Develop Design Thinking, Celebrate Earth Day, Diagnose Autism & More
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Develop Design Thinking, Celebrate Earth Day, Diagnose Autism & More April 1, 2015 In Partnership With: IN THIS ISSUE Grants, Competitions and Other "Winning" Opportunities Resource Roundup Professional Development Plus Mobile Learning Journey STEM Gems Worth-the-Surf Websites Grants, Competitions and Other "Winning" Opportunities Encourage Careers in Science Research Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) and PBS LearningMedia have announced The Emperor Science Award Program, an initiative that will encourage disadvantaged high school students to pursue careers in science, with particular emphasis on cancer research, through a year of mentorship with a scientist from a leading research institution or industry. The education initiative is being launched in connection with Ken Burns Presents Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies, a three-part, six-hour film on the history of cancer that will air on PBS on April 1. Students may apply for awards or may be nominated by teachers. The first 100 awardees (high school students from Title I or similarly “economically disadvantaged” schools) will receive $1,500 grants as well as one-on-one science mentoring over the course of a year or an intensive summer schedule. Students will be connected with science mentors from a host of high-profile medical research centers, universities and industry leaders in cancer diagnosis and treatment. Students will be provided with electronic tablets to enhance their studies and extend the reach of mentors of major research institutions to students in rural and suburban communities. In the coming months, information about The Emperor Science Awards will be posted on www.cancerfilms.org and www.su2c.org. Free resources to accompany the film are available on PBS LearningMedia’s website. Deadline: Applications available in August 2015; check PBS LearningMedia’s website in August for application deadline Click Here for More Information About PBS Film Click Here to Access Free Resources SHARE: Foster Design Problem Solving Skills Sponsored by the Chicago Architecture Foundation, the DiscoverDesign.org National High School Architecture & Design Competition promotes architectural awareness and design problem-solving skills in high schools across the United States. To participate in the competition, students must design a pocket park for a small piece of land near their school or in their neighborhood. The design needs to provide spaces for people to gather as well as activities for multiage groups. Students’ pocket parks should be no bigger than 14,500 square feet and include a variety of elements that make a park—from benches, bike shelters and meeting spaces to playgrounds and pavilions, to cafés, information kiosks or arts performance areas. Students should also consider sustainability issues and the environmental impact of their design. Prizes will be awarded to first-, second- and third-place winners. The jury will also recognize one student and one architect mentor who did the most to foster, encourage and build an online design community of learners. Through comments and feedback, mentors will provide both encouragement and constructive criticism on students’ work throughout the run of the competition. Deadlines: April 25, 2015, for registration; May 20, 2015, at 5 p.m. (CST), for entries Click Here for More Information SHARE: Recognize Successful Educational Technology Collaborations CDW•G, in partnership with eSchool News, is sponsoring Collaboration Nation, an awards program that will recognize the nation’s finest examples of collaboration and successful educational technology projects. CDW•G will share the winning school and district’s keys to success and will award that school or district a grand prize of $50,000 to spend with CDW•G on products and services from partners such as HP, Lenovo and Meraki. From March 2 through June 30, 2015, schools and districts are invited to submit a nomination and short video on the Collaboration Nation website. The winning school or district’s nomination and video will demonstrate exemplary technology collaboration across departments and describe how the project had a measurable impact on teaching and learning. Deadline: June 30, 2015 Click Here for More Information Plus: Schools and districts are encouraged to be a part of the Collaboration Nation community on Facebook by sharing videos of collaboration successes. Each month (April, May and June), the school or district video that has the most shares on Facebook will win a $15,000 prize in products from Collaboration Nation partners such as HP, Lenovo or Meraki. Click Here to Access Collaboration Nation Facebook Community SHARE: Resource Roundup Sponsored By: Get Help for IT LapCabby has been doing things differently in IT storage for more than 25 years. Born in the UK, LapCabby’s laptop, netbook, tablet and Chromebook carts are a big hit in schools worldwide—and they’re now available in the US and Canada. The cleverly designed carts give you everything you need in the classroom: storage, safety, simplicity—even charging and syncing. Click Here to Visit Website SHARE: Protect Nature, Preserve Life The Nature Conservancy and its 550 scientists have created Nature Works Everywhere to help students learn the science behind how nature works for people—and how they can help keep it running strong. Nature Works Everywhere gives teachers, students and families everything they need to start exploring and understanding nature around the globe, alongside Nature Conservancy scientists. The resources include interactive games and interactive lesson plans that are aligned to national standards and can be customized for each classroom. Tap into these interactive resources to celebrate Earth Day on April 22—and year-round. Click Here to Access Free Lessons, Videos and Garden Tools Plus: Join one of The Nature Conservancy’s water scientists on a virtual field trip to find out how geography, people and water interact in two of America’s “wildly” unique biomes: the temperate rainforest and the desert. The 40-minute virtual field trip will take place on YouTube, on April 8, 2015, at 12 noon (ET). The content of this virtual field trip is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards and the National Geography Standards. Click Here to Register for Virtual Event SHARE: Get to Where You're Headed Common Sense Education provides award-winning resources to help schools integrate technology in a meaningful way. Coming in April is Digital Compass, a new interactive game for grades 6–9. The game is a choose-your-own-adventure, animated learning experience that introduces or builds on the fundamentals of digital literacy and digital citizenship. The storyline encourages teens to explore how the decisions in their digital lives may impact the lives of others through decision making and perspective taking. Digital Compass will be available as mobile and web-based apps, all for free. The web version will require Internet access, but the app versions, once downloaded, will not need a connection to the Internet. The iOS and Android phone versions will be available in August 2015. Click Here to Access Free Game SHARE: Professional Development Plus Identify Subtle Signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder Autism spectrum disorder can be diagnosed in people of all ages, not just children. When it comes to identifying students at risk, educators are on the frontlines. On April 8, 2015, at 6 p.m. (ET), Big Deal Media’s new Everyone CAN! community on edWeb.net will host its inaugural webinar titled “Identifying Autism Spectrum Disorder in School- Aged Children,“ sponsored by Think Asperger’s, an outreach program of the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center (SARRC). This free webinar will reprise a presentation about keeping students with Asperger’s from falling through the cracks. The presenter will expand the question-and-answer portion of the webinar to address many of the major concerns brought up during the previous presentation, including who should compose the evaluation team, how to work with parents and what to do after a diagnosis is received. Join this interactive session to understand the subtle signs of autism spectrum disorder and the free tools available through the Think Asperger’s website. The webinar will be recorded and archived in the Everyone CAN! community for members to access after the event. Click Here to Join Everyone CAN! Community Click Here to Register for Free Webinar Click Here to Access Previous Webinar Click Here to Learn More About Think Asperger’s SHARE: Find Funds for Your Favorite Projects You may have some students on free lunch, but not enough to qualify for Title I status. Although many grants target underserved populations, you still can find grants and other funding to help pay for what your school needs and what you want for your classroom. On April 16, 2015, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. (ET), the GetEdFunding community on edWeb.net will host a free webinar titled “Is There Grant Money If You Are Not a Title I School?” In this webinar, sponsored by CDW•G, the presenter will help attendees get started with proven strategies for securing funding. The presentation will include ideas for creating projects for subsets of students that address specific subject areas, such as STEM, or for general education issues, such as literacy. The presentation will also offer suggestions for funding activities or projects—for example, Collaboration Nation—as well as suggestions for getting some of the $2 billion committed by companies for classrooms as part of the federal ConnectEd initiative. Attendees will also learn how to use the GetEdFunding website to help find appropriate grants and competitions. The presenter will field questions from attendees after the presentation. The webinar will be recorded and archived in the GetEdFunding community for members to access after the event. Click Here to Join GetEdFunding Community Click Here to Register for Free Webinar Click Here to Visit CDW•G Website SHARE: [Re]Energize Your Classroom Through Multimedia Stories The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) require teachers of all disciplines to integrate writing and technology into their curriculum.