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News for Tuesday, July 22, 2008
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Video: STEM Projects Encourage Students to Excel
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The Importance of Making Friends with Numbers
Why choose mathematics in high school? Here's why.
Readings, Viewings, and Listenings
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Monroe Teachers Learn New Ways to Immerse Young Brains in Math
The entire class was making wooden protractors by measuring and marking increments on a wooden half circle. University of Louisiana at Monroe instructor Kathie Smart told the group that by creating their own protractors, they not only learn how to measure but also learn how and why protractors are made the way they are. -- News Star (Monroe, Louisiana)
Related Edutopia slide show: Boatbuilding Brings the Lessons Home
South Carolina Leads the Way with Program
NATO's phonetic language is part of a new science and math curriculum designed by Project Lead the Way -- part of the Beaufort County School District's new gravitation toward improved science, technology, engineering, and math education in northern Beaufort County. -- Myrtle Beach Sun-News (Myrtle Beach, South Carolina)
Related Edutopia article: Why Integrate Technology into the Curriculum?
Students Get Hands-On Experience
In one classroom, students pore over wires and switches, a complicated array of materials used to produce a working version of a mazelike circuit diagram on the projection screen.-- Baltimore Sun
Related Edutopia video: Engaging in Real-World Projects
"You're Shutting Our Dreams Down"
Students now fear a bureaucratic breakdown will cause the school, formally known as Media Arts Academy Charter School, to close. With an enrollment of about 140 in the 2007-08 school year, Media Arts offers a project-based curriculum that includes a focus on recording arts and gives students the opportunity to create music -- hence its nickname, "Hip-Hop High." -- Los Angeles Times
Related Edutopia article: Rhythm and Lyrics Teach Everything from English to Algebra
Building from the Foundation Up
Back in 2005, when the real estate market was on a roll, an education foundation partnered with Botetourt County Schools's building-trades program to help students get hands-on knowledge of the housing industry. Over the next two years, students sawed, mitered, and nailed together the 3,300-square-foot home. -- Roanoke Times (Roanoke, Virginia)
Related Edutopia article: Teens Plan and Build Their Own Learning Environment
See more Readings at Edutopia.org 
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Opportunities and Resources
The George Lucas Educational Foundation Grant Information List
The Actuarial Foundation's Math Academy (series of free, downloadable project-learning math-curriculum handbooks developed by teachers for grades 3-8)
Mathcounts (national middle school math-enrichment, coaching, and competition program; sponsors annual math-skills contest and provides resources to help schools start math clubs)
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Equity in Mathematics Grants for Grades 6-8 Teachers (November 14; up to $3,000 to a math teacher or a small group of teachers for projects to engage underachieving students)
News from The George Lucas Educational Foundation
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