Professional Development Opportunities

Online workshops for science educators offer fun and innovative techniques to introduce astronomy and astronomy current events into your classroom. Thanks to support from the National Science Foundation, Astronomy from the Ground Up provides these free workshops online or on site.

The American Museum of Natural History developed Seminars on Science, an online teacher professional development program, in order to connect teachers across the United States and around the world to cutting-edge research and to provide them with powerful classroom resources.

GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide hands-on, primary and secondary school-based education and science program. GLOBE promotes and supports students, teachers and scientists to collaborate on inquiry-based investigations of the environment.

Workshops are held nationwide. Restrictions may apply to some workshops.

Using hands-on experiences and focused reflection, Institute for Inquiry® workshops give teachers a thorough grounding in the pedagogy and practice of science inquiry.

For 2011, the National Science Teachers Association will hold Area Conferences in three cities: Hartford, New Orleans and Seattle. Each will be held on a different date and have a different theme, though they will all cover the many aspects of science education. Check the website to view the specifics of each conference.

Teachers need accurate information and resources to integrate ocean, coastal, and climate science into local and state curricula.  Coral reefs are among the oldest and most diverse ecosystems on Earth.  Learning about coral ecosystems encompasses many of the 9-12 grade science curriculum standards including life cycles of organisms, biological structure and function of organisms, and the behaviors and adaptations of organisms to their environment.

This course is a pilot for the Teachers on the Estuary program, a research and field-based teacher training initiative of the National Estuarine Research Reserve System, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The goal of TOTE is to improve teachers’ and students’ understanding of the environment using local examples and to provide resources and experience to support the incorporation of estuary and watershed topics into classroom teaching.

Smithsonian Education offers free online conferences for educators on a variety of science and history topics. Access archived versions of past conferences and learn more about upcoming events on the website. 

The mission of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Teacher at Sea (TAS) program is to give teachers a clearer insight into our ocean planet, a greater understanding of maritime work and studies, and to increase their level of environmental literacy by fostering an interdisciplinary research experience. The program provides a unique environment for learning and teaching by sending kindergarten through college-level teachers to sea aboard NOAA research and survey ships to work under the tutelage of scientists and crew. Then, armed with new understanding and experience, teachers bring this knowledge back to their classrooms.

Science Objects are two hour on-line interactive inquiry-based content modules, developed by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), that help teachers better understand the science content they teach. The Science Objects are free online and include such topics as Coral Reef Ecosystems and Ocean's Effect on Weather and Climate.