The Science House @ CMAST Kicks off a Fabulous Winter

The Science House @ CMAST is rounding out 2014 with activities and plans for the coming year.

Science House Director Dr. Pat Curley has been elected as the Eastern Section Chair for the Environmental Educators of North Carolina, the State’s professional organization for formal and informal educators.

As the Eastern Section Chair, he will represent the needs and interest of members from the eastern part of the state, will communicate with area members and provide leadership to EENC program and membership recruitment for our eastern members. Pat will be providing join professional development workshops at CMAST in collaboration with the North Carolina Science Teacher Association, Mid-Atlantic Marine Educators Association and the Environmental Educators of North Carolina in December, February and April.

The Science House @ CMAST will participate in the 1st Annual Employer and Educator Summit hosted by NCEastAlliance. The purpose of the Summit is to explore, from the employer’s lenses, how sustainable STEM skilled employees can be developed through collaborative efforts with K12 and higher educators.

Panels consisting of employers, K-12 educators and higher education representatives will speak about purposefully aligned programs that are producing employees “just in time” to fill vacant positions. Attendees will also hear from state and national STEM leaders who will explain North Carolina efforts to align K-12 education with employer skill needs that lead to blended programs with higher education and employers. The lunch keynote speaker will discuss the vision of a Key North Carolina foundation as it relates to STEM talent/skill development in rural counties. The summit will take place at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point on Dec. 2nd.

Mini-Conferences

The Science House, North Carolina Science Teachers Association, Environmental Educators of North Carolina and the Mid-Atlantic Marine Education Association have teamed up to provide a series of mini-conferences. The mini-conferences are intended to provide opportunities for networking, information about coastal programs and resources and to provide teachers on the coast with cost effective professional development opportunities. The mini-conferences are eligible for CEU and EE Certification Credit.

The following mini-conferences are scheduled:

December 13 9 am – 1 pm

Gem Mining in the Classroom- Del’s Diamonds
New Sea Turtle Tracking Curriculum- NC Aquarium
Coastal Science using Vernier Probeware- The Science House

February 28th 9 am – 1 pm

Project CATCH Workshop- NC Wildlife
Ocean Science for Middle School- Carolina Biological Supply
Using ROVs for teaching STEM- The Science House

April 25th 9 am – 1 pm

Earthwise Educational Garden Project- Coastal Federation
Southern Forests and Climate Change- Project Learning Tree

Coastal Marine Science Competition

Statewide Coastal Marine Science Competition to start in January. The North Carolina Marine Education and Science Partnership announced that its online Coastal Marine Science Competition, which was available to students in the coastal communities last year, is open to all students age 13-18 across the state of North Carolina. Students may start registering now. Participants in the competition will be provided with a question about an important issue concerning the coast and must produce a two minute presentation that addresses that question. Students can compete individually or in teams for cash prizes. For more information, visit the MSEP Competition Website.

Earthwise Educational Garden

The Science House @ CMAST and the Coastal Federation have partnered in the development of the Earthwise Educational Garden project. The partners are working together to develop an educational garden on property that was donated to the Coastal Federation. The garden will demonstrate model school yard gardens, composting projects, sustainable practices models, Citizen Science stations, and garden based learning spaces. The garden will be used for field trips and professional development.

The partners are currently in the process of project and program development and plans on providing our first Professional Development program on the property in August.