JoinConference Perks from Our Friends at HHMI
Last year when the NSTA Conference was cancelled, we all had little idea how much our lives were about to change. While many of us have felt isolated from the world, educators persevered - bringing the world directly to our children. Since we’re virtual this year and missing out on our traditional HHMI Movie Night, we’ll instead use this opportunity to express our deep gratitude for all you do to nurture and inspire the next generation of explorers, scientists and storytellers.
As a small thank you, we would like to offer you and your students free access to three HHMI Tangled Bank Studios films that will transport you to Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique — where something truly transformative is taking place. After decades of conflict and environmental degradation, this once depleted park is being rebuilt as a model for community-based, scientifically-driven conservation.
HHMI Tangled Bank Studios films
Free Coffee
In appreciation for your early hours and tireless efforts, we’d also like to offer you a special perk: a free bag of Girls Run the World coffee, direct from Gorongosa. The coffee is on us, but the proceeds from every bag directly employ more than 600 local farmers; provide schooling to thousands of girls; and protect tens of thousands of threatened and endangered animals in the stunning rainforest ecosystem that supports the entire park.
The link to claim your free bag of coffee will be included in the confirmation email you receive after your register for NSTA Engage: Spring21. If you have additional questions, please send an email to social@nsta.org.
Classroom Resources
We also invite you to transport your students virtually to Gorongosa with our free HHMI BioInteractive classroom resources, activities and citizen science projects, all tied to national curricular frameworks such as NGSS, AP® Environmental Science, AP® Biology, and Vision and Change.
A Science-Based Approach to Restoring Gorongosa's Wildlife
Follow the team from Gorongosa National Park as they relocate zebras from a nearby reserve as part of the effort to restore healthy wildlife populations.
Scientific Inquiry and Data Analysis Using WildCam Gorongosa
Investigate ecological questions using WildCam Gorongosa, a citizen science platform with trail camera images from Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique.
Tracking Lion Recovery in Gorongosa National Park
Follow ecologists Paola Bouley, Celina Dias and Domingas Alexo as they use GPS satellite collars and trail cameras to identify lions and gather data about their behavior.
Creating Chains and Webs to Model Ecological Relationships
Build model food chains and webs using cards depicting Gorongosa’s producers and consumers, then introduce an ecological disturbance and predict how it would impact animals in the community.
We hope these unique stories and engaging classroom resources from Gorongosa National Park bring you and your students a sense of curiosity, optimism, and wonder about the living world around us. And we look forward to seeing you in person next year.
Sean B. Carroll
Vice President for Science Education
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
