Population Education’s World of 7 Billion Video Contest

Back by popular demand, the Population Education’s World of 7 Billion student video contest can help you bring technology and creativity into your high school and middle school geography classes. The contest challenges students to create a short (60 seconds or less) video illustrating the connection between world population growth and one of three global challenges: climate change, ocean health, or rapid urbanization.

Students can win up to $1,000 and their teachers will receive free curriculum resources.

The contest deadline is February 23, 2017.

Full contest guidelines, resources for research, past winners, and more can be found at https://www.worldof7billion.org/student-video-contest/. World of 7 Billion student video contest is back for the 2016-2017 school year. The contest is open to all high school and middle school students and the deadline for submissions is February 23th, 2017. Participating teachers can receive free curriculum resources and the student winners receive cash prizes.

See contest flyer for more information.

Rocky Mountain Map Society - Chet Van Duzer

Chet Van Duzer - “New Light on Henries Marcellus’ World Map at Yale (c. 1491): Multispectral imaging and Early Cartography”

When: November 15 at 6:30PM

Where: Denver Public Library, 5th Floor, Gates Room

This program is free and open to the community.

Chet Van Duzer has published extensively on medieval and Renaissance maps in journals such as Imago Mundi, Terrae Incognitae and Word & Image. He is also the author of Johann Schöner’s Globe of 1515: Transcription and Study, and (with John Hessler) Seeing the World Anew: The Radical Vision of Martin Waldseemüller’s 1507 & 1516 World Maps. His book Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renaissance Maps was published in 2013 by the British Library. In 2014, the Library of Congress published a study of Christopher Columbus’s Book of Privileges which he co-authored with John Hessler and Daniel De Simone.

His current book projects are a study of Henricus Martellus’s world map of c. 1491 (held at the Beinecke Library at Yale University) based on multispectral imagery, and the commentary for a facsimile of the 1550 manuscript world map by Pierre Desceliers, which will be published by the British Library. Mr. Van Duzer will talk about this project, explain why he felt that the Martellus map was an excellent candidate for multispectral images, show some of the results, and give an account of the place of the Martellus map in late 15th and early 16th century cartography.

Event: There will be an informal celebration of RMMS’ 25th anniversary at Pints Pub, 221 W. 13th Avenue (a short walk from the library) following Chet’s talk, so you can keep your parking spot. No reservations, but please RSVP to Wes Brown if you can make it. RMMS has a private room that holds up to 33 people, and you can order off the menu (drinks are extra).

GEEO Teacher Travel Programs

Travel the world affordably, earn professional development credit, and bring global understanding into your classroom!

Founded in 2007, Global Exploration for Educators Organization (GEEO) is a 501c3 non-profit organization that has sent over 1600 teachers abroad on adventurous travel programs. With GEEO educators can earn professional development credits and optional graduate credit while seeing the world. GEEO's trips are 7 to 21 days in length and are designed and discounted to be interesting and affordable for teachers. In addition to amazing tour leaders, many of the programs are accompanied by university faculty that are experts on the destination. The deposit is $250 for each program and then the final payment is due 60 days before departure.

GEEO also provides teachers educational materials and the structure to help them bring their experiences into the classroom. The trips are open to all nationalities of K-12 and university educators, administrators, retired educators, as well as educators’ guests.

GEEO is offering the following travel programs for 2016: Bali/Lombok, Bangkok to Hanoi, China, Costa Rica, Eastern Europe, The Galapagos Islands, Greece, Iceland, India/Nepal, Bhutan, Ireland, Armenia/Georgia, Italy, Multi-Stan, Antarctica, Morocco, Myanmar (Burma), Peruvian Amazon, Peruvian Andes, Southern Africa, Vietnam/Cambodia, Balkans and, a Mt. Kilimanjaro climb. The registration deadline is June 1st, but space is limited and many programs will be full well before the deadline.

Detailed information about each trip, including itineraries, costs, travel dates, and more can be found at www.geeo.org. GEEO can be reached 7 days a week, toll-free at 1-877-600-0105 between 9 AM-9 PM EST.

2016 Green Schools Summit

The Green Schools Summit is an annual education and networking event hosted by USGBC Colorado and organized by a dedicated group of volunteers from the Green Schools Initiative.

It is Colorado's only conference dedicated to convening green building industry professionals, school decision makers, educators and parents. The event provides a truly unique opportunity for open and productive dialogue on how to create better learning environments for our kids.

Summit Theme: "Beyond the Walls"

In addition to their positive environmental attributes, green schools support the health (physical, social, intellectual) of students, teachers, and staff by providing a healthy, safe, comfortable, and functional physical environment.

The Summit will explore how to think outside the box, or Beyond the Walls, through making connections beyond the classroom, beyond the school building, beyond the district, beyond physical and virtual borders, and beyond convention.

To register, please click here.

Girls in STEM: Tech Retreat

Girls in STEM: Tech Retreat at Keystone Science School

November 4-6, 2016
For Girls in Grades 5th - 12th

Program Overview:

Keystone Science School’s Girls in STEM: Tech Retreat focuses on addressing challenges experienced by females entering STEM careers. Specifically, participants will work with female mentors as they learn about how careers in technology incorporate components of Computer Sciences, Information Systems and Web Development and Design. The participants will use technology to solve community challenges by creating tech based prototypes that utilize a variety of applied technologies. As participants work through the engineering design process they will also incorporate entrepreneurial skills by bringing their creations to the ‘market’ and using feedback from the audience to make revisions to their prototypes.

A key element of the program is a collaboration with the Breckenridge Film Festival. On Saturday, November 5th Breckenridge Film Festival will be hosting the film Code: Debugging the Gender Gap for the participants of the Girl in STEM program and the greater community. Following the film, a breakout discussion will be facilitated centered around how the community can collaborate to create a more inclusive STEM workforce.

Click here to register.

NOAA Teacher at Sea Program

The mission of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Teacher at Sea Program is to provide teachers pre-kindergarten through college-level teachers a hands-on, real-world research experience working at sea with world-renowned NOAA scientists, thereby giving teachers unique insight into oceanic and atmospheric research crucial to the nation.

NOAA's Teacher at Sea Program will accept applications for the 2017 season November 1 - 30, 2016. Applications and references are only accepted through our online application system. The application period closes at 5:00 pm ET on November 30, 2016.

Until then, interested applicants should:

1. Visit the Frequently Asked Questions page to learn more about program eligibility and expectations.

2. Download the pdf preview of the application to review the questions that NOAA asks and, if so inclined, begin preparing responses.

Population Education Professional Development Course

Earn professional development hours or university credit with Population Education

Population Education is excited to announce the launch of its first online professional development course for science and social studies educators of grades 6-12. Discover student-centered learning strategies that use contemporary issues and real-world data to examine the social and environmental impacts of human population and engage in meaningful dialogue with teachers across the world. If you teach Environmental Science, World Geography, Human Geography, Biology/Life Science, World History, or the AP counterparts, this course is perfect for you! The course is asynchronous, which means students can work at their own leisure and pace. There will be online discussion boards, journals and a final project, all built to provide students with meaningful feedback and materials to use within their own classroom.

Teachers can choose to earn one hour of graduate education credit from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) or 45.00 professional development clock hours (4.5 CEUs) for successfully completing the full eight weeks.

Class size will be capped at 30 participants, so don't wait to sign up. The cost will be $80.00 to earn 4.5 CEUs or $155.00 (for credit) + $80.00 (for CEUs) to earn credit through UMKC.

 For more information and to register, visit https://courses.populationeducation.org.

UCAR Brief Survey for Science Educators

The UCAR Center for Science Education is interested in learning how they can better meet the needs of science educators. The survey pertains to Earth and atmospheric science education resources, teacher professional development, and citizen science.

They are asking all science educators for their input. Your responses will be anonymous and the survey should take no more than 10 minutes to complete.

Feel free to pass this along to your fellow science educators too.

Thank you for helping the UCAR learn more about you and what you're looking for.

Click here to complete the survey.

Lecture: Hats, Horses, and Homes: Unscripted

What can we really know about people from their hats, horses, and homes? State Historian Patty Limerick will ask this question of three experts, inviting each to view History Colorado’s photography exhibit, By Their Hats, Horses, and Homes, We Shall Know Them, during the day and share their reflections on the photographs in a program that night. In addition to Dr Limerick as moderator, the panel will feature Dr. Mark Gelernter, Dean of the College of Architecture at CU Denver; Janelle Sutton, a historian of apparel and theatrical costume designer; and Julia Frankebach, a PhD student at CU Boulder whose research focuses on horses.

When:
Tuesday, October 18th
7:00PM to 9:00PM

Location:
History Colorado Center
1200 Broadway
Denver, CO 80203

Cost:
$10 Members; $15 Nonmembers

Tickets can be purchased online, by calling 303-866-2394, or at the door.

Project Polar Bear Grant

Environmental Education and Science Teacher Organizations:

Every year Project Polar Bear challenges student groups across the globe to take action on climate change. With the guidance of an advisor, middle and high school groups compete for a grant by creating a plan for a project that will help reduce reliance on fossil fuels and engage their communities. This can be a plan for a new project or a proposal to continue an existing project. 

The 2016-2017 project categories are Transportation, Energy Savings, Sustainable Food Systems, and Community Engagement Through Art and Advocacy. Students and advisors track their progress throughout the competition through photos, research, and on social media. The culmination of the project is a formal proposal to the PBI judging team. The top three high-scoring teams receive a grant of $1,000, $750, and $300, respectively, to continue their projects. 

Registration is open October 1, 2016 - November 25, 2016. Teams work on their projects through March 15, 2017 and they'll announce the winners on Earth Day, April 22, 2017.

This contest is sponsored by Polar Bears International (PBI), the world's leading polar bear conservation group—dedicated to saving polar bears by conserving their sea ice habitat.

For additional information, please visit the PPB Website. 

CNS Education & Outreach Center Fall Event

Katherine Courage, an award-winning science journalist, author, and communicator, will speak at the College of Natural Sciences Education & Outreach Center Fall Event.

Courage will shed light on how the public learns about science today—from traditional media to social media and beyond. She has worked as an editor for Scientific American and written for The New York Times, Wired, Popular Science and others, as well as authored two books. She will share what she has learned from her years in the field—and share ways to inspire the most interest. Her talk will be relevant to classroom teachers, university faculty, and high school through grad students doing scientific research.

When:
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
4:00 - 5:30 PM
Refreshments will be served.

Where:
CNS Education & Outreach Center
Third floor of the Natural & Environmental Sciences Building
1231 East Drive
Fort Collins, CO 80521

Parking is free beginning at 4:00PM and there is a lot just east of the building.

RSVP to andrew.warnock@colostate.edu to reserve a seat.

For more information please visit: www.cns-eoc.colostate.edu/events.html

Denver Broncos Tackle STEM Coach of the Month

The Denver Broncos Tackle STEM Coach of the Month program recognizes high-performing STEM educators with a distinguished award and prize package to celebrate innovations and breakthroughs in STEM education across the state. The Denver Broncos Tackle STEM program is effected in partnership with Colorado Technology Association and sponsored by Arrow Electronics and Bayou Well Services.

Colorado STEMworks programs are eligible to nominate high-performing STEM educators for the opportunity to receive the Denver Broncos Tackle STEM Coach of the Month award.

Award-winning educators and their students will receive the following prize package:

• STEM-focused tour of Sports Authority Field at Mile High for winning educator and up to 25 students, including transportation stipend and invitation to host one class session at the stadium. 
• Denver Broncos Tackle STEM jersey to proudly display in their classroom to recognize their accomplishments in championing STEM in Colorado.

Eligibility: Only Colorado STEMworks programs are eligible to submit educator nominations at this time.

Nominations are due Wednesday, October 12 by 5:00PM

Please use the following link to complete and submit your nomination application: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/3072821/2016-Denver-Broncos-Tackle-STEM-Nomination-Application.

Please contact CTA staff at cyrus@coloradotechnology.org with questions.