Safe Chemical Management Course

Foundations for Storing, Organizing and Disposing of Chemicals in Educational Settings is a self-paced online course about safe chemical management in laboratories. Created by the American Chemical Society for secondary school educators, graduate students, and university faculty members who work in lab settings and are responsible for managing a chemical storeroom, the approximately 10-hour course addresses key topics in safe chemical management. Through six lessons, participants learn about recognizing chemical hazards using the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling (GHS); identifying authoritative chemical hazard information and applying it to managing chemicals; using best practices for taking inventory and storing; and managing hazardous waste according to regulations. Participants receive a certificate of completion for 10 hours of professional development; K–12 teachers can use the certificate as documentation for professional development credit. 

EiE Educator’s Portal

Looking for materials to engage grades 3–8 in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) pursuits over the summer? Register for the EiE Educator’s Portal, a four-week set of theme-based engineering and computer science activities, videos, and more developed by Engineering is Elementary (EiE), the curriculum division of Museum of Science, Boston. After registering an e-mail address (it’s free), teachers will receive a week’s worth of theme-based STEM lessons. New lessons are then sent every seven days for the next three weeks. 

One themes include Fun with Forces; How a Circle Is Like a Rectangle; and Climate Change (for grades 3–5). Week Two themes explore Climate Change at the middle level (grades 6–8) as well as themes such as What Arctic Ice Can Tell Us About Climate History and Engineering for Reuse. Week Three presents an Engineering Design Challenge and themes such as Cybersecurity (for grades 6–8) and Did the Dinosaurs Disappear? Week Four, the final week, focuses on themes such as Engineering for Health, Engineering for Sport, and Animal Adaptations. 

CINDI Space Weather Resources

The Coupled Ion Neutral Dynamics Investigation (CINDI) is a small NASA mission of opportunity focused on studying space weather in Earth’s atmosphere. CINDI consists of two instruments built at the University of Texas at Dallas and is aboard the U.S. Air Force's Communication/Navigation Outage System satellite in low Earth orbit. Students in grades 6–12 can learn about the mission and its aims with materials from the CINDI Education and Public Outreach Resource Center. Of particular interest is a three-part, anime/manga–inspired comic series describing the mission and the science behind it—CINDI in Space, CINDI in the Electric Atmosphere, and CINDI in the Solar Wind. The downloadable series, available in both English and Spanish-language versions, provides students with an accessible and engaging explanation of the CINDI mission and space weather work. The site also offers hands-on activities and demonstrations for teachers, exploring topics such as Earth’s atmosphere and where space begins, satellites and scale in the Earth-Moon system, rockets, space weather, and more. 

Webinar—From Cutting-Edge Geoscience News to the Classroom: Using Eos’s ENGAGE Resource to Enlighten Students About the Latest News in the Geosciences
 
Connecting students to the latest research can be easier with Eos’s new collection of articles, ENGAGE (Eos News: Geoscience and Global Events), which gives educators access to recent research presented in a concise and engaging format for multiple grade levels. ENGAGE is designed to improve science literacy and the use of science writing as narrative nonfiction resources for Earth and space science topics. In this webinar, educators will learn about the collection, review a bundle of articles that fit with their curricula, and identify effective methodologies for integrating the articles into their instruction, including using the Teach the Earth collection of classroom activities integrated into ENGAGE. Educators will leave the webinar knowing how to access the ENGAGE collections, to identify articles that fit their teaching needs, and to design seamless integration of the articles into their lessons.

This webinar is open to everyone and will take place on June 6 at 6 p.m. Eastern Time. When you register, you will be asked to create a free American Geophysical Union account. A Zoom link to the webinar will be provided before the webinar. The event will be recorded, and the link will be shared with those who register. Register by June 3.

Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree Campus Program

Did your school learn about and celebrate trees during the 2023–2024 school year? If so, you can apply for Tree Campus K–12 recognition from the Arbor Day Foundation. The Tree Campus K–12 program recognizes and celebrates schools, teachers, and districts that create meaningful opportunities for students to experience the benefits of trees in their community. Completing your application by June 30 and earning this national recognition from the Arbor Day Foundation will

•    Keep you informed about learning resources and potential professional development and grant opportunities for your school;
•    Earn your school a Tree Campus K–12 flag and other physical and digital tools for sharing with your community why trees are so important to you and your students;
•    Connect you to a network of fellow educators, cities, universities, and other tree champions; and
•    Highlight your school as a leader in sustainability and environmental education.

Planting Science

PlantingScience is a Student-Teacher-Scientist partnership founded in 2005 by the Botanical Society of America. This no-cost program facilitates mentoring relationships with real plant scientists and teams of three to five students in grades 6–12 classrooms. Through asynchronous online conversations, the scientists provide support and encouragement as students design and carry out a plant-focused scientific investigation in the classroom. Teachers will receive free materials that will provide the content information needed, along with support from the participating scientists.
Earlybird registration closes on July 15, and the registration deadline is August 15. Permission from parents and the school principal is required.