So we approached our Space Weekend as a "takeover event" where we transformed the museum into all things SPACE!

Learn more


FEATURED ON THE WEBSITE

selection of cards showing technology and people

 

Changing Brain activities 

Try the NISE Network's new set of activities to inspire reflection and conversation about future neurotechnologies. All the new activities include training videos and easily sourced materials. 
Learn more

 

 

Museum of Life and Science Durham This event is part of the NC Science Festival credit Guillermo Delgado for NISE Network
Making Waves with Radio I Spy activity at the ¡Celebremos las ciencias! event at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC
credit: Guillermo Delgado for NISE Network

Making Waves with Radio activities 

Try the NISE Network's new set of activities to engage public audiences about radio technologies including Wi-Fi, cell phones, and satellites. Each activity includes a training video and materials in both English and Spanish. 
Learn more

 

 

Solar eclipse resources

Solar eclipse hero without text overlay

Two major solar eclipses are coming to North America on Saturday, October 14, 2023 and Monday, April 8, 2024. Even if you are not located on the path of totality, people throughout North America will be able to see a partial eclipse. New resources are available and more resources will be added to the website as they become available.
nisenet.org/solareclipse

 

Asteroid Bennu mosaic image taken by OSIRIS-REx spacecraft in 2018 Image Credit to NASA, Goddard, and University of Arizona

 

Asteroid resources

NASA’s OSIRIX-REx mission will return to Earth with a sample collected from the asteroid Bennu on September 24, 2023.
nisenet.org/asteroids

 

Recorded NISE Network online workshops

Blue logo for online workshop recordings

View the recordings and resources from past NISE Net online workshops:

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

Globe Observer NASA Moon Trees Quest

Participate in this citizen science opportunity from June 21 to September 21, 2023. Take tree height observations with the GLOBE Observer app’s Trees tool of the five tree species whose seeds were included aboard the Apollo 14 spacecraft. Trees cool and moisten our air, fill it with oxygen, store carbon, create shade and habitats for other creatures, anchor the soil and slow the movement of water, and provide food, fuel, and building materials for human activities.
Learn more

Culturally Inclusive Planetary Engagement Workshops

Informal educators are invited to apply to attend an in-person workshop focused on engaging Black and Latinx audiences in planetary science. Stipends up to $300 are available. Upcoming locations in 2023: New Orleans, LA; Mountain View, CA; Miami, Fl; New York NY; Boulder, CO; and Puerto Rico.
Learn more

Interested in one of our exhibitions? 
There’s a waiting list for that!


If you are interested in hosting the Nano exhibition, or the Sun, Earth, Universe exhibition, please reach out to Christina Leavell, NISE Network Community Manager, to be added to a waiting list.

 

 



SCIENCE IN THE NEWS


 

CHEMISTRY NEWS

Smoke from wildfires can threaten human health, even when the fire is hundreds of miles away. One measure of air quality is the size of the particles; particulate matter 2.5 microns or smaller (PM2.5) is small enough that it can travel deep into the lungs. Exposure to PM2.5 from smoke or other air pollution can exacerbate health conditions like asthma and affect lung function. The composition of the wildfire smoke since what is burning and how long it is in the atmosphere affects the chemistry of the smoke and how it affects human health.

Learn more

NISE Network resources: 

• Air Quality resources

 


 

SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY NEWS

The Chinese geneticist who shocked the world in 2018 by announcing the creation of the first gene-edited babies is back in the lab after spending time in prison. He has set up a new lab where he's using CRISPR gene-editing technology to come up with a cure for a debilitating genetic disease. 

Learn more

NISE Network resources: 

• Building with Biology activities

• Should We Edit the Genome? forum

• Editing Our Evolution: Rewriting the Human Genome forum

• Genetics resources

 


SPACE NEWS

New images taken by NASA’s Perseverance rover may show signs of what was once a rollicking river on Mars, one that was deeper and faster-moving than scientists have ever seen evidence for in the past. The river was part of a network of waterways that flowed into Jezero Crater, the area the rover has been exploring since landing more than two years ago

Learn more

NISE Network resources: 

• Mars resources

 


NEUROSCIENCE NEWS

A recent National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded study found that social safety nets may blunt effects of poverty on children’s mental health. Family income is associated with differences in children’s brain development and mental health, which can in turn affect life outcomes. The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study examined how differences in children’s brain development and mental health vary across states with different costs of living and anti-poverty programs. 

Learn more

NISE Network resources: 

• Changing Brains activities

• Brain and Neuroscience resources

• Early Learners resources

 


NANOTECHNOLOGY NEWS

Physicists have directly measured the fluid-like flow of electrons in graphene. It is the first time that scientists have made this measurement at nanometer resolution. The results could help scientists develop new, low-resistance materials that could conduct electricity more efficiently

Read more

NISE Network resources: 

• Carbon resources

• NanoDays resources

 


CLIMATE NEWS

One of the most important actions people can take to address climate change is to talk about it, says Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, climate scientist at The Nature Conservancy. According to Dr. Hayhoe, positive conversations about the climate can help people connect over shared values including family, community, health, and religion. 

Read more

NISE Network resources: 

• Exploring Earth: Rising Sea activity 

• Climate Resiliency forms including flooding

• Climate Change resources

• Water resources

 


SUSTAINABILITY NEWS

The first draft of a global treaty to curb plastic pollution expected by the end of 2023. More than 170 nations have agreed to develop a global plastic pollution treaty. 

Read more

NISE Network resources: 

• Sustainability resources

• What’s in the Water activity

• Water resources

 

 


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

 

June

 

July


 

NATIONAL MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES​​​

  • Visitor Studies Association Conference, July 11-13 2023, Virtual

    Learn more

  • ASTC Conference, October 7-10 2023, Charlotte, NC

    Learn more

  • Association of Children's Museums InterActivity, May 15-17, 2024, Madison, WI, sesion proposals due July 31, 2023

    Learn more

  • REVISE InformalScience.org conference calendar

    Learn more

  • National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) Conferences

    Learn more