March 2017 Update
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TESTA News… Update! March 2017 Friendly Reminders and News S P E C I A L that came in after the last P O I N T S O F I N T E R E S T: Tailings… Fossil Hunt __________________________________________________________ Professional Development Check out the latest information below. Opportunities Have you renewed your membership? TESTA membership runs from CAST to CAST. Please renew today if your membership has expired! Membership form is located at the end of this publication. our membership? TESTA membership runs Have you renewed your membership? TESTA membership runs from CAST to CAST. Please renew today if your membership has expired! from CAST to CAST. Please renew today if your membership has expired! Texas Earth Science Teachers Association Fossil Hunt Saturday – March 18, 2017 Brownwood, Texas Explore the Pennsylvanian Period with Lexy Bieniek, TESTA President. We will study the formation of sedimentary rocks and use fossils to learn about the Pennsylvanian environment in Texas. Fossils can be collected for the classroom. Experts will also be available to identify those fossils. For collecting - bring zip-lock bags, hand shovels, garden trowels, flat screw drivers, carrying bucket, notecards/book and sharpies. Folding hand carts/wagons are also useful. For yourself – bring snacks, drinks, wet wipes, hats, sunglasses, sunscreen, cameras, appropriate clothing and shoes, and anything else you might need. Lunch will be at a local restaurant. Field Trip Fee - $15.00. Liability waiver must be signed before participation. We will be driving to various sites around Brown County and will be parking along roadsides. Hotel, transportation and snacks/meals on own. Please register by Wednesday, March 15, 2017. Lexy Bienek - 936-520-3907 or Kathryn Barclay - 281-460-2026. [email protected] Meeting location and time will be given upon registration. Hope to see you there! Houston Geological Society Teacher of the Year – www.hgs.org This award has been established to honor individuals whose extraordinary efforts or unique contributions are in earth science education. Recipient receives a $500 cash award, wall plaque and will be invited to a HGS Event to receive these items. The HGS Teacher of the Year will be encouraged to apply to the GCAGS and AAPG Teacher of the Year Programs which offer greater cash bonuses ($1500 and $5000 respectfully) Requirements All applicants must adhere to the following requirements in order to be considered for the Houston Geological Society Teach of the Year Award: o Minimum of 3 years full-time U.S. teaching experience at any K-12 level. o Teaching at least one unit per year on natural resources. Natural resources are defined as earth materials used by civilizations past and present such as: o Organic materials such as petroleum, natural gas, coal and oil shale. o Inorganic substances found in the Earth such as mineral ores, building stone and aggregate. o Energy resources from the Earth such as fossil fuels, geothermal energy. o Teaching should include the scientific study of these resources, their origin, discovery, extraction, and historic and present use. It should also include the preservation of the environment, reclamation, the conservation of resources, and the use of earth science knowledge in decision-making. o The unit will be evaluated on depth and breadth of concepts (resource origin, discovery, processing, usage, and reclamation), creativity of presentation and balanced treatment of information regarding societal need and environmental issues. Please include the length of the unit. Materials: You will need four documents to complete this application. 1. Your teaching philosophy and methods of the teaching of natural resources (both content and pedagogy). (1-2 pages) 2. Description of the unit you teach. (1-2 pages) 3. Letter(s) of recommendation from a colleague 4. Letter(s) of recommendation from an administrator. Submission All Documents must be submitted to the Houston Geological Society by April 1, 2016. This will assure processing and publication of the selected HGS Teacher of the Year in the June Issue of the HGS Bulletin. Documents can be submitted as hardcopy or electronically. Hardcopies should be mailed to the Houston Geological Society, Attn: Awards Committee, 14811 St. Mary’s Lane, Suite 250, Houston, Texas 77079-2916. Electronic documents can be sent to the Award Chairman at [email protected]. Proposed Amendments to the Science TEKS At the January/February 2017 State Board of Education (SBOE) meeting, the SBOE approved for first reading and filing authorization proposed amendments to the science Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for Kindergarten – Grade 8 and certain high school courses. The proposed amendments would streamline the science TEKS with a recommended implementation date of the 2017-2018 school year. The SBOE is scheduled to consider the proposed amendments for second reading and final adoption at its April 2017 meeting. The official public comment period for the proposed amendments to streamline the science TEKS is now open. Please note that the SBOE has specifically requested feedback regarding the amount of time to provide instruction in the proposed student expectations. Specific feedback related to the time needed to teach individual concepts would be helpful. To view the proposed amendments and submit public comments, visit http://tea.texas.gov/About_TEA/Laws_and_Rules/SBOE_Rules_(TAC)/Proposed_State_Board_of_Edu cation_Rules/. Proposed amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 112, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Science, Subchapter A, Elementary, Subchapter B, Middle School, and Subchapter C, High School Public Comment Period: March 3, 2017– April 18, 2017 Earliest Possible Date of Adoption: April 2017 SBOE meeting ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ Earth and Space Science for Educators The Center for Lunar Science and Exploration (CLSE) at the Lunar and Planetary Institute and NASA’s Johnson Space Center is looking for 10 teams of highly motivated high school students and their teachers to participate in a national standards-based, lunar/asteroid research program for the 2016-2017 academic year. CLSE is one of nine members of the NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute. Supervised by their teacher and advised by a scientist, teams undertake student-led, open-inquiry research projects that engage them in the process of science and support the goals of SSERVI. At the end of the year, four teams compete for a chance to present their research at the NASA Exploration Science Forum held at the NASA Ames Research Center in July 2018. Participation in the ExMASS program is free. Interested teachers should complete the online application no later than 5:00pm Central Time, March 31, 2017. Selected teachers will be notified no later than April 21, 2017. For more information, please visit ExMASS webpages. For questions, please visit the ExMASS FAQ page or contact Andy Shaner at [email protected]. LPI's Cosmic Exploration Speaker Series This year's presentations feature LPI scientists discussing their research and how their work supports NASA's solar system science and exploration efforts. On Thursday, April 13, Patricia Craig presents Mars: Are We There Yet? at 7:30 p.m. central time; the presentation will be streamed live. The Great American Eclipse Presidential Awards for Excellence Preparing for the August 21 Total Solar Eclipse? in Mathematics and Science Teaching NASA has information, videos, and more. Nominate grades 7-12 mathematics and science teachers or submit your own application. Nomination deadline: April 1. For Your Shopping Pleasure Over Spring Break1 We are back from our 25-day shopping trip at the International Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show where we restocked for our 2017 inventory needs by hunting down the industry leaders for new and exciting treasures. It took 3 trucks to bring back most of what we accumulated, and we can't wait to share it all with you! Many items are one of a kind creation from Mother Nature, so be sure to come early for the best pieces available. There will be special pricing on some of our most popular items like Arkansas Quartz clusters, Rose Quartz and Amethyst tea lights, loose moldavite, and select vendors. Below we have featured some of the new products we found. We'll see you Saturday morning at 10:00!! This year Kyanite seemed to be everywhere. We brought back Kyanite blades, barrels of beautiful blue Kyanite in pure white quartz, a new tri colored Kyanite and an eye catching new aqua blue color Kyanite called Paraiba Kyanite. We were able to buy another batch of natural Quartz Lazer wands from the same vendor as last year. We scored a find of clear double-terminated Tibetan crystals that were hand-picked from a 1980 private collection. Shungite is still being incorporated into new styles and configurations for everyone to add in their lives. Lastly, we are excited to have found a new vendor who will be working with us to create new Himalayan Salt lamps, tools and decor for your home, office and altars. MINERALS All Types of Rough Minerals Polished Pieces & Quartz Crystals Chakra Tools We bought home several minerals We restocked several specialty types in natural forms including A variety of finished products such of quartz including another lot of Hemimorphite, new colors as Wands, Spheres, Pyramids, Lemurian Seed Qtz, Singing Laser of Kyanite, Eudialyte, Morganite, Hearts, Flips, Polished Stand Ups, wands and Diamantina Laser Wands, Zircon, Purpurite, Dolomite, Ulexite, Angels, Pendulums, Freeforms, great Pink Himalayan Qtz Vogels, new Grape Chalcedony, Dravite, Rain Runes, Palm Stones, Obelisks, Clusters, Sprouting Qtz w/ Phantons, Forest Jasper, Turquoise, Spanish Bowls, Boxes, Slices, Eggs, and Green Prazym Qtz, Elestials, Double Aragonite, Mimetite, Diopside, Skulls have all been restocked. We Terminated Tibetan Qtz, Lithium Boulder Opal, pieces of Dendritic also found a vast assortment of new Qtz, Chrome Qtz, Super 7, Enhydro Psilomelane, Rainbow Moonstone, Reiki and Chakra Tools to assist Qtz and Lighting Struck Lemurian Spectrolite, Stichtite, Auralite, you.