The Georgia DOE Science Professional Learning Specialists are offering several training sessions this semester. From Leveraging Collaboration for Interdisciplinary Units in K-5 to Integrating Social Studies and Science K-5 to designing Storylines and Anchor Phenomena, your sure to find something that meets your needs. You can find out more in the DOE catalog for Science PL and the DOE catalog for STEM/STEAM PL or you can keep up to date on all the offerings by joining the DOE's science learning communities.

The next GSTA Conference will be held virtually! With the uncertainties of COVID and potential school budget cuts, we felt an online conference would best meet the needs of our membership. The theme for the conference is "Building Connections". The conference will be held in the evening during the week of February 1-February 4, 2021 with a full day of events on Saturday, February 6. Some samples of the types of sessions you can expect are below.

Saturday Short Course: Creating Your Own Storylines (6-12) - Illinois Science Teachers Association Storyline Working Group

The Illinois Science Teachers Association is known for their biology storyline which has been shared nationally: https://www.ilscience.org/Storyline. They have formed a Storyline Working Group to share their planning strategies with teachers. They will offer a keynote session at the conference and will present a Saturday short course on how to develop storyline lessons. Teachers are encouraged to attend as grade level teams. Storyline lessons are lessons that use phenomena to coherently engage students in content, crosscutting concepts, and the science and engineering practices. This session will be geared towards 6-12 science teachers.

Saturday Short Course: Misconceptions & Formative Assessments (K-12) Page Keeley

Join Page Keeley, author of the Uncovering Student Ideas in Science Formative Assessment Probes, Science Formative Assessment Strategies, and Teaching Conceptual Understanding as she provides insight to student misconceptions and how formative assessment strategies can enhance student learning. This session will be geared towards earth, life, and physical science teachers of grades K-12.

The annual GSTA Awards and Grants recognize excellence and innovation in Georgia science education and serves to raise awareness and exposure of the outstanding work being done in our state.

All entries must be received by 11:59PM EST on January 20, 2021, via online submission.

A distinguished panel of professional science educators will review applications and select the winners. To be eligible for consideration, applicants must be current GSTA members and all work must be current and cumulative, as applicable.

GSTA Awards and Grants recipients will be honored during a virtual awards banquet in February 2021.

The GSTA Awards and Recognition Program is supported by member donations, the Georgia Science Teachers Education Foundation, and generous sponsors. GSTA Awards and Grants help support the science educators and their science educational programs, professional development and proactive efforts in the science education field.

For more information contact Dr. Sally Creel, the GSTA Awards and Foundation Chair or Alana Davis, the GSTA Awards Co-Chair.

Click on an award below to learn more and apply.

• GSTA Teacher of the Year
• GSTA Teacher of Promise
  
• Georgia Science Administrator of the Year
• GSTA Mini-Grants
  
• ScienceQuest Teacher Scholarship
  
• GSTEF Conference Grant
  
• Science Adventure Student Scholarship

The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) are the highest honors bestowed by the United States government specifically for K-12 science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and/or computer science teaching. The Awards were established by Congress in 1983. The President may recognize up to 108 exemplary teachers each year.

Awards are given to science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and/or computer science teachers from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Department of Defense Education Activity schools, or the U.S. territories as a group (American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and U.S. Virgin Islands).

The award recognizes those teachers have both deep content knowledge of the subjects they teach and the ability to motivate and enable students to be successful in those areas. Since the program's inception, more than 5,000 teachers have been recognized for their contributions in the classroom and to their profession.

Awardees reflect the expertise and dedication of the Nation's teaching corps, and they demonstrate the positive impact of excellent teachers on student achievement. The National Science Foundation administers PAEMST on behalf of The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

In 2017, Martha Milam, AP Chemistry teacher at East Coweta High School won! Martha has offered to help anyone interested in applying. This year's award goes to teachers in grades 7-12. Nominate your colleagues today!

This web-based video series for grades 7–12 focuses on global energy issues. Produced by Switch Energy Alliance (SEA), an energy education nonprofit, each approximately 30-minute video focuses on a different energy-related topic occurring in the developing world, such as Modern Cooking Fuels, Urban Grid Expansion, Developing on Coal, Off-Grid Energy Solutions, Hydropower in Africa, and Building Solar Microgrids (Parts One and Two). The series can be viewed on YouTube or the Switch Energy Alliance website, and a transcript for each episode is available. Accompanying Student Watch Guides, with viewing and synthesis questions, will be available in early 2021.

Why is the ocean blue? How do fireworks work? Is a coconut a fruit, nut, or seed? Why do human joints make popping sounds? Is it true that no two snowflakes are alike? Can you really tell the temperature by listening to the chirp of a cricket? Everyday Mysteries—a column from the Library of Congress’s Science Reference Services—answers these and other science-related questions about phenomena seen in daily life.

Each column features explanatory text about a topic alongside relevant images and resources from the library’s science and technology collections. Browse available columns by category (agriculture, botany, chemistry, food and nutrition, geography, meteorology, physics, technology, zoology, and others) or submit a science question for the reference librarians to answer.

Looking for high-quality online learning resources to support remote student learning and teacher professional development during the pandemic? This CADRE website presents an alphabetical listing (with annotations and links) highlighting more than a dozen high-quality resources and programs supporting remote STEM instruction. You’ll find science and math apps for preschool students (Early Math With Gracie and Friends, Early Science With Nico and Noir), as well as learning modules and simulations to deepen middle and high school students’ understanding of important issues such as the spread of infectious diseases (Exploring Infectious Diseases, Understanding Ebola), climate change (High Adventure Science), and the use of authentic scientific data and scientific modeling (Plate Tectonics, Sage Modeler). The list also includes links to tools to help teachers increase student engagement in distance-learning settings (Flipgrid, Padlet, VoiceThread, and Thinglink, for example).

Check the National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project’s e-publication, Energy Games and Icebreakers, featuring activities to excite students about exploring energy conservation and related topics. The 68-page resource can be used to introduce students to various energy sources and reinforce previously learned content. Of particular interest are Energy Round Up Posters, a collection of fun fact cards about energy sources including coal, natural gas, petroleum, propane, solar, and wind, and the Energy Bumper Stumper Slides, a series of energy-related terms presented as license-plate riddles (for example, the license plate letters “SLRNRG” translate to the term solar energy).

The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) has a collection of transportation-related STEM resources for educators, including activities, presentations, career information, and links. Lesson highlights include Traffic Waves With Marbles (preK–2), in which students explore traffic behaviors using plastic straws, toy cars, and marbles; Ramps and Friction (grades 3–5), in which students experiment with angles and ramp coverings to determine which combination of ramp placement and material moves a toy car the fastest; and Hallway Congestion (grades 5–8), in which students observe and record traffic patterns in the school hallway, learning about the interaction between pedestrian density and travel speed along the way.

At the high school level, lessons such as Considering the Safety of Autonomous Vehicles and Transportation Trends and Tech Research provide opportunities for student teams to collaborate to complete an online research project and present a report based on their findings. In addition, the website features links to information about careers in transportation, as well as links to engineering-related organizations and opportunities for students.

Supporting Teachers to Encourage the Pursuit of Undergraduate Physics (STEP UP) is a national community of physics teachers, researchers, and professional societies focused on encouraging young women and other underrepresented student groups to pursue physics programs in college. The organization has produced a series of standards-supported (Next Generation Learning Standards) lessons to help high school teachers and learners see themselves as “physics people” and foster a physics-forward atmosphere in the classroom. Everyday Actions features an online reflection to help teachers gauge how well their current teaching practices support an inclusive physics community in the classroom. The lesson includes an accompanying Teacher Guide and Instructional Video, which provide guidance to maximize the inclusive nature of the classroom environment. A second lesson—Women in Physics—includes a PowerPoint presentation, Teacher Guide, and Video Summary to engage students in exploring and discussing implicit biases and core equity issues regarding women in science, particularly physics. The final lesson, Careers in Physics, presents a survey and matrix to match students with a relevant physicist profile based on their selected interests.

GaDOE has launched a new innovative platform to provide the opportunity for science teachers and GaDOE staff to collaborate, connect and share thoughts and resources as well as encouragement for the 2020-2021 school year! The instructions below will help guide you in the creation of your account and navigating to the virtual professional learning communities that you are interested in.

Step 1: To get started, visit the GaDOE community website via this link, select "Create an Account" and follow the prompts for setting up a new account on the platform.

Step 2: Once you have completed your account you will have to wait briefly for activation/approval. Once approved, you are ready to join a group! Navigate to the "Groups" section. For science teachers and leader, there are several groups available to join: Select and join the groups you are most interested in.

Below are the codes for the Coweta Science Google Classrooms. Be sure to join for the latest info and update. Google Classroom will be the primary manner I communicate with teachers in Coweta County.

Help me to help you! Let me know who you are, where and what you teach. I'll share the directory with everyone so you can form your own learning communities. Just click on this link. Easy-peasy!

Looking for help in teaching online (or in person)? Want to master Google Classroom? Want to know how to make a Bitmoji interactive page like all of your friends? Look no further than the CCSS Professional Learning Website. Its your one stop shop for professional learning!

Please contact Dr. Donald White with any questions or comments.

Email: donald.white@cowetaschools.net
Website: https://sites.google.com/cowetaschools.net/coweta-science/home
Location: 167 Werz Industrial Boulevard, Newnan, GA 30263
Phone: 770-254-2800
Twitter: @dwhitesciguy