Future Teachers’ Academy Opens Sunday
Contact: Kay Hyatt (207) 581-2761
Media Advisory
Media are invited to all events. An agenda is pasted on to this e-mail.
ORONO, Maine — Eighteen high school students enthusiastic about math and science will weave lessons and fun during the University of Maine’s 2005 Future Teachers’ Academy, taking place June 26 to July 1. The students, from Kennebunk to Fort Kent, Maine, and the Bronx, N.Y., will work with UMaine faculty and other educators on projects ranging from mathematics networks to marine science, spend a day on the coast and get to know one another through a variety of activities.
Sponsored by the UMaine College of Education and Human Development, the goal of the annual academy is to spark the interest of talented high school juniors and seniors in becoming secondary mathematics and science teachers and to generate opportunities for students to experience greater cultural diversity. The New York City students attend the academy through a partnership with the Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy in the Bronx.
Among Academy highlights:
June 28, 8:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. — An ecologically based weed management activity examining the impact of weed seed predators, such as beetles and grasshoppers. Students will engage in field and lab activities to discover what type of cover crop habitat supports the highest seed predator populations and feeding rates. This activity takes place at UMaine’s Rogers Farm, Bennoch Road in Old Town. Amanda Shearin,a graduate student in the Weed Ecology & Management Program, is the activity leader.
June 28, 1-4 p.m. — Testing and analysis to determine human impact on water quality. Students will work with chemical (PH, oxygen and temperature), biological (stream insects and crustaceans) and habitat (erosion, vegetation and stream flow) factors to tell the quality of the water and health of the stream. This activity takes place at two feeder streams in Bangor. From approximately 1:45-2:45 p.m., students will be collecting samples at a feeder steam to the Penobscot River, located off Mount Hope Avenue behind the Bangor Humane Society. From approximately 3-4 p.m., students will be working at a Kenduskeag Stream feeder tributary off Valley Avenue (second pull-off after Kenduskeag Park). Watershed educator Kerry Avery of Bangor is the activity leader.
June 29, 1-4 p.m. — Students will visit UMaine’s Aquaculture Research Center to learn about the University’s effort to raise valuable tropical fish in a manner that does not harm the environment. Current methods of capture are harmful to the coral reefs and the species collected. Students will hear about the efforts required to maintain conditions to raise tropical fish, including mating, nutrition, larval stages and growing to adults. They will have the opportunity to microscopically observe the components of the food chain required to raise larval fish, including phytoplankton (plants), zooplankton (animals) and the larval fish themselves. The program will also include a tour of the facility, which houses numerous species of tropical fish numbering in the thousands. Aquaculture Research Center manager Neil Greenberg is the activity leader.
Owen J. Logue, College of Education and Human Development associate dean, is director of the Future Teachers’ Academy. Chance Nalley, UMaine alum and mathematics instructor at Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy, is assistant director.
FUTURE TEACHERS’ ACADEMY AGENDA
JUNE 26-JULY 1, 2005
UNIVERSITY OF MAINE
SUNDAY, JUNE 26
4:30 p.m. Arrival and check-in (Hancock Hall)
6 p.m. Dinner
7 p.m. Group meeting
8 p.m. Capture the Flag
MONDAY, JUNE 27
7-8:15 a.m. Breakfast
8:30-11:30 a.m. Math with Chance Nalley, Mathematics teacher, Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy, Bronx, N.Y., 107 Neville Hall
11:45-12:45 p.m. Lunch at the Marketplace
1-4 p.m. Exploration of Networks and Applications (the mathematics of networks), Professor Robert Franzosa, Neville Hall (Room TBA; outside if weather is good)
5-6 p.m. Dinner at the Commons
Evening Event — Sports activities
TUESDAY, JUNE 28
7-8 a.m. Breakfast at the Commons
8:30-11:30 a.m. UMaine Rogers Farm — Weed management and seed predators
11:45-12:45 p.m. Lunch at the Marketplace
1-4 p.m. Water quality analysis (Feeder streams in Bangor)
4:30-5:30 p.m. Dinner at the Commons
6-8:30 p.m. Challenger Space Center, Bangor
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29
7-8 a.m. Breakfast at the Commons
8:30-11:30 a.m. Geometry Sketchpad, Mathematics Instructor Amie Gellen, 207 Donald P. Corbett Business Building
Potential of the software and creative exploration of geometry concepts
11:45-12:45 p.m. Lunch at the Marketplace
1-4 p.m. Marine Science Project, University of Maine Aquaculture Research Center
4:30-6 p.m. Dinner at the Commons
6:30 p.m. Evening Event — Scavenger Hunt
THURSDAY, JUNE 30
7 a.m. Breakfast in Hancock Hall lobby
7:30 a.m. Van leaves for excursion boat at Northeast Harbor
12 p.m. Lunch at town dock
Afternoon in Bar Harbor
7:00 p.m. Karaoke
FRIDAY, JULY 1
9 a.m. Brunch at Bodwell Lounge, Maine Center for the Arts
11 a.m. New York City students depart
12 p.m. Farewell