Ray Barnhardt, Sean Topkok, Andi Anderson, Marilyn Sigman, and Asia Beder judged more than 40 projects at the Alaska State Science and Engineering Fair in Anchorage in March for COSEE Alaska awards. These projects qualified for COSEE's ocean science "fair within a fair" because of their focus on the ocean, watersheds, or climate change and cultural or community relevance in addition to scientific merit. Several students from schools in the Inupiaq cultural region in Northwest Alaska received awards following COSEE Alaska support for teachers to organize district fairs in the school districts. High school winners from Kotzebue, Barrow, and Petersburg will receive travel support to present their projects at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium in Anchorage in January, 2011.
MORE >>The Kachemak Bay National Research Reserve and Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge collaborated on new permanent exhibits to illustrate Kachemak Bay's extreme tidal range and show how the tides influence a key ecosystem where the rivers and streams meet the bay. The tidal exhibit includes films that show tides in action, including a time lapse film of various locations in the Bay.
MORE >>More Alaska students scored proficient on science assessments when tested in April, 2010. More also tested proficient in math and reading but fewer tested proficient in writing.
MORE >>COSEE Alaska’s judges at the March, 2010, Alaska State Science and Engineering Fair were faced with a difficult task – to select award winners from among more than 50 projects. The judges included both elders and scientists who selected projects to judge for COSEE awards because they addressed a scientific problem and were also relevant to local culture or the coastal community.
MORE >>COSEE Alaska is promoting ocean and climate change literacy through a planning effort to develop an Alaskan Environmental Literacy Plan (AKELP). The plan is being designed to connect youth with the natural world and the communities within which they live. The plan will promote learning and physical activity in outdoor settings.
MORE >>On February 16-17, the Project 2061 program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) sponsored a climate literacy conference for informal educators before their annual meeting in San Diego. A series of presenters provided background on the status of climate science, public opinion, and climate literacy, then provided advice about how informal science institutions such as museums, aquaria, zoos, and nature centers could best promote an increase in climate literacy and actions.
MORE >>The Washington Post and ABC News conducted a telephone poll of about 1,000 Americans on December 13 during the Copenhagen Climate Conference which included questions to gauge whether Americans think that scientists agree that global warming is happening, how much they trust scientists, and their own attitudes about efforts to reduce green house gas emissions.
MORE >>The Ocean Project released the results of 2009 surveys of American awareness, attitudes, and behaviors concerning the ocean, climate change, and related environmental issues and compared them to similar surveys they conducted in 1999.
MORE >>White House comes up with plans to promote science and math education which also includes an annual science fair at the White House
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