Teachers’ Lounge

The annual National STEM Video Game Challenge for both students and K-12 teachers is now open for entries.
 
Do you or your students have great ideas for video games that relate to STEM topics? Inspired by the Educate to Innovate Campaign, the National STEM Video Game Challenge is a competition whose goal is to motivate interest in STEM learning among America’s youth by tapping into students’ natural passion for playing and making video games. Middle and high school students (grades 5-12) can enter a written game design or a playable game on any STEM topic, while K-12 educators, undergraduates and graduate students can submit playable prototypes in a variety of entry categories.

The National STEM Video Game Challenge will accept entries from November 15, 2011 through March 12, 2012. Complete guidelines and details on how to enter are available at www.stemchallenge.org.

Needing some inspiration? Want to be a part of cutting-edge thinking in
K-20 education?

The annual Big Ideas Fest is an extraordinary immersion into collaboration and design that focuses on transformational change in K-20 education. Creative doers and thinkers from diverse levels of education gather to learn from and share with each other.

What: Big Ideas Fest 2011
When: Sunday, December 4, 2011 4:00pm – Wednesday, December 7, 2011 1:00pm
Where: Half Moon Bay

For more information, check out the Big Ideas Fest website.

Come to the Academy to join CalEPA educators in a dynamic and engaging professional development training session with the California EEI Curriculum (Education and the Environment Initiative)! They can’t wait to show you the depth and flexibility there is to this innovative, original K-12 curriculum.

What: EEI Curriculum Professional Development Training
When: Thursday, January 12, 2012, from 4-6 p.m.
Who: K-5 Teachers
Cost: Free! And you can take home a curriculum sample!

How to Register: Contact Kirk Amato at (916) 341-6769 or kamato@calepa.ca.gov

And … stay a little later because you’re invited to join us after the session with complimentary admission to NightLife!

This EEI Curriculum training is offered at no charge for Bay Area teachers. Join us to learn how the standards-based and environment-based EEI Curriculum teaches selected Science and History-Social Science standards to mastery. The EEI also solidly addresses California English Language Arts standards (K-3), as well as California common Core standards for ELA and Literacy (K-12).

Sign up to attend and you’ll receive a complimentary DVD when you complete the training. Plus, complimentary printed units with classroom sets of student materials will be offered to all attendees. You can preview the units at www.CaliforniaEEI.org at any time. They can also be downloaded for free in PDF format – your district does not have to purchase the EEI Curriculum.

There are 85 EEI Curriculum units that cover more than 100 academic content standards for grades K-12, and the EEI uses the environment as a context for learning. Unique features of the EEI include in-depth Teacher Editions to help you teach the standards to mastery, and California-specific case studies help students learn about the environment and important issues right here in their own state.

“To watch students engage with the natural world and make new intellectual connections as a result of their learning is educational gold.”
Ms. Wendy Weller, 2nd Grade

So sign up now and join in for a 2-hour professional development session to learn how you can use the environment to teach the standards to mastery!

EEI Trainings at the Academy are made possible by the generous support of the Pisces Foundation.

Attention San Francisco teachers!

SAVE THE FROGS! received a grant from the San Francisco Tadpole Head Start Program (via Tree Frog Treks) to give free presentations on amphibian conservation to 30 San Francisco schools.

Contact Michael Starkey at starkey@savethefrogs.com to arrange for an in-class presentation!

“The Wild World of Frogs”
A presentation by Biologist Michael Starkey
SAVE THE FROGS! Advisory Committee Chairman

How long do frogs live? How many types of frogs are there? What’s the difference between a frog and a toad? Why are frogs disappearing worldwide and what can be done to save them? Michael Starkey answers all these questions and more as he introduces the audience to The Wild World of Frogs. The presentation features many of Michael’s photos of amphibians from around the world, and there will be a question and answer session following the presentation.

Mr. Starkey has worked as an ecological consultant for environmental consulting firms and government agencies such as the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish & Game. After witnessing the result of widespread extinction of amphibians in the Panamanian rainforest, Mr. Starkey became dedicated to conserving amphibian species around the world. Mr. Starkey began volunteering with SAVE THE FROGS! in 2010 to inform the public about the threats facing amphibians and to to help nurture a society that respects and cherishes all forms of wildlife. He regularly gives lectures on amphibian conservation at universities, schools, and to public interest groups.

If you teach middle or high school, we realize that you often have to bring the entire grade in order to plan a field trip. Well, we have plenty of dates available with hundreds of spots left, so don’t fret!

As of this post, here are dates that have at least 400 spots remaining for a morning visit:

Monday, November 14, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Friday, December 9, 2011
Friday, December 16, 2011
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Friday, January 6, 2012
Monday, January 9, 2012…

…and that’s just over the next few months! If you are interested in a trip later in the spring, rest assured we still have space for your school. Just submit the online application with an idea of your preferred visit dates, and a representative will soon be in touch with you to solidify the best date.

And if you just want to bring a single class or two, you’re golden. Just submit your application and we’ll process it promptly!