How to Plan a Student-Centered Farmer Visit to Your School

This online guide can help schools and teachers plan and host student-centered classroom visits from local farmers. Created by the Center for Ecoliteracy, a California-based group dedicated to advancing the teaching and modeling of sustainable practices in K–12 schools, the guide offers tips for successfully building relationships with local farmers, as well as information about planning, scheduling, and hosting a meaningful event. Of particular interest are the suggested hands-on activities to deepen students’ learning experiences from the visit. These include seed sorts, culinary-based activities, and seed-planting activities.

NASA’s Earth Minute

A series of animated whiteboard videos explain key concepts about Earth science, NASA missions, and climate change. Most appropriate for grades 5–12, the one- to two-minute videos tackle themes such as the role of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, Earth’s rising temperatures, and monitoring ocean winds to better understand global climate patterns. Several of the videos are also available in Spanish-language versions. 

Operation Prevention Resources

Operation Prevention is a collection of digital tools to raise awareness about the dangers of substance misuse. Developed collaboratively by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Discovery Education, and targeted for grades 3–12, the digital resources are available in both English and Spanish and include standards-based lesson plans, virtual field trips, and classroom activities to kickstart life-saving conversations among students and families. The Science of Addiction (middle and high school levels) is a self-paced online learning model to teach students strategies for saying “no” to unhealthy choices. The multi-part Virtual Field Trip Series (middle and high school levels), addresses today’s opioid crisis through videos (and accompanying educators’ guides) on topics such as The Science Behind Opioid Addiction and On the Frontlines of the Opioid Epidemic: A Community Fighting Back. Multi-Drug Exploratory, for elementary and middle levels, uses animated videos and activities to highlight common forms of substance misuse (e.g., steroids, inhalants, depressants, stimulants, hallucinogens, and marijuana). Each video includes an accompanying classroom activity with questions for students to consider before and after viewing.

Animals A to Z Activity Sheets

Designed for grades 2–4, Education World’s Animals A to Z activity sheets teach students interesting facts about animals they know (and some animals they don't!) while reinforcing basic skills of capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and grammar. Each sheet features five short facts about a unique animal with a twist: Students are asked to correct editing mistakes in each fact! As students find the errors, they learn about an animal and improve their writing. Currently, worksheets are available for more than 36 animals, covering everything from armadillos, diamondback rattlesnakes, and hyenas to urchins, zebras, and more. The worksheets can serve as bell-ringer activities, and have links to Google Image Library (to search for an image of the animal) and to coloring pages from EnchantedLearning.com. 

Bee Wild Contest
 
To celebrate National Pollinator Month, KidsGardening and Wyman's are holding a contest in which 35 youth garden programs will win $200 to plant a pollinator garden. Part one of the entry will ask kids to share about their dream pollinator garden through a drawing, short video, written description, collage, or any other medium. Students can work alone or as a group to create their entry. Adults will submit details about their youth program and plans for the $200 prize.

Any program that serves at least 15 kids is qualified to win. The prize money can be used to plant a new pollinator garden or expand an existing pollinator garden. (Deadline July 14)

Physics Beyond the Classroom Virtual Unconference
 
On August 3, spend an entire day taking part in free, virtual physics-focused professional development (PD) designed to inspire you to provide your students with real-world physics experiences. Educational technology company PocketLab is partnering with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety to offer sessions featuring physics experts, researchers, and organizations focused on making physics concepts engaging for students by applying them to their everyday lives. Connect with thousands of other science educators worldwide. Stream the unconference live in your classroom for your students to learn from and discuss as a group. Participants will receive a free certificate for up to 6 hours of PD and leave with free resources and valuable links. 

Guided Audio Tour of NASA's Eyes on Asteroids App

This fall will be filled with mission milestones related to asteroids, including the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return in September. Explore ways to engage your students with a guided tour of the Eyes on Asteroids application on June 28. Learn how you can track near-Earth objects in real-time 3D. Take a deep dive into asteroid-related missions, learn about close approaches, and more. For more information, e-mail emilee.richardson@jpl.nasa.gov.

ASM’s Kishor M. Kulkarni Distinguished High School Teacher Award

Presented by the ASM Materials Education Foundation, the award recognizes the accomplishments of a high school science teacher who has demonstrated a significant and sustained impact on pre-college–age students. Candidates must be full- or part-time actively employed high school teachers in the United States or Canada. The award includes a $2,000 cash grant and the recipient’s travel cost of up to $500 to receive the award at the ASM Awards Luncheon. (Deadline June 30)