Education Newswatch August/September 2004

In Brief
Fujifilm's Products for Learning
Teachers can now easily integrate digital photo and film technology as part of their lesson plans through Fujifilm's Products for Learning program. The new program works closely with educators across the country to help expand student creativity, improve communication skills and increase student motivation through hands-on experience. From digital portfolios for kindergartners and photojournalism with eighth graders to photo enhancement projects with photography students at colleges and universities, teachers can use a range of donated Fujifilm products, such as cd-roms, film and digital cameras to enhance learning in classrooms.

To apply for Products for Learning, teachers need to submit an application and lesson plan to Fujifilm. Information and guidelines are available by going to http://www.fujifilm.com/JSP/fuji/epartners/ProductsForLearning.jsp Please note that the applications are reviewed monthly and that only one award can be given per school.

www.SchoolBookings.com
Persuading great authors to visit your school can be a challenge. Yet there are many wonderful authors who'd love to speak to students if given the opportunity. A new service called www.SchoolBookings.com now provides educators with a free database of authors eager to do book signings and presentations.

www.SchoolBookings.com allows schools access to its database of authors and illustrators, tips on setting up signings and events and a free place to list information about your visiting authors and illustrators.

For more information about this great resource, e-mail info@school bookings.com, call 480-940-8182 or visit www.SchoolBookings.com

The Geography Olympics
Countries from across the globe are currently competing to display their geography knowledge at the Geography Olympics. And with search engines bringing contestants from all over the world, new countries continue to add to the challenge.

To join the Geography Olympics, all students have to do is go to www.geographyolympics.com and spend 200 seconds attempting to locate 10 countries on an interactive map of the world. Upon completion, participants are given a score from 0 to 100 and informed of how well they represented their country in the Geography Olympics. Since the 10 countries of the quiz are randomly selected, it's different every time.

A Broader View, the sponsor of the Geography Olympics, has also created The Global Puzzle (ages 9 and up) to help improve geographic knowledge. To order a puzzle or find out where one can be purchased in your area, go to www.abroaderview.com or call 404-869-6464.

Headsprout "5-by-5" Promotion
Teachers who sign up five students for Headsprout Early Reading, a supplemental reading program, and have these students complete the first five online lessons of the program, will be entered in a monthly drawing. The winners will receive both the online and offline Headsprout Early Reading materials for use in their classrooms. Interested educators can sign up their students for the "5-by-5" promotion by going to www.headsprout.com/teachers The monthly drawings are scheduled through December 31, 2004.

GetCharged's "Quest for Excellence" Program
GetCharged™, a not-for-profit organization, has developed the "Quest for Excellence" program to get people to think critically about sports and combine academics with active play to study mathematics, physics, history and social studies. The program consists of thought-provoking materials and issues on topics ranging from golf ball construction to the size of tennis racquet heads. It's designed to enhance any learning environment and complement educational experiences both inside and outside the classroom.

GetCharged is also producing a free monthly newsletter that focuses on a particular topic in sport technology and examines not only the science behind a technology, but also the social science, including the history of the technology, the effect on the tradition of the sport, sport as a leisure activity and a spectator activity. The information is targeted to middle-school students, but is intended to provide interesting topics for group conversations at any level.

For more information, check out www.getcharged.org or send an e-mail to info@getcharged.org

Science Screen Report Award
The Science Screen Report Award is given to one K-12 science teacher who has creatively used commercially-available films or videotapes to develop a science unit or theme. The prize includes $1,000 cash and travel expenses of up to $500 to attend the NSTA National Convention where the Science Screen Award will be presented. The application deadline is October 15, 2004.

For more information, please call 800-400-6782 or visit www.nsta.org/194

National School Fitness Foundation Grants
Schools that have an extra 1,800 square feet and interested staff members could qualify for free athletic equipment. This special offer includes weight machines and computers that measure body fat and heart rates. The grant, valued at $200,000 to $250,000 per school, comes from the National School Fitness Foundation, a Utah-based nonprofit organization that seeks to increase physical activity among school children.

The foundation has been donating equipment to public schools for almost three years in exchange for data and has implemented its program in more than 100 schools in six states. The program includes all of the exercise equipment and computer technology necessary, three-year software licenses and vendor agreements, instructional materials and exercise plans. The equipment includes treadmills, exercise bicycles, resistive cords, shoulder presses, leg extensions and pectoral decks as well as timed circuit clocks, heart rate and blood pressure monitors, body composition analyzers, computers, fax machines and printers. Data from the use of these machines is forwarded to research centers such as the American Cancer Society and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.