Cornell Center for Materials Research

Materials Research Society

MRS Fall Meeting

Boston, Mass.

November 28 - December 2, 2004

The Materials Research Society (MRS) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored a special program to allow a select group of middle and high school teachers from around the nation to learn about and participate in materials research and its role in our schools and in our society. The organizers of the 2004 Materials Research Society (MRS) Fall Meeting in Boston encouraged 90 middle and high school teachers who have had collaborations with universities to attend symposium PP entitled: Communicating Materials Science - Education for the 21st Century. Full information on the Fall Meeting can be found at the MRS website.

Select a day to see the daily schedule of teacher programs (see sidebar for full schedule):

The program involved:

  • Travel to Boston to attend the Materials Research Society 2004 Fall Meeting, November 28-December 1.
  • Attend workshops at the Museum of Science (MOS) in Boston on Sunday November 28—learn about materials research, how it shapes your world, and how it can influence your teaching and your students' future careers, take home activities that you can incorporate in your classroom right away.
  • Participate in a special symposium on science education in secondary schools at the MRS meeting, Monday, November 29 and Tuesday, November 30—participate in the national discussion on science education.
  • Attend the MRS meeting, including presentations on the leading edge in materials research for both lay-people and experts, presentations on science funding from government agencies, equipment exhibits, and much more—see practicing materials researchers in action, learn how their work is funded and performed, and learn about the innovations that will shape your world in the future.
  • Establish a relationship with a practicing materials researcher in your area who will help you to integrate state of the art materials research into your classroom and who will engage you in real state of the art materials research in their laboratory.
  • Social events with scientists, science education specialists, other teachers, political leaders, members of the press, and many others—expand your network of teaching and science resources.

The costs of transportation, accommodations in the conference hotel, meeting fees, MOS admissions and other costs associated with this program were covered for participating teachers. Participation in this program will satisfy Professional Development requirements in many states. The full program is described in more detail below.

Program Description:

Materials science is an “enabling discipline.” All engineered devices are made of materials, and the properties of those materials determine how a device will behave, how reliable it will be, what level of performance may be expected of it, and what will become of it when it is no longer useful. Materials thus define technology, and in a fundamental way, civilization. This is clearly shown in that the great epochs of human history are named after the materials that made the high technology of each era possible: stone age, bronze age, and iron age. While these eras lasted hundreds to thousands of years, the current pace of development and integration of new materials into modern technologies and the resulting impact on contemporary society is nothing short of breathtaking. Development of new classes of materials such as semiconductors, polymers, and optical materials have generated an explosion of new technologies for computation, controls, measurements, entertainment, communications, clothing, sports, medicine, structures, transportation, and energy, to name but a few. In many areas, materials innovations continue to open up new possibilities for technologies that can fundamentally improve the human condition. Recent breakthroughs in nano- and bio-technology suggest that tremendous new developments will take place in these areas in the coming years.

The accelerating rate of change in this area places new demands on the training required of the scientists and engineers who drive these technologies forward, as well as on the number of people who are so trained. In short, to continue this pace of development, as a nation we need more people to choose to participate in materials-based science and technology, and we need for them to do so at a higher level. As a nation, we have recognized and invested heavily in this effort through research and education activities funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other federal, state, and local agencies. In order for this effort to be successful, high school teachers, who are among the most able to influence career decisions, must have opportunities to experience science and engineering first hand—to see what skills are needed and valued and to pass this knowledge on to their students and their communities.

This program will help to accomplish this goal by identifying 100 high-impact high school science and mathematics teachers from across the nation, and providing them with a series of experiences designed to teach them about the world of materials research and to provide them with activities and support that they can implement in their classrooms and communities. The program components are:

Workshops at the Museum of Science (MOS):

The workshops at the Museum of Science included such topics as:

  • polymers
  • robotics challenge
  • nanotech laboratory
  • solar cars
  • building a working motor
  • art and materials
  • making an LED flashlight

Strange Matter:

The Strange Matter museum exhibition, an MRS/NSF-sponsored project, was on display at the Museum of Science (MOS) in Boston during the 2004 MRS Fall Meeting. A number of the activities associated with this symposium were held at the MOS.

Symposium PP - Communicating Materials Science - Education for the 21st Century

  • Participation of a select local and national group of middle and high school teachers with prior experience in working with materials scientists

  • Invited and contributed talks by scientists in academia, from national laboratories and from industry, highlighting partnerships with education

  • Highlighted education and outreach activities of practicing scientists in academia, national laboratories, and industry

  • Panel discussions/workshops with speakers both from the secondary school community and the practicing materials scientist community, some to be held at the Boston Museum of Science

    • successes and experiences in transferring research experience to educational activities

    • hands-on activities for the classroom

    • discussions of what teachers need, and what the materials science community can provide

  • A special symposium, “The Science of Every Day Stuff,” designed to highlight recent advances in materials research (themes of the meeting) for the general public to be held at the Boston Museum of Science

Other meeting activities:

Teachers were encouraged to attend technical symposia, funding agency presentations, poster sessions, etc.

 

 

 
Edited on: 26 October 2007 11:15 am