Hello potential "Science Short" Team!

After speaking with several of you individually and spending some time
thinking about Education and Public Outreach for science opportunities, your
name has been included in this list as a potential participant in our
"Science Shorts" effort.

All nationally funded research projects have components that are meant to
aid K-12 education in the sciences. I have a funded research grant that in
part supports a course every two years for teaching integrated science (see
http://systemafter.rice.edu/astrobiology/) This course was offered this
spring and the website listed has a great deal of information about the
course and the curriculum we use. The curriculum, Voyages Through Time, uses the overarching theme of evolution from the birth of the universe through
the evolution of technology and it was devel oped in compliances with
standards used in public education.

Science concepts are sometimes difficult to teach. They can be difficult for
students to grasp. Creative ways to teach basic concepts are an important
tool. We would like to augment our course by producing "science shorts",
approximately 15 minute vignettes that explain a basic concept in science
that is stipulated by the standards in education. These vignettes would be
created by you, you would write the script, prepare a powerpoint
presentation to accompany the talk, and then you would be filmed and your
vignette would be posted on our Rice website for the use of teachers and
students. Some of you might like to make a science short that is targeted
strictly for students. Some of you, as educators, may choose to prepare a
demonstration that teachers can use in class themselves.

The format is similar to one that Baylor College of Medicine is producing
See: http://www.bioedonline.org/presentations/index.cfm#interdepB

Benchmarks from which you would choose a vignette to produce are:
http://www.stat.rice.edu/~siefert/Courses/Courses.html, link to VTT
Curriculum TEKSS and TAKS

This project is being produced by myself and Dr. Carlos Solis at Rice
See: http://cohesion.rice.edu/centersandinst/cttl/about.cfm?doc_id=3296

My role is to oversee the science content and Dr. Solis' is the technical
expert. Dr. Solis is also bilingual and we are interested in including Spanish
versions and closed captions as well. Some of the things that Dr. Solis' has
done, SEE: http://ecotmedia.rice.edu/

It is my hope that we will have an organizational meeting sometime in the
future. However, given that summer schedules are busy and some of you are
out of town, and some of you may want to do get started quickly, the first
order of business is for me to assess how many of you are interested in
be ing a part of this effort. Before you commit yourself, please feel free to
ask any questions. Its best to get in touch with me through email, but you
are welcome to try me by phone as well.

This team includes a range of expertise, from very talented high school
students, gifted educators, and undergrad and graduate students. Its my hope
that this group will provide support for each other and advice for the team
in producing our science shorts. I look forward to hearing from you and
hopefully, seeing you on a future webcast!