Please visit www.ncdnaday.org to have a young scientist visit your classroom and present an engaging, hands-on module covering a topic related to genetics and genomics!  DNA Day is April 20, 2012.

This year's topics include:  Forensics, Genes and Disease, Immunology, and Pharmacogenomics.

Soil is a three-dimensional living-body that you can consider as the skin covering the earth's surface. Soils play critical roles in many of the environmental challenges facing the world. Soils are essential for life on earth. People may not realize it, but they are becoming ever more dependent on the ecological functions of soil.

April 16-18, 2012
Sheraton Imperial Hotel & Convention Center
Durham, North Carolina
Early Registration Deadline February 28, 2012

Join educators, students, innovators and leaders from business and government at S2:TEM = Scaling STEM: Transforming Education Matters. Secondary school developers, educators and students from North Carolina and across the nation will share strategies to implement STEM practices and demonstrate STEM impacts in the community.  Learn more and register at http://newschoolsproject.org/2012stemconference/

The UNC-BEST program invites North Carolina physics (and other) teachers to join us on February 18 for a symposium on current advances in physics, astronomy, and the teaching of these subjects in secondary schools. The symposium will feature talks by leaders in the field about astronomy and physics research, the application of physics in a variety of contexts, and physics and astronomy pedagogy. There will also be hands-on activities and tours of research labs in the UNC-CH Physics & Astronomy Department.  Learn more and register at http://www.physics.unc.edu/%7Emcneil/Symposium2012.htm

Join the Museum and NASA instructors for educator treks in February and March. The workshops are FREE and include take-home materials and lunch. For more information, contact Melissa Dowland ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 919-733-7450 x 613). To register, please print and mail the registration form along with a $25 deposit (will be returned to you upon completion of the workshop) found on the Museum’s website at:  http://naturalsciences.org/microsites/education/tt_reg_form.html

June 25-July 27, 2012 (tentative)
Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle

The Center for Physics Education in the University of Washington Physics Department offers a five-week, 10-credit summer institute in physics and physical science for full-time inservice teachers.  The 2012 institute is tentatively scheduled for June 25-July 27 at the UW in Seattle.  Classes meet from 9 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Monday-Thursday, except for two Fridays scheduled for exams.  Directed by Professor Lillian C. McDermott and supported by the National Science Foundation, the institute is tuition-free and a $1500 stipend is offered on successful completion of the course work.  Additional money is available if needed to help defray the cost of lodging for persons from outside the Seattle area.

Teachers across the country, regardless of school size, type, or geographic location, have seen the benefit of participating in the NASA Explorer Schools (NES) project. These teachers have access to free NASA classroom materials and student engagement activities, as well as educator support resources, through the NES Virtual Campus. NES classroom resources are designed to help teachers increase student interest and achievement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects.

If you are looking for a summer professional development opportunity that will take you into forests and mills, provide hands-on experiences with technologies used in the forest industry, and provide fun networking opportunities with teachers statewide, then the Sustainable Forestry Teachers' Academy is the opportunity you have been waiting for!!!