May 2024
NETWORK NEWS
Association of Children's Museums InterActivity Conference 2024
We are looking forward to seeing many NISE Network partners at this year’s conference May 15-17, 2024 in Madison, Wisconsin. If you are attending, please stop by our booth in the exhibit hall and check out some of the NISE Network related sessions.
nisenet.org/acm2024
What should I do with my used solar eclipse safety viewing glasses?
You can store your solar eclipse safety viewing glasses and use them for safely looking at the Sun anytime. Even without a telescope, it is possible to observe sunspots on the surface of the Sun through eclipse glasses. According to the American Astronomical Society, if the filters aren't scratched, punctured, torn, or otherwise damaged, you may reuse them indefinitely. You can also donate glasses in good condition to several organizations who are collecting used eclipse glasses so that they can be used for future solar eclipses in other parts of the world.
Learn more
UPCOMING EVENTS
Online Workshops
The NISE Network hosts free online workshops as professional development opportunities for our partners to share with and learn from each other. Online workshops take place on select Tuesdays at 2pm-3pm Eastern. View upcoming online workshops at nisenet.org/events
• Find Your Place in Space - Engaging the Artemis Generation with Activities, Apps and More
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
2-3pm Eastern
Join us for a discussion about all things Artemis and the Moon! Get the latest news regarding the Artemis II mission from Dr. Caitlin Ahrens, Postdoctoral Fellow at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. She will walk us through some of the exciting challenges that the Artemis II mission will face. Learn about educational materials available from NASA to help audiences identify with the Artemis generation and find their place in space. In addition, we will also talk about the NISE Network’s Voyage through the Solar System kit as well as the apps DIY Sun Science and DIY Solar System.
Learn more and register
• Futures Thinking - Exploring Ideas and Developing Skills to Shape Our World
Tuesday, June 11, 2024
2-3pm Eastern
Join us as we share an introduction to the key ideas of futures thinking and resources for integrating this approach into your STEM engagement efforts. By exploring a diversity of values and orientations to the future, community members can work together to envision and shape the future we want to live in.
Learn more and register
PARTNER HIGHLIGHTS
Partners Celebrate the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse!
On Monday, April 8, 2024, people all across the nation celebrated the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse. NISE Network partner organizations came together in big, big ways, collaborating with a wide variety of institutions in their communities to engage learners of all ages and backgrounds in the science of solar eclipse. Whether or not these events were on the path of totality, and whether or not the weather cooperated, partners delivered some of the most astounding programming we've ever seen! Here is a very small sample of the types of events hosted by partners, with links to more info, images and videos that capture the excitement generated by these extraordinary outreach efforts.
Learn more
BrainFest: A Cerebral Celebration with Pacific Science Center & the Allen Institute in Seattle, WA
Over a thousand visitors celebrated Brain Awareness Week with BrainFest: A Cerebral Celebration at Pacific Science Center on March 16, 2024. Scientists from the Allen Institute, a local research nonprofit, joined with collaborators and students from the University of Washington to host a dozen activity stations throughout the science center – including a chance to explore future and emerging brain-related technologies with the Neuro Futures Card Game developed by the NISE Network.
Learn more
FEATURED ON THE WEBSITE
New publication: AAM Exhibition journal publication
In this new peer-reviewed article about the Mission Future: Arizona 2045 exhibition, the authors discuss three approaches used in the exhibition to engage visitors in learning about climate change, space exploration, and equitable futures: theory from the field of futures studies; methods of experiential futures combined with those of science center exhibitions; and practices for culturally sustaining learning about STEM.
Learn more
Publications on nisenet.org
We have re-organized our publications on our website to make it easier to find what you are looking for. Publications categories include: 1) Externally published journal articles, books, and other professional publications 2) Guides for professional learning, and 3) Evaluation reports and research studies.
Learn more
Online Workshop Recording:
Practices, Principles, and Programming for Engaging Blind and Low Vision Audiences
(recorded on 3-12-24)
Learn more
Online Workshop Recording:
Wildfires & Air Quality - Providing a Relevant Portal to Get Audiences Invested in the Conversation
(recorded on 4-30-24) Recording coming soon!
Learn more
Looking for an easy way to discover resources on the nisenet.org website?
Check out our “Browse by Themes and Topics,” featuring curated collections of hands-on activities and resources by themes and STEM topics:
nisenet.org/browse-topic
COMMUNITY RESOURCES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Synthesis Project Fellowships from Children's Museum of Pittsburgh
This Fellowship program is a chance to join a national project to learn about how informal STEM organizations are engaging with anti-racism, anti-ableism, and equity work. Open to staff from informal STEM education organizations who identify as Black, Brown, and/or a person with a disability; stipends of $2,000.
Learn more
Science Events Summit
June 2-4, 2024, Los Angeles
For anyone interested in large live public events that connect people and science.
Learn more
Rural STEM Learning Summit
June 4-7, 2024, Tucson
Designed to bring together rural educators, administrators, and community leaders who are passionate about STEM.
Learn more
Interested in one of our exhibitions?
There’s a waiting list for that!
If you are interested in hosting the Nano exhibition, or the Sun, Earth, Universe exhibition, please reach out to Christina Leavell, NISE Network Community Manager, to be added to a waiting list.
Contact us
SCIENCE IN THE NEWS
NEUROSCIENCE NEWS
How do champion skaters accomplish their extraordinary jumps and spins? Brain science is uncovering clues. For top skaters, the brain accepts slipping feelings and rewires connections in the cerebellum, an area linked to balance.
NISE Network resources:
• Brain and neuroscience resources
GENETICS NEWS
Could a vaccine treat cancer? Testing has begun for an mRNA Moderna vaccine for melanoma skin cancer.
NISE Network resources:
CHEMISTRY NEWS
Kombucha is a fermented tea known for its health benefits and tangy kick. But brewers can find it challenging to keep kombucha’s alcohol levels low because the bacteria and yeast used in the fermentation process vary from batch to batch. Chemists are investigating ways to reliably minimize alcohol, tailor taste profiles, and speed up the kombucha fermentation process.
NISE Network resources:
SPACE NEWS
In March, a piece of space junk about the size of a can of soda crashed through a home in Naples, Florida. NASA recently confirmed the object was part of a cargo pallet containing aging nickel hydride batteries from the International Space Station that was expected to fully burn up during entry through Earth’s atmosphere.
NISE Network resources:
SPACE & RADIO NEWS
In mid-November, Voyager 1 spacecraft suffered a glitch, and its messages stopped making sense. But the NASA probe is once again sending messages to Earth that make sense. The historic NASA probe launched in 1977 to explore Jupiter and Saturn is now out beyond the edge of the solar system.
NISE Network resources:
NEUROSCIENCE NEWS
Early experiments with neural implants have a handful of companies racing to develop this futuristic Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) health technology that allows people to communicate by translating neural signals into text and speech.
NISE Network resources:
• Brain and Neuroscience resources
CLIMATE CHANGE NEWS
Author Elizabeth Kolbert wants us to rethink the stories we tell about climate change
In "H Is for Hope," Kolbert explores the contradictions of a global problem: Why does it feel like the world has made so much progress on addressing global warming, but also none at all?
NISE Network resources:
TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY NEWS
A new PBS show promotes a more promising vision of the future focusing on “prototopias” rather than dystopias. “A Brief History of the Future,” the host travels the world to meet people finding solutions to environmental problems.
NISE Network resources:
STEM THROUGHOUT THE YEAR
Discover activity ideas for incorporating current science, engineering, and technology content into events, special programming, holidays, and seasonal activities by visiting: nisenet.org/seasons
May
- What’s Up Skywatching Tips from NASA
- Asian American and Pacific Islander Month (May)
- National Physical Fitness and Sports Month (May)
- Black Hole Week (May 6-10, 2024)
- May the Fourth Be With You - Star Wars Day (May 4)
- Air Quality Awareness Week (first week of May)
- National Children’s Book Week (May 6-12)
- International Day of Planetariums (May 7)
- International Day of Light (May 16)
- National Public Works Week (mid-May)
- International Museum Day (May 18)
- Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) (May 16, 2024)
- National Paper Airplane Day (May 26)
June
- Pride Month (June) - celebrate people in STEM
- Lightning Safety Awareness Week (June)
- National Dairy Month (June)
- International Nature Journaling Week (first week in June)
- World Environment Day (June 5)
- World Oceans Day (June 8)
- Juneteenth (June 19) - celebrate people in STEM
- Summer Solstice (June 20 in the Northern Hemisphere)
- Solstices and equinoxes provide opportunities for planning quarterly programs related to the Earth, Sun, and Moon (astronomical seasons) or your local environment (meteorological seasons)
- NASA Space Place seasons resources
- Moon resources
- National Week of Making (June 17-23)
- International Women in Engineering Day (June 23)
- National Mosquito Control Awareness Week - Fight the Bite (last full week in June)
- Asteroid Day (June 30)
NATIONAL MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES
- Association of Children's Museums (ACM) InterActivity, May 15-17, 2024, Madison, Wisconsin
Learn more - Visitor Studies Association (VSA) Conference 2024, July 16-19, 2024, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Learn more - ASTC Conference, September 27 - October 1, 2024, Chicago, Illinois
Learn more REVISE InformalScience.org conference calendar
National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) Conferences