[NAEP] MPES Newsletter

[Dawn Wiseman]

February 4, 2008
	Volume 1, Issue 2

It's February already! At MPES we are busy working on new 
publications, What Mathematicians Do (grades 4-6) and What 
Environmental Scientists Do (middle school), as well as gearing up 
for DreamCatching 2009. Information about the conference location, 
date, speakers etc. will be ready in the next few months and 
announced on our web sites (http://www.nativeaccess.com and 
http://dream-catching.com).

We're also working on an MPES web site where, among other things, we 
will eventually archive these newsletters.


Leap Year
2008 is a leap year, so February has 29 days instead of the usual 28. 
It's a good time to talk about time, time keeping and calendars. Here 
are a few resources that might help

Mayan calendar
http://mayacalendar.com/

Aztec calendar
http://www.azteccalendar.com/

Clockworks: From Sun Dials to the Atomic Second (requires Shockwave and Flash)
http://www.britannica.com/clockworks/main.html

NY Times Article: Respect Grows For Skills Of Northern Indians
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0CEED81039F936A35750C0A963948260&sec=health&spon=&pagewanted=all

How Time Works
http://people.howstuffworks.com/time.htm

If you have a time or leap year resource you'd like to share, send it 
to us before February 13 and we'll include in our next issue.


The Annals of Improbable research (AIR)
AIR is a magazine dedicated to research that makes people "Laugh then 
think." It is now available for free online in a low-res format (both 
html and PDF). A good place to look for discussions to start your 
science classes.

http://www.improbable.com/magazine


Village Math
Looking for ways to connect math lessons to your kids lives? Check 
out Village Math by  Alan Dick.

This website contains 26 worksheets with mathematics problems related 
to the everyday activities of native people in Alaska, such as 
stretching and sewing beaver skins, picking and transporting berries, 
net fishing, and acquiring cordwood. The worksheets focus on standard 
and nonstandard measurement, money, percentages, and calculation of 
electricity. Further mathematical ideas covered include 
multiplication, conversion, division, proportions, circumference, 
volume, weight, and speed. Other terms: counting, puzzles, metric 
system, distance, estimation, ratio, formula, deductive thinking.

http://www.ankn.uaf.edu/publications/VillageMath/

Lab out Loud
A biweekly podcast from NSTA on science teaching, science news, and 
anything else with "science" in it. Science teachers Brian Bartel and 
Dale Basler discuss science news and science education with leading 
scientists, researchers, science writers, and other important figures 
in the field. A selection of links and notes accompanies each 
episode, enabling the listener to dig deeper into the topics 
discussed.

http://www.nsta.org/publications/laboutloud.aspx

Also available for download through iTunes.


Upcoming events
NSTA will also be hosting its annual conference in Boston soon. Early 
bird registrations are available until February 8, 2008.

National Science Teacher Association
2008 National Conference in Boston
March 27-30, 2008
http://www.nsta.org/conferences/2008bos/


Next issue
The next issue of the MPES newsletter is due out in two weeks. If you 
have any information you'd like to share with colleagues please email 
it to dawn at nativeaccess.com.