The New York State Museum is proud to announce the 7th annual Teacher Workshop on Evolution. Topics to be discussed include current research in biodiversity, phylogenetic reconstruction, speciation, natural and sexual selection, hominid evolution, and the relevance of evolution in modern life. The workshop format will encourage discussions among teacher participants and propose classroom-ready exercises designed to enhance evolutionary content and understanding in science classes. Sessions on teaching evolution in the classroom address NY State Learning Standards for Science #4, and English Language Arts #1 and #3.

Presentations and discussions will be led by researchers and educators from the State Museum and the Capital Region. Each year, the speakers and topics vary to reflect current information, so please consider attending even if you have attended in previous years!

Location:
New York State Museum, Empire State Plaza,
Albany, NY 12230

Eligibility: high school and middle school science teachers
Dates & Times: Feb 6 and 7, 2009 8:30AM–5:00PM
Participant Fee: $25 for constituents of the Greater Capital Region Teacher Center; $50 for all others; 15 contact hours. Participation is limited; applications will be accepted based on the order they are received.

For more information contact Jason Cryan Ph. D Director of the Laboratory for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics jcryan@mail.nysed.gov or Valerie Fish room 3140 NY State Museum, Albany NY 12230 phone 518-474-5817 vfish@mail.nysed.gov

Rocks, Rivers and Deep Time

The 2009 DH Cadwell Earth Science Workshop will focus on the Geologic Evolution of the Mohawk Valley and Hudson Valley in eastern New York State. This program is designed as an intensive 5 day residential workshop providing 45 contact hours of professional development for secondary Earth Science teachers. The program will consist of topical lectures on the geology of New York State, investigative breakout sessions, and field trips to examine first hand the geologic evidence that defines the State’s natural history. The intent of the course is to provide an energetic and stimulating educational environment that fosters knowledge and resources to earth science teachers preparing students for the NY State Earth Science Regents examination.

Topics will include: • Plate tectonics • Glaciation and glacial landforms • New York fossils and evolution • Economic geology and resources • Sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks in New York • Origin of the Catskills, Adirondack and Taconic Mountains • Origin of the Mohawk and Hudson Valleys

Instructors include Museum staff: Andrew Kozlowski, Ph.D. (Glacial Geologist), William Kelly, Ph.D. (NY State Geologist), and Charles Ver Straeten Ph.D. (Devonian Stratigrapher\ Sedimentologist). Also included are Paul Scott (Niskayuna HS), Courtney Demming (Schalmont MS) and Laura Virga (Loweville CS).

This is a juried-entry course. Registrants will be sent application materials and will be notified of enrollment status.

Location: The Rensselaerville Meeting Center,
www.rmeetingcenter.com
Date/time: July 6th through July 10th, 2009
Cost: $497.50 GCRTC constituents (All others $995.)

Includes room & board, all workshop materials, and bus transportation for the field trip; 45 contact hours.

For more information, send a request by fax (518-486-2034) or email to Ms. Donna Jornov , New York State Museum, Rm 3140 CEC, Albany, New York 12230, or contact Dr. Andrew Kozlowski (Director) at (518)-474-5816

The New York State Museum announces a professional development workshop designed by museum scientists and researchers for social studies teachers in grades 3-7. It is a unique professional development experience that creates a learning community of classroom teachers who work side-by-side with museum scientists and researchers in an archaeological investigation of Native American and early Euro-American primary source material. It invites teachers to actively participate in the process of archaeology and learn about regional history through classroom lectures, fieldwork and analysis of material objects in Museum collection areas.

Through teamwork exercises, participants will learn how to collect and organize specimens, record data, generate questions, formulate hypotheses, develop and defend explanations, and present findings in Native American and early Euro-American history. They will also update and expand their understanding of local and regional history and foster close working relationships with museum scientists and researchers. Participants will be expected to perform some physical labor and to work outdoors in variable weather conditions. Current research information and resources will address the advantages of object-based learning, using a museum as an educational resource, and applications to the State Learning Standards for social studies #1.4, #3.1, #4.1; math #3.4, #3.5; science, #4.7; and English language arts #1, #3, and #4.

Dates: July 20-24, 2009 (Mon-Fri)
Times: 9-5 on Monday and Friday; 8:30- 4:30 on Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday.
Fee: $56 ($112 for non-GCRTC constituents) 35 contact
hours.
Price includes visual materials, archaeology kit pack, and resources for classroom application. Participants are responsible for their own transportation to the archaeology site.

Presentations and discussions will be led by Dr. Christina Rieth, State Archaeologist, New York State Museum, Dr. Sean Rafferty, Assistant Professor of Archaeology, University at Albany, SUNY, Steve Moragne, Archaeologist, University at Albany, SUNY, Tracey Thomas, Laboratory Director, New York State Museum, John Pasquini, Laboratory Director, New York State Museum, Lisa Anderson, Curator of Osteology, New York State Museum, Vanessa Dale, Bioarchaeologist, New York State Museum, Barry Dale, Principal Investigator (Archaeology), New York State Museum, and Daniel Mazeau, Principal Investigator (Archaeology), New York State Museum.

Enrollment is limited to only 16 participants to ensure individualized attention.

For more information please contact: Christina Rieth, Ph.D., State Archaeologist and Director of the Cultural Resource Survey Program, New York State Museum, Cultural Education Center 3118, Albany, New York 12230. Phone: (518) 402-5975; e-mail: crieth@mail.nysed.gov

The New York State Museum offers an interdisciplinary workshop for teachers of elementary and junior high school social studies. The cultural and historical legacy of 17th century Dutch settlements and interactions with Native Americans will be featured. Included will be the areas of ethnography, geology, historical archaeology, and classroom applications for teaching with historical documents and objects. We will compare symbols of community, economic and social decision-making in Algonquian-speaking and New Netherland societies, adaptations to change over time, and lasting cultural influences.

Teachers will have access to collections of original source materials now held by the New York State Museum, the New York State Library, and the New York State Archives, all programs of the Office of Cultural Education, under the New York State Education Department. The New York State Learning Standards addressed in the workshop are: Social Studies #1.1, #1.3 & #1.4 (NY State History); #3.2 (Geography); #4.1 (Economics); English Language Arts #1, #3, & #4; Math #3.4; Science #4.7; and Technology #5.5.

Among the speakers will be: Dr. Betty Duggan, NY State Museum Curator of Ethnography and Ethnology, NY State Museum; Dr. Charles Ver Straeten, Senior Scientist, NYSM; Dr. Charles Orser, Curator of Historical Archaeology, NYSM; Dr. Charles Gehring, Director, The New Netherland Project, NY State Library; Steve Comer, local member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans and Research Associate, NYSM; Dr. James Folts, PhD., Head of Researcher Services, NYS Archives; and Valerie Fish, Museum Education Planner.

Topics Will Include

1. Eastern New York, Prior To 1600
1. Natural history of the Champlain-Hudson- Mohawk corridors, with a geological focus on the underlying bedrock and covering glacial deposits.
2. Archeological evidence of Native American settlements, cultural adaptations, and farming in the Hudson River Valley from 13,000 to 400 years ago.
2. Culture and Life in 17th Century New Netherland
1. History New Netherland: Fort Orange, Beverwyck, and New Amsterdam, including architectural, religious, legal and cultural traditions.
2. Algonquian-speaking societies and their homelands: day-to-day community life at the time of Henry Hudson’s arrival. Examine original documents of Native American land sales, maps of the period, and hundreds of recorded deeds.
   
3. Post 17th Century Albany
1. How the entrepreneurial nature of Dutch settlements brought together Native Americans, English, Irish and other Europeans, as well as Africans from the Caribbean.
2. Dutch heritage persists into later centuries in Hudson Valley material culture. Examine cultural and decorative influences, as seen in18th century collections in the Museum.
3. The Algonquian presence in the Hudson Valley today, after early displacements and later emigration to Wisconsin.
   
4. Workshop Activities and Classroom Applications
1. A. Behind the Scenes at the Office of Cultural Education: tour of the archeology and history collections in the Museum; tour of The New Netherland Project records and the Conservation Laboratory, shared by the NY State Archives and Library.
   
2. Classroom Applications: how to create new Document-Based Questions for students, using Library, Museum, & Archive materials; plus how to “read” artifacts as documents of past life.

Location: New York State Museum, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY
Dates: July 8–10, 2009 Time: 8:30AM–5PM
Fee: $45 for the constituents of the GCRTC, $90 for all others - 21 hrs/ in-service credits

For more information please contact V. Fish, Room 3140 NY State Museum, Albany NY 12230 (518) 474-5817 Email: Valerie Fish