[box] MITS recently returned from presenting a workshop with the Lloyd Center for the Environment at this year’s NSTA Conference in Chicago. Read on for their write-up of the event![/box]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

March 24, 2015

Contact: JoAnn Bernier Cornell, jcornell@lloydcenter.org, 508-990-0505 x20

Lloyd Center’s Stronach and Moniz Present at the National Science Teachers Association Conference on Science Education

Chicago, IL – The Lloyd Center for the Environment’s Executive Director Rachel Stronach and Director of Education Elizabeth Moniz were honored to present at this year’s National Science Teacher’s Association (NSTA) Conference on Science Education that was held at McCormick West Place in Chicago, IL. The NSTA, founded in 1944 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, is an association of science teachers in the United States and is the largest organization of science teachers worldwide. The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

In conjunction with the Museum Institute of Science (MITS), Holbrook Junior and Senior High School, Dartmouth High School, and the American Textile History Museum, the Lloyd Center presented a hands-on workshop geared for grades 3 – 12, titled: Bridging the Gap – Successful Formal/Informal Partnerships for Advancing STEM Education. Participants attended the workshop to engage in inquiry activities developed by teachers and educators from museums and science education centers during the Museum Institute for Teaching Science (MITS) graduate collaborative professional development institutes. The activities combined science content with science and engineering practices.

The session demonstrated how instructors during the MITS summer professional development institutes model the integration of science and engineering practices with science content. MITS promotes and enables inquiry-based interdisciplinary science through collaborations between formal and informal science and cultural institutions.  During the Summer Professional Development Institutes, MITS staff collaborate with educators from informal science and cultural centers to provide teachers with high-quality professional development that integrates science content, science and engineering practices, and pedagogy.  Instructors use a continuum of inquiry-based instructional methods from confirmation to structured to guided to open.  As a result, teachers experience hands-on, minds-on inquiry-based investigations that integrate across the disciplines with science as a context.  The Lloyd Center is the lead institution for the South Shore Region Professional Development Institute and will be facilitating the 2015 Institute “Wind, Water and Robotics: Physical Science, Life Science and Engineering Design Converge.”

“We were honored to present at the conference with the Museum Institute for Teaching Science (MITS) and represent the Lloyd Center’s Education programs on this national level.” ~ Rachel Stronach.

“I was thrilled to be part of a community of science teachers where the enthusiasm was evident.  There were so many innovative ideas for engaging students in science.” ~ Elizabeth Moniz

Workshop presenters: Sandra Ryack-Bell (MITS, Inc. (Museum Institute for Teaching Science: Quincy, MA), Rachel Stronach (Lloyd Center for the Environment: Dartmouth, MA), David Unger (American Textile History Museum: Lowell, MA), Jason Welch (Holbrook Junior and Senior High School: Holbrook, MA), Margaret Brumstead (Dartmouth High School: Dartmouth, MA)

The Lloyd Center for the Environment, a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization, founded in 1978 and situated with its headquarters and spectacular nature preserve overlooking the scenic Slocum River estuary, has achieved a well-earned reputation for excellence in environmental research and education. Through its innovative outreach programs, it has established itself as a highly regarded leader in the ongoing effort to raise awareness of the area’s fragile coastal resources and the importance of protecting them.

At its recently expanded 82-acre nature preserve, comprising pristine salt marsh, maritime forest and undisturbed wetlands, in one of the most unspoiled reaches of Dartmouth, the Visitor Center is open from 10am to 4pm, Tuesday through Saturday, and on Sundays, June – September, free of charge. There, aquarium exhibits offer unique views of live freshwater and saltwater species of fish and other marine critters.

The Center is also home to a fascinating collection of live local reptiles, amphibian & fish species. At the always popular touch-tank, youngsters learn the hands-on joy of socializing with gentle spider crabs, elusive minnows, sea stars (starfish), whelks, hermit crabs, periwinkles and mussels.

The top-floor Osprey Room Observatory, with its magnificent views of the Elizabeth Islands and Buzzards Bay, has been designated by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs as one of the Commonwealth’s top-fifteen “Special Places”. Through telescopes there, one can get a close-up view of formerly endangered Ospreys, and their chicks, nesting on platforms erected by members of the Center’s research staff.

Trails are open from dawn to dusk, seven days a week. The Lloyd Center for the Environment is located at 430 Potomska Road, Dartmouth, Massachusetts. For more information, visit www.lloydcenter.org or call 508-990-0505.