Kentucky Teacher

The 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress – NAEP – science scores show that Kentucky’s 8th graders outperformed the nation.

The NAEP science grading scale ranges from 0 to 300

Key results from the 2011 NAEP science assessments for 8th graders include:

• Disaggregated scale scores show that, in all but one category, Kentucky students outperformed the nation. The only Kentucky group that did not have higher scores than the nation was 8th-grade white students, whose average scale score was 160, compared to the national average of 163 for the same group.
• The average science score for 8th-grade students in Kentucky was 157. This was higher than that of the nation’s public schools (151). The average score for students in Kentucky in 2011 (157) was not significantly different from that in 2009 (156).
• The percentage of students in Kentucky who performed at or above Proficient was 34 percent. This was greater than that for the nation’s public schools (31 percent).
•  The percentage of students in Kentucky who performed at or above Proficient in 2011 (34 percent) was not significantly different from that in 2009 (34 percent). Read the full story

NASA’s DIY Podcast offers resources for educators and students to use to create podcasts using free NASA images, video footage and audio clips. Various topic modules are available on the site, including:

• space station
• microgravity (micro-g)
• fitness
• lab safety
• Newton’s laws
• robots
• rocket science
• solar arrays
• spacesuits
• sports demo (science of sports) Read the full story

A Hooked on Science workshop is set for June 11 in Paducah. Teachers will learn how to use classroom and home items to get students excited about science.

Teachers will learn how to provide opportunities for students to develop science skills while building fundamental literacy skills, teaching weather, putting together a family science night or setting up an after-school science club.

Each educator will receive a free bag of science materials and will have a chance to win many science door prizes.

For more information, contact Jason Lindsey at (573) 270-7539.

The planetarium at the University of Louisville will host camps for science enthusiasts this summer with activities ranging from astronaut training and rocket launching to kaleidoscope making.

Visit http://louisville.edu/planetarium/kids-programming/summer-camps.html for details and registration, or call the planetarium at (502) 852-6664.

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

Jennifer Carter, an astronomy teacher at Rowan County Senior High School, encourages her students to analyze data to discover pulsars. Photo by Amy Wallot, March 16, 2012

Not too long ago, a student in Jennifer Carter’s class told her he was up all night playing a video game. She had no sympathy for the tired student at the time and told him she expected to have his full attention in class.

Weeks later, Carter, a teacher at Rowan County High School, overheard the same student tell a friend that he was exhausted because he had been up all night again. This time, however, video games were not the cause.

Instead, the student was putting off sleep for pulsar data analysis.

“I like it that most of my students enjoy the process of data analysis and choose to continue analyzing data on their own free time,” said Carter, who has many students who have spent great amounts of time at home analyzing data.

“This particular student mentioned above has taken the data analysis process to the next level,” she added. “He has begun an e-mail dialogue with astronomers from the Fermi gamma ray space telescope to begin using other telescope databases to extend his research. He is making great progress with that right now.”

This is Carter’s second year at Rowan County High and her fourth year as a teacher. Aside from her freshman classes, she has four astronomy courses: Light and the Hidden Universe; Stars, Galaxies and Cosmology; Pulsar Astronomy; and Planetary Science. Carter also facilitates two Morehead State University dual credit college courses: Introduction to Satellites and Space Systems I and II. Read the full story

The fifth Annual “Soar to New Heights: A STEM-ulating Adventure” summer camp for gifted and talented learners will be June 18-29 at Eastern Kentucky University.

This summer’s camp will offer students an opportunity to explore current topics in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and health in a state-of-the-art instructional and research facility.

The courses, collaboratively designed and implemented by Eastern Kentucky University STEM-H faculty and gifted/talented graduate students, are targeted to students entering grades 4-6 in the fall. The half-day program runs from 8 a.m. to noon daily with a tuition cost of $65 per student.

A brochure detailing the class offerings as well as special events for parents and students will be available soon. For more information, contact Debra Sparks.

The Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association (KSEA) sponsors a National Math and Science competition. The competition is open to students in grades 4-11.

Students interested in participating may register online, and the competition will be offered at Asbury University on April 21. Asbury also will offer two preparation sessions. Visit www.ksea.org/nmsc more information or contact Russell Brown at (859) 257-3951.

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

Susan Yusk demonstrates the varying densities of Coke and Diet Coke with a floating experiment at W.R. McNeill Elementary School (Warren County). Photo by Amy Wallot, Feb. 24, 2012

Gina Crabtree could not wait to teach at McNeill Elementary School (Bowling Green Independent), saying it had been a dream of hers for years.

“I drove outside my county (for work) for eight years waiting on a job to open at McNeill,” she said. “With the attrition rates here, it’s hard to get in. When a job finally opened, I was elated to be hired.

“Every day, I feel like I’m right where I’m meant to be.”

Crabtree is in her fifth year at McNeill Elementary and her fourth as the school’s guidance counselor. She isn’t alone in her feelings regarding the school, which was named a 2011 National Blue Ribbon School along with four other Kentucky public schools.

Science teacher Susan Yusk said students feel comfortable at McNeill Elementary, but are still expected to meet high expectations.

“(Students’) ideas are highly valued, and therefore they feel important,” Yusk said. “In that type of environment, students excel.

“One of our school’s goals is to make our students lifelong learners,” she added. “I believe our teachers do an excellent job with this. Our academic expectations for each student are high, and by making learning fun and igniting their curiosity, the expectations are usually met.” Read the full story

NASA blends science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) using education resources related to current and future missions in this conference, scheduled for June 20-21 in Richmond and June 26-27 in Corbin.

The summer workshops provided by NASA Aerospace Education Services Project and the Southeast/Southcentral Educational Cooperative (SESC) will explore engineering design challenges, problem-based learning activities, distance-learning modules, inquiry-based lessons, literacy across the curriculum and hands-on projects while targeting the Next Generation Standards.

Register online at https://coetech.eku.edu/registration/Online_PD_RegForm.php or call Sarah Evans at (859) 622-8488 for more information.

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

Western Hills High School (Franklin County) junior Nathan Eversole stands near the filtering system used to create biodiesel at the Franklin County Career and Technology Center. Photo by Amy Wallot, Jan. 30, 2012

When Francis Wheatley sees fuel prices go up, he’s not discouraged. Neither are his students.

“My students just have this feeling of self-reliance,” he said. “We don’t worry too much because we know there are alternatives out there.”

Wheatley is in his 17th year as the automotive teacher at the Franklin County Career and Technical Center (FCCTC). Throughout most of this school year, he and roughly 20 students have been making biodiesel fuel at the school.

“Right now, alternative fuels are a big deal,” Wheatley said. “We are playing a small part in it, but we all feel like we’ve got to do something.”

FCCTC began participating in the newly-formed Kentucky Biofuels for Schools program this past fall. The Kentucky Biofuels for Schools program is the result of a 2010 TogetherGreen Fellowship received by Kenya Stump, a Division of Compliance Assistance employee and creator of the Kentucky Biofuels for Schools program. TogetherGreen is an alliance between Toyota Motor Manufacturers and Audubon, the national conservation organization, to help develop conservation leaders.

“The purpose of the Biofuels for Schools program is to encourage Kentucky high schools to teach, produce and use biofuels within their schools and community,” Stump said. Read the full story