Lift Off....December 2006 Mission of the Month: SPACE PARTY 1-2-3
This month, the NASA shuttle Discovery sets out for the International Space Station. As the astronauts take flight, why not make your own star trek? With CYFERnet's "Mission of the Month" Space Parties, it's easy to explore the universe without leaving home. Each activity teaches youth about the nightly happenings in the winter sky:
1) While peering through a telescope in the dead of winter has its place, there's a simpler (and warmer) way to see the cosmos. STELLARIUM sets your ground coordinates and presents a photo-realistic sky, complete with constellations, planets and nebulas.
2) If you've always wanted to go to infinity and beyond, here's your chance. CELESTIA lets you experience outer space in 3-D as you travel beyond our solar system, in any direction, and at any speed or moment in time.
3) Satellites move quickly, but the HEAVENS-ABOVE Web site can help you locate them. Just enter your ground location and receive orbital data on the International Space Station, the Hubble Space Telescope and many others.
Take a break from the holiday mania and escape to another galaxy with a virtual trip into outer space--no spaceship or tuition fees required. Connect, accept your mission, and lift off today! Visit http://www.cyfernet.org/4htech/missions.html for complete details.
Deadline extended to Dec. 15 - Thanks to your leadership and support, the 4-H Afterschool work continues to expand and reach new audiences. To help us continue telling the great 4-H Afterschool story, we need your help. Please share what you are doing with 4-H Afterschool work by completing this survey (if you haven't already) located at: http://ext.msstate.edu/survey/afterschool/ The results of the survey will help determine the reach of 4-H Afterschool and will be valuable as we continue to raise funds to support our work.
4-H and Metlife Foundation have combined efforts to support 4-H Afterschool provider training grants. Extension professionals (1862, 1890, 1994) involved, or who are interested in becoming involved, with 4-H Afterschool programming are invited to apply for a 4-H Afterschool Training Grant.
MetLife Foundation (MLF) and 4-H have partnered for more then 10 years to provide meaningful opportunities for youth across America. Through Youth in Action grants, MLF has invested in the power of youth to create change and contribute to their local communities. In 2007, MetLife Foundation is expanding its support of 4-H by infusing the principles of civic engagement into the after-school setting. By training after-school providers and creating extraordinary opportunities for young people to engage in their communities, MetLife Foundation and 4-H will collaboratively:
1. improve the quality of after-school programs:
2. infuse civic engagement into after-school programs; and
3. increase the number of youth engaged in high-quality after-school programs.
Competitive grants of $10,000 each will be awarded to state 4-H programs. Grantees will be expected to improve the quality of after-school programs in their state by providing a minimum of eight hours of training to at least 500 local after-school providers. In situations where states may not have the capacity to reach at least 500 after-school providers, it is recommended that a multi-state proposal be submitted.
The RFP can be found at: http://www.fourhcouncil.edu/GrantsProgram.aspx. If you have questions please contact Ron Drum (rdrum@fourhcouncil.edu or 301-961-2814).
The Engaging Antarctica project will make available in-kind grants of $1,000 to 100 4-H groups for agreeing to organize the flexhibit community events featuring ANDRILL Antarctic research on climate change. The grants cover the costs of downloading and printing banners (individualized with your organization's information), podcasts, and activities for teens to teach youth.
Our schedule is as follows:
Spring 2007: select numbers of 4-H groups will be asked to trial test and give us feedback on the activities.
Fall 2007: we hope to stage 2-3 trial community events during which the evaluation team will gather feedback. Grants of $1,000 each plus additional resources will be made available for these trial events.
January 2008: we will award in-kind grants of $1,000 to 100 4-H organizations to stage community events during 2008-2009.
This is a concept drawing of what the community events might look like. The NOVA program is expected to be released in 2009.
Contact Judy at:
Judy Diamond, Ph.D.
Professor
Curator of Informal Science Education
University of Nebraska State Museum
307 Morrill Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0332
ph: 402-472-4433 FAX: 402-472-8899
email: jdiamond1@unl.edu