Student Chapters: Time to get ready for Earth Science Week

AAPG has been a long time partner with AGI on this great program.

For many of AAPG’s Student Chapters this is an annual Chapter activity, and I recently saw an update about Earth Science Week in AGI’s e-newsletter so I thought I would share it with you.

EARTH SCIENCE WEEK UPDATE
American Geological Institute
Vol. 7, No. 7: July 2009

IN THIS ISSUE…

Earth Science Week Toolkits Available Now
Literacy Initiative Boosts Earth Science Awareness
GSA Geoscientists Reach Out to Educators
GeoConnection Network: Join on Facebook
Explore Climate Topics at ASTC Conference
Earth Science Week Booming in Australia

Earth Science Week Toolkits
Available Now

Earth Science Week 2009 Toolkits are available now! To ensure that you are among the first to receive these exciting educational resources, order yours today. The Earth Science Week 2009 Toolkit includes:

A 12-month school-year activity calendar, suitable for hanging
The new Earth Science Week poster, including a climate activity
USGS climate education resources, including volcano materials
NASA climate resources, including a “Dynamic Earth” DVD
A report on “Ecological Impacts of Climate Change”
A National Park Service poster on glaciers nationwide
A new brochure outlining principles for Earth science literacy
A CD on GIS technology and activities from ESRI
A genuine field notebook from Rite in the Rain
Climate literacy materials provided by NOAA
Information about the National Wildlife Refuge System
Activity sheets from the Association for Women Geoscientists
Brochures, bookmarks, fact sheets, postcards, and more

For ordering, special shipping, bulk orders, and more information, visit http://www.earthsciweek.org/materials/index.html.

Literacy Initiative Boosts
Earth Science Awareness

To know Earth science, what do you need to know? The Earth Science Literacy Initiative (ESLI), funded by the National Science Foundation, has gathered and codified the underlying understandings of Earth sciences into a short brochure that is included in this year’s Earth Science Week Toolkit.

The brochure outlines the “big ideas” and supporting concepts all Americans should know about Earth science. This literacy framework also will become part of the foundation – along with similar documents from the ocean, atmosphere, and climate communities – of a larger geoscience Earth systems literacy effort.

A community effort representing current state-of-the-art research, the document has been written, evaluated, shaped, and revised by the top geoscientists. The framework is expected be influential in scientific, educational, and political settings. To learn more, see http://www.earthscienceliteracy.org.

GSA Geoscientists
Reach Out to Educators

Teachers and students alike can learn a lot from the Geological Society of America (GSA), an AGI member society and Earth Science Week partner. GSA is an organization of geoscientists in industry, government, business, and academia who are committed to the ongoing professional growth of Earth scientists.

One of GSA’s major education and outreach programs, the Teacher Advocate Program (TAP), provides “Explore Geoscience” CD-Roms, lesson plans, educational materials, and resource links for Earth science teachers. For more information on TAP, visit http://www.geosociety.org/educate/tap.htm. Teachers also can take advantage of GSA’s Teacher GeoVenture trips, teacher workshops, and Distinguished Earth Science Teacher in Residence. GSA also offers a number of teacher awards and fellowships. See http://www.geosociety.org/educate/ to learn more.

Students are encouraged to apply for GSA’s GeoCorps America program, which works with the National Park Service, the Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management to place young geoscientists in geoscience-related positions at national parks. Find out more at http://www.geosociety.org/geocorps/.

GeoConnection Network:
Join on Facebook

You are invited to join the AGI Geoscience Workforce Program’s GeoConnection Network on Facebook. Soon, the network will link you with all related university departments and AGI contacts.

Become a “fan” of GeoConnection, and you can receive updates about geoscience events, new data from the workforce program, and other intriguing geo-tidbits in your Facebook news feed. You can become a fan of GeoConnection by at http://www.facebook.com/geoconnection/.

Explore Climate Topics
At ASTC Conference

Whether you teach Earth science in a classroom or an informal education setting, you can explore this year’s Earth Science Week theme – “Understanding Climate” – at the annual conference of a longtime program partner, the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC).

Many science and technology centers across the globe are offering visitors unique hands-on experiences for learning more about climate – from a climate-change theater in Connecticut and a climate lab in Michigan to “Communicating Climate Change” programs in California and an online climate change game in France.

At the 2009 ASTC Annual Conference in Fort Worth, Texas, Oct. 31-Nov. 3, 2009, you can find out how those centers are doing it, and how you might engage your students more deeply on this high-interest topic. To learn more, visit http://www.astc.org/conference/index.htm.

Earth Science Week
Booming in Australia

Geoscientists, students, and others in Australia are gearing up for another great Earth Science Week in 2009. To begin, Geoscience Australia once again is hosting the Geologi short Film Competition.

The competition, open to all school-age Australian students, focuses on the theme “Earth Science in Everyday Life.” Entries close on Aug. 14. For more information, see http://www.ga.gov.au/education/events/geologi-short-film/index.jsp. International participation in Earth Science Week has grown year by year, as people in nearly 20 nations took part last year.

The American Geological Institute is a nonprofit federation of 45 geoscientific and professional associations that represents more than 120,000 geologists, geophysicists, and other earth scientists. Founded in 1948, AGI provides information services to geoscientists, serves as a voice of shared interests in the profession, plays a major role in strengthening geoscience education, and strives to increase public awareness of the vital role the geosciences play in society’s use of resources and interaction with the environment. For contact information, please visit http://www.earthsciweek.org/contactus/index.html.