STEM Ed Announcement: Science/Engineering Saturday Seminars

[Morton Sternheim <mort@k12s.phast.umass.edu>]

This is  a UMass Amherst  program.
Contact information is below.
============================

Science & Engineering Saturday Seminars         Fall, 2009  

Designed for science teachers; new teachers are especially welcome         
Five Saturdays each term; 8:30-1 at UMass Amherst
Educational materials, refreshments, parking, PDP's included
Advance registration is required; capacity is limited
Cost $30 per session
4 PDP's per half day session

Register online at https://www.umassk12.net/sess/register.html or at the session.


Oct. 17.  Using Ecology: Making Science Real. Integrated Sciences Building 324. 
  NOTE DIFFERENCT LOCATION FROM MOST SESSIONS!
Steve Brewer, Biology Department Ecology is the science of organisms
interacting with each other and their environment.  Ecology activities can
offer an opportunity for students to practice hands-on science in their
local environment.  Global climate change and a renewed focus on the
limitations of the environment to support endless growth are topical means
for students to study fundamental ecological principles.  Workshop
participants will explore a variety of ecological problems and generate
ideas for making observations, posing problems, collecting data, and
developing persuasive presentations of their findings.

Oct. 31. Global Climate Change. Julie Brigham-Grette and Ray Bradley,
Geosciences. Lederle 1033. Global temperatures have been steadily rising as
we burn fossil fuels, with the biggest effects in the polar regions. We will
explore the relationship between carbon dioxide levels and temperature,
modeling the effects of climate change on ocean currents, and more.

Nov. 14.  Supporting Statistical Reasoning for Mathematics & Science
Students. Location to be announced. Sandra Madden, Math Education. Often
people are asked to make decisions in the presence of uncertainty. By
carrying out carefully designed experiments, one can generate convincing
evidence to answer such questions as

"	Is a certain medicine more effective for some condition than doing
        nothing?
"	Do plants grow better with fertilizer A than with fertilizer B?
"	Does chewing gum make students perform better on mathematics tests?

We will explore characteristics of carefully designed experiments,
investigate an innovative curriculum unit for supporting statistical
reasoning, and introduce several tools (including one free and widely
available internet-based software tool) for supporting statistical
investigations in a sense-making manner that is broadly accessible to
students and teachers.

Nov. 21. Weather cancellation makeup date if needed.

Questions: Mort Sternheim, mort@umassk12.net, 413-545-1908,
http://www.umassk12.net/sess 

Online seminar registration and payment:
https://www.umassk12.net/sess/register.html