Science Centralâs Educator Professional Development program allows us to develop and conduct a series of workshops, available to any Indiana K-6 teachers, via Interactive Video Conferencing (IVC). Each workshop relates to NASA activities, focusing on physical, earth/space, and life sciences, and the scientific process. Within the series, there will be 15 one-hour sessions covering different topics. These workshops provide teachers with ideas on how best to convey challenging curriculum. This professional development opportunity gives teachers deeper content knowledge and confidence in teaching STEM concepts.
To date, Science Central has conducted three IVC workshops for eight teachers. Each workshop equips teachers with science activities that will reinforce difficult math concepts while incorporating scientific standards. The goal for this project is to give educators the tools and confidence they need to incorporate STEM concepts into their lesson plans. Specific workshops taught were âPhysics Flingersâ. Using this activity students will develop problem solving skills using a balloon launcher. Additionally our Education Director presented a âUse the Forceâ workshops. This activity uses straw rockets to reinforce measurement skills.