Free Teacher Professional Development Opportunity
The Tech Museum has a free professional development program for science and technology educators. The program, aligned to state education standards and curriculum, is designed to provide teachers with up-to-date lessons, training and ongoing support on subjects ranging from environmental science to emerging technology.
One workshop is based on our new museum gallery The Tech Awards Gallery, Technology benefiting humanity. The gallery is an offshoot of the museum's annual awards program, The Tech Awards, where innovators from around the world are recognized for creating technology solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges in education, health, economic development, equality and the environment. Teachers will be immersed in environmental science, global awareness and social justice learning and given the tools to show how they-and their students-can become part of the solution.
The professional development opportunities are meant to deepen and broaden knowledge of the subject, provide awareness of diverse teaching and learning processes, take advantage of the best available research, and contribute to measurable improvement in student achievement.
Please ask about our ongoing customized Teacher Professional Development. By partnering directly with the districts, we will customize a session for your area's specific needs and dates.
For more information please call 408-795-6191 or email acaryl@thetech.org.New Workshops
Please RSVP for our teacher workshops as space is limited. Please email acaryl@thetech.org or call 408-294-TECH.
The Sun Curve Design Challenge Workshop:
Collaboration, Environmental Sustainability, and Open Educational
Resourcesfor the Classroom
Saturday November 21 10:00am-5:00pm
The Sun Curve, a free standing self-sustaining aquaponic food-growing system created by INKA Biospheric Systems, is on display at The Tech Museum November 9-30, 2009.
About The Sun Curve Design Challenge: If you had to grow your food using efficient and sustainable processes, where would it take you? What science and technology would support your ideas? What design principles would guide your solutions?
The Sun Curve Design Challenge is a teacher-student collaboration program and competition focusing on open-source curriculum for science inquiry and design innovation. To participate in the challenge students will design and document working models of an affordable and renewable way to grow food and other useful plants. Student-led designs and teacher-led curriculum will be shared and best-of-the-best will receive recognition awards.
Goals:
- To educate and inspire students, grades Kindergarden-12th, through challenge-based learning and student-led design using alternative energy sources and sustainable growing systems
- To build awareness for Open Educational Resources (OER), stimulate the creation of new OER materials around a timely and motivating subject, and support students and teachers in using various technologies (wikis, blogs, video) and collaborative processes
- To facilitate students, teachers, and other participants to be makers of learning and reflect upon their design processes to help new groups of student innovators to invent and continuously improve the program and learning materials.
February: Engineering
Green Design Workshop
Date TBD
Join Guest Speaker Joe Fullerton, Green Building and Environmental
Specialist City of Santa Cruz and ISKME as we explore Green Design and
Building and how teachers and students can collaborate with experts to
explore current issues.
March: The Science of the Small
The Pollen Project Workshop
Saturday March 13, 2010 10:00am-5:00pm
Teachers will be introduced to various open education resources (OER) to
collect, analyze, and interpret pollen data with their students to explore
how plants are effected by climate change. Teachers will also have the
opportunity to collaborate with teachers internationally.
April: Environmental Science
Environmental Sustainability Workshop
April 3, 2010 10:00am-5:00pm
Explore environmental sustainability resources that incorporate science,
technology, engineering, art, and math disciplines during this interactive
workshop. We will also share ideas on how to incorporate multi-media into
student projects.
June: Backyard Science
Dates TBD
Summer: Four Day OER Teaching Academy
Dates TBD
Please RSVP for our teacher workshops as space is limited. Please email acaryl@thetech.org or call 408-294-TECH.