April 2006 Newsletter

South Carolina and Georgia are both in the process of adopting new Science Standards, and some grade level changes will occur. The 2006-2007 Ruth Patrick Science Education Center Student Programs offerings reflect changes in both South Carolina and Georgia Science Standards. The grade levels of some of our programs have been changed to align with the new standards. For example, the program "Sound"-sational meets the physical science standards for

South Carolina third graders and for Georgia fourth graders. Magnets and Motions supports South Carolina's kindergarten and Grade 2 standards, while Georgia students attend Magnets in Grades 1 and 3. The Earth Science Series meets the standards for Grade 3 (both) and for Grade 6 (Georgia) or Grade 8 (South Carolina).

Because we serve a large number of public school students from both states, this year we are publishing two separate information packets with programs and grade levels specific to South Carolina and to Georgia. Private school and home school students to whom the standards do not apply may request programs from different grade levels, provided they are developmentally appropriate.

Infusing the Love of Science, Math, and Technology!

New RPSEC Student Programs for

2006-2007

Several new programs will be offered in 2006-2007. Teachers in Grade 3 may select a two-visit sequence of classes entitled Earth Science Series. Third graders will attend Marvelous Minerals and Merry Measuring II in February, then return in March for Planet Earth Rocks! and Mission to Mars. In the Marvelous Minerals class, students examine and classify minerals using a field guide and identification key. Students also learn the valuable uses of common minerals. In Merry Measuring II, third graders use Earth materials to investigate capacity and mass. They engage in small group problem solving activities such as estimating, measuring, and ordering the masses of different mineral samples. In Planet Earth Rocks! students observe, describe and classify samples of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. Fossils are also examined and described, and rock formation is discussed. Mission to Mars is a planetarium program that illustrates landforms and rock types on Mars as we zoom through space via NASA images and our Digistar projector.

Teachers in Grade 6 (Georgia) or in Grade 8 (South Carolina) may also choose a two-visit Earth Science Series. Middle School students attend Exploring EarthÕs Resources and The Explorers of Mauna Kea in February, then return in March for Rockin'& Rollin' and Mission to Mars. Exploring EarthÕs Resources focuses on mineral identification. Valuable products made from inorganic and organic earth resources are discussed as students participate in challenging, problem-solving activities.

The Explorers of Mauna Kea is a planetarium program in which students learn about volcanoes, earthquakes, and plate tectonics as they visit the world's largest observatories on Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano in Hawaii. In Rockin'& Rollin', students observe and classify rock samples and investigate how igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks are interrelated in the rock cycle. Geologic processes such as weathering, erosion, and volcanism are discussed.

Teachers in Grade 1 will have a new Earth Science program as well; first graders attending Dig In! will use magnifiers and sifting screens to investigate, sort, and describe properties of minerals, rocks, gravel, sand, soils, and clay. Another new first grade program entitled Push Me, Pull Me provides students an opportunity to experiment with balance, force, and motion using toys.

Finally, teachers in Grade 5 may want to consider CSI: Solutions, a new program in which students use filtration, sifting, magnetic attraction, and chromatography to separate mixtures and solutions in a simulated crime scene investigation.

AppleMark

RPSEC Staff Member to Represent Aiken on Rotary Group Study Exchange

John Hutchens, Director of the Traveling Science and Mathematics Demonstrations Program at the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center has been selected to join the Group Study Exchange (GSE) team for Rotary District 7750.

John will join fellow team members as they travel to Normandy, France from May 20, 2006 until June 24, 2006 as part of the Group Study Exchange program of The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International.

Through the program, teams of young professionals from Normandy, France and South Carolina will exchange visits. For five weeks, the SC team members will experience the way of life, customs, and vocational practices of another country, while sharing information about their homeland.

The purpose of the Group Study Exchange program is to promote international understanding and goodwill through personal connection. While abroad, team members will stay in Rotarians’ homes and have the opportunity to meet their professional counterparts. They also give presentations to Rotary clubs and other groups about their home country.

Rotary is an organization of business and professional leaders united worldwide who provide humanitarian service and help to build goodwill and peace in the world. There are 1.2 million Rotary members in some 31,000 Rotary clubs in more than 165 countries.

STEP Director Receives

National Award

Last year, Anne Bohnet was recognized as an outstanding Project Learning Tree (PLT) educator for the state of South Carolina. This year, Anne was recognized as an outstanding PLT educator for the entire nation. PLT is an award winning, multi-disciplinary, environmental education program for educators and students in PreK - grade 12. PLT, an American Forest Foundation program, is one of the most widely used environmental education programs in the United States. Each year, PLT recognizes outstanding educators from around the US. The national awardees were invited to participate in (at no cost to them) PLT's International Coordinators' Conference May 8-12, 2006 in Virginia Beach, VA, where they will be honored during a special luncheon as well as the World Forestry Center's International Educators' Institute July 22-29, 2006 in Portland, OR.

Congratulations to Anne for a job well done. It is great when hard work and effective teaching are honored in this way.

Janice Weeks Named

CEA Employee of the Month

for February 2006

Janice Weeks was named USCA CEA Employee of the Month for February. The Employee of the Month award is given to the employee whose character best exemplifies the city of Aiken's Character of the Month.

The character trait for February was "Resourcefulness." The nominator wrote, "Janice could be described as the resourcefulness queen. She can commonly be heard saying, 'You could use that for....' I do not know anyone else who can find more creative ways to use a variety of items that most people would discard. Janice was made to be this award winner!"

Washington Group International Supports Science and Mathematics

Washington Group International (WGI) Corporate provided $10,000 in funding to support science and mathematics in the CSRA. These funds were allocated to fund kits used in the Traveling Science and Mathematics Demonstrations Program and to provide support for teacher workshops. The workshops include: Project WET, Energy and Society, Wildlife Land Management, and Project Learning Tree.

Washington Savannah River Company Steps up to Support STEP

Washington Savannah River Company (WSRC) through its Education Outreach Program sponsored the new Science and Technology Enrichment Program (STEP) program by providing funding in the amount of $33,000.

The Ruth Patrick Science Education Center (RPSEC) is delighted to work with the WSRC to establish STEP. This program is based on the successful Natural Resources, Science, Engineering and Education Program (NRSMEEP) sponsored by the United States Forest Service Station at the Savannah River Site (USFSS SRS). The goal of STEP is to provide science and technology related enrichment opportunities for students and teachers throughout the Central Savannah River Area. The enrichment activities are conducted on the two STEP campuses, one located at the USFSS SRS and one located at the Silver Bluff Audubon Center in Jackson, SC.

The STEP activities are designed to provide K-12 teachers and students with hands-on science, mathematics and technology opportunities through real-world, issues oriented investigations that focus on responsible environmental stewardship.

Masters Degree in Educational Technology

Become a Technology Leader

The Educational Technology program at the University of South Carolina Aiken (USCA) and the University of South Carolina (USC) Columbia is accepting applications for enrollment. For more information visit: http://edtech.usca.edu/

The focus of the program is to develop capabilities essential to the effective design, evaluation, and delivery of technology-based instruction and training (e.g., software development, multimedia development, assistive technology modifications, web-based development, and distance learning) in order to (1) prepare educators to assume leadership roles in the integration of educational technology into the school curriculum, and (2) to provide graduate-level instructional opportunities for several populations (e.g., classroom teachers, corporate trainers, educational software developers) that need to acquire both technological competencies and understanding of sound instructional design principles and techniques.

Anyone interested in enrolling in this program should contact Karen Morris at 641-3489.

Foundational Core Courses (12 hours)

AERM/EDRM 700 – Introduction to Research in Education

AEET/EDET 709 – Applications of Learning Principles

AEET/EDET 722 – Instructional Design and Assessment

AETE 731 – Instructional and Informational Applications of Technology or

EDTE 731 – Integration of Technology and Instruction

Technology Core Courses (15 hours)

AEET/EDET 603 – Design and Development Tools I

AEET/EDET 735 – Technological Applications for Diverse Populations

AEET/EDET 746 – Management of Technology Resources

AEET/EDET 755 – Design and Evaluation of Information Access and Delivery

AEET/EDET 780 – Seminar in Educational Technology

Electives (9 hours chosen from the following courses)

AEET 650/EDET 650,651 – Internship in Educational Technology

AEET/EDET 652 – Design and Evaluation of Games and Simulations

AEET/EDET 703 – Design and Development Tools II

MGMT 772 – Employee and Organizational Development

AEET/EDET 793 – Advanced Instructional Design and Development

EDRM 736 – Program Evaluation

Creating and Maintaining Teacher-Learning Communities in Math and Science: Increasing Student Achievement on PACT Through Collegial Efforts

Last summer, the South Carolina Association of School Administrators hosted noted speaker Richard DuFour to give a presentation on Professional Learning Communities (PLC). School administrators across the state are creating school plans that are grounded on PLC philosophy. This workshop is centered around the critical element of a professional learning community at school: creating and maintaining a teacher-learning community that is collegial and focused on student achievement.

The goals of this workshop are centered around two basic ideas: (1) teachers who employ 'best practices' within the Curriculum-Assessment-Instruction (CAI) model will see significant gains in student achievement on PACT, and (2) teachers who work cooperatively in collegial teacher-learning communities share ideas and learn from each other as they go about the task of significantly improving student achievement at their school. The workshop is designed to give participants specific, research-based strategies that result in high student achievement and to give participants specific strategies that help teachers create and maintain teacher-learning communities at school. CAI strategies are based on the work of Marzano. Strategies that are useful in creating and maintaining teacher-learning communities are based upon work on professional learning communities (DuFour & Eaker, 1998 and Hord, 1997) and leadership training (Baldrige and TQM frameworks).

Since the focus of the workshop is on collaboration, teachers are encouraged to apply as a team (grade-level or vertical). The workshop includes four days of team training, May 29- June1, 2006. The training will be held at the RPSEC.

The cost of the workshop is $100 per teacher. School teams interested in this workshop should contact Gregory MacDougall at 803-641-3250, or gregm@usca.edu.

FREE Teacher Workshop

Project WET: Water Education for Teachers

Dates: August 9, 2006 (Tenative)

Times: 9:00a.m. – 3:00p.m.

Workshop Fee: FREE

Location: TBA

Project WET is a nonprofit water education program for educators, grades K-12. The Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide is a collection of innovative, water-related activities that are hands-on, easy to use and FUN! These activities will help you teach topics such as chemical and physical properties of water, why water is essential to all life, ways that water resources are managed and how water connects all earth systems.

Each participating teacher will receive a Free Curriculum Guide!

To register or for more information contact Anne Bohnet at AnneB@usca.edu or 803-471-0291.

Special Thanks to our Sponsors- Westinghouse Savannah River Co., STEP (Science and Technology Enrichment Program), SC Department of Natural Resources, and Silver Bluff Audubon Center

FALL GRADUATE COURSE

Management of Technology Resources

Credit: 3 hrs graduate credit

Instructor: Dr. Gary J. Senn

Course Number: AEET 746

Dates: Web based and Wednesday 8/25

Fall, 2006

Times: 5:00 - 7:40 p.m.

Course Fee: Regular Tuition

Location: B&E 238f

Course Description: The organization and administration of media programs in school buildings and districts, regional and state centers, and colleges and universities. Procedures, problems, and trends for an integrated instructional support system will be emphasized.

To Register: Call Karen Morris at 641-3489

USC Aiken Graduate Fee Schedule

$392.00 Graduate Resident (per semester hour)

$816.00 Graduate Non-resident (per semester hour)

$266.00 Graduate (certified teachers Resident) (per semester hour)

$295.00 Graduate (certified teachers Non-resident) (per semester hour)

Graduate fees must be paid by graduate students whether the

courses taken are graduate or undergraduate.

Note: Students enrolled in courses at another USC campus will be required to pay the tuition and fees of that campus in addition to the USCA tuition and fees for USCA courses.

Other Required Fees

$100.00 Technology Fee (per semester for full-time students)

$8.00 Technology Fee (per credit hour each semester for part-time students)

$15.00 Parking and Security Fee (per semester)

Summer Camp

The Ruth Patrick Science Education Center is excited to announce that the Camp Inventionprogram, an exciting weeklong summer day experience for children entering grades one through six, will be returning to the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center the week of July 17-21, 2006. The program is designed to inspire creativity and inventive-thinking through loads of hands-on activities and F-U-N! Children will participate in five inventive modules each day, which include: disassembling old machinery and using parts to make their own inventions in I Can Invent^™; collecting marine samples in the deep sea and building boats in Sea Worthy™; letting their imaginations soar when they design their own carnival games in Fair Games™; constructing a device to find a special note that leads to buried treasure on a faraway island in The Lost Treasure™; and inventing the rules in mind-boggling AMAZing Games™. The Camp Invention program integrates science, mathematics, history, and the arts in an exciting environment conducive to learning disguised as fun!

File written by Adobe Photoshop¨ 4.0 This year, the Camp Invention program is being hosted by the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center. John Hutchens will be the camp director, and local, certified teachers will lead the five modules each day. Enthusiastic college students will serve as counselors. The program features a low staff to child ratio, with one staff member for every eight children.

The registration fee also includes snacks and a cool T-shirt. Bring a buddy to receive $20 off the base registration price; alumni are eligible for even greater savings! Call 800.968.4332 today to inquire about savings opportunities for your family. Registration is limited to 110 children. Don't let your child miss all the fun! For more information, visit www.campinvention.org or contact John Hutchens at
803-641-3313.

The GEAR UP staff would like to thank all those wonderful employees of USCA who answered our call for volunteers to mentor one or more GEAR UP students. On November 19^th, volunteers met with students and their families at a luncheon held at the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center to mark the beginning of their relationship. On that day we also presented certificates of completion to the students who had completed the Fall SAT Preparation Workshop which ran from October 22^nd to November 19^th.

Students and mentors attended their first GEAR UP sponsored field trip on the evening of January 16^th when they attended a presentation offered by the Augusta Ballet in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Urban Bush Women, a New York troupe, entertained and educated the audience about African American history through dance, acting, and song.

February was our busiest month thus far. On February 4^th students attended a workshop facilitated by Mrs. T. Ella Strother of Strother Associates, where they began the process of writing the personal essay they will need as part of many college applications. On February 18^th GEAR UP joined forces with the South Carolina Alliance of Black School Educators, Aiken chapter, in presenting its semi-annual community conference.

In one session, parents learned about South Carolina's Reading Standards from Dr. Rosa Ishmal, Catherine Hamilton and Dorothy Brooks and in the other workshop, Dr. Marsha Harris demonstrated how parents could help improve student achievement by using the MegaSkills© Academics and Character program.

While their parents and guardians were examining these strategies, approximately fifty students were learning test-taking skills from Karen Cue, Sheneque Jackson and Sheila Suggs-Green. They also participated enthusiastically in a workshop entitled "Thinking Games: Fun Alternatives to TV" facilitated by Gwen Johnson, Janie Key and Mary Brown.

Another activity which began in February was the spring session of our popular SAT Preparation workshop which began on February 25 and ran for five consecutive Saturdays through March 25, 2006. If you know of any student who may benefit from one of our SAT preparation workshops, please contact Joyce Johnson or Jenifer Ramseur at 803-641-3313. The next workshop is scheduled to take place over the school's summer break. The workshops are open to non-GEAR UP students as space is available.

The Ruth Patrick Science Education Center & Dupont Planetarium will offer a variety of programs during the months of June, July and early August. We will offer several planetarium shows each month as well as Hands On programs. These programs are for interested groups such as Daycare Centers, Camps, Church Groups, Scout Troops etc. For more information please call Janice Weeks at 803-641-3769.

South Carolina Regional Future City Competition

Teams from 21 South Carolina middle schools participated in the South Carolina Regional Future City Competition, January 28th at USC Aiken. Anderson Home School from Anderson, SC, took home first place with their city, “The Electric City.” The students – Julian Davis, Alex Diaz, and Elizabeth Hazelwood – teamed up with their teacher Ann Hazelwood, and volunteer engineer mentor Richard Hazelwood to win the SC Regional Competition for the second straight year. “The Electric City” team received an all-expense paid trip to the National Engineers Week Future City Competition in Washington, D.C. where they won the Best Land Surveying Award sponsored by the National Examiners for Engineering and Surveying.

At the SC Regional Competition, second place went to Paul Knox Middle School, from North Augusta, SC for their Future City “Aquality.” Herlad 5 Home School from Chapin, SC, took third place honors for their Future City, “Primera Opcion.” The SC Regional Future City Competition is sponsored by the RPSEC and Washington Savannah River Company.
Teams from 21 South Carolina middle schools participated in the South Carolina Regional Future City Competition, January 28th at USC Aiken. Anderson Home School from Anderson, SC, took home first place with their city, “The Electric City.” The students – Julian Davis, Alex Diaz, and Elizabeth Hazelwood – teamed up with their teacher Ann Hazelwood, and volunteer engineer mentor Richard Hazelwood to win the SC Regional Competition for the second straight year. “The Electric City” team received an all-expense paid trip to the National Engineers Week Future City Competition in Washington, D.C. where they won the Best Land Surveying Award sponsored by the National Examiners for Engineering and Surveying.

At the SC Regional Competition, second place went to Paul Knox Middle School, from North Augusta, SC for their Future City “Aquality.” Herlad 5 Home School from Chapin, SC, took third place honors for their Future City, “Primera Opcion.” The SC Regional Future City Competition is sponsored by the RPSEC and Washington Savannah River Company.