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Discovery Camps @ USC Aiken USC Aiken . 471 University Pkwy . Aiken, SC 29801 . 803-641-3313 . http://rpsec.usca.edu/ Celebrate the Holiday Season in the Winter 2011-2012 DuPont Planetarium! In This Issue: Join us for a delightful show about the season that holds Tis the Season and some of the warmest and brightest celebrations of the year. Spring Break Camps ‘Tis the Season traces the development of many endearing Page 1 holiday customs and how they light up our lives during the Student Programs darkest time of the year. The show explains the science Page 2 behind the winter solstice and Earth’s seasons, and it ex- Future City and plores possible astronomical explanations for the Star of Traveling Science Bethlehem. Page 3 Masters Program, ‘Tis the Season is one of our most popular, longest run- Ruth Patrick Award and ning shows. Many families come back year after year to Toys for Tots rediscover the Christmas spirit through this holiday tradi- Page 4 tion. Make your reservations soon for public showings of Planetarium ‘Tis the Season on any of the dates below: Page 5 December 3, 10, 12 at 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. Adopt an Animal Page 6 December 17, 19, 26 at 6:00, 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. Galactic Guardians You may also schedule a private showing of ‘Tis the Season (or Page 7 any other planetarium program) by calling 641-3313. SEED and R. Alexander Award Page 8 Science Fair and STEP Page 9 RUTH PATRICK SCIENCE EDUCATION CENTER Science Store and Camp Invention Page 10 d scov ry camps Aprili 2-6 e grades K-5 SPRING BREAK 2012 For more information visit http://rpsec.usca.edu/springbreak Infusing the Love of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics! RPSEC Spectrum Infusing the Love of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics! Page 2 K-12 Student Programs This year a record number of K-12 students will visit the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center with their teachers. The RPSEC Student Programs staff has developed several new programs this year in response to teacher requests. New programs include Under the Sea, Method to the Madness, Journey to the Center of an Atom, Kinesthetic Astronomy, Two Small Pieces of Glass, and Worlds in Motion. The Ruth Patrick Science Education Center currently offers 52 hands-on, in- quiry-based programs. All of our programs are aligned with South Carolina and Georgia academic standards, and many of our programs are interdisciplinary. Our Student Programs website includes program descriptions, standards cor- relations, and related Traveling Science and Mathematics Kits that support and extend each lesson. These kits contain excellent post-visit activities and are available, free of charge, for checkout. To reserve a kit, go to http:// rpsec.usca.edu/travelingscience/ or call (803) 641-3683. The deadline has passed for reservation requests for the 2011-2012 school year. Once again, we received many more requests than we will be able to serve, and our schedule is now full. We are unable to schedule additional programs at this time, but will be happy to place your request on a waiting list in the event of a cancellation. To download a reservation request form, please go to http://rpsec.usca.edu/student/. Grant from Wells Fargo Enables Student Visits Thanks to the generous support of Wells Fargo, every eighth grade student from Aiken Middle School visited the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center for a series of hands-on programs in September 2011. The grant paid for RPSEC program fees and transportation for 591 student vis- its. The visits featured hands-on, inquiry-based programs aligned with eighth grade earth science, physical science, and mathematics standards. The students enjoyed visiting the planetarium for the “Mission to Mars” show. Launch videos propelled them from Earth; then they zoomed through space and watched a NASA animation of a rover landing on Mars. They were able to view Mars from Earth, from the Hubble telescope, from Voyager, from space- craft still orbiting Mars, and from the cameras of the rovers on the surface of Mars. They compared surface features, landforms and rock types on Mars with Earth’s geology and viewed the Martian night sky using NASA images and our Digistar projector. The program concluded with a look at the night sky and some of the stories behind the constellations. During the “Are You Dense?” class, the students investigated density as they predicted, measured, and ordered the masses of Earth materials including mineral samples, water, sand, and iron filings. They worked in teams to take measurements, collect data, and graph the relationship between a substance’s volume and mass. The students also had an opportunity to examine properties of miner- als, use a field guide, and handle museum quality mineral specimens; then they identified 10 unknown minerals using a dichotomous key in the “Minerals, Ores, and Fossil Fuels” program. Valuable products made from earth resources were discussed throughout the class. Many thanks to Judith Goodwin from the USCA Advancement Of- fice and to Melissa Kidd, the eighth grade science teacher at Aiken Middle School, for helping us make this experience possible! RPSEC Spectrum Infusing the Love of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics! Page 3 South Carolina and Georgia Schools Participate in the 2011-2012 South Carolina Regional Future City Competition The mission of the National Engineers Week Future City Competi- tion is to provide a fun and exciting educational engineering pro- gram for sixth, seventh and eighth grade students. This program combines a stimulating engineering challenge with a hands-on application as students present their vision of a city of the fu- ture. Participating Schools Aiken Area Home Educators Edgewood Middle School Aiken Middle School Felton Laboratory School Alcorn Middle School Jefferson Davis Academy Ashley Hall JET Middle School Banks Trail Middle School Kennedy Middle School Blackville Hilda Jr. High LBC Middle School Bluffton Middle School Merriwether Middle School Blythewood Middle School New Ellenton Middle School Bryson Middle School North Augusta Middle School Carver-Edisto Middle School Palmetto Middle School Chapin Middle School Paul Knox Middle School E. L. Wright Middle School St. Mary on the Hill Catholic School W.A. Perry School of Aerospace The SC Regional Future City Competition is sponsored by the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center and Savannah River Site Education Outreach Programs. For more information visit http://futurecity.org/ FREE Teacher Resources and Visiting Scientists Available The Traveling Science and Mathematics Demonstrations Program has over 300 science and math kits available for use in the classroom. Supplement your curriculum with na- tionally recognized and state adopted exemplary materials. Kits have been correlated to SC state standards. Many kits contain children’s literature so that you can integrate your science and language arts lessons. In addition to these resources, you can request a visiting Scientists with Traveling Re- sources and Neat Demonstrations (STRAND) volunteer for classroom presentations. For more information please visit http://rpsec.usca.edu/travelingscience/ or call us at 803-641-3683. RPSEC Spectrum Infusing the Love of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics! Page 4 Masters Degree in Educational Foundational Core Courses (6 hours) AERM/EDRM 700 – Introduction to Technology Research in Education Earn Your USCA Degree Online AEET/EDET 709 – Applications of Learning Do you enjoy using your computer? Do Principles others ask you how to do something on Design Courses (15 hours) their computers? Do you enjoy showing AEET/EDET 603 – Design and Development Tools I to others something new on your com- AEET/EDET 703 – Design and Development Tools II puter? Have you considered getting a AEET/EDET 722 – Instructional Design and Assessment masters degree? Then maybe it is time AEET/EDET 755 – Design and Evaluation of Information Access and Delivery for you to consider the Masters of AEET/EDET 793 – Advanced Instructional Design and Education in Educational Technology Development (MEd Tech). The MEd Tech program at University of South Technology Core Courses (12 hours) Carolina Aiken (USCA) and the University of South Caroli- AEET/EDET 650 – Internship in Educational Technology na (USC) Columbia is accepting applications for enrollment. AEET/EDET 735 – Technological Applications for Diverse For more information visit http://edtech.usca.edu/. Populations AEET/EDET 746 – Management of Technology Resources The focus of the program is to develop capabilities essential AEET/EDET 780 – Seminar in Educational Technology to the effective design, evaluation, and delivery of technol- ogy-based instruction and training (e.g., software develop- Electives (3 hours chosen from the following courses) AEET/EDET 652 – Design and Evaluation of Games and ment, multimedia development, assistive technology modifi- Simulations cations, web-based development, and distance learning) in AETE 731 – Instructional and Informational order to (1) prepare educators to assume leadership roles Applications of Technology or in the integration of educational technology into the school EDTE 731 – Integration of Technology and curriculum, and (2) to provide graduate-level instructional op- Instruction portunities for several populations (e.g., classroom teachers, SLIS 706 – Introduction to Information corporate trainers, educational software developers) that need Technologies to acquire both technological competencies and understanding of TSTM 790 – Advanced Study in Technology sound instructional design principles and techniques. Support/Training Management Anyone interested in enrolling in this program should contact Karen Morris at 803-641-3489. Spirit of Ruth Patrick Award Presented to Debra Rood The 2010-2011 Spirit of Ruth Patrick Award was presented to Deb- ra Rood at the Aiken County School Board meeting in October. Debra is a teacher at New Ellenton Middle School, where she strives to help her students understand abstract science con- cepts and make connections between the science they study in school and the real world.
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