The Newsletter of the Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers
Excellent science learning for every student!
Winter 2024 Vol. 66, #2
67th Annual Conference: Welcome to Osh-Vegas!
Stacey Strandberg and Jamie Groark, Conference 2025 Co-Chairs
As we approach the New Year and setting resolutions, have you considered ways to increase your student engagement? The 2025 WSST Conference Oshvegas: Increasing your Student’s Odds of Engagement will do just that. The conference will be held from April 3 to the 5, 2025 at the Oshkosh Convention Center.
We are excited to share a variety of fantastic field trips in the Oshkosh area, including EAA field trips to their newly built 15,000-square-foot education building. There are also opportunities to visit a craft distillery, a winery, a craft brewery, a
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From the President
WSST President, Dennis Rohr
First and foremost, thank you to each and every one of you for keeping science in the forefront for each of your students! We must stick together and build each other up to keep us all striving to keep trying to make this a better world. At the most recent Winter Board meeting, we voted to accept a three-year contract with Sched to allow our schedule of presentations to be available using the Sched app. Over the years, the WSST Board has made a concerted effort to keep our registration costs to a minimum and not raise the rates. But with increasing food, beverage, rental, transportation costs at the conference center, and higher credit card fees for charging conference payments, we have made the decision to raise the registration rates across the
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The Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers
Our Mission:
WSST provides a welcoming collaborative network, useful resources, and professional learning to support all Wisconsin science educators in delivering high quality instruction.
Our Vision:
All Wisconsin students engage in meaningful and relevant three-dimensional science learning that prepares them to use valid evidence to make sense of the world and solve current and future problems.
WSST Newsletter Archive
Visit www.wsst.org/newsletter to download past issues of the WSST newsletter. Available from 2002, all newsletters are in Adobe PDF format.
Jonathan Baker, District 4 (CESA 3 & 4) bakejon@wc.k12.wi.us
Patrick Mootz, District 5 (CESA 2 & 5) district5@wsst.org
Teri Dillenberg, District 6 (CESA 6) teridillenberg@hasd.org
Stacey Strandberg, District 7 (CESA 1) strandbergs@dsha.k12.wi.us
WSST Committees
Awards/Recognition
Miranda Dahlke (co-chair)
Laura Ramthun (co-chair)
Tom Davies
Stephanie Bartels
Jennifer Bault
Sue Whitsett
Document Review
Terry Schwaller (chair)
Nancy Smith
Michelle Howe
Karen Messmer
Megan Sprague
Dave Bergerson Sue Whitsett
Darsha Olsen
Elementary Education
Chad Janowski
Shelly Petzold (co-chair) Leah Aubert (co-chair)
Melissa Wimmler Teri Dillenberg
Jena Jorsta Riley Terpstra
Equity and Access
Kevin Anderson (co-chair)
Kelly Steiner (co-chair)
Zach Pratt Kristin Michalski
Lalitha Murali Karen DeShong
Karyl Rosenberg Sara Krauskopf
Finance
Kevin Niemi (chair)
Matt Lindsey Terry Schwaller
Foundation
Brian Bartel (President)
Denise McCulley (1st Vice-President)
Carol Ochsner (2nd Vice-President)
Dale Basler (3rd Vice-President)
Tracy Swedlund (Treasurer) Ray Scolavino (Secretary)
Higher Education
Joel Donna (chair) Mike Beeth
Membership
Michelle Griffin-Wenzel (chair)
Ray Scolavino
Deanna McClung
New Teacher Network
Jayne Ryczkowski (chair)
Jacquelyn Curran
Megan Sprague
Darsha Olsen
Jamie Lauer
Rebecca McDermid
Tracy Swedlund
Matt Lindsey
Stephanie Ruder
Terry Schwaller
Jamie Cauley
Sara Renish
Nominations and Elections
Marcia Gardner (chair)
Mary Ellen Kanthack Zach Pratt
Dan Nelson Kathy Biernat
Professional Development
Chad Janowski (co-chair)
Jamie Groark (co-chair)
Kevin Anderson Shelley Petzold
Stacey Strandberg Andrea Christianson
Sonja Gasper Tom Davies Mallory Conlon
Publications
Brian Bartel (co-chair) - Newsletter Editor
Julie Fitzpatrick (co-chair) - Website
Sarah Adumat (Copy Editor)
Karyl Rosenberg (Historian)
Tracy Swedlund Dan Nelson
Strategic Planning
Kevin Anderson (chair)
Dennis Rohr Ray Scolavino
Kevin Niemi Kristin Michalski
WESTA
Shannon Previte (chair)
Dennis Rohr
Margaret Guderyon
Ben Sanderfoot Beth Allcox
Ken Budill Chad Wilkinson
WSELA
Kevin Niemi (co-chair) Kevin Anderson (co-chair)
WSST Conference Director Ray Scolavino
WSST Vendor Coordinator Rodney Dymesich
WSST Conference Chairs
Stacey Strandberg and Jamie Groark Oshkosh - April 3-5, 2025
Terry Schwaller and Kristin Kyde Appleton - 2026
Dennis Rohr and Chad Janowski Green Bay - 2027
Jamie Lauer and Megan Sprague Middleton - 2028
Conference continued from page 1
cheese factory, and a farm that will all seek to help increase student engagement back in the classroom.
Make sure to join us Thursday night for the Vendor Social and Member’s Social. The Member’s Social will include a casino game night with traditional casino games of blackjack, craps, roulette, and a fun game of Music Bingo, and a couple of tables offering cribbage. Please join us for this social event to meet new and old members.
Friday’s luncheon will feature Jesse Wilcox, Ph.D., sponsored by Saavas, to discuss practical ways to engage students with phenomena and how to authentically integrate phenomena into your classroom. Lunch can be purchased during online registration, and vegetarian and glutenfree options will be available.
Make sure to join us on Friday for the WSST banquet, where we will celebrate the accomplishments of our members with awards and grants. The cost of the banquet (partly subsidized by the WSST board) will include a buffet with vegetarian and gluten-free options. Banquet attendees will then be shuttled over to EAA for a Night at the Museum, so we can end the night with a little bit of history and camaraderie. The banquet cost includes access to the Night at the Museum event. Non-banquet conference attendees may purchase a ticket for $10, which includes transportation, museum admission, and light snacks. The cash bar will serve a variety of drinks including a signature Oshvegas drink.
Finally, what is more engaging than hosting a session? Presentation submissions are being accepted until December 20th, 2024. If you want to host a workshop, the submissions are due December 6th, 2024. Both forms can be found on the WSST website.
We are looking forward to seeing you at the conference!
Jamie (groark.jamie@gmail.com) and Stacey (biologystacey@gmail.com)
President continued from page 1 board an additional $15. The conference will now cost $110 for the advanced member rate for the entire three days of the conference. WSST has already been reducing your cost to participate at the award banquet on Friday nights of the conference (the WSST Board has been subsidizing increasing costs for banquet service and meals, so banquet attendees aren’t paying full price). This subsidizing has allowed more of our membership to attend the banquet where our grants and awards are presented.
I have a favor to ask of each of you who are in districts that are near to both Appleton and Green Bay. Marcia and Tim did a fantastic job this past spring getting their own local LaCrosse district to schedule the Friday of their conference as a professional development day. This PD day allowed entire teams of local teachers from every level to attend the conference and see first-hand how the WSST Conference offers more than just excellent sessions and learning opportunities. They also discovered that we offer many opportunities, both formal and informal, to form connections and develop friendships with other conference participants. So it is my hope to see a grassroots effort to push your local districts and find a way to make a personal appeal for getting your local district calendar teams to consider having a professional development day on the Friday of the upcoming conferences. This way your science teams from your local district would be able to attend the conference on that Friday, plus experience the Vendor Social and other Thursday evening events, and not have to get substitute teachers which are so difficult to find in many districts. These dates will be: Friday, March 13, 2026 for the Appleton Conference, and Friday, April 9, 2027 for the Green Bay Conference. In 2028, the WSST conference will be returning to the Madison area in Middleton and will be held in either March or April, but those dates have yet to be announced.
Having an inside track to getting your district offering this science professional development day really must start at the
grassroot level within your districts. And that means you! Need some talking points? If your district can schedule a professional development day on that Friday, they can save money by not having to hire any substitute teachers. No longer would just one or a couple lucky people be able to attend the conference; this would allow for your entire science staff at all levels (don’t forget your elementary teachers of science) to attend our amazing science conference. And the cost of your registration is most likely cheaper than what your district pays each day for a substitute to be in your classroom for that day, so it is financially beneficial for your district to do this. Of course, the conference is local, so there’s no need to pay for much travel or lodging, allowing even more staff to attend the conference. Don’t forget to remind your administrators and building principals they are eligible for a free registration to the WSST Conference! That’s right, bring your administrator to the other activities at the conference, and they will see all of the professional connections that are made by attending the conference each year! Have them meet all of the people you have connected with, and let them see the importance of keeping those connections going. Keep them in contact with the vendors, either during the Vendor Social, or on Friday to make those professional connections to get discounts on your science supplies and reduce your bottom line in cost. And what principal doesn’t like to save money and spread it farther? On top of that all, our WSST conference continues to be at least half or even a
third in cost to other disciplines’ state conferences!
Need some help? Please let Tim Sprain (LaCrosse), or me, know who your school district teams are who make the decisions on the calendars for your upcoming school year so they can be contacted to also help make this a reality! Here are a few reminders for some quickly upcoming deadlines in December.
• Foundation Grant applications (https://www.wsst.org/grants).
December 1st is the deadline for our
December 6 (the first Friday in
• December) marks the deadline for nominations for WSST Awards (https://www.wsst.org/awards).
Would you like to present in
• Oshkosh? The signup deadline for presenting a session at the 2025 Oshkosh Conference is December 20, or December 6 for a workshop proposal (https://www.wsst.org/2025conference).
Make sure that you have also nomi-
• nated a colleague for a WSST Board position by December 31 (https://www.wsst.org/nominations-1).
This year, we will elect directors for Districts 1 and 4 as well as President Elect.
As we venture into the Winter in Wisconsin, remember that WSST membership represents all science teachers, and each of us should always be cognizant of being supportive of teachers who work in any educational setting. Whether that is private or public, we need to keep each of our student’s needs first and foremost and weave science throughout. Especially in these times when division of groups has become more common, we need to stick together and pick each other up. WSST is here for all science educators, no matter your school district, big or small, and no matter your type of educational setting. I really appreciate that each of you are there to help each of our students become more competent scientists and educated citizens of mother Earth. We are all in this together! And I really look forward to seeing each of you in Oshkosh April 3-5!
WSST NEWS
The WSST Conference, always a Great Deal!
Ray Scolavino, Conference Coordinator
To see how WSST compares with other discipline group conferences (e.g. Mathematics, Social Studies, and English), I looked at the registration fees for each group on their websites from last year when the data was available. Social Studies and Math both offer a three-day conference, while English has a two-day conference. Registration fees ranged from $250 - $450 for the threeday events while English had the $250 cost.
Some of the conferences included meals with their registration fee. Math includes two breakfasts and two lunches (if you stay for the leadership day you get an extra breakfast and lunch), while Social Studies includes two breakfasts and a lunch, and English includes a breakfast and lunch.
So how does WSST compare? For a three day conference, our regular registration fee is now $120 for members (or $110 for members in advance). We do not include meals, but we do subsidize the cost, as WSST pays for part of the lunch and banquet. If you add the cost of lunch and the banquet to the registration fee, it is still lower than the other conferences. Why do we subsidize the meals? WSST leadership is aware there is a growing number of members absorbing the cost of the conference. The conference offers many opportunities for teachers to
increase their pedagogy, content knowledge, and networking. We know the power of the conference and how it can impact science teachers and thus students. The WSST Leadership wants to make the conference as affordable as possible to our members. During the banquet we recognize our award winners and grant winners and want as many members to attend as possible. The cost increase for registration is due to the rising costs of food/beverages/and other conference fees.
WSST Award Nominations
Due December 6
By Miranda Dahlke and Laura Ramthun
It is the purpose of the WSST Awards and Recognition Committee to recognize outstanding achievement in the field of science education in the state of Wisconsin. Nominations can be submitted through our website at www.wsst.org/awards. You are also able to explore the page and see some of the resources and opportunities WSST has to offer, including grant opportunities for teachers! You may nominate as many qualified individuals as you like! When a nomination form is received, the individual nominated will be emailed an application packet to complete and return.
Nominations are due by Friday, December 6th, 2024.
All WSST awardees will be recognized at the WSST Conference in Oshkosh this spring, during the Milton Pella banquet. Our committee awards recognition in 5 different areas:
Ron Gibbs Award - given annually to honor a person who has made outstanding contributions in science education over a long and distinguished career in Wisconsin. This is our most prestigious award.
Excellence in Science Teaching - up to 3 awardees - given annually to persons who have made outstanding contributions to the improvement of science education in Wisconsin. This would include elementary, secondary or college teachers, and any other active supporters of science education.
Friend of Science Education - recognize outstanding contributions to the support of science teachers by individuals, groups. corporations, foundations, etc., outside the science education community.
Frank Zuerner New Science Teacherup to 3 awardees - $500 scholarship goes to an elementary, middle, or high school science teacher who is in the first 5 years of service (preference given to first 3 years of service), and has been recommended as outstanding by at least one other science teacher who has direct knowledge of applicant.
Administrator Award - acknowledge the superior K-12 Principals, Vice Principals, Curriculum directors and District Superintendents who promote, showcase and support science education.
Please consider nominating a deserving colleague or peer for recognition of their outstanding work. And please share this information to anyone that may be interested in nominating someone as well!
WSST Equipment Adoption
Do you have equipment and resources you no longer use in the classroom but are still in good shape and working condition? Please bring them to the Equipment Adoption at the WSST Conference so they can find a new home and be used. The Equipment Adoption is a science flea market extravaganza. All items are free for the taking (and you are not limited to how much you take). You do not need to bring something to take items. So please save up your items and bring them to the WSST Conference. If you have any questions, contact Sarah Klingbile sklingbile@seymour.k12.wi.us or Ray Scolavino rscali3@yahoo.com
CASE, Part Two
The Center for Advancement of Science Education in its Heyday, 1983-2000
Karyl Rosenberg, Historian
In the previous Newsletter, I uncovered the origin of CASE. At the end of that timeframe (late 1970’s - early 1980’s), the results of widening discussions revealed that something needed to be in place to coordinate science related professional development in Wisconsin. CASE seemed to be the ideal choice for that role, and so it became the planning source and clearinghouse for a variety of science education connected programs, typically in partnership with DPI and various other agencies, including businesses and universities.
The first big effort was the student program pilot for Science World. This took place during the summer of 1983 at the Pigeon Lake Field Station (operated by UW-River Falls at that time). 48 eighth grade students from around the state, lead by a small group of teachers mainly from WSST, participated in a weeklong science activities camp. Science World got positive reviews from the participants and leaders and was expanded to several sessions for students over the course of the summer. The student program lasted through the summer of 2000 (Inside the Academy, 5/1983).
The teacher program at Science World started in 1984 to run parallel to the student program. After a successful pilot session that included a mixed group of teachers, it gradually morphed into a series of sessions each focusing on a particular grade range of teachers. This too continued through the summer of 2000 (Inside the Academy,
9/1983). I had the good fortune to attend twice, once in 1985 to a mixed grade level group and again in 1988 in a middle school focused group. These two events absolutely made staying in teaching possible for me in my early career period.
CASE became the statewide sponsor for the Science Olympiad student competition program in 1986, a national program that has had various sponsorships over the years.
Before the development of the Badger Science and Engineering Fair, Science Olympiad was the major statewide competition in science for middle and high school students (Inside the Academy, 10/1986).
Also in 1986, another Wingspread conference was held. This one gathered more partners from business, industry, labor, government and science education with the focus of broadening the reach of professional development programs to include math and tech ed. Innovation and creativity were identified as the keys to expanding these opportunities for teachers and students. “Our humanity must be part of our science education” said James Johnson, who was president elect of Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters at the time (Inside the Academy, 4/1987).
By the spring of 1988, CASE programs were becoming more specialized. A program to support the professional development of junior and senior high school teachers called “Project FEST” (Field Experiences for Science Teachers) was established that year, with 20 participants doing hands-on environmental projects. Later that year a similar project called “Project FIRST” (Field Investigations Research by Science Teachers) was established in cooperation with several UW campuses. This project would be a variety of research projects in a wider area of topics in cooperation with uni-
versity researchers. By 1990, both FEST and FIRST were going strong. In fact, FEST received a Wisconsin Environmental Education Board (WEEB) grant to continue its environmental project focus (Inside the Academy, fall 1990, summer 1991).
and administrator in the Chippewa Falls School District and in 1991 was director of the Wisconsin Educational Partnership Initiative - a cooperative program with CESA 10 and a variety of other Chippewa Valley business and public sector stakeholders. This initiative established the Cray Academy as a science, technology and math professional development program. Spoiler alert – this format will become the model for the next iteration of professional development in Wisconsin (Inside the Academy, fall 1991).
During this period the CASE committee began playing a role in broader state education budget increases at the state level. D. Boyer, a CASE committee member at the time stated “[a]re our education expectations too low or have we become victims of our past material success?” as he advocated for increased funding in the state budget in 1991. During this time period, such ideas did not fall on deaf ears in the legislature!
1991 was a bit of a watershed year. A CASE committee member and director of the UW’s National Center for Research in Mathematical Sciences Education, Thomas A. Romberg, becomes chair of the first national math standards development plan, known now as the NCTM standards. At the same time, Dr. Julie Stafford of Chippewa Falls is elected president of the academy. Dr. Stafford had been a social studies teacher
In the meantime, discussions had been held within the WSST-WESTA (Wisconsin Earth Science Teachers Association) group that some specifically earth-space professional development was needed. Don Vincent, a biology and earth science teacher from Madison West High School took the lead, and working through CASE, wrote and obtained a grant for such a program. This program would be called ESRA (Earth Science Resource Associates), and ran it for three years (Inside the Academy, spring 1992), involving over 35 teachers from around the state, including the current president and historian (1994).
Cudahy East Junior High teacher Laura Cerletty and Rice Lake Middle School Teacher Rick Prissel study examples of Devonian rock found along the Milwaukee River, during a two-day Field Edcuation for Science Teachers (FEST) session
ESRAs Joe Riederer (Wisconsin Rapids), Dan Millin (West Bend), Jill Hunger (Verona) and Al Robinson (Appleton) try to get clues to the past by studying lacustrine and galacial deposits near Menasha.
In 1992, another Wingspread conference was held to further refine the broader vision for science-math-tech professional development. The Wisconsin Educational Partnership/Cray Academy (WEP-CA) model was seen as the best way to serve a wider variety of educators and involve wider communities in the process. The conference directed the CASE/WEP-CA people to seek grant money to support a statewide expansion of their program. By 1993, the CASE/WEP-CA team had obtained a multimillion dollar grant from the National Science Foundation, and the WASDI (Wisconsin Academy Staff Development Initiative) program was born. Of course, other CASE programs are still in full force: Science World for students and teachers, Project FEST, Project FIRST, Science Olympiad and Science Congress. This last program was a sort of science fair format where students came together to present the results of their individual research projects (Inside the Academy, Spring 1993). And two new programs for elementary schools were established called WISMATE and Kids Choice. WISMATE was probably the first totally internet-based program, where science professionals were partnered with elementary classrooms to help young students start to understand what it means to be a scientist. Kids Choice provided opportunities for elementary students to work with older students in their communities on mutually beneficial projects (Inside the Academy, Fall 1993).
1994 brought the first year of the expanded teacher leadership portion of Cray Academy - the WASDI lead teacher program. The original goal of the lead teacher program was to train teachers to be facilitators of sessions at the expanded list of professional development academies modeled on the Cray Academy around the state. By 1995,
six academies are up and running, with several more to be established over the next few years (Inside the Academy, winter 1995). Programs were being presented by WASDI trained lead teachers and others from university, science, technology and business communities.
In 1996, a memorandum of understanding was formed by the wide range of interest groups around the state.
Note all the groups represented! This level of cooperation was attributed to all the connections that had been made over more than
a decade through the Academy, CASE and the Wingspread Conferences. If their shorterterm funding had not ended, all previously mentioned CASE programs were running at this time.
By 1998, the WASDI Academies had expanded to 13 in number, which exceeded the grant application goal. Academies and sites included:
Chiwaukee Academy, Kenosha
• Christa McAuliffe Academy, Appleton
• Cray Academy, Chippewa Falls
• Einstein Academy, Green Bay
• John Muir Academy, Verona
• Northwoods Academy, Rhinelander
• Sally Ride Academy, Glendale
• Southwest Academy, Fennimore
• Washburn Academy, Holmen
• Wisconsin River Valley Academy,
• Wisconsin Rapids Many thousands of teachers were benefitting from the academy summer programs all around the state. The WASDI program received an Exemplary Program Citation from the National Education Goals Panel. As the grant money was expended, program co leader and WASAL Executive Director LeRoy Lee stated that other public and private funding sources would be sought. The academies continued in operation for the
Participants gain hands-on experience at Southwest Academy's workshop "Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Science."
most part until summer of 2010 (Wisconsin Academy Review, summer 1998).
As the millenium closed, this heady period of creativity and generous funding for science, technology and math professional development programs rapidly came to an end. For one, the political winds had changed, making the idea of such broad based (at least with government support) professional development programs unlikely. An explanation for that phenomenon is the realm of social and political historians, and not for a random retired science teacher who came to that career by way of the social studies!
WSST was part of the efforts to keep several CASE programs funded, and Science World and WASDI got the most attention. WSST members who had been part of those programs engaged in letter writing and direct testimony with legislators during the state budget writing process in the early 2000’s. These efforts pretty much fell flat and broadbased state funding for professional development was over (WSST Newsletter, Fall 2000, Vol. #1).
So what is the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters doing today? The organization still exists and is involved in a wider variety of events, publications and programs that work to advance public understanding and appreciation of sciences, arts and letters. It sponsors art exhibits at its own gallery within the Overture Center complex in Madison, supports annual poetry and prose writing contests for all ages and cooperates with other science connected interests in putting on conferences and symposia dealing with current topics in those areas. It publishes a print and electronic magazine quarterly called “Wisconsin People and Ideas”. And it has become more broadly a membership contribution-based entity, similar in format to Wisconsin Public Broadcasting.
TEACHER OPPORTUNITIES
Wisconsin Winter: A Learning Wonderland
Join fellow teacher educators from across the state for a one-day workshop at Schmeeckle Reserve to experience handson, inclusive, and outdoor activities that embody best practices in environmental education to lead with your students! Be a part of an ongoing statewide network to advance environmental education in educator preparation programs (EPPs), experience how to infuse inclusive, equitable, and culturally relevant environmental education in educator preparation programs, and gain resources to use in your courses and workshops.
Event Details
When: Friday, January 17, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. Where: Schmeeckle Reserve, 2419 North Point Drive, Stevens Point.
What: Wisconsin Winter: A Learning Wonderland Join us to learn from Emily Stone at Cable Natural History Museum about their “Anaamaagon: Under the Snow” program and resources. Watch how Emily Ford became the first woman and person of color to thru-hike the Ice Age Trail in winter and find out how educators can engage with Ice Age Trail education programs. Engage in hands-on activities to connect, explore, and engage outdoors in the winter!
Cost: $25. Registration includes lunch. Space is limited, register as soon as possible, but no later than December 15, 2024.
Register online or contact Becca Franzen, 715-346-4943 or becca.franzen@uwsp.edu or Victoria Rydberg-Nania at victoria.rydberg@dpi.wi.gov. We look forward to your participation, learning from your experience and sharing useful information and resources with you! This workshop is hosted by the Teacher Educator Network for Environmental Education (TENFEE) planning team and in partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Learn more
*** Save the date! June 10, 2025: Environmental Education in Teacher Preparation Showcase***
LEAF and KEEP
Opportunities for Educators
Wheels to Woods grants due Dec 31! Wheels to Woods is a school to forest or forestry related field trip transportation grant program supported and administered by the WI SAF DEI Committee. This program is open to any Wisconsin K-12 school teacher to apply; however, underrepresented student populations will receive priority funding. The grants are up to $350 per classroom to cover transportation costs to and from a forest or forestry industry field tour. Spring and summer trips: Application deadline December 31. Apply at: https://uwsp.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/S V_9KKY7yIrMMyEYQK
LEAF’s School Forest Award
Nominations are Open!
Each year, LEAF recognizes individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to school forest programs.
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2024 School Forest Awards, with a January 26, 2025 deadline. These awards recognize individuals and organizations that have provided leadership and made significant contributions over a period of years to a local school forest registered through Wisconsin’s School Forest Program. More info and nomination at: https://www.uwsp.edu/wcee/wcee/leaf/sc hool-forest-awards/
FREE School Forest Foundational Planning Workshop to be Held in Stevens Point February 11
Bring a team and join LEAF for a day of foundational planning where we look at the steps needed to integrate the forest into your district’s learning objectives, gain resources, and network with other school forest educators who are looking to develop, use, and sustain their school forest programming. We will look closely at the educational value of school forests, what natural resource features are on your property, connect the forest to classroom curriculum, discuss how to engage staff, and brainstorm ways to ensure learning at the school forest endures over time. A limited number of substitute reimbursements of up to $125 are also available. Register here: https://cnroutreached.asapconnected.com/#CourseID=197824
Renew Our Schools - Sign up for Spring (1/15/25 deadline)
Sign up is open for Renew Our Schools 6-week spring competition where students use their own school building as an energy education tool. KEEP, Focus on Energy and Resource Central partner to offer the competition to Wisconsin K12 public and private schools. Because the competition requires installing an eGauge datalogger on the electric meter to chart the school’s real-time energy usage, make sure to apply early to allow time for installation. Interest list and enrollment here: https://resourcecentral.org/renew-ourschools/wisconsin/
Spring Green Team Mini-Grant Info Sessions to be Held Online Feb. 3 and 6
This informal gathering is a collaboration space for Wisconsin K-12 students starting or leading Green Teams and other environmentally focused groups in their school. KEEP staff will host the meeting and create a welcoming atmosphere for students to learn more about KEEP’s Green Team Mini-Grant program and speak with students who have already begun the work of making change at their schools. Come with questions, to share your own project ideas, or just to be inspired through spending time with other students dedicated to sustainable action. Sign up here: https://cnroutreached.asapconnected.com/#CourseID=282825
2025 Wisconsin Crystal Growing
Contest
After a five-year hiatus, the 2025 statewide Wisconsin Crystal Growing Contest is back!! It will take place in March--May of 2025. This event is FREE and registration is open to middle and high school students ages 11-18 as well as home-schooled youths. The specific goal of this program is to engage students in chemistry, crystallography, and optical microscopy. All contestants are invited to visit the UW-Madison Chemistry Department on May 24, 2025 where they will tour this flagship university and visit an X-ray laboratory where expert crystallographers demonstrate instruments and tools used by researchers and undergraduate and graduate students to explore molecular structure in depth. Awards will also be given at this time. Visit the website for more information and to sign up teams of students. Reach out to Peter Jaeger (pfjaeger@wisc.edu) for any questions and see the flier for WiCGC!
Listen to Lab Out Loud
Listen to Wisconsin’s own Brian Bartel and Dale Basler discuss science news and science education with leading scientists, researchers, science writers, and other important figures in the field. A selection of links and notes accompanies each episode, enabling the listener to dig deeper into the topics discussed. Listen to and download episodes of Lab Out Loud at www.laboutloud.com
Questions, comments or suggestions should be submitted via laboutloud.com/contact/
December’s Night Sky
Notes: Spot the King of Planets
By Dave Prosper
Updated by Kat Troche
Jupiter is our solar system’s undisputed king of the planets! Jupiter is bright and easy to spot from our vantage point on Earth, helped by its massive size and banded, reflective cloud tops. Jupiter even possesses moons the size of planets: Ganymede, its largest, is bigger than the planet Mercury. What’s more, you can easily observe Jupiter and its moons with a modest instrument, just like Galileo did over 400 years ago.
Jupiter’s position as our solar system’s largest planet is truly earned; you could fit 11 Earths along Jupiter’s diameter, and in case you were looking to fill up Jupiter with some Earth-size marbles, you would need over 1300 Earths to fill it up – and that would still not be quite enough! However, despite its formidable size, Jupiter’s true rule over the outer solar system comes from its enormous mass. If you took all of the planets in our solar system and put them together, they would still only be half as massive as Jupiter all by itself. Jupiter’s mighty mass has shaped the orbits of countless comets and asteroids. Its gravity can fling these tiny objects towards our inner solar system and also draw them into itself, as famously observed in 1994 when Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, drawn towards
Jupiter in previous orbits, smashed into the gas giant’s atmosphere. Its multiple fragments slammed into Jupiter’s cloud tops with such violence that the fireballs and dark impact spots were not only seen by NASA’s orbiting Galileo probe but also by observers back on Earth!
Jupiter is easy to observe at night with our unaided eyes, as well-documented by the ancient astronomers who carefully recorded its slow movements from night to night. It can be one of the brightest objects in our nighttime skies, bested only by the Moon, Venus, and occasionally Mars, when the red planet is at opposition. That’s impressive for a planet that, at its closest to Earth, is still over 365 million miles (587 million km) away. It’s even more impressive that the giant world remains very bright to Earthbound observers at its furthest distance: 600 million miles (968 million km)! While the King of Planets has a coterie of 95 known moons, only the four large moons that Galileo originally observed in 1610 – Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Calisto – can be easily observed by Earth-based observers with very modest equipment. These are called, appropriately enough, the Galilean moons. Most telescopes will show the moons as faint star-like objects neatly lined up close to bright Jupiter. Most binoculars will show at least one or two moons orbiting the planet. Small telescopes will show all four of the Galilean moons if they are all visible, but sometimes they can pass behind or in
front of Jupiter or even each other. Telescopes will also show details like Jupiter’s cloud bands and, if powerful enough, large storms like its famous Great Red Spot, and the shadows of the Galilean moons passing between the Sun and Jupiter. Sketching the positions of Jupiter’s moons during the course of an evening – and night to night – can be a rewarding project! You can download an activity guide from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific at bit.ly/drawjupitermoons
Now in its eighth year, NASA’s Juno mission is one of just nine spacecraft to have visited this impressive world. Juno entered Jupiter’s orbit in 2016 to begin its initial mission to study this giant world’s mysterious interior. The years have
proven Juno’s mission a success, with data from the probe revolutionizing our understanding of this gassy world’s guts. Juno’s mission has since been extended to include the study of its large moons, and since 2021 the plucky probe, increasingly battered by Jupiter’s powerful radiation belts, has made close flybys of the icy moons Ganymede and Europa, along with volcanic Io. What else will we potentially learn in 2030 with the Europa Clipper mission?
Find the latest discoveries from Juno and NASA’s missions to Jupiter at science.nasa.gov/jupiter/
Originally posted by Dave Prosper: February 2023, Last Updated by Kat Troche: November 2024
Look for Jupiter near the Eye of the Bull, Aldebaran, in the Taurus constellation on the evening of December 15, 2024. Binoculars may help you spot Jupiter’s moons as small bright star-like objects on either side of the planet. A small telescope will show them easily, along with Jupiter’s famed cloud bands. How many can you count? Credit: Stellarium Web
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