Month: April 2013

PIMMS receives the Dr. Sigmund Abeles Science Advocate Award

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On April 24 at the New Haven Lawn Club, the Project to Increase Mastery of Mathematics and Science (PIMMS) at Wesleyan University was recognized for its successful, effective, and influential program in professional development for mathematics and science teachers in Connecticut.

PIMMS received the Dr. Sigmund Abeles Science Advocate Award at the annual awards banquet of the Connecticut Science Teachers and Connecticut Science Supervisors Associations for Excellence in Science Education and Supervision. The award is designed to recognize individuals or organizations that have demonstrated staunch advocacy for science education in Connecticut as evidenced by their substantial and sustained support and contributions. The award was established to honor Dr. Sigmund Abeles, State Science Consultant emeritus for his outstanding leadership and service to science education in Connecticut.

The Chair of PIMMS, Dr. Robert A. Rosenbaum, who started the organization in 1979, and new Director, Sara MacSorley, accepted the award together at the ceremony.

“It’s such an honor to come into a well regarded organization and to be able to work with Dr. Rosenbaum. I’m looking forward to continuing to support the professional development of Connecticut’s science and math teachers,” says MacSorley.

Dr. Rosenbaum’s humble words in response to this tribute reminds us all of why we feel so passionate about him. As an extraordinary educator and gifted thinker, his accomplishments have affected countless teachers in their careers. The evening came to a close with a beautiful song sung by Marjorie Rosenbaum.

PIMMS would like to express its immense thanks to the Connecticut Science Teachers and the Connecticut Science Supervisors Associations for this recognition, to all the math and science teachers who participated in PIMMS training, and to the many classroom students who benefitted from their instruction.

Create Your Own Wearable Art – Scarf Felting Class – May 19th

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Call today to sign up for our Scarf Felting Class with Irene Dizes. Irene’s work is on display at Green Street until May 2, 2013.

The class is on Sunday, May 19th from 9:30am – 4:30am. No experience needed.

Irene is a 20-year veteran fiber artist who will teach workshop participants the Nuno felting method in this day-long scarf making workshop. Each participant will design and construct a one-of-a-kind scarf in which wool and silk fibers are artfully intermingled, such as the one Irene is modeling in the picture here.

There is a $100 registration fee which includes materials. Call us today to sign up as space is limited – 860-685-7871.

URI Conference: Talking Beyond Disciplines-Rising Tides and Sea Change

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New Director, Sara MacSorley, gave a Pecha Kucha talk at the URI Graduate Student Conference – Talking Beyond Disciplines: Rising Tides and Sea Change – to talk about our new partnership here at Green Street.
Sara was on a panel called Facilitating Creativity in Interdisciplinary and Multimodal Spaces. All the speakers touched on common themes like empowering students, building community, and the importance of creativity to solving problems. Her talk, Creating a Space for Art, Math, and Science to Play, focused on how art and science are the same at their core. Both fields are about asking questions, finding solutions, and exploring the world around us. Sara also talked about how arts integration is critical to teaching other topics like math and science because the arts can help kids learn important skills like observation, visual thinking, and pattern recognition.
The Greening Green Street project served as the example of how we are creating a space to bring art, math, and science together in our community.

Greening Green Street, Part 2: Making mosaics and building community

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The Greening Green Street project truly turned into a community effort.

During Part 2, we made pebble mosaics. Our After School Students and community members who have been important players in our history came together to make mosaics for the planters.

People from the community also made generous donations of plants from their own gardens and gave their time to help with the project.

One telling moment was when Pat Charles, the superintendent of Middletown Public Schools, joined us to make a piece. How often do you see school administrators and their first graders participating, hands on, in the same project? That was pretty incredible to see.

Author comes to Green Street to talk about Arctic Whales in a Melting World

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We turned off the lights and turned on the screen. A mysterious looking creature with dark freckled skin and a unicorn-like horn appeared on a blue ocean background.

Nature writer Todd McLeish started by saying, “The first question I get with this slide is – what is it? The second question is – is it real?”

It’s a narwhal whale, and yes, it is real.

The next hour was filled with tales of adventure to the Arctic Circle and fascinating trivia about the narwhal.

Narwhals have two teeth, one of which grows through their upper lip (mostly in the males) to look like the characteristic horn. In rare instances, both teeth will grow out as horns. There is still a debate among researches about the purpose of the elongated tooth.

The narwhal horn does in fact have a connection to the unicorn. The unicorn myth says a cup made of unicorn horn can heal all your illnesses and keep you healthy for life. When narwhals were first discovered, the entrepreneurs of the time took advantage of the myth and sold the narwhal horns at high prices labeled as unicorn horns.

Intrigued? For more on how narwhals have connections to celebration meals, climate change, and even dentistry – check out the book Arctic Whales in a Melting World.