Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Symphony of Science - Dinosaurs!!

The Symphony of Science is a musical project by John Boswell designed to deliver scientific knowledge and philosophy in musical form.



A musical celebration of dinosaurs! "The World of the Dinosaurs" is the 14th installment in the Symphony of Science series; it investigates their habits, extinction, and how we learn about them. Featuring Alice Roberts, Bill Nye, Nigel Marvin, Dallas Campbell and more. Materials used in the creation of this video are from:

  • Dinosaurs Alive

  • BBC "How to Build a Dinosaur"

  • BBC "Extinct: A Horizon Guide to Dinosaurs"

  • Bill Nye - Dinosaurs

  • Prehistoric Park

  • Discovery Channel "Last Day of the Dinosaurs"

  • Jurassic Park

  • Jack Horner's 2011 TED Talk
  • Tuesday, March 20, 2012

    Symphony of Science - The Greatest Show

    The Symphony of Science is a musical project by John Boswell designed to deliver scientific knowledge and philosophy in musical form.



    A musical celebration of the wonders of biology, including evolution, natural selection, DNA, and more. Featuring David Attenborough, Richard Dawkins and Bill Nye. "The Greatest Show on Earth" is the 13th video in the Symphony of Science music videos series. Materials used in this video are from:

  • Richard Dawkins' "There is grandeur in this view of life" speech
  • BBC Life
  • BBC Planet Earth
  • David Attenborough's First Life
  • Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life
  • Bill Nye Evolution episode
  • Thursday, March 15, 2012

    SECME Announces 2012 Master Teacher Mentors

    Eleven outstanding educators from across the country asked to lead SECME initiatives.
    For over thirty years a major focus of SECME, Inc. (a national nonprofit formerly the Southeastern Consortium of Minorities in Engineering) has been teacher professional development focused on K-12 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). SECME’s capstone event for the professional renewal and revitalization is the Annual Summer Institute, hosted each year by one of its 42 member engineering universities. This year the 36th Annual SECME Summer Institute will be hosted by The University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa, June 24-July 1. This intense eight-day residential professional development opportunity, presented by member university faculty, partner industry and government experts, and SECME Master Teachers, provides educators with curriculum activities aligned to National Standards, cutting-edge content knowledge, and a framework for implementing a SECME program.

    The following eleven educators are significant members of SECME’s cadre of teachers with a strong tradition of leadership in SECME’s National Office Education Program Division. Because of their noteworthy contributions over the years, this group has been asked to accept additional responsibilities by serving on the SECME National Advisory Council and as SECME Summer Institute Master Teacher Mentors. The focus of the SECME Mentoring program is to enhance K-12 teaching and learning by leading Professional Learning Communities during the Summer Institute and then providing Institute participants with post-Institute support.


  • Anil Antony, Grand Bahama Catholic High School, Freeport, Grand Bahamas


  • Manuel Cox, American Senior High School, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Florida


  • Lori Dunklin, DeVry Advantage Academy, Houston Independent School District, Texas


  • Karen Gant, Carol City Elementary School, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Florida


  • Gwendolyn Maturo-Grasso, Lincoln Middle School, Syracuse City Schools, New York


  • Myra Jackson, Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI), Tuscaloosa, Alabama


  • Erich Landstrom, Seminole Ridge Community High School, Palm Beach County Schools, Florida


  • Olga Peraza, Satellite High School, Brevard County Public Schools, Florida


  • Roy Shears, Hamilton High School, Memphis City School District, Tennessee


  • Judy Wall-Townsend, Midway Elementary School of the Arts, Seminole County Public Schools, Florida


  • Kim Worrell, O'Rouke Elementary School, Mobile County Public School System, Alabama

  • SECME was founded in 1975 by the Engineering Deans from seven Southeastern universities: Alabama, Florida, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, Tennessee, Tennessee State, and Tuskegee. Today SECME is a non-profit alliance that extends to 40 school systems, 39 major engineering universities, and industries and agencies in 15 states, the District of Columbia, and Grand Bahamas. SECME's mission is to increase the pool of historically under-represented and under-served students who will be prepared to enter and complete post-secondary studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), thus creating a diverse and globally competitive workforce. SECME provides teacher professional development and coordinates student competitions across the country. Its National Headquarters is housed on the campus of The Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia.
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    For more information on SECME please visit our Website: www.secme.org.

    Tuesday, March 13, 2012

    Palm Springs Middle And Suncoast High Continue To Stand Out In SECME Competitions

    Students from 16 middle schools and 15 high schools participated in the 2012 Palm Beach County SECME Secondary Olympiad on February 25 at Santaluces High School. During the Olympiad, students participated in a variety of competitions which included mousetrap cars, water rockets, bridges, brain bowl, banners, essays, and posters. The theme for this year’s SECME program was “SECME: Plan It ٠ Build It ٠ Live It!”

    “SECME is an excellent program that provides students with opportunities to apply hands-on problem solving techniques to real engineering challenges. They get to design, test, re-design, and re-test until they produce a working model – pretty much the same way engineers do their jobs,” said Bruce Wear, SECME District Coordinator.

    The following schools were the overall district winners at the secondary level:

    Honorable Mention: Don Estridge Middle School
    Second Place (TIE): Bak Middle School of the Arts
    Second Place (TIE): Eagles Landing Middle School
    First Place: Palm Springs Middle School

    Honorable Mention: John I. Leonard High School
    Third Place: Seminole Ridge High School
    Second Place: Royal Palm Beach High School
    First Place: Suncoast High School

    The following individual students, teams, and/or schools were the top winners in individual events:

    ESSAY:
    First Place: Eagles Landing Middle – Sarah Palumbo
    First Place: Suncoast High – Lily Shrayfer

    BANNER:
    First Place: Bak Middle SOA
    First Place: Seminole Ridge High

    POSTER:
    First Place: Loggers Run Middle – Ashley Ramirez
    First Place: Jupiter High – Selena Harman

    BRAIN BOWL:
    First Place: Eagles Landing Middle
    First Place: John I. Leonard High

    WATER ROCKET:
    First Place: Bak Middle SOA – Team Flyers
    First Place: Suncoast High – Positively Charged

    BRIDGE:
    First Place: Don Estridge Middle – The Smarticle Dragons
    First Place: Suncoast High – Positively Charged

    MOUSETRAP CAR:
    First Place: Palm Springs Middle – The A-Team
    First Place: Suncoast High – Just Do It

    Palm Springs Middle School and Suncoast High School will represent the school district at the SECME National Student Competition which will be held on June 26, 2012 at the University of Alabama. In addition, essays written by Sarah Palumbo from Eagles Landing Middle and Lily Shrayfer from Suncoast High will advance to the national competition.

    This was the fifth overall win for Palm Springs Middle School and the eighth overall win for Suncoast High School.

    According to Carol Marshall Smith, SECME Coordinator at Suncoast High School, “SECME is the bridge between academics and application. It teaches you to not become satisfied and to always strive for improvement.”

    SECME (Science, Engineering, Communication, and Mathematics Enrichment) is a program that strives to increase the pool of students who will be prepared to enter and complete post-secondary studies in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This program reaches out to students who are historically under-represented in the STEM fields with the long-term goal of creating a more diverse workforce. The School District of Palm Beach County supports the goals and mission of SECME.

    For more information, contact Bruce Wear, SECME District Coordinator, at (561) 357-1125 or bruce.wear@palmbeachschools.org.

    Sunday, March 4, 2012

    SECME Announces 2012 Summer Institute Location and Date

    SECME 2012 Annual Summer Institute
    June 24 - July 1
    hosted by The University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa!

    sunday june 24
    check-in for Summer Institute Experience: K-12 Professional Development through july 1

    tuesday june 26
    check-in for SECME National Competition Student Teams through june 29

    wednesday june 27
    check-in for STEM Pipeline Diversity Summit through july 1

    thursday june 28
    SECME National Student Competition Day and Celebration of Student Success!

    friday june 29
    Rock 'n Roll Tide Mixer and Dinner

    saturday june 30
    Summit Pipeline Keynote and Plenary and
    Evening of Elegance Teacher of the Year Celebration

    sunday july 1
    all institute check-out

    Saturday, March 3, 2012

    Ready on the S.E.T. and... ACTION!



    Pauley Perrette (Actress, NCIS) promotes S.E.T. fields in this public service announcement

    The Entertainment Industries Council, Inc. (EIC) through its Entertainment & Media Communication Institute (EMCI), has developed Ready on the S.E.T. and…Action! a program that is tackling one of the nation’s largest challenges: reviving American interest in science, engineering and technology (S.E.T.), especially among youth.

    The impetus of this initiative is due to the American population’s lack of interest in the fields of science, engineering, and technology and the growing threat of a diminished workforce in these fields.

    Through the Ready on the S.E.T. and…Action! Initiative, EIC will help science, engineering and technology experts to integrally collaborate with representatives from the entertainment and media field. Ultimately, the collaboration will reposition these crucial issues and supplement an innovative approach to reach a wider audience nationwide.

    Specifically, the project will develop resource information for writers, producers, directors, broadcast and print journalists to utilize (within all types of national and local media) and strengthen how engineers and scientists are portrayed in entertainment media space.

    Thursday, March 1, 2012

    Polo Park 8th-grader wins 4-year college scholarship for Black History Month essay

    Polo Park eighth-grader wins four-year college scholarship for essay

    Nya Jones, an eighth-grader at Polo Park Middle School, recently found out that she was one of three student essay contest winners to receive a four-year Florida College Plan scholarship provided by the Florida Prepaid College Foundation.
    The full story can be viewed at: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/wellington/fl-wf-nyajones-0229-20120229,0,7352527.story