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Newsletter: March 2024

NISE Network logo in full color - horizontal landscape

MARCH 2024     


NETWORK NEWS

Crowd is Outside Looking to the Sky Awaiting to See a Partial Solar Eclipse

2024 Total Solar Eclipse - Monday, April 8, 2024 
On Monday, April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will be seen in the US from Texas to Maine. States on the path of totality include: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. All of North America will have at least a partial solar eclipse (if skies are clear).

• Compilation of public engagement resources:
   
nisenet.org/solareclipse

Slideshow presentation

• Online workshop recording - partners sharing plans (recorded 1/9/24)

Online workshop recording - available resources (recorded 9/12/23)

• DIY Sun Science app

NISE Network_Solar Eclipse slide presentation overview showing a partial eclipse of the Sun

To See or Not to See: A Recurring Question About Holding Eclipse Events Off the Path of Totality 
We are less than a month away from the April 8, 2024 solar eclipse! For those traveling to totality, we wish you the safest trip and clearest view. For those on the path of totality planning events, we send you wishes for clear skies and smooth, successful, and most importantly - safe events. For those off the path of totality, we send the same well wishes for smooth, successful, and safe events, with the clearest skies for experiencing whatever percentage of totality you may have. With that, there is one question that we hear often enough that we want to address it. “Is it worth holding an event if I’m not located on the path of totality?” We want to address this question with the loudest and most enthusiastic “YES” possible. 

Learn more

 

Lunar eclipse banner from May 2021 with no text

Upcoming Lunar Eclipse: March 24-25, 2024 
A lunar eclipse will take place Sunday night March 24, 2024 into early morning of March 25, 2024 throughout North America.The lunar eclipse will be visible throughout North America if the sky is clear. During a lunar eclipse, the Earth blocks most of the sunlight that normally reaches the Moon. The Earth is between the Sun and the Moon. 
Check exact timing for your location

• Compilation of public engagement resources:
  
nisenet.org/lunareclipse

 


UPCOMING EVENTS

NISE Net Online Workshop logo

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


Practices, Principles, and Programming for Engaging Blind and Low Vision Audiences
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
2-3pm Eastern

Please join us for this online workshop about creating more equitable experiences with Earth and space programming for blind and low vision audiences. We will hear from experts in the field who are striving to expand access to STEM resources. Listen as they discuss best practices as well as some of the tools available for others interested in this work. We will also hear from NISE Network partners who have co-collaborated with members of their communities to identify and better address the needs of visually impaired audiences locally. 
Learn more and register


Wildfires & Air Quality - Providing a Relevant Portal to Get Audiences Invested in the Conversation
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
2-3pm Eastern

During this online workshop we will hear from partners engaging audiences of all ages in Earth and climate science through activities that take a closer look at the scientific and societal impacts of wildfires. Learn how to use activities from the NISE Network, NASA, and others to demonstrate the connection between global issues of climate and evolving fire seasons. Presenters will discuss strategies for making content relevant and approachable, while creating a safe space for important conversations around climate resilience to transpire. Come hear how to increase interest in your community and empower the public to take action.
Learn more and register


PARTNER HIGHLIGHTS

First Page of the German Translation of Cards for Humanity from Games for the Future

Landesmedienzentrum Baden-Württemberg in Karlsruhe, Germany Translates the NISE Network's "Games for the Future" Activities

Landesmedienzentrum Baden-Württemberg is a public institution that helps teachers implement the use of digital media in their schools. Staff from the institution’s Future of Learning Unit were looking for any kind of activities that foster futures thinking when they discovered the NISE Network's Games for the Future activities. Games for the Future is a set of three activities and supporting resources designed to engage participants in futures thinking and learning about the UN’s Global Goals for sustainable development. Staff at Landesmedienzentrum Baden-Württemberg adapted and translated all three activities into German, and now they are sharing these resources back under the same Creative Commons license for anyone to adapt and use.
Learn more

 


FEATURED ON THE WEBSITE

Father Daughter reading a picture book together (Free Stock Image Credit -Family First via StockSnap)

Talking with Children about
Tragic Events in the News

Parents, caregivers, and educators can all play an important role in helping children recover from exposure to tragic events in the news as well as traumatic experiences. Below is a compilation of resources for talking with children about tragic events in the news including war, violence, racism, and natural disasters. Navigating these conversations isn't easy, but these resources can be helpful for both children and adults.
nisenet.org/tragic-events

An artist’s concept of asteroid Psyche. Credit: Maxar/ASU/P. Rubin/NASA/JPL-Caltech

Meteorites and Asteroids
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx successfully returned to Earth in September 2023 with material from asteroid Bennu. The Psyche mission that launched in October 2023 will visit a metal asteroid. Meanwhile the Lucy spacecraft encountered its first asteroid Dinkinesh in November; over the course of its mission, Lucy will explore the belt of asteroids known as the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. 
nisenet.org/asteroids

 


Bulletin of the AAS Celebrating the Wonder of Science in the Shadow 2024 screenshot

COMMUNITY RESOURCES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

New Solar Eclipse Public Engagement Publication
The Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society (BAAS) has published a new special issue entitled, "Celebrating the Wonder of Science in the Shadow. The publication is available online, and is free to read and download.
Learn more

 

 

2023 Annular Eclipse_Child Viewing Outside The Bell Museum StPaul MN.jpg

Protect and store your solar viewing glasses
Store your solar viewing glasses safely to use again in the future; you don't have to wait for a solar eclipse to use your glasses to view the Sun! STARnet has a fun activity where you can make a protective case for your solar-viewing Glasses, available in both English and Spanish.
Partner tip: Churro bags fit solar eclipse glasses well!

Role Model Strategies Guide
Seeing the variety of backgrounds, experience, and perspectives of STEM professionals can help inspire and motivate youth who might not otherwise “see” themselves in 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


SCIENCE COMMUNICATION NEWS

The winners of the 2024 Dance Your PhD contest have been announced! Dance Your Ph.D. has challenged scientists to build artistic entry points to science. Winners are chosen in many different categories. This year’s overall winner, Kangaroo Time, highlights individuality and conformity in kangaroos and celebrates the value of diversity in all species.

Learn more

NISE Network resources: 

• STEAM Creative Expression resources

• Societal Aspects of STEM

 


NANOTECHNOLOGY NEWS

Why do blueberries look blue? Nanostructures in the berries' waxy coating make them appear blue to people. Devising ways to mimic a blueberry’s color-forming coating might one day provide a new way to give plastics or makeup a blue tint.

Learn more

NISE Network resources: 

• Biomimicry resources

• Microscopes and Tools for the Small

• Size & scale resources

• NanoDays resources

 


GENETICS NEWS

Gardeners can now grow a genetically modified purple tomato made with DNA from a purple snapdragon, which is an edible flower. Home gardeners in the U.S. can now purchase seeds for a tomato the color of a concord grape with plum-colored flesh. The genes not only provide pigment, but high levels of anthocyanin, a health-promoting compound.

Learn more

NISE Network resources: 

• Genetics resources

• Building with Biology kit

• Health resources

 


SPACE & RADIO NEWS

Were solar flares responsible for the AT&T service outage in February? Not likely, but the outages did end up focusing a lot of the public’s attention on the Sun.

Learn more

NISE Network resources: 

• Electromagnetic spectrum

• Making Waves with Radio kit

• Astronomy 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.

Learn more

NISE Network resources: 

• Brain and Neuroscience resources

 


SPACE NEWS

A NASA-funded study suggests future astronauts and mission equipment might experience moonquakes, which could affect the planned Artemis III mission. 

Learn more

NISE Network resources: 

• Moonquakes activity

• Moon Adventure Game

• Moon resources

 


CLIMATE CHANGE NEWS

Public opinion about climate change varies widely depending on where people live in the United States. The newest Yale Climate Opinion Maps with 2023 data are now available to explore

Learn more

NISE Network resources: 

• Climate change resources

 


CHEMISTRY NEWS

In the face of looming regulations and growing liability risks, companies are developing an array of approaches to managing waste containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals.” 

Learn more

NISE Network resources: 

• Chemistry resources

 


QUANTUM NEWS

Scientists have created a reprogrammable light-based processor, a world-first, that they say could usher in a new era of quantum computing and communication.

Learn more

NISE Network resources: 

• Quantum 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

 

March

April


 

NATIONAL MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES​​​

  • International Symposium on Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST), April 10-12, 2024, Zacateca, Mexico

    Learn more

  • 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

    Learn more

  • National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) Conferences

    Learn more