Math and Science Teachers

Space Math problems (NASA) Grades 6-12
(Look at the science topics addressed)
Problem 339: Terra Satellite Spies the Great Gulf Oil Catastrophe of 2010 Students use a Terra satellite image of the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico to calculate its area, mass and thickness.
[Grade: 6-8 | Topics: image scales; area of a circle; metric conversions; current events]
Go to link

Problem 338:
Asteroids and Ice - Students calculate how much ice may be present on the asteroid 24-Themis based on recent discoveries by NASA.
[Grade: 9-12 | Topics: mass=density x volume; volume of a spherical shell]
Go to link.

NASA INSPIRE program for High School students
Applications are being accepted from Monday, May 3 through Wednesday, June 30.
NASA will make selections for the program in September. Selectees and their parents will participate in an online learning community with opportunities to interact with peers, NASA engineers and scientists. The online community also provides appropriate grade level educational activities, discussion boards and chat rooms for participants to gain exposure to careers and opportunities available at NASA.
Students selected for the program will have the option to compete for unique grade-appropriate experiences during the summer of 2011 at NASA facilities and participating universities. INSPIRE is designed to encourage students in ninth through 12th grades to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM. The summer experience provides students with a hands-on opportunity to investigate education and careers in those disciplines.
INSPIRE is part of NASA's education strategy to attract and retain students in the STEM disciplines critical to NASA's missions. For information about INSPIRE, visit:

To apply for the program, visit:

Teacher Opportunties

National Lab Day
National Lab Day is more than just a day - it's a movement. NLD is bringing hands-on, exciting, and experiment-based learning to kids all over the country.
NLD is the ultimate educational matchmaker. Teachers and educators can post a project on our website to request scientists, volunteers or even financial support (through Donorschoose.org). Volunteers, university students, scientists, engineers, other STEM professionals and, more broadly, members of the community are working together with educators and students to bring discovery-based science experiences to students in grades K-12. When an educator posts a project ( http://www.nationallabday.org/projects/all ), our system will help them get the resources needed to bring that project to fruition. NLD is already underway!
Go to <> for information, ideas, or to register a project.
2010 Science Safety Summit
Sponsored by the Oklahoma Science Teachers Association, the Oklahoma Science Safety Summit is designed to focus on the topic of safety in science classrooms and will bring sharp focus to needs, practices, and responsibilities of teachers and schools. This is designed as a Trainer of Trainers workshop and will provide the tools and knowledge to enable participants to lead the yearly training required in every school district in Oklahoma.

Science Laboratory Safety: A Training of Trainers (Grades K–12)
One-day session, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
This session is designed to help teachers and administrators understand the Oklahoma science safety laws and requirements for Oklahoma public schools.
Participants will use a laboratory checklist to analyze safety conditions in their schools and receive materials designed to assess and support laboratory safety in elementary, middle, and high schools.
In this session, you will:

• Analyze sample laboratory and classroom facilities.
• Determine responses to common laboratory accidents.
• Learn how to select and maintain appropriate science safety equipment and materials.
• Engage in activities that lead to an understanding of current safety laws, rules, and regulations.
Analyze events that lead to common accidents and determine how to respond to them.
Presenter for the summit is Jim Collins of the Charles Dana Center at the University of Texas.
Jim’s extensive research in safety practices and procedures in Texas resulted in a recent strengthening of the Texas state laws regulating school safety and safety practice in Texas. His work includes the Texas Safety Standards for Kindergarten–Grade 12 and An Analysis of Laboratory Safety in Texas.
Go to the Dana Center (http://www.utdanacenter.org/sciencetoolkit/safety/) for more information about the science safety toolkit.


Summit At-A-Glance
Location: Friday,July 30, 2010 – Howell Hall (science building) on the campus of the University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond.
Time: 9 am until 4: pm (8:30 Registration and continental breakfast)
Cost:$50 per person. Purchase orders to OSTA are accepted. Space is limited to a maximum of 30 participants. All participants receive a copy of a CD of Safety Kit resources, continental breakfast, lunch, and a 1 year complimentary new membership in OSTA (not good toward OSTA membership renewals). Registration Deadline: July 23, 2010
Online Registration is Open NOW at.
If you prefer to pay for Registration by check or Purchase Order you may print and mail in the online form or use the registration form on the Conference page on this website.

FIRST Robotics

Know anyone that is interested in participating in FIRST Robotics Competition? This is a great informational meeting to introduce them to what it's all about.

Creative Oklahoma Logo

CareerTech STEM Academies have been recognized with a Great Inspirations Award from Creative Oklahoma! These awards are given for innovative endeavors and for creating a positive impact in helping transform Oklahoma into a state of creativity. This recognition also gives us the opportunity to add the Creative Oklahoma logo on our website to show that we are a part of the ever-growing network of creative Oklahoma projects being spotlighted.

STEM Webinar: Pink Brain, Blue Brain? Females and Males in Math and Science

Hear the latest science related to female brain development, including the role of genes, hormones, and environmental influences, and how social factors are proving to be far more powerful than popularly conceived. Learn concrete ways educators can help females and rein in harmful stereotypes. As a parent of two sons and one daughter, she understands the difficulty of confronting gender expectations and the value of doing so.

Goals: During the webinar:
Understand what is known about the roles of hormones and learning in shaping the cognitive skills underlying STEM performance Hear the latest science on sex differences in the brain as they relate to STEM performance. Think about new ways to engage both females and males in STEM fields.

Register for the webinar

OU/ Summer Engineering Camps

If interested please look at the attached flyers for both camps. Dr. Pulat indicate the deadline could be extended to take a few more.

Oklahoma Aerospace Summit June 3-4, 2010

Dear Educators,
The Oklahoma Aerospace Summit & Expo supports teachers throughout the state of Oklahoma and the educational advancements in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The Oklahoma Aerospace Alliance, Oklahoma Aerospace Institute and the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics have taken a cooperative leadership role in providing a venue for the aerospace industry and education to come together and help revive an interest in the opportunities that aerospace has to offer. The hope is that by inspiring educators and providing them with tools to use in the classroom, a base of students will grow to fill the job opportunities and much needed skill sets throughout the state of Oklahoma.
During the 2010 Summit, two days are dedicated to workforce and educational development. This year we welcome teachers from 3 to 12 grades to participate in this program by enrolling for June 3-4 of the Summit & Expo to be immersed with the aerospace industry’s finest mentors.
The June 3rd kick-off program allows teachers to join general and breakout sessions in which the industry will participate. That evening, there will be a special educator’s reception and tour of the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center at Tinker Air Force Base. June 4th, called Education and Training Day, hosted on the campus of the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, will be focused on enhancing the delivery of STEM education in your classroom and to inform you about exciting opportunities for your students to excel. Both general and breakout sessions will offer information, curriculum and/or tactics for you to take back to the classroom and employ. You will be paired with a mentor from the aerospace industry that can provide insight and guidance at the conference as well as a contact to help you throughout the next school year.
Teachers are provided with FREE summit and education training day registration, complimentary hotel stay for the evening of June 3, and will be given a stipend at the conference to help cover the cost of travel or for whatever you want to use it for (a total value of $600). To register, please click on New Registration to the right.
We look forward to seeing you, helping you and growing our state’s educational goals in aerospace!
Ben T. Robinson-Education & Training Day ChairBrigadier General, USAF, RetiredVP for Institutional AdvancementOK School of Science and Mathematics (OSSM)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For additional information visit the webiste.

https://www.eiseverywhere.com/ehome/index.php?eventid=7765&tabid=7702&

Project Lead the Way Educators:

MAJOR PRICE REDUCTIONS & ORDER TIMING
COURSE REVISIONS, REVIEW & MATERIALS UPDATES
SPRING EXAM PROCEDURES
CORE TRAINING REGISTRATION
NEW SCHOOL REGISTRATION DEADLINE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SAVE THE DATE
PLTW 2010 National Symposium
Washington, DC | October 20-22
Followed by the USA Science & Engineering Festival, Oct 23-24
DETAILS TO FOLLOW
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

____________________________
Welcome to our first PLTW Action Bulletin email.
The goal of this new email series is to combine major updates into one place
and as a result send fewer emails while better summarizing major action items,
updates and deadlines. We will send these as often as we have a small
collection of key new updates to share, which will vary depending on the time
of year. This is a new endeavor for us, so we hope that you will share feedback
to help improve this over time. Please send comments to info@pltw.org [mailto:info@pltw.org]with
"Bulletin Feedback" in the subject line. Thank you!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Major Price Reductions - Place Your Orders for Fall Equipment and Supplies Soon
Given the challenging budget environment for schools, we have worked very hard to
achieve major price reductions, specifically:

* 10%+ reduction in overall cost for each of High School Engineering, Middle School
Engineering and Biomedical Sciences programs
* Autodesk dropped the pricing of its software by more than 20%
* The price of POE, GTT, and DE kits are down 10%
* RNG costs are down more than 25% per kit
* Most other software titles are down 8-10%In order to
ensure the arrival of all necessary materials for the beginning of the
2010-2011 school year, we encourage you to place your orders as soon as possible.
The Purchasing Manual has been completely revised as of
February 2010 to improve the ease of ordering to support all courses. It is very
important that you review the Purchasing Manual
and Purchasing Manual Instructions closely
given the extent of the changes, but we've summarized some major elements below:

* There
is one workbook for each PLTW program: BMS, GTT, and PTE.
* Items
that are commonly required across many courses have been collected into
one place, a new Core Class and Lab Inventory worksheet. Course specific
items are in individual course worksheets - all of which are found in each
program workbook.
* All purchase order forms have been consolidated into vendor workbooks for
each program.
* All of this should make it easier to inventory your current materials and
determine what materials are needed.
* We encourage you to review the "2010 KEY COURSE SPECIFIC UPDATES" section of
the website Purchasing Manual for specific materials requirements based on course revisions.
* Please be sure to read the instructions (see link above) to be sure you
understand the new design.
* Please send any feedback on the new design to pmfeedback@pltw.org [mailto:pmfeedback@pltw.org].
* PLTW-supplied materials require 6-8 weeks for delivery, so order before school
lets out if you are able!We are continuing to look for ways to reduce the
costs of the PLTW programs and expect to deliver more savings for the
2011 school year.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Course Revisions - New Curriculum to Review & Associated Updates in Required Materials
There have been course within the Gateway to Technology, Pathway to Engineering
and Biomedical Sciences programs. Please see the specific courses affected listed
below. You will have access to the new curricula via the PLTW Virtual Academy
beginning on June 1, 2010. You must review the course revisions prior to training and/or fall classes. Also, these revisions require updates to your classroom materials and equipment. Please
review the Purchasing Manual for all changes and place your orders as soon as possible. In order to be sure PLTW-supplied items arrive before the beginning of your school year, you must place orders 6-8 weeks prior.
ENGINEERING COURSE REVISIONS
A summer Core Training version of the curriculum will be available after June 1
via the PLTW Virtual Academy with a final version posted after August 1.
Gateway to Technology

* All units for GTT have undergone major revisions. A sixth unit, Energy and the
Environment, has been added.
* If you are already teaching GTT, a virtual update for this course will be available
via the PLTW Virtual Academy in early July.
* In order to teach the Energy and the Environment unit, additional training is
required. Please refer to the information on Core Training in this bulletin to learn
more.
* Review the Purchasing Manual to be sure your classrooms are properly equipped. Please place orders for PLTW-supplied materials as soon as possible, given the required 6-8 week lead time.
Principles of Engineering (POE), Civil Engineering and Architecture (CEA), and Computer
Integrated Manufacturing (CIM)

* While the overall concepts of these courses remain in place, new and exciting
projects and problems have been created to engage students. Several teacher support
documents have also been created to aid in instruction.
* If you are already teaching POE, CEA, or CIM, a virtual update for these courses
will be available via the PLTW Virtual Academy in early July.
* Review the Purchasing Manual to be sure your classrooms are properly equipped. Please place orders for PLTW-supplied materials as soon as possible, given the required 6-8 week lead time.

BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES COURSE REVISIONS
Principles of the Biomedical Sciences (PBS), Human Body Systems (HBS), and Medical
Interventions (MI)

* Revised course materials will be available via the PLTW Virtual Academy
after June 1.
* Review the Purchasing Manual to be sure your classrooms are properly equipped.
Please place orders for PLTW-supplied materials as soon as possible, given the
required 6-8 week lead time.
Biomedical Innovation (BI)
The capstone course for the Biomedical Sciences program will be implemented for
the first time this fall. During the first year of the field test, it is essential
that teachers provide feedback so revisions can be made for the next school year.

* All teachers implementing this course must attend Core Training at Stevenson University
(MD) and contribute feedback to the curriculum team.
* The Beta version of this course will be provided to teachers during the Core Training
and those teachers should download the finalized first-year version after August
1.
* The Purchasing Manual for this course will be posted after May 9.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Overview of Spring Exam Procedures
End of course exam procedures have been modified for the
Spring window. You can access all Assessment and Evaluation information via the
PLTW Virtual Academy
Please review these materials frequently as it will provide the guidance you need
to successfully complete the process.
THE SPRING EXAM WINDOW WILL BE OPEN FROM APRIL 15 - JUNE 30

* IED, POE, and DE exams will be delivered
and scored 100% online, no print versions of Part C
* Your Site Readiness Process should be completed no later than May 31.
* Please review this instructional podcast if you have not completed Site Readiness or require more help. You can also access the video via the PLTW Virtual Academy
NB: Prometric IBT will be off-line on from 10am- 2pm
(Eastern), Sunday, May 2nd and again on Sunday, May 9th
for routine maintenance and updates. The outage
will not affect testing.

* If you experience technical difficulties following routine
outages, please contact the Prometric help desk, via the Ichat. (Directions for
accessing Ichat are available in the IBT
User Guide.)
* Rev 2.1 of the PLTW Prime/IBT User Guide and Quick
Start Guide are available via the PLTW Virtual Academy. These revisions
include IMPORTANT changes in the test administration and reporting process
(e.g. Gated Test Delivery and Student Reports).Please contact Kristin Donlon [mailto:kdonlon@pltw.org]
or John Hansen [mailto:jhansen@pltw.org] if you have questions or require assistance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Registration for Core Training
CORE TRAINING REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN
Register today for the course you need. For
specific offerings, please visit your local Affiliate's page.

* Core Training Information
* Find out which courses your local Engineering Affiliate
or Biomedical Sciences Affiliate
is offering.
* Register for Core Training in the professional development area of your teacher console.
ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT CORE TRAINING
With the addition of the new unit in Gateway To Technology program, Energy and the
Environment, stand-alone Core Training will be offered at select sites
throughout the nation. Find out if your local Engineering Affiliate offering training.
CORE TRAINING INSTRUCTOR APPLICATIONS
Apply to be a Core Training Instructor! We are now accepting applications for the
summer of 2011. For more information, visit the Program Support
page.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New School Registration Period is Closing Soon
THE 2010-2011 ONLINE REGISTRATION DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO MAY 1. SCHOOL DISTRICT
AGREEMENTS ARE DUE MAY 15.

* If your school district wishes to implement a PLTW program for the first
time in one or more schools, you must register online
* If your school belongs to an existing PLTW district, but wishes to implement for the
first time, contact your School District Delegate. The Delegate must login to
the PLTW Extranet and
complete the registration from within the Delegate Console.
* If your school already has a PLTW program, but would like to add either the Biomedical
Sciences or Engineering programs, a short registration is required by the
Delegate by logging into the PLTW Extranet.
* Schools from brand new districts or those adding a new program will need to have a
School District Agreement signed and returned before May 15, 2010.
* Teachers will not be able to register for a spot at Core Training until the agreement
has been returned.