Professional Enrichment Activities for Middle and High School Math and Science Teachers

Past Year Programs

The Santa Fe Alliance for Science and Project GUTS (Growing Up Thinking Scientifically, Santa Fe Institute), in partnership with the Santa Fe Public Schools, are jointly sponsoring a "Professional Enrichment Series" for Santa Fe middle- and high-school math and science teachers. The intention is to provide information and (and possible instructional materials) on topics of current interest for personal enjoyment as well as for possible use in the classroom. It is open to all middle and high school math and science teachers in the Santa Fe area. It is likely that this year a small number of students can also be accommodated.

Sessions: These will take place from 9:00 to noon on six Saturdays during the 2011-12 academic year. Most, but not all will occur at the Santa Fe Complex, 1807 Second Street, Number 107, in Santa Fe (map and arial photo). Each session will include material presentation, discussion and a coffee break. From all this could begin the construction of appropriate lesson plans, joint activities between schools, possible after-school activities, field trips, etc.

Program for 2011-12: This year we will focus almost exclusively on issues of environmental and ecological concern to the Southwest. Subject matter will include:

  • Oct. 29, 2011 Nature and Control of Forest Fires
    (Bob Parmenter, Director for Science and Education, Valles Caldera National Preserve). Materials from the discussion are available. These include:
    1. The Valle Toledo Project Summary
    2. The Valle Toledo Project Results for Plants
    3. The Valle Toledo Project Results for Insects
    4. Effect of the Sevilleta Fire on Plants
    5. Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP) and Los Conchas Fire
    6. Fire Effects On Plant Demography
    7. Environmental Entomology - Sevilleta Fire Effects on Arthropods

    The first five items are very large PowerPoint files that are too big to be downloaded by most mail servers. Please contact us to arrange for a CD to be sent to you with the files you want. The last two items are downloadable articles.

  • Dec. 10, 2011. Planning for our Water Future
    (Laurie Trevizo, Water Conservation Specialist, City of Santa Fe) Materials from the discussion are available. These include:
    1. Santa Fe Water Resources Map
    2. Roadmap for Sustainable Water Resources in Southwestern North America
    3. Presentation: "Water Resources for Our Future". Divided into 3 parts; (7.3 MB, 9.5 MB and 10.3 MB).   1   2   3

  • March 3, 2012. Computational Modeling and Network Analysis of Ecosystems (Nick Bennett and John Paul Gonzales, Project GUTS, and Jennifer Dunne from the Santa Fe Institute). This event will be held at the Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Rd., Santa Fe (directions).

  • May 5, 2012. The HIV and TB Pandemics (Better Korber, Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Thanks to Melissa Savage of the Four Corners Institute for her help in assembling this program.

Logistical Details: Each morning session will be able to accommodate about 20 participants. To participate, please register for each session no later than one week beforehand by responding to the email invitation you'll receive from Bob Eisenstein or by using our Professional Enrichment Registration Form. You may attend as many of the events as you like, but please register for each one individually. We expect that you will stay for the full session.

We are tentatively planning to invite a small number of students to each event, though we will not be able to provide them with the stipend. Details to follow.

All teacher participants will receive a stipend of $48 for the three hour sesssion. If you are an SFPS teacher, you will also receive "professional development credits" toward promotion and career advancement. Non-SFPS teachers must supply their current mailing address in order to receive the stipend.

Your input is requested! Please send us your ideas for how to make this activity as useful as possible. For example, future topics might include: solar energy; geology; sustainability; wave motion; complex systems, etc. Which of these (or others) would you propose?

Thank you!

Bob Eisenstein, Santa Fe Alliance for Science
Irene Lee, Project GUTS
Ellen Levy, SFPS