‘Earth Cycles’ middle school camp at OU
OU Outreach and the OU School of Geology and Geophysics are once again offering the summer camp “Earth Cycles: A Whole-Earth Approach to the Geosciences” for Oklahoma Native American and other public and private middle school students underrepresented in the sciences.
This camp is a partnership between the University of Oklahoma, The Harris Foundation and the ExxonMobil Foundation, and is free for participating students. Students will live in an OU residence hall and all expenses, including room, board, supplies, books, field trips and recreational activity expenses, will be provided.
The application deadline is April 24, but spots are filling quickly. For more information, contact Amy Logan at (405) 325-6897 or alogan@ou.edu, or visit the Web site: http://youth.ou.edu.
James S. Tyree
Dissecting the teaching of science
CutoutDissection.com. It’s more than a Web site. It’s also the legal name of a North Carolina 19-year-old formerly known as Jennifer Thornburg.
Thornburg changed her name and started a Web site by the same name to protest animal dissections in schools, according to this article.
Separately, Oklahoma City science teacher Sherry Groeger-Godwin was selected from Northeast Academy as one of 185 middle and high school teachers nationwide as a fellow in the year-long 2008 New Science Teacher Academy. The program is designed to curb what the National Science Teachers Association says is a high attrition rate of science teachers.
Groeger-Godwin is one of four teachers selected from Oklahoma. The others are Holdenville resident Orvilla Coleman of Moss Public School in Holdenville, Mead resident Angela Joines of Silo Public School in Durant, and Pryor resident Leland “Terry” Newton of Union Intermediate High School in Broken Arrow.
Share your thoughts on dissections and science education in general in the comments section below.
Wendy Kleinman
Education Reporter
Student test results – and should they be tested in kindergarten?
State test scores were released Thursday, for which student performance in part determined which schools landed on the NCLB-mandated 2008 Needs Improvement list.
Here’s a little more detail on how students fare on the different tests (click to enlarge):
Also Thursday, I ran across a story about how New York City officials want to give math assessments to kindergarteners. As you might imagine, there’s some debate over whether that’s too young an age for standardized testing. The full story is here.
Feel free to share your thoughts on these assessments or the Needs Improvement list below.
Wendy Kleinman
The Oklahoman
Summer science
Ten students recently started an intense, eight-week program at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.
The nine Fleming Scholars and one Presidential Scholar are getting hands-on experience with scientific research, conducting experiments and learning from those whose shoes they one day hope to fill.
2008 OMRF FLEMING & PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARS
Seated, left to right: Sishir Mannava of Edmond; Meaghan Wierzbic of Harrah; Anne Alger of Shawnee; Stephanie Wilburn of Fitzhugh; Sara Moore of Norman; and Leah Henry of Oklahoma City. Standing, left to right: Johnnie West of Lawton; Jack Laurent of Oklahoma City; James Harding of Lancaster, Texas (Presidential Scholar and Langston University student); and Alia Ramirez of Oklahoma City.
Have you participated in the OMRF program or something similar? What was your experience like?
Share your thoughts here on NewsOK’s Education Station.
Wendy K. Kleinman
Education Reporter
Lights, camera, science
Science is not my strong suit, despite having hands-on science kits packed with a microscope, test tubes and powdery chemicals like borax when I was a kid.
Discovery Education, which is affiliated with the Discovery Channel, wants Oklahomans who do have a knack for science to submit video entries for a contest.
A spokeswoman for the Discovery Education/3M Young Scientist Challenge, Pat McMurray, said there are too few entries from Oklahoma right now.
The competition is open to students in grades 5 through 8. The video entries must demonstrate how well students understand and explain scientific concepts.
A winner will be selected from each state, and 10 finalists will get an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, where a national winner will be crowned and handed a $50,000 savings bond.
More information about the contest is available at www.DiscoveryEducation.com/YoungScientist.
Wendy K. Kleinman
Education Reporter
Weed Deed
Three Oklahoma State University students proved they know their weed.
The ag students won the top three spots in the 2007 Southern Weed Society Undergraduate Contest last month in Vero Beach, Fla.
Cowabunga Dude!
But seriously, this contest was tough work. The students had to match herbicides to plant symptoms and take a written test on sprayer calibration that was so difficult, it served to “weed out” all but the top contenders.
The winning weed scientists were OSU students Josh Bushong, Amber Brewe and Cody Massey.
Kudos to their knowledge of kudzu!
Susan Simpson, Education Writer
