Seminars on Science: Online Science Courses for Educators
Steve Gano, American Museum of Natural History, USA
http://www.amnh.org

Demonstration: Your Colleagues - 1

The National Center for Science Literacy, Education, and Technology develops programs and materials using the resources of the Museum - our scientists, our collections, and our exhibitions - to address the need for increased science literacy across the nation. Below is a list of the Web-based projects that connect teachers, students, and families to real science.

Seminars on Science: Online Science Courses for Educators

www.amnh.org/seminarsonscience/

The Museum presents an online professional development program for educators. In its fourth year, Seminars on Science is an ongoing project that offers educators nationwide the opportunity to connect with Museum scientists and experience science research first-hand. Each six-week course is authored and offered jointly by Museum scientists and educators. The courses are designed around a current Museum science research project or in parallel with a major Museum exhibition. The courses are rich in content while also accessible to learners from a range of scientific backgrounds. Seminars available in the course catalog include:

- Diversity of Fishes

- Earth: Inside and Out

- Genetics, Genomics, Genethics

- How To Think About Life in the Universe

- Sharks and Rays: Myth and Reality

- The Study of Spiders

- Dinosaurs Among Us: The Link to Birds

- Frontiers in Physical Science

OLogy

www.ology.amnh.org

OLogy is the Museum's Web site for kids at home, at school, and whenever and wherever kids are curious. OLogy targets 7-11 year olds by sparking their innate curiosity about the natural world. At OLogy, kids can play games, meet real "ologists", ask questions, and read feature stories as they dig into topics that interest them - from paleontology to astronomy to genetics. As kids explore, they can pick up OLogy science cards and add them to their own personal collection, make compositions, and publish them on the OLogy Web site. The site takes advantage of the amazing resources that the Museum has to offer by featuring its collections, expeditions, exhibitions, and scientific staff.

Resources for Learning

www.amnh.org/resources/

Resources for Learning provides a way for anyone who facilitates science learning - such as teachers, parents, and afterschool coordinators - to connect to the Museum through learning resources developed from scientific research projects, exhibitions, collections, and educational programs.

The site takes learners to places they could never go, such as into the scientific labs, behind the scenes >>> of making an exhibition, or on a research expedition. Visitors can browse and search the online catalog to find resources such as profiles, lesson plans, interactives, videos, and essays.