Recent Activities
In addition to the Bridging the Gap conference, NCABR has been involved in a number of activities in recent months involving companies, academic institutions, teachers, nonprofits and others to provide opportunities to improve science literacy and STEM education in North Carolina.
Healthy Children-Healthy World
Nineteen teachers participated in The Healthy Children-Healthy World Rx for Science Literacy workshop at North Carolina Central University in Durham on July 27th. NCABR partnered with the Center for Translational Health Equality Research (CTHER) and the School of Education at NCCU to present a one-day workshop featuring an NIH-funded curriculum that introduces school-age children to concepts and activities that promote healthy lifestyle choices.
The Healthy Children-Healthy World curriculum is designed to engage teachers and students in lessons that integrate Common Core standards for math and English language arts and the North Carolina Essential Standards in science and healthful living for grades K-5.
NCABR thanks Kisha Daniels and the staff at the NCCU School of Education for their roles in this program.
The Brain: Understanding Neurobiology Through the Study of Addiction
This Rx for Science Literacy workshop reviewed a curriculum that addresses the fundamentals of neurobiology, how drugs of abuse change the brain and how drug addiction is a treatable, chronic brain disease.
Twenty-one teachers participated in this workshop at Duke University Sept. 15.
Thanks to Ron Banks, Ed Levin, Amir Rezvani and Bill Wade (Duke University) for their roles in this program.
FoodMASTER Middle Science
The first Rx for Science Literacy workshop this school year on FoodMASTER Middle Science was held Nov. 6 at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh. This is a partnership with FoodMASTER, an NIH SEPA-funded resource for middle-grade science classrooms, to use food for teaching and hands-on activities. Each lesson is aligned with the North Carolina Essential Standards in science and the Next Generation Science Standards. (See Upcoming Programs: FoodMASTER to find out more about the next event.)
Twenty-five middle school teachers were part of this workshop. NCABR thanks Virginia Carraway-Stage, Melani Duffrin, Ashley Roseno, Allender Lynch and Julie Johnson from East Carolina University, as well as Debra Bailey and Christy Flint at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences, for their roles in this program.
Reaching K-12 teachers, teens at November statewide conferences
Many thanks to Cheresa Clemons (NCCU) and Jeff Everitt (GSK) for volunteering with NCABR in November at conferences across the state. Dr. Clemons led a session for elementary teachers at the NC Science Teachers Association annual conference in Winston-Salem about the NIH-funded, NCCU-developed Healthy Children-Healthy World curriculum. This curriculum introduces school-age children to concepts and activities that promote healthy lifestyle choices. Dr. Everitt led multiple sessions on the topic of animal rights and animal welfare at the NC School of Science and Math’s annual Ethics and Leadership conference for teenagers. Students from across the state attended the conference, which was held in Durham.