May 2015 Elementary News and Notes

We are thrilled to continue addressing the needs of our members that teach in the elementary grades, while at the same time sharing these resources appropriate for scaling up to more advanced students. We are always looking for recommendations of resources! If you have a map or activity you use with your students, please share your suggestion with us so that we can share it across the PAESTA membership!

For our PAESTA members that only receive our quarterly Elementary issues of News and Notes, be sure to check out the March, April and May audio welcome messages from our PAESTA President Laura Guertin! Laura will be recording a new message with organization news and updates each month that can be accessed from the PAESTA President's Podcast tag on our website.  The latest podcast shares exciting information about....

Announcement from Kelly Hunter, Past President of PAESTA:

It is PAESTA election time! PAESTA members annually elect our President-Elect (who would then move into the organization's presidency for 2016-2017) and our Secretary-Treasurer.

All PAESTA members in good standing are eligible to run for these positions. You may self-nominate. Whenever possible, we seek at least two candidates for each position. You may email your nomination to Kelly Hunter (kelcole3@gmail.com). Nominations are due by May 31. Each nominee will be asked to provide a short statement as to how he/she would like to contribute to PAESTA in the chosen position.

Elections are conducted electronically. Once the nominations have been received, the nominating committee will make available electronic ballots. All members in good standing are eligible to vote. For more information about our election process, please look at the section of the PAESTA Constitution entitled "Bylaw III - Elections" which may be accessed here: http://www.paesta.psu.edu/paesta-constitution-bylaws. Members of the PAESTA Nominations Committee include Kelly Hunter, Chris Palma, and Eric Aitala

*Science content appropriate for you and your students!

The Stories Plants Tell: The Science of Phenology is a fun, 3-minute video introducing what plant phenology is, how it's tied to seasonal change, and how you can make a difference by contributing simple observations to a national citizen science phenology program, Project BudBurst (http://budburst.org/). Learn more about Project BudBurst's educational materials for grades K-4.

View this 3 minute video about the topic of plant phenology and the changing climate around us

In celebration of Earth Science Week 2015, the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is sponsoring three national contests honoring this year's theme, "Visualizing Earth Systems." This year's competitions will feature a photography contest, a visual arts contest, and an essay contest.

Students, geoscientists, and the general public are invited to participate in this year's photography contest, "Earth Systems Interacting." Entries must be composed of original, unpublished material, and show at least one Earth system affecting another Earth system in your community.

This year's visual arts contest, "Picturing Earth Systems," is open to students in grades K-5. How might you create a picture that illustrates Earth systems affecting each other? Use artwork to show how land, water, air, and living things interact in the world around you.

Finally, students in grades 6 through 9 may participate in the essay contest. This year's essays must address the idea of "Earth Science Visualization Today." Explain one way that geoscientists' use of cutting-edge visualization is advancing Earth science today.

Submissions will be judged by a panel of geoscientists on creativity, relevance, and incorporation of the topic at hand. Selected winners will be awarded for their submissions.

For details, please visit http://www.earthsciweek.org/contests/index.html.