Through a unique partnership, graduate students and postdoctoral Fellows now have an unprecedented opportunity to bring New York's wealth of scientific resources to bear on the needs of middle school youth. The New York Academy of Sciences has partnered with a wide range of stakeholders in New York City, Newark, and Upstate New York to expand its reach into middle schools.
We invite graduate and postdoctoral students in the STEM fields to apply for the New York Academy of Sciences Mentoring Fellowship Program, where they will be trained to teach innovative curricula modules through nationally recognized programs, such as NASA, New York Hall of Science, and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and serve as mentors to students in afterschool programs.
The benefits of the program include:
- Gaining teaching experience in a supportive and structured environment with training conducted by nationally recognized curriculum partners
- Introducing science and engineering to middle school students through inquiry-based, hands-on afterschool programs
- Being a role model to program staff and helping increase their STEM content knowledge
- Meeting NSF Broader Impacts criteria and other community outreach requirements for funding by sharing their research with students
- Fellows who complete twenty-four hours of teaching and training will receive the New York Academy of Sciences Fellow Teaching Credential.
Recruitment for Fall 2013 is now open. Recruitment for Fall 2013 will remain open through June. For more information, please contact asp@nyas.org.
Fellows will have the opportunity to choose one of six curriculum modules, each elapsing twelve hours of instruction. Curriculum with an asterisk (*) will be implemented at SUNY sites for the first semester.
Afterschool Universe
Throughout human history, children and adults have been captivated by our night sky. Recent successes in manned and robotic space flight have brought a new level of information and understanding to the next generation of space enthusiasts. Afterschool Universe is designed to get students thinking about the size and age of the Universe, and their place in it! Physics is the language that we use to describe the Universe both near and far, and there is no better way to apply these lessons than by exploring the Space we call home!
New York Academy of Sciences Education Fellows will teach a sequence of activities that explore how we know what we know about the Universe, how to ask good research questions, and how to find and present answers to those questions. New York Academy of Sciences Fellows will learn how to present evidence for our understanding of other planets, help kids ask and answer good questions, and share their ideas for future study of our vast cosmos.
Afterschool Universe is a more traditional course of lessons designed by NASA educators to be taught over the course of a semester. We are looking for New York Academy of Sciences Education Fellows with a background in earth or space science or engineering, as well as Fellows who would like to incorporate more scientific evidence into their courses.
Earth Science: Bones & Boulders—The Earth and its Prehistoric Past
From dinosaurs to dodos and gorges to glaciers, the history of the Earth and its life is an amazing story. It is a story 4.5 billion years in the making, and it is still being written. In an ever-changing world, it is increasingly important to understand not only the Earth as we know it today, but also the history of the Earth and the processes that shape it.
The goal of Bones & Boulders is to expand students' views and understanding of both their planet and the scientific process, providing a foundation for increased Earth literacy and allowing them to more uniquely appreciate their surroundings. New York Academy of Sciences Education Fellows will learn how to use scientific evidence to teach basic fundamental principals of earth history, as well as important techniques for building knowledge through hands-on activities.
Bones & Boulders is a more traditional course of nine lessons designed to be taught over the course of a semester. We are looking for New York Academy of Sciences Education Fellows with a background in earth science or who would like to incorporate more scientific evidence into their courses.
Robotics
FIRST Lego League is a robotics program for 9- to 14-year-old students through which teams design and program robots to complete real world challenges. Incorporating teamwork, practices, and team spirit, robotics is more similar to a sports team than your average afterschool science club. There are 40 existing teams around NYC with established programs and instructors. Teams meet during the school year from September through February to plan their robot and research project. This year's real world challenge explores food safety, so this opportunity is great for a Fellow with a life science, engineering, or computer programming background. Fellows will receive training in how to design, build, and program the robots, while they are expected to bring their knowledge of science or engineering.
We are looking for New York Academy of Sciences Education Fellows who can help mentor the team from October through February.
Genetics*
New York Academy of Sciences Education Fellows will learn six different labs designed by Cold Spring Harbor DNA Lab, carefully chosen to teach fundamental genetics topics through inquiry activities. The labs are designed to cover basic concepts in genetics including the structure and function of DNA; genes, traits, and heredity; and microbes and antiseptics in the environment. The labs will be taught in a six-week module but the New York Academy of Sciences Education Fellows can choose to design the learning sequence. CSHL maintains an extensive website dedicated to teaching genetics, has a well-established professional development program within the City, and can provide additional material and equipment to interested New York Academy of Sciences Education Fellows.
New York Academy of Sciences Education Fellows will learn how to use specifically designed lab activities to provide kids with a basic understanding of genetics, address the common misconceptions about genetics, and connect abstract scientific concepts to the everyday knowledge of students. We are looking for New York Academy of Sciences Education Fellows with a background in life science or an interest in genetics.
Human Body Systems*
A series of ten lab meetings developed by educators at The New York Hall of Science, Human Body Systems takes students on an investigation of five body systems which help their growing bodies learn and play. During the ten sessions, New York Academy of Sciences Education Fellows will explore the Skeleton, Muscles, Digestion, Respiration, CNS, and Immunology. Middle school participants experience everything from sophisticated dissections of worms, brains, and chicken legs to the creation of cool model blood, mucus and chime.
New York Academy of Sciences Education Fellows will guide middle school participants to discover the fascinating systems and structures that make up their own bodies, and to learn how everyday choices affect their health. We are looking for New York Academy of Sciences Education Fellows with a background in life science or an interest in anatomy and health.
Mathematics*
Designed by Dr. Mark Saul, director of the Center for Mathematical Talent at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University, the 12 hours of instruction are designed to show the surprising ways we use math every day. Students play games and engage in hands-on activities, guided by their young scientist mentors, and while beginning to notice the patterns that emerge, will develop a mathematical vocabulary for what they are seeing. Through both group activity work and direct instruction, students will begin to see that mathematics is about quantity, but also about finding the patterns in our world around us everyday and making logical connections among observations. Outside of the classroom, students will be immersed in the cultural and scientific halls of the American Museum of Natural History, doing work “in the field” to uncover the concepts of topology, symmetry, the golden ratio, radioactive decay, and the geometry that describes astronomical observations. Through informal inquiry and immersion, students are encouraged to engage in looking at the world around them, while the math finds them.
Exploring Birds: Our Planet Becomes our Neighborhood
In Exploring Birds, a nine-week course in the life sciences, students learn about ecosystems, habitats, and communities by participating in Cornell University's BirdSleuth project. Students engage in authentic inquiry through citizen science and their own scientific investigations. They carefully observe birds, ask and answer their own questions based on observations and data, and publish their original research.
New York Academy of Sciences Education Fellows will learn how to teach broad topics by selecting key ideas and combining them with activities that intrigue students. New York Academy of Sciences Education Fellows will also learn how to teach students to collect, manage, and analyze data to make scientifically-based conclusions.
Exploring Birds is a more traditional course of nine lessons designed to be taught over the course of a semester. We are looking for New York Academy of Sciences Education Fellows with a biodiversity or zoology background, or Fellows interested in community science.