NISE Network Blog

Partner Highlight: The Children's Museum of Houston provides educational and emotional support to local communities during and after Hurricane Harvey

November 6, 2017

Jason Hammond, Children's Museum of Houston

Hurricane Harvey took aim at Houston dumping over 1 trillion gallons of water on the city - this is how much water is dumped over Niagara Falls in 17 days. The George R. Brown Convention Center was quickly set up as a relief shelter housing thousands of citizens, many of them children. Just before the storm had hit members of the Outreach Department at the Children’s Museum of Houston had created science kits that could be distributed to the shelters in case people were displaced. As Houston continues to rebuild after the hurricane, the Children’s Museum of Houston continues to provide educational and emotional support to families and students throughout the great city.

Training Videos filmed for 2018 Explore Science: Earth & Space toolkit

October 12, 2017

Brad Herring

Quiet on the set! And, action! Over the past month NISE Network project staff from the Museum of Life and Science, the Sciencenter and the University of California, Berkeley have been filming a total of 21 training videos to accompany...

Partner Highlight: Children Reach for the Stars with Education and Fun at Kearney Area Children's Musuem

October 3, 2017

Jennifer Beck, Kearney Area Children's Museum

The Kearney Area Children’s Museum (KACM) reached for the stars as they opened their museum to the community for a special Free Family Fun Night with a solar-eclipse theme. Families enjoyed a variety of activities from the NISE Net Explore Science: Earth & Space kit geared towards educating children and their families about the solar eclipse, space exploration, and science.

Gearing up for National Chemistry Week 2017? Learn more about a new opportunity to engage public audiences in chemistry topics

October 2, 2017

David Sittenfeld, Museum of Science

What activities are each of you planning for National Chemistry Week (NCW) this year? As I am sure many of you are doing at your own institutions, we have been busy at the Museum of Science in Boston the last couple of months preparing for this year’s NCW celebration, which is also celebrating its 30th anniversary. This year’s theme is “Chemistry Rocks!,” so we have been designing and testing a range of activities that will connect to geochemistry topics.

Partner Highlight: Solar eclipse 2017: A few NISE Net partner highlights

September 6, 2017

Kayla Berry, Museum of Science

A few NISE Net partner highlights from the August 21, 2017 solar eclipse events, activities, public outreach, scientific data collection, and more!

Building with Biology project receives supplemental funding from the NSF to develop dialogue program about human genome editing

September 6, 2017

David Sittenfeld and Katie Todd, Museum of Science

The Building with Biology project began in the fall of 2014, and through collaborative partnerships with scientists a kit of Building with Biology hands-on activities and public dialogue programs were created and disseminated to nearly 200 sites across the U.S. to help recipients incorporate public engagement with science (PES) activities about synthetic biology into their educational programming. While the initial project introduced new content (synbio) and practices (PES) into a variety of organizations, and with the current news around the gene editing technique CRISPR, the time is right to address this topic through the development of a brand new forum program on human genome editing.

Partner Highlight: L.C. Bates Museum Celebrates the Solar Eclipse on the Ground and in the Sky

September 1, 2017

Deborah Staber, L.C. Bates Museum

Since early 2017, with the help of the NISE Net's Explore Science: Earth & Space toolkit , the L.C.Bates Museum introduced the solar eclipse science to thousands of people and distributed over 3,000 pairs of solar eclipse glasses. The solar...

Partner Highlight: Kentucky Science Center's Eclipse Adventure - A Report from Three Sites

August 31, 2017

Andrew Spence, Kentucky Science Center

On a scale only previously seen at our gala fundraiser and the Thunder over Louisville extravaganza, Kentucky Science Center’s team joined forces on August 21, 2017 to deliver eclipse programming to three sites: two in totality and one at our...

Applications for free physical 2018 Explore Science: Earth & Space toolkits of hands-on activities due November 1, 2017

August 29, 2017

Catherine McCarthy, Science Museum of Minnesota

The National Informal STEM Education Network (NISE Net) is pleased to offer 250 free Explore Science: Earth & Space 2018 toolkits to new and existing eligible partners in the United States. In collaboration with NASA, the NISE Network has assembled...

What can you do with solar eclipse glasses still in good condition:

August 29, 2017

Catherine McCarthy, Science Museum of Minnesota

Tips for solar eclipse glasses still in good condition: A) store them safely and reuse them the glasses will last for years of solar viewing and can be saved for the April 2024 solar eclipse B) donate them Astronomers Without...