Hooray for SLS! Read Aloud and Activities

Inspire young space enthusiasts to reach for the stars with Hooray for SLS!, the first in a series of children’s books for ages 3 to 8 detailing NASA’s Artemis missions and what it takes to travel to deep space and the Moon. The colorful, rhyming book addresses NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. This unique rocket is designed to launch astronauts and heavy payloads from Earth, sailing across a cosmic sea to the Moon and beyond. The book, which is available as a downloadable pdf or can be heard as a read aloud on YouTube, teaches students about the various parts of the rocket and what each part does. Follow-up activities for the classroom, including coloring sheets and word searches, reinforce the vocabulary introduced in the story. 

Mini-Unit: Heard That Bird?! A Pop Culture Intro to Birding by Ear

This single-lesson game show for grades 6–12 is titled Heard That Bird. It was developed in collaboration with Dr. Nicole Creanza's lab at Vanderbilt University. Students play an interactive game show alongside researchers to identify birds singing in video clips. They will learn how to use sound visualizations (spectrograms) and leave class excited to use the free Merlin app to identify birds in their neighborhood. A highlight of this mini-unit is that the game show ends with a mysterious example of a bird sound in a Taylor Swift song!

Racism as a Public Health Crisis

LabXchange, an initiative from Harvard University, is a free online science education platform designed to empower students, educators, and future professionals. It aims to facilitate equitable access to the scientific process through the integration of high-quality digital learning experiences and interactivity. LabXchange’s latest initiative focuses on Racial Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Science Education. The first cluster of resources, Racism as a Public Health Crisis, is for high school learners and investigates the concept of race in the context of science and medicine through a public health lens. The assets in this cluster—text, videos, images, interactives, and question sets—can be remixed into your own learning pathways (instructions provided), and can be used as part of a standard science curriculum.

The next cluster of resources, Advancing Equity in STEM Through Inclusive Teaching, will be available this fall.

Youth Learning as Citizen Environmental Scientists Grants

Youth Learning as Citizen Environmental Scientists (YLACES) offers grants to environmental educators to facilitate youth environmental research and data collection and to help students develop scientific thinking abilities. Educators in the United States may apply for grants of up $1,500 for instruments and supplies. Student participants are expected to produce research projects and share data through publicly available (or non-proprietary) data-sharing platforms. Environmental research is required for this grant and must be explained in the grant application. Grantees must commit to coaching students in conducting research projects and sharing their observations and reports. 

U.S. environmental educators and organizations may apply for grants of up to $5,000 for local student research symposia (SRS). The local SRS supported by YLACES should be based on the GLOBE regional SRS model, but instead should be one-day events with student participants drawn from a school, school district(s), a locale, or a small region.

The application deadline for both types of grants is July 31.

AIAA Foundation Classroom Grant Program

Each school year, AIAA awards grants of up to $500 to worthy projects that significantly influence student learning. A clear connection to science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) with an emphasis on Aerospace must be included in the grant proposal. Applicants must be a K–12 classroom teacher with funds that will be paid to the school. Applicants also must be current AIAA Educator Associate members before receiving this grant; membership is free of charge (see https://www.aiaa.org/membership/types-of-membership/educator-membership). (Deadline: September 30)

Funding will be considered for the following materials:

• Classroom STEM demonstration kits,
• Classroom STEM supplies,
• K–12 STEM software,
• Math manipulative materials,
• Parts and supplies for making flying objects, and
• Parts and supplies for robotics programs 

CCS High School Chemical Safety Grant
 
The American Chemical Society (ACS) Committee on Chemical Safety’s grant promotes chemical safety excellence in secondary education in one of the following areas:

• Integrating chemical safety into curriculum (e.g., incorporating risk management, RAMP [Recognize hazards, Assess risks, Minimize risks, and Prepare for emergencies] into lab activities, teaching risk assessment to students and creating a culture of safety in the classroom);
• Advocating for safe chemical practices (e.g., developing and implementing peer professional development for teachers and administration, obtaining Chemical Hygiene Officer training); or
• Improving chemical safety infrastructure (e.g., improvements in chemical storage, inventory management, ordering, or waste disposal).

Middle level or high school science teachers can request up to $3,000 to fund actions or opportunities that will improve chemical safety in their teaching environment. Applicants must be middle or high school science educators who use and/or manage chemicals and teach in a U.S. or U.S. territory school. Individuals or small educator teams (up to four people) meeting the eligibility requirements can apply. (Deadline: August 1) Grants may be used for

• Attending an approved (ACS, NSTA, American Association of Chemistry Teachers) safety workshop;
• Personal Protective Equipment or informational materials for the laboratory;
• Safety-oriented professional learning;
• Chemical Hygiene Officer (CHO) training;
• Inventory and ordering management program;
• Compensation for safety consultants; or
• Substitute teacher pay.