Using food as a tool to teach hands-on, minds-on science to 7th and 8th graders is the focus of the FoodMASTER Middle Science Rx for Science Literacy teacher training workshop Feb. 26 at the Laupus Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC. The workshop runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Rx for Science Literacy has partnered with FoodMASTER, an NIH SEPA-funded resource, to provide a 10-unit curriculum resource for middle school teachers. The classroom-tested curriculum supplement features 24 hands-on laboratory experiences and 12 health-focused extension activities. Each chapter provides users with hands-on, application-based activities, detailed procedures, science concepts to be emphasized, materials needed, critical thinking exercises and background knowledge with instructions for educators.

NCABR first offered this program in November. (See related story in Recent Activities.)

For more information, click here.

An Rx for Science Literacy workshop in March will introduce teachers in grades 9-12 to a curriculum that allows students to explore evolutionary principles and learn how evolution informs human health, biomedical problems and disease treatment.

The Evolution & Medicine workshop is March 1, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Duke University’s Hock Plaza Auditorium. Click here for more information.

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.