1/16/2009 - NSTA—Debra Shapiro
The National Institutes of Health's National Center for Research Resources funds the Science Education Partnership Award for innovative educational programs
1/15/2009 - NSTA—Debra Shapiro
2009 marks the 200th anniversary of the births of Charles Darwin and the founder of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), Abraham Lincoln. In addition, 2009 is the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, the 400th anniversary of the publication of Johannes Kepler’s first two Laws of Planetary Motion, and the International Year of Astronomy
1/15/2009 - NSTA Reports—Jacob Clark Blickenstaff
Our movie reviewer, Prof. Jacob Clark Blickenstaff, says there's a lot in the animated film WALL-E for science teachers to like, but it has a few of the usual problems that film makers have with depicting space travel. There are other juicy pedagogic opportunities as well.
1/15/2009 - Reuters
The human eye can help doctors understand how an acute form of malaria attacks the brain, researchers said on Wednesday, opening the way to new and better treatments for one of Africa's biggest killers.
1/15/2009 - National Science Foundation
A new report from the National Research Council examines science learning outside of school. The reports pulls together existing research about informal learning to advance the field and help practitioners create more effective informal learning experiences.
1/15/2009 - The Washington Post (requires free registration)
Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan, President-elect Barack Obama's pick for education secretary, promised yesterday to work to expand preschool, build the ranks of quality teachers, and support such initiatives as charter schools and performance pay, setting out an agenda that won him broad bipartisan support at a Senate confirmation hearing.
1/15/2009 - Inside Higher Ed
Research universities may not be able to attract the best young faculty talent, according to a survey that finds that they increasingly care about finding careers at "family friendly" campuses.
1/14/2009 - The Boston Globe
A task force charged with assessing technologies for protecting children from unwanted contact online has concluded that no single approach is foolproof and that parental oversight is vital.
1/14/2009 - The Wall Street Journal
A Virginia company that makes peanut butter for institutional use is recalling peanut butter made at a Georgia plant after health officials linked it to a salmonella outbreak that sickened at least 425 people in 43 states and may have caused three deaths.
1/14/2009 - NSTA Reports—Debra Shapiro
Educators and students can explore developments in astrophysics, Earth science, biodiversity and human biology, and evolution, courtesy of New York City’s American Museum of Natural History (AMNH).
1/14/2009 - The New York Times (requires free registration)
After years of debate and research, M.I.T. has replaced a large introductory physics course with smaller classes that emphasize hands-on, interactive learning.
1/13/2009 - NSTA Reports—Linda Crossley
Session proposals for the fall area conferences are due January 15, and proposals for the 2010 national conference are due April 15.
1/13/2009 - Reuters
Hunting and gathering has a profound impact on animals and plants, driving an evolutionary process that makes them become smaller and reproduce earlier, according to U.S. researchers.
1/13/2009 - The Seattle Times
Washington state's proposed new science-education standards do not make scintillating reading, but the people behind the new guidelines for teachers say their work should make classrooms more interesting for kids.
1/13/2009 - ScienceInsider
While some fear that the scientific and technical assistance programs to Africa and other developing regions may suffer as a result of the economic downturn, Harvard University's Calestous Juma, an expert on the topic, believes it may have the opposite impact.
1/13/2009 - NSTA Reports—Lynn Petrinjak
Developing a new medicine is an intense scientific endeavor, as students at Montgomery High School in Skillman, New Jersey, can attest.
1/13/2009 - USA Today
If banks, insurance companies, and automakers are getting a piece of Washington's bailout largesse, why not cash-strapped schools? That's the thinking of officials at a few hard-pressed school systems, who have set wheels in motion to get a share of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, intended for ailing financial institutions, and the economic stimulus package now before Congress.
1/13/2009 - ScienceDaily
Researchers have invented dust-particle-size devices that can be used to grab and remove living cells from hard-to-reach places without the need for electrical wires or tubes.
1/12/2009 - eSchool News
Schools have long relied on one emissary to deliver paperwork into parents' hands: students' backpacks. But driven by environmental and economic concerns, many schools now are posting notices online instead, reports the Chicago Tribune.
1/12/2009 - National Geographic News
Ripples in cosmic gas that resemble speedboat wakes have revealed a new population of young, renegade stars barreling through the universe at more than 112,000 miles (180,250 kilometers) an hour.
1/12/2009 - ABC News
1 in 200 US kids are vegetarian, according to a recent federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study of alternative medicine based on a survey of thousands of Americans in 2007. Information on children's diet habits was gleaned from about 9,000 parents and other adults speaking on the behalf of those under 18.
1/12/2009 - Discover Magazine
When the first bands of early humans made their intrepid journey into the Americas, they found plenty of room to spread out, according to a new study. Researchers say one group moved down the Pacific coastline all the way to the tip of South America, and the other crossed into North America and settled near the Great Lakes.
1/12/2009 - Time Magazine
Ants don't tolerate philandering—promiscuous ants are attacked and killed. Now, scientists have figured out exactly how the colony knows who's been up to no good.
1/12/2009 - The Washington Post (requires free registration)
As much as educators deny it, they really don't like outsiders interfering with the way they do their jobs. The problem is that schools are handling parents' most precious possessions, their children. That aggravates the emotional side of the discussion.
1/9/2009 - The Wall Street Journal
To the consternation of the drug industry, drug-safety crusader Sidney Wolfe has been appointed to a key FDA committee. The outsider is going inside, mirroring a larger shift in the Washington pendulum toward tougher company regulation.