ABC News Boston (Ch. 5, WCVB) Features Story on students learning about global change using Classroom Encounters DVDs. Shot live, at Wellesley High School!
Broadcast as part of the evening news, 5-6:30 PM, Tuesday, 10/30/07.
An Inconvenient Truth's Laurie David meets Rita and students!
Click here to read our Boston Globe article. Excerpt: "Daniel Schrag , a Harvard geochemist who appears in the series, applauded Chang's vision. `'Typically things that are new ideas in science or new observations take decades before they are taught at the high school level. . . . Really good teachers change that,' said Schrag, who directs the Harvard University Center for the Environment."
Tax-Deductible Donations Possible
National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Recommends the Classroom Encounters Series!
National Science Teacher Association Recommends: "This compact lecture series on DVD provides viewers with a flexible, quality presentation of topics related to climate change and its impact on our society... you can tailor it to your classroom needs rather than have a live lecturer come in, present, and leave."
The full review of Climate Change and Our Future was published on the NSTA Recommends website at http://www.nsta.org/recommends/ViewProduct.aspx?ProductID=16742.
National Science Teacher Association Recommends: “The excitement of the classroom environment is supported by objects, charts, and tools that enhance the value of this encounter between students and expert.”
The full review of Snowball Earth (updated as "Thin Ice - Earth in the Time of Climate Change") was published on the NSTA Recommends website at
http://www.nsta.org/recommends/ViewProduct.aspx?ProductID=16743.
School Library Journal Reviews
Snowball Earth and Freeze, Freeze, Fry
The prestigious American Library Association published its positive review of Freeze, Freeze, Fry in its widely circulated magazine, Booklist. (The two UnEarthing Life titles were finished too late in the year to be considered for the Dec issue)
Earthwatch Helps Spread the Word about
Classroom Encounters DVDs"Beam Top Global Change Scientists into Your Classroom
Beam world-class scientists into your classroom to model - face to face - how science and inquiry work, and to help you creatively teach the all-important concepts for must-know science. Pick and choose topic-driven chapter stops and video clips that enliven your lessons with current research, easy to understand visuals, and student art and music. Find frameworks-connected resources that let you engage your students' hearts and minds. These teacher created and independently produced DVDs are the result of a ground breaking teacher-scientist-teen-filmmaker collaboration involving scientists from Harvard, MIT, Tufts, the New England Aquarium and over two hundred teens. Classroom encounters is recommended by NSTA, Booklist, and SLJ as innovative and outstanding teaching resources.
Visit www.classroomencounters.org or email
rita@classroomencounters.org to learn more about this project, get
involved, find teacher resources, or to order titles"
Teaching Guides and Lesson Plans To Fuse Science, Art, and Multimedia! Classroom Encounters announces a new creative initiative.
Classroom Encounters will bring together teachers and curriculum experts to develop cross-curricula teaching guides and lesson plans on teaching global change and environmental science to accompany its innovative multimedia. The lessons will be aligned with state and national teaching frameworks and will help teachers learn how to use Classroom Encounters’ multimedia to team-teach with experts, and to involve and motivate young people. Our goal is to help teachers connect their classrooms to current research, to introduce students to new and inspiring role models of scientists and young people, to model inquiry, how scientists tackle real world challenges, new ways to present, learn, teach, and communicate science.
PLEASE CONSIDER DONATING TO THIS NEW INITIATIVE. IF YOU ARE A TEACHER OR EDUCATOR, PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING OUR EFFORTS.
Classroom Encounters presents at the Massachusetts Environmental Education Society’s Annual Conference at College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA. Conference title: Energizing Environmental Education: Going Green!
Rita Chang, and Lynnfield High School Science Chair, Scott Gordon, team up for the first time at a teacher workshop: Get Connected: Team Teach with Top Scientists. Stay tuned for more details about this exciting new collaboration.
Wellesley Cable T.V. airs interview with Rita Chang on the Classroom Encounters series.
Wellesley Townsman writes a feature story on Classroom Encounters.
Click here to read Rita Chang's article for Flotsom & Jetsom, a newsletter for Massachusetts Marine Educators, that also features a lead article by climate scientist Dr. Kenneth E. Trenberth, from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and articles by two scientists from Woods Hole and NOAA/North East Fisheries.
PRESENTATIONS
MAST (Massachusetts Association of Science Teachers) Annual Conference: Making Science Matter. Classroom Encounters was invited to present a two-hour workshop on November 3, 2006. If you were an attendee, please click here to submit the evaluation for MAST.
Museum of Science Teacher Workshop on Climate Change: Classroom Encounters has been invited to present October 15, 2006
See the films and results for the Classroom Encounters Student Film Competition
Presenting at the First Annual Center for Ocean Science EducationWork Shop at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
Classroom Encounters presents at Green STEM Institute at the Christa McAuliffe Center on Excellence in Science Education, at Framingham State.
MAST
Green STEM Institute (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math)
OCT 26-27, 2007Presenter’s Forum
The Massachusetts Association of Science Teachers (MAST) held a Green Energy STEM Institute Conference at Framingham State College, Framingham, MA. Rita Chang and Alan Fine were invited to host a workshop for teachers on how to teach global change science with experts, using Classroom Encounters DVDs and teaching resources.
COLLABORATIONS
Excerpts from recent Classroom Encounters considered for the Museum of Science Exhibit Floor
HONORS
Classroom Encounters dominated the front page of film fan site Counting Down for a day (5/23/06).
Outstanding Social Entrepreneur Award Finalist
Ms. Chang joins Advisory Board to proposed Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Film Series
School Library Journal Reviews Snowball Earth (updated as "Thin Ice - Earth in the Time of Climate Change"),
February 2007 and Freeze, Freeze, Fry, October, 2007.Snowball Earth SLJ Review: "...Paul Hoffman, professor and field geologist at Harvard University, visits a high school science class to share his knowledge of climate history and global climate change that might lead to Snowball Earth, a new ice age. Maps, illustrations, photographs, props, and rock specimens are interjected at key points to enhance the lecture. Among the topics covered are radiation, the Ice Ages, sea currents, rising water levels, plate tectonics, how volcanoes control temperature, and the lasting effects of Snowball Earth and the ability of humans to survive it. The students, who are well versed in the subject, ask questions. The first DVD offers all of this as one lengthy lecture. Students interview Dr. Hoffman about what inspired him to become a scientist. The on-screen teacher also interviews him seeking advice on how to keep students motivated. The second DVD has chapter stops which make it more classroom and student friendly."
Freeze Freeze Fry SLJ Review: Dr. Daniel P. Schrag, geochemical oceanographer, paleoclimatologist, and Director of the Center for the Environment at Harvard University, presents the third program in the series. It is comprised of three segments which include the classroom encounter, the student interview, and the teacher interview… Thirty-nine topics covering planetary changes ranging from the greenhouse effect to coral reefs are presented. Earth's thermostat, ice ages, hurricanes, ocean cores, global winds, ocean conveyor belt, climate records, and alternative energy are among the topics discussed. Dr. Schrag includes the latest scientific discoveries and concerns related to global change in one to eight minute chapters which also can be accessed individually. The presentations are supplemented with photographs, graphs, charts, maps, satellite images, and original illustrations. The last two parts of the program feature two question-and-answer sessions with students, the classroom teacher, and the scientist. Students interview Dr. Schrag concerning his position on current science issues, and the teacher's interview is centered on ways to motivate curiosity in students and integrate the sciences… -Linda Teel, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC
Wellesley Cable T.V. Interviewed Rita Chang for Cable News Show!
Also interviewed were a couple of Ms. Chang's students on what impact the series has had on them, and how they have been involved with Global Change before and after exposure to the series. The interviews were shown with the broadcasting of the first two DVDs in the series.
The prestigious American Library Association published its positive review of Freeze, Freeze, Fry in its widely circulated magazine, Booklist, in the Focus on Science and Technology December 2007 issue.
Booklist December 1, 2007, Page 62
Freeze, Freeze, Fry: Climate Past, Present, and Future
2007, 1.5 hr. Midwest Tape, DVD, $50 Gr. 9-12In the first segment of a three-part program filmed at Wellesley High School in Massachusetts, Daniel P. Schrag, a professor at Harvard University, presents a lesson on global warming to a group of very bright high-school students. Schrag, a paleoclimatologist and geochemist, focuses on the history of climate change from the formation of the 3earth to present times. The graphs, field photos, satellite images, art-work, and terminology are sophisticated, yet his explanations are surprisingly accessible and easily grasped by the eager students. In a second section, students interview the professor about his career as a scientist and his memories of high-school science classes, and in the final segment, Schrag answers a teacher's request for tips on integrating science into lessons, stimulating students, and encouraging science as a career choice. Frequent chapter breaks allow teachers to zero in on pertinent segments and give flexibility to this program, which is a useful classroom resource. -- Candace Smith
An Inconvenient Truth's Laurie David
meets Rita and students!
Laurie David, a producer of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth with Rita
Chang and two of her students.There was a private "meet and greet" gathering for Ms. Laurie David, a producer of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth at MassBay Community College. Ms. Chang, two of her students, and Ms. Mirkin, Principal of Wellesley High were invited to join College President, Provost, Deans, and several members of the faculty at a screening of the film. Ms. David was inspiring and encouraging to all gathered, with offers to help spread the word. She visited MassBay because it chose An Inconvenient Truth as it's "one book" for the faculty, and will be focused on integrating climate change across the curriculum this coming year. Ms. Chang was invited after a Globe article (see below) described Ms. Chang's pioneering climate change teaching work at Wellesley High and her collaboration with filmmaker Alan Fine on the Classroom Encounters DVD series. The private meeting set off sparks among everyone in the room so hopefully more good things will come from this "encounter." (The Classroom Encounters DVDs were also a hit!) Talk is ongoing about how Classroom Encounters, Wellesley High, and MassBay might creatively work together to further climate change education.
Massachusetts Association of Science Teachers Annual Conference: Making Science Matter
Classroom Encounters was invited to present a two-hour workshop on November 3, 2006 entitled "Unprecedented Changes, Unprecedented Challenges: Partnering with Scientists to Teach Climate Change. Classroom Encounters with Global Change Scientists."If you were an attendee, please click here to submit the evaluation for MAST.
Museum of Science Teacher Workshop on Climate Change: Rita Chang and Alan Fine have been invited
to host a workshop at the Museum of Science's Annual Weather Conference which this year will include global climate change. The title of their workshop is "Extreme Teaching Events: Tapping Passion and Modeling Excellence, Bringing World Class Scientists to Your Classroom." The workshop is on October 15, 2006.Tax-Deductible Donations Now Possible!
Classroom Encounters LLC is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. This means contributions in behalf of Classroom Encounters may be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Fractured Atlas' Mission Statement (taken from its website, June 13, 2006) www.fracturedatlas.org
"Fractured Atlas provides services, resources, and support to liberate a nation of artists. From healthcare to publicity to development grants, we supply critical tools for independent artists and arts organizations so they can focus on their creative responsibilities. By nurturing today's vital but underrepresented voices, we hope to play a role in fostering a dynamic and diverse cultural landscape of tomorrow."
Click here to be taken to our listing on Fractured Atlas' donor page.
Click here to be taken to a secure webpage to make a donation.
Dr. Robert Watson, one of the foremost scientists in the world on climate change, is the former Chair of the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the authoritative body on climate change that has brought together thousands of climate scientists from around the world to monitor planetary change on an ongoing basis. He is currently the Chief Scientist and Director of the World Bank's Sustainable Development Network. As Chair of the Millennium Assessment, he oversaw the work of fourteen hundred scientists from ninety-five countries investigating the health of the earth's ecosystems. Four years in the making, the The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment's goal was to conduct a global inventory of the state of our ecosystems, quantify the effect that human activities have on them and make suggestions for the future.
The Christa McAuliffe Center for Education and Teacher Excellence at Framingham State Teams Up with Classroom Encounters
The Christa McAuliffe Center for Education and Teaching Excellence has teamed up with Classroom Encounters to help disseminate videos of students interacting with world-class scientists and to find ways to introduce teachers to what they view as unique learning resources on climate and planetary change. "Whether you realize it or not, you've created a new and exciting way of learning about cutting edge science and we need to help get the word out about the Classroom Encounters DVDs," says Mary Liscombe, Associate Director of the Christa McAuliffe Center for Education and Teaching Excellence at Framingham State College.
"The mission of the Christa McAuliffe Center is to support teachers in their work. Classroom Encounters DVDs make first class science resources available in the classroom and inspire and model creative ways of learning. This is an incredible resource for Earth Science teachers to use in their classrooms."
Conversations are ongoing. In the meantime, a presentation for teachers this spring, and a 1-2 day workshop over the summer -- both at the McAuliffe Center -- are planned.
Excerpts from recent Classroom Encounters considered for the Museum of Science Exhibit Floor
The Museum of Science’s Science and Technology Forum continues to be an enthusiastic supporter of Classroom Encounters and has proposed the showing film clips from the Classroom Encounters series interspersed with Nova segments on a plasma screen on the floor of the exhibit hall.
Fund Raising Pilot Launched to Provide Free Copies of Classroom Encounters material to Massachusetts’ Schools through the Mass Technology Collaborative
EnergyTeachers.org Inc. is a Newton, MA based non-profit organization that provides free resources to teachers interested in teaching about renewable energy and energy use, including climate change topics (www.energyteachers.org). EnergyTeachers.org Inc. is also the legal fiscal sponsor for Classroom Encounters’ Free Distribution Program with the Mass Technology Collaborative (www.masstech.org). Donations to EnergyTeachers.org Inc. cover the costs of providing free copies of recent Classroom Encounters with Global Change Scientists materials to up to three hundred schools in Massachusetts. Please contact freedistribution@classroomencounters.org or shawn@energyteachers.org for more information on how you can join civic minded citizens and businesses that wish to support teachers and schools by providing exemplary science resources on global change.Please contact rita@classroomencounters.org
Classroom Encounters was a finalist for a prestigious award that recognizes outstanding social entrepreneurs and innovators in the Boston area.
The first Classroom Encounters Volunteer Summit took place January 14th and 15th at the luxurious conference room at the Wellesley Public Library. We want to thank all those teachers, parents, students and scientists who participated. To see pictures, click here.
Ms. Chang joins Advisory Board to proposed Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Film Series!
Ms. Chang has been invited to join the Advisory Board of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics' film series. The Annenberg Foundation awarded the Harvard Center’s Media Group funds to produce a 13-part on-line environmental science course for teachers. The Science Media Group's course will be on the human impact on the environment and will feature top scientists from across the country.
Work Shop at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
Rita Chang and Alan Fine presented new excepts from Classroom Encounters, as part of their Massachusetts Marine Educator’s workshop “Rocking Their World: Connecting Global Change Scientists to Classrooms” on April 29, 2006.
Presenting at the Massachusetts Environmental Education Society's 2006 Conference entitled Environmental Education Crossings: Connecting Arts, Language, History, Math and Science
Wednesday, March 8, 2006, Rita Chang and Alan Fine will be showing new excerpts
from Classroom Encounters with Global Change Scientists series as a new
resource for teachers at the Massachusetts Environmental Education Society's
2006 Conference.
Presenting at the First Annual Center for Ocean Science Education
Saturday, MARCH 4, 2006 at UMass Boston's Boston Harbor Campus, at 11:30 am, Rita Chang and Bill Moomaw from Tufts University, the first scientist featured in the Classroom Encounters with Global Change Scientists film series, will be co-presenting at the first annual Center for Ocean Science Education Excellent-New England community conference, "Partnerships in Ocean Science Education-New England" (POSE-New England.) Their presentation topic is Ocean and Climate, and will include the latest science and a hands-on activity illustrating the forces that drive the global thermohaline circulation. For more conference details, please visit www.cosee-ne.net.
Classroom Encounters dominates film fan site!
It's good to have friends who run a website. Because of them, Classroom Encounters dominated for a day (5/23/06) the front page of film fan site Counting Down. You can click here to see the moment captured for posterity with links to three current pages about us still on their site. Nice to be in the company of "Over the Hedge," "Pirates of the Caribbean 2" and "Mission Impossible III," however brief.
