NASA Announces the Waste Limitation Management and Recycling Design Challenge

NASA is inviting students in grades 5-8 to participate in the Waste Limitation Management and Recycling Design Challenge. The challenge uses real-world scenarios that meet science and mathematics content standards. Students can participate in a formal, informal or home-school setting.

Teams of up to six students will design a water recycling system for the unique environment of the moon. Teams will then test their system on a simulated wastewater stream. Proposals and results are due Feb. 1, 2010.

The winning teams will be announced in May 2010. The top three teams will receive awards. The first place team will receive an expense-paid trip to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the winning team's visit to Kennedy, students will gain firsthand knowledge about NASA's missions, receive behind-the-scenes tours of NASA's launch facilities, and learn about future aerospace and engineering careers.

For more information and contest rules, please visit http://wlmr.nasa.gov/.

On Oct. 28, 2009, Dr. Jay Garland will be hosting a webcast tutorial for educators on the WLMR design challenge from 4-5 pm EDT. The presentation will provide an overview of the contest objectives and schedule, demonstrate methods students will use to create and analyze the wastewater, and answer questions from the audience. The webcast can be accessed at http://dln.nasa.gov.

Also available online is the Waste Limitation Management and Recycling Design Challenge Educator Guide. This guide is a starting point for middle school students to research and answer the challenging questions of how to maintain human habitations on the moon and other planets in the solar system. The guide focuses specifically on the need for water recycling. The guide includes background information on topics relating to the moon, Earth’s water cycle and water recycling. Several basic classroom activities on water recycling are also included.

The guide is available for downloading at http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/WLMR_Guide.html.

Questions about the Waste Limitation Management and Recycling Design Challenge should be directed to Jay Garland at jay.l.garland@nasa.gov.

Great Science Web Site!

Tammy Carter at Hayden Middle School shared a great site with me this past week. She is using one of its interactive activities on DNA with her 7th graders. After just a few minutes exploring the site, I found so many cool experiments and online lessons that will interest you all! Many of them would be wonderful with those new SmartBoards so many of you are receiving!

Try Science

This link will take you directly to the "Find Activities" page directed towards teachers. The lessons are sorted by type, age, or topic to save you some time hunting for what you need.

Thanks Tammy!

The Wonders of YouTube!

Kim Cole at Fairview Middle School shared these links with me during a recent classroom visit and she thought it would be a great idea to post them here for everyone to use. We all know that you have to be careful with YouTube, but there actually is a tremendous amount of useful video there for teachers.

Most of these clips are aimed for 7th grade Organisms: Macro to Micro but they will also carry over into 3rd grade Plant Growth & Development and 1st grade New Plants.

Parts of a Flower
WOWBug Grooming
Life Cycle of a Butterfly
A Plant's Story
Fast Plant's Life Cycle

Have a great week!
Carrie Lin

Physics Central PhysicsQuest Program for Grades 6-9

Attention Middle School Science Teachers!

Have you heard of PhysicsQuest, a science competition program sponsored by Physics Central? Nancy Caffee from Cleveland High School shared this site with us at a recent compressed training session. Register your classes at this site to receive competition materials and information that will allow your students to participate in this year's competition.

Here is a description from their site:
"PhysicsQuest is a middle school competition that consists of four physical science experiments centered on a mystery. The experiments are designed to be done by small groups in a classroom or after school setting. Each of the experiments gives students a clue that they need to solve the mystery. Classes can submit their answers online and be entered into a random drawing for prizes. PhysicsQuest kits are provided free to registered classrooms."

Sounds like a great opportunity!

Grant Resources

During several of my recent classroom visits, teachers have asked about grant resources to acquire funding for classroom projects. I've compiled a list of a few that were recommended to me by previous grant recipients and some others that came up in my searches. In our current times of proration, we could all use a little (or a lot) of help! It never hurts to submit a grant proposal--the worst that could happen is a polite "No".

If anyone has other opportunities that we can benefit from, please feel free to share here.

CBS 42 One Class at a Time Grant

Toolbox for Education

Kids Gardening Grant

Donors Choose

Class Wish

Target Stores Community Outreach

Alabama Wildlife Grants

Thanks so much for all you do,
Carrie Lin