ITEEA's STEM±Center for Teaching and Learning

• ITEEA’s STEM±Center for Teaching and Learning is pleased to announce a partnership with Virginia Tech and Old Dominion University to run the Engineering byDesign (EbD™) Online Student Assessment and Design Challenge. The EbD™ online end-of-course assessments are currently provided to over 500 classrooms and over 30,000 students in 22 states. The assessments are used by teachers to inform their instruction in the quest to have all students technologically literate by the time they graduate from high school. VT and ODU will handle all aspects of the assessments, from item development and reliability studies to research based on student results and teacher professional development. The move to VT and ODU follows the assessments’ tenure at the California University of Pennsylvania (Dan Engstrom, DTE) and previous to that at the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore (the late Gerald Day).

• ITEEA’s STEM±Center for Teaching and Learning is pleased to announce that the integrated STEM Curriculum for Grades 3-5 is scheduled to be released at the Annual Conference in Long Beach. EbD-TEEMS™ (EbD-Technology, Engineering, Environment, Mathematics, and Science) is a partnership with the Lower Merion School District (PA). Joey Rider-Bertrand is the lead author on the project. Upon release, the new curriculum, which is based on STL, National Science Education Standards, and the Common Core Standards that have been released for Mathematics and English Language Arts will provide an integrated “Building Block” (Unit) for each Grade level. The Grade 3 Building Block is Every Drop Matters, the Grade 4 Building Block is The Power of Solar, and the Grade 5 Building Block is Community Connections. The elementary program was developed in collaboration with the twenty-member EbD™ Consortium of States and will be available to those states at no cost to the schools. Schools in nonconsortium states will be able to purchase these materials from the ITEEA eStore in Spring, 2012. EbD-TEEMS™ Grades K-2 will be available Spring 2013.

• ITEEA’s STEM±Center for Teaching and Learning partnered with the Maryland State Department of Education and the NSF-Funded TIME (Technology and Innovation in Manufacturing and Engineering) Center to deliver professional development for the EbD™ ninth grade offering, Foundations of Technology, 3rd Ed. Four workshops were held throughout Maryland, reaching out to the Eastern Shore area as well as Western Maryland. The training was also attended by participants from Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and Illinois. The PD is the first of the Summer Institute Series that will be hosted next summer in multiple states for multiple courses. Stay tuned for locations and courses being offered for these one-week training sessions (at this time, EbD-TEEMS™ Grades 3-5, Technological Systems – 8th Grade, Foundations of Technology – 9th Grade, and Advanced Design Applications – Grades 10-12 will be available).

ITEEA Special Recognition Awards

The ITEEA Awards Committee seeks nominations for the Association’s Special Recognition Awards. These include Special Recognition Award, Wilkinson Meritorious Service Award, Lockette/Monroe Humanitarian Award, Award of Distinction, and the Academy of Fellows. Please go to www.iteea.org/Awards/awardspecialrecognition.htm to find qualifications and procedures for nominating your colleagues for these awards. Nomination packages must be received by December 1. Awardees will be recognized at the Association’s conference in Long Beach. For additional information, email John M. Ritz, DTE, Committee Chair, at jritz@odu.edu

New Online Experience for ITEEA Members Is Here

After listening to our member comments and suggestions, ITEEA is pleased to announce the launch of a major improvement to its website directly relating to the member experience. Existing members now have the ability to renew online, update address and other profile information, and view the membership and leadership directories. Other features include the ability for members and nonmembers to purchase products (publications, conference registrations, memberships etc.) from the secure online store. 

Due to these changes, existing "Members Only" log-in credentials are no longer valid. Members will receive temporary log-in credentials via email.

To get started, click on the red arrow at the top right on ITEEA's home page at www.iteea.org. From there you can log in to your personal profile page, where you will be able to perform a multitude of tasks – update your address, email, and phone number, pay your dues, or link to the ITEEA eStore. ITEEA members have been sent an email with their login information. Nonmembers can log in to the system if they were previously in the ITEEA database, and those who are new to ITEEA can create a profile online and even become members – all with just a few clicks of the mouse.

For those who are considering joining ITEEA for the first time, there is a special membership promotion sponsored by Kelvin Corporation during the month of October with which they can save $20 on their membership dues. To take advantage of this special promotion, call 703-860-2100 or download a printable membership form from www.iteea.org/Forms/MembershipApp.pdf and fax the completed form to 703-860-0353. Write "KELVIN" in the code field in order to receive the special pricing.

Note From ITEEA's Executive Director...

...Pertaining to Development of New Science Standards


The lead states in crafting the new science standards are: AZ, GA, IA, KY, ME, MD, MN, NJ, NY, OH, RI, SD, TN, VT, WA, and WV. These states are to lead the development of common standards that aim to reshape science teaching across the nation with a stronger emphasis on promoting deeper understanding and increased coherence in the disciplines across grade levels.

If you or any of your colleagues are in these states, I urge you to act now to become a part of the writing team that addresses the technology and engineering area of these standards. I am certain that the project leaders would welcome your assistance and presence for this process. This is a prime opportunity for our folks to become leaders in this important activity.

It is our time to be the maker of the rules and research database, which is more important than having them made and put upon us! Let’s get to work!

Please share this information with your colleagues in other locations.

Kendall N. Starkweather, DTE, Executive Director

Opportunities for Middle and High School Students

• Christopher Columbus Awards Challenge Teams of Middle School Students to Solve Community Problems Using Science and Technology

Finalist Teams Win Trip to Walt Disney World®

The Christopher Columbus Awards, a free program that challenges middle school students to explore opportunities for positive change in their communities, announces the program’s Call for Entries for the 2011-2012 school year. Teams of up to four students and a coach identify a community issue and use the scientific process to solve it. Finalist teams win an all-expense-paid trip to Walt Disney World® where they attend the Christopher Columbus Academy and compete for gold medals and U.S. Savings Bonds.

For more information and competition guidelines, call 800-291-6020 or visit www.christophercolumbusawards.com. Coaches may be teachers, parents, community leaders, or mentors. It is free to enter, and teams do not need to be affiliated with a school. The deadline for receipt of entries is Monday, February 6, 2012.

• Fall 2011 Cassini Scientist for a Day

The Cassini Scientist for a Day contest challenges students to become NASA scientists studying Saturn. Participants examine three possible observations taken by Cassini and choose the one they think will yield the best scientific results. This choice must then be supported in a 500-word essay. Teamwork is encouraged. Winners will participate in a teleconference with Cassini scientists.

The contest is open to all students in the United States from Grades 5-12, working alone or in groups of up to four students. The essays will be divided into three groups: Grades 5-6, 7-8, and 9-12. All submissions must be students' original work. Each student can submit one entry.

Deadline for Fall 2011 submissions is noon Pacific time (3 p.m. EDT) on October 26, 2011.

For more information, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/scientistforaday/. Email inquiries to scientistforaday@jpl.nasa.gov.

Source: NASA Education Express Message – Sept. 8, 2011

• Solving the Challenges of Space in the RealWorld and InWorld

The RealWorld-InWorld NASA Engineering Design Challenge encourages students in Grades 7-12 to explore and build skills essential for successful careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics through two phases of project-based learning and team competition.

RealWorld (Phase 1): Teams of middle- and high-school-aged students, with support of their teachers/coaches/parents, work collaboratively as engineers and scientists to explore and design solutions related to the James Webb Space Telescope and Robonaut. RealWorld (Phase 1) began September 1, 2011 and ends January 27, 2012. To be considered to move to the InWorld phase, all RealWorld work must be submitted by this deadline.

InWorld (Phase 2): Participating college students select teams of two to four middle- and high-school-aged students who have completed the RealWorld phase to build their InWorld teams. Participation is limited to U.S. citizens. Teams work in a 3-D virtual online environment using 21st Century tools to refine designs and to create 3-D models of their design solutions. InWorld (Phase 2) begins January 28, 2012 and ends April 20, 2012.

To learn more about the challenge and to register for online resources for this free and flexible project, visit www.nasarealworldinworld.org.

• The 2011-2012 Spirit of Innovation Awards

The Spirit of Innovation Awards (SOIA) has launched its 2011-2012 competition! This innovative program has helped transform the way science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) are taught in high schools around the globe. The competition is open to all high school students around the world. Categories consist of aerospace, clean energy, and health and nutrition. Student teams are tasked with creating commercially-viable products such as planetary exploration devices, energy-efficient appliances, and dietary-based food items for children.

Are you ready to get your genius on?

• This year’s categories: Aerospace Exploration, Clean Energy, and Health and Nutrition.
• Entry process: Student teams will now submit a one-page abstract answering five questions about their innovative product or idea. From there, the top teams in each category will advance as semifinalists and complete a business plan, technical plan, and graphical representation.
• Check out our online community at www.conradawards.org to learn more about the competition and all of our year-long activities.
• Conceptualize a new, commercially viable product using science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), and entrepreneurship to addresses real-world problems.
• Form a team and enter! Teams must be comprised of 2-5 high school students, ages 13-18, and one coach.
• Finalists will take a trip on us! The top teams will be invited to present their products at the Conrad Foundation’s 2012 Innovation Summit March 28-31, 2012 at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.
• Winning teams receive a $5,000 seed grant for future product development.

Create your team today! Submit your abstract by November 11, 2011.

• Real World Design Challenge

Teams can now sign up to participate in this year’s Real World Design Challenge. It is an annual aviation design competition for teams of 3-7 high school students. The Challenge is FREE for students and teachers. Each teacher who signs up a team will receive $1 million in professional engineering software as well as access to mentors from industry, government, and academia. Every team that wants to participate needs to register EVEN IF THEY PARTICIPATED IN THE PAST.

Teams can register by clicking the following link: Registration for the 2011-2012 Real World Design Challenge is Now Open! Sign Up Today! or by going to www.realworlddesignchallenge.org and following the registration link there. The team's teacher/coach should do the registration. The competition will begin October 11, 2011.

• Robotics Program Showcased by will.i.am to Promote Science and Technology on Network TV, Launches a New Season

FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), an organization to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology, officially launched its 2011/2012 FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC®) season with an online Kickoff event unveiling this year’s game, BOWLED OVER!™

More than 21,000 high-school-aged students are expected to participate in this year’s competition. The object of the game will be to design and build robots robust enough to push a bowling ball uphill, yet sophisticated enough to pick up racquetballs and place them into crates and stack the crates to score points. The final 30 seconds of the driver-controlled period is called the end game, where each Alliance, consisting of two opposing teams, is challenged to push its bowling ball into their “home zones” to score additional bonus points.

FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. To learn more about FIRST, go to www.usfirst.org.

• Dimension's Extreme Redesign 3D Printing Challenge 2012 is Now Open for Entries

Calling all engineering, design, and manufacturing students: Dimension 3D Printers, a division of Stratasys, has once again launched its Extreme Redesign contest. We're looking for CAD students worldwide to submit their most creative, useful, and innovative Extreme Redesigns. Whether it's a new perspective on an everyday product or a fresh vision for a piece of art, animation, or architecture, Dimension will award student scholarships based on the design's creativity, usefulness, part integrity, and aesthetics.

Opportunities for University Students

• 2012 NASA Lunabotics Mining Competition

NASA is challenging U.S. and international undergraduate and graduate student teams to design and build a telerobotic or autonomous excavator, called a lunabot, that could be applied to an actual lunar excavation device or payload. The lunabot must be able to mine and deposit a minimum of 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of lunar simulant in 10 minutes.

Design teams must include one faculty advisor from a college or university and at least two undergraduate or graduate students. Universities may work in collaboration, and multidisciplinary teams are encouraged. Selected teams will compete in the Lunabotics Mining Competition at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 21-26, 2012. Registration is limited to the first 60 approved teams and limited to one team per university campus. Internationally, registration is limited to 10 teams per country.

Registration will end when NASA approves 60 applications, or on November 30, 2011, whichever occurs first.

For more information about the competition and to apply online, visit www.nasa.gov/lunabotics.
Email questions to Susan.G.Sawyer@nasa.gov.

• 2012 RASC-AL Competition

NASA and the National Institute of Aerospace announce the 2012 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts Academic Linkage Competition. RASC-AL is a design project competition aimed at university-level engineering students. The RASC-AL contest challenges participants to design projects based on real NASA projects. Participants can choose from four different themes. These design projects potentially could be implemented by NASA.

Interested teams are requested to submit a notice of intent as soon as practical, and teams must submit an abstract for their proposed project by January 20, 2012. The RASC-AL Steering Committee of NASA and industry experts will evaluate the proposals and select as many as ten undergraduate and five graduate teams to compete against each other at a forum in June 2012 in Florida.

The RASC-AL competition is open to full-time undergraduate or graduate students majoring in engineering or science at an accredited university. University design teams must include one faculty or industry advisor with a university affiliation and two or more undergraduate or graduate students. A group of universities may also work in collaboration on a design project entry. Multidisciplinary teams are encouraged.

For more information about this competition, visit www.nianet.org/rascal/index.html. Questions should be sent to Shelley.Spears@nianet.org.

Opportunities for Educators

• The Office Depot® Star Teacher Program

Attention Middle School Teachers! The Office Depot® Star Teacher Program in conjunction with the Office Depot® Foundation are proud to be national sponsors of the Kids In Need Teacher Grants program with "Ready, Steady, GO!," a grants initiative especially for middle school teachers being conducted by the Kids In Need Foundation. Grant applications are being accepted online through October 30, 2011. Grants are awarded in amounts from $100 to $500.

The Ready, Steady, GO! grant application must be used only by middle school teachers, and you must register for the Star Teacher Program, which also qualifies you for discounts. Click here to access the Star Teacher Program registration page:
www.mystarteacher.com/loyalty/enrollment.do?group_code=20080

And click here to apply for a Ready, Steady, GO! grant:
www.kinf.org/grants/2011_teacher_grant_app.php?source=odf

• WomenTech Educators Train-the-Trainer Workshop

October 13-14, 2011 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Bring two people to the workshop, and the third person will come for free! To take advantage of our 3-for-2 deal, enter code “3FOR2TRAINING” at registration. Full information is available at www.iwitts.org/workshop

• 2012 Alan Shepard Technology in Education Awards

Do you know K-12 teachers or district-level administrators who are making a difference in education through the use of technology? Recognize their achievements by nominating them for the Alan Shepard Technology in Education Award. The Astronauts Memorial Foundation, in partnership with NASA and the Space Foundation, will recognize the accomplishments of one outstanding individual and his or her contributions to lifelong learning through the application of technology in the classroom or professional development of teachers.

Technology personnel and K-12 classroom teachers who have demonstrated exemplary use of technology to enhance learning are eligible for this award. School principals, superintendents, or associate superintendents may nominate eligible candidates. The award will be presented in April 2012 at the 28th National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, CO. The deadline for applications is January 16, 2012.

Applications and more information are available online at www.amfcse.org/Alan%20Shepard%20Award/alan_shepard_award.htm. Questions about this award should be directed to amfreg@amfcse.org.

Thirty Educators Defy Gravity...

...as the 2011 Northrop Grumman Foundation Weightless Flights of Discovery Program Kicks Off in Washington, DC

The Northrop Grumman Foundation launched 28 math and science teachers from Arizona, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, DC along with two college students studying to become teachers, into weightlessness recently as part of the Weightless Flights of Discovery teacher development program. The program, which is in its sixth and final year, provides educators with a unique opportunity to participate in microgravity flights during which they test Newton’s Laws of Motion and in turn energize their students, most of whom are in their formative middle school years.

The Northrop Grumman Foundation is partnering with the Zero Gravity Corporation to offer the Weightless Flights of Discovery program, one of several initiatives the Northrop Grumman Foundation sponsors to promote education and stimulate student interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

Demonstrating the program’s overall impact, a poll conducted in 2009 of 230 teachers who participated in the first three years of the program revealed that 84.7% reported an increase in the number of students interested in pursuing science- and math-related careers; and 92.3% reporting a notable increase in their students’ overall interest in science.

To learn more about the Northrop Grumman Foundation Weightless Flights of Discovery, visit www.northropgrumman.com/goweightless.

Chester R. Lane

Chester R. Lane, 92, of Martinsville, VA died September 11, 2011. He retired after 40 years at Martinsville City Schools, where he was a teacher and head of the Industrial Arts Department. He was a member of the American Industrial Arts Association and served as the second president of the Virginia Industrial Arts Association from 1961 to 1965. Mr. Lane was also the second Virginia Industrial Arts Teacher of the Year in 1963. He was past president of both the Virginia Education Association and Martinsville Education Association.

Source: Martinsville Bulletin, September 14, 2011

New Report:

Afterschool Programs Make the Grade In Advancing STEM Learning

The nation’s urgent need for students to learn science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills can get a significant boost from afterschool programs, according to a new report, “STEM Learning in Afterschool: An Analysis of Impact and Outcomes.” The report was released recently at a congressional briefing where experts discussed the benefits of incorporating STEM subjects in afterschool settings. Reforms in formal K-12 education are necessary, the report says, to fully address widely recognized shortcomings in STEM subjects – a gap that jeopardizes United States competitiveness with more STEM-savvy countries. But, it notes, children in the U.S. spend less than 20 percent of their waking hours in school, leaving untapped opportunities for supplemental STEM learning.

Utilizing evaluations from afterschool STEM programs throughout the United States, the report identifies trends and outcomes that demonstrate the significant and specific contributions afterschool programs are making to STEM education here. For example, a critical issue in STEM fields is that women and minorities are greatly underrepresented. However, with minority children participating in afterschool programs at a higher rate than the national average, and with girls participating in equal numbers to boys, these programs stand to reach the populations we need to bring into the STEM fields with high-quality enrichment opportunities that spark and maintain their interest. Several programs discussed in the report not only target these populations but have been successful in engaging them in STEM fields and careers.

Afterschool programs give students the chance to build robots, explore the stars, and learn how plants process sunlight and what makes airplanes and rockets fly. They have time to try, fail, and try again. Much of that isn’t possible during the regular school day.

The report concludes that, although more outcome studies and impact data from STEM afterschool programs will help clarify these promising trends, existing data already show that the afterschool setting is playing a key role in supporting STEM learning. Future STEM education policy, the report says, should include afterschool as a key component of STEM education reform efforts.