The White House honored 14 individuals as 'Champions of Change' for leading the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math for people with disabilities in education and employment.

Included in the honors was Virginia “Jinny” Stern, former director of the AAAS Entry Point! program for her work over four decades to increase opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) for persons with disabilities. When Stern and her colleagues at AAAS launched Entry Point! in 1996, they recognized that talented students with disabilities need more than legislation and degrees to gain employment in their chosen fields. Hundreds of the program’s alumni have participated in high-level internships with government agencies and industry, and they continue to advance in the nation’s STEM workforce.

“These leaders are proving that when the playing field is level, people with disabilities can excel in STEM, develop new products, create scientific inventions, open successful businesses, and contribute equally to the economic and educational future of our country,” said Kareem Dale, associate director at the White House Office of Public Engagement and special assistant to President Barack Obama for disability policy.

The Champions of Change program, part of the president’s Winning the Future initiative, honors educators, entrepreneurs, and community leaders for their work to serve and strengthen their communities. You can watch the presentation here.

The AAAS SSE STEM Volunteer Program is sponsoring a presentation about the development and implementation of the new K-12 science standards at AAAS, 1200 New York Avenue NW, Washington DC on May 17 from 4:00-6:30pm.  Presenters include Dr. Heidi Schweingruber, co-director of the framework committee for the Standards at the Board on Science Education, National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Stephen Pruitt, coordinator of the work of the states to write the standards at Achieve, Inc., and Anita O'Neill, Pre-K-12 Science and Engineering Supervisor at Montgomery County Public Schools.

The AAAS SSE STEM Volunteer Program places scientists and engineers in classrooms in schools in the DC Metro Area.  A panel of volunteers and their teacher-partners will discuss their partnerships.

For questions or to RSVP by May 11, contact Betty Calinger, bcalinge@aaas.org.

Please share with your colleagues.

The Science NetLinks team and other AAAS staff had an amazing and grueling three days at the incredible USA Science and Engineering Festival in Washington, DC. We staged an exhibit called The Science of the Senses for an estimated 100,000 attendees. To us, it looked more like 1,000,000.

We had a Meet the Scientists stage, where scientists who study neuroscience and hearing, touch, taste, smell and vision gave short talks and answered questions. Cynthia Moss, a researcher who studies bat echolocation, brought a big brown bat with her (that's the variety: big brown bat). We had exhibits on hearing (auditory illusions), smell (we collected data on three different smells, and how people perceived them), touch, and vision.

We even had a jelly bean taste challenge that you can try at school to demonstrate how our perception of taste is mostly really smell: hold your nose, put a mystery jelly bean in your mouth and try to guess what flavor it is. You will probably only taste general sweetness, or maybe sour. Then release your nose. Now how much easier is it to guess the flavor? Attached is a pic from our station at the festival.

If you were not among the hoards who visited us in person, you can still learn about the senses at this fun collection page we've posted at Science Netlinks:

http://sciencenetlinks.com/collections/science-senses/

Hey Everyone,

Check out the following blog posts and discussion we posted about this incredible shuttle's journey.

A Brush with Greatness: The Discovery Fly-By, blog post

The End of an Era, blog post

The last Discovery flight - Did you see it?, discussion

-Suzanne

Science NetLinks is showing off its new look and all its resources at the 2012 NSTA National Conference in Indianapolis. We're stiring up lots of excitement talking to teachers about our resources and the Thinkfinity Community. Who knew that our giveaway would be such a sensation once people figured out what it was? Teachers are grabbing them up! Anyone have a guess as to what they are? (see next pic)

Check out the Science NetLinks booth.

Sarah and I had a blast checking out some of the other exhibitors...

Sarah holding a Giant African Millipede from savenature.org.

Suzanne holding a Great Thorny Phasmid.

The Eastern Screech-Owl hangs out in the trees, but with such great camouflage, you may not be able to find him.

The Roseate Spoonbill, found in southern coastal regious of North America, is a beautiful bird in shades of white, pink, and red. Its spoon-shaped beak is great for catching food in water.

The baby alligator and penguins seemed pretty relaxed even with many admirers.

It was a great first day and we look forward to tomorrow!

Recently we told you about Cambridge University Library making Sir Issaac Newton's papers available online.  Now, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem has launched a new online resource containing a complete catalog of more than 80,000 documents in the University's Albert Einstein Archives.

The Einstein Archives Online Website provides the first online access to Albert Einstein's scientific and non-scientific manuscripts held by the Albert Einstein Archives at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, constituting the material record of one of the most influential intellects in the modern era. It also enables access to the Einstein Archive Database, a comprehensive source of information on all items in the Albert Einstein Archives.

A good way to preview the variety and flavor of the items in the collection is to browse the gallery section.  There you can view copies of manuscripts and lecture notes handwritten by Einstein as well as personal memorabilia such as his high school graduation certificate. (You can also find a lovely selection of images of Albert Einstein and his family in Genius: A Photobiography of Albert Einstein, by Marfe Ferguson Delano.)

Princeton University Press and the Einstein Papers Project at the California Institute of Technology have collaborated with the Hebrew University in this long-term project to publish The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein. Thanks to the these two institutions' ongoing participation, the enhanced website makes it possible to link each document to its printed and annotated version as it appears in the ''Collected Papers,'' and to its English translation, (since most of Einstein's papers were originally written in German).

Sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation, National Wildlife Week is celebrating 76 years of encouraging kids to learn about the wide array of fascinating wildlife in our world. Explore “EXTRA-ordinary Wildlife in Our World—Help Keep the ‘Wild’ Alive,” March 19-25, using this collection of Science NetLinks resources. Students can investigate biodiversity, learn about protecting endangered species, and uncover camouflage techniques.

For additional wildlife resources, visit Thinkfinity's collection and the discussion about endangered animal resources.

Did you know that windshield wipers, Kevlar, and the first solar-powered devices were all invented by women? Celebrate the scientific work of remarkable women and inspire your class with this collection of Science NetLinks and AAAS resources. Students can discover female scientists who have changed history, learn about the diversity of the scientific community, and hear from young women who are working in a variety of STEM fields.

Looking for more? Check out this Women in History collection from Thinkfinity. You also can get ideas or share your thoughts in the discussion How Are You Ecouraging Girls to Love Science?