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Richard Varner Male Greenbelt, MD United States: Share on Facebook Share Twitter

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There's an App For That!

Tags: devices, mobile, astronomy, technology, app

Started on Monday

Thoughts on Integrating Technology
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When I signed up to join MSP2 on March 18, 2010, Davilla Riddle welcomedme and posed an interesting question...color:#333333"">For…Continue

Tags: community, learning, technology, integrating

Started this discussion. Last reply by Rebecca Lawson Apr 3, 2010.

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Astronomy teachers rejoice!There are a great number of technology resources for the study of astronomy. To make it easier to locate the right app for your needs, this past December the American Astronomical Society posted a catalog of the known applications for mobile devices.ttp://astronomyonline.org/PDFs/iPhoneApps.pdfSee More

Discussion posted by Richard Varner Monday

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NASA professional development topics would you like to see offered?

I am an education specialist with the NASA AESP Project and based at the Goddard Space Flight Center. With the federal budget reductions, much of the face to face professional development workshops our project has offered across the country in local school districts have been equally reduced. Our specialists will continue to support educators and have looked at other means to do so. We hope to bring resources and webinar programming to teachers through MSP2's community, so it makes sense to…See More

Richard Varner added a discussion to the group Science Dec 15, 2011

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Science

Richard Varner joined Middle School Portal's group Dec 15, 2011

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Richard Varner commented on Sarita Pillai's blog post 'Earth Science Week Oct 9 - 15'

Here are some resources and Earth Science Week 2011 connections from NASA: Earth Science Week 2011 (October 9-15, 2011) "Our Ever-Changing Earth" URL: climate.nasa.gov/esw2011 Here is a schedule of events: Friday, Oct.…

Oct 4, 2011

Richard Varner replied to Kim Lightle's discussion 'Teaching Tornadoes (or Other Extreme Weather Events)'

NASA works with NOAA and many researchers to study these extreme weather events from space. The educational materials are a little dated; however, the data from new satellites and computer models is amazing when put into animations. Here is a…

Jul 5, 2011

Richard Varner replied to Leidy Luciani's discussion 'Invention Convention'

CT has a well organized Invention Convention, but there was a strong movement for this program in Florida many years ago. The state affiliate for NSTA in FL is FAST and there may be someone on their contact list who can provide some background on…

Mar 11, 2011

Richard Varner replied to Davilla Riddle's discussion 'NMSA 2010 - Let's Connect'

I spent the morning in both of Alan November's presentations and while I don't always agree with him on every topic, I always find his discussions to be thought provoking. One item that he mentioned, was the web site…

Nov 8, 2010

Richard Varner commented on Richard Varner's blog post '"Social" Site Separation in Some States or is Web 2.0 a no Go?'

Agreed, Vivian. Thank you for yor comments. I know a number of people within the NASA community that have a professional and personal identity on FB for this reason. These days there is almost as much NASA Content on Facebook and the other social…

Nov 8, 2010

Vivian Barker commented on Richard Varner's blog post '"Social" Site Separation in Some States or is Web 2.0 a no Go?'

Even though I am new to facebook and all this instant messages--I believe as a profession the last person I want to see my personal comments (when I do post) are my students. There are other avenues to facilitate communication with students in a…

Nov 6, 2010

"Social" Site Separation in Some States or is Web 2.0 a no Go?

While working with teachers in MA, I read a local news story that describes the termination procedures that may face teachers in the state if they use Facebook and "Friend" their students. While I understand some of the implications that "Friending" a student might imply, I also understand that the web site is used for academic purposes in many schools.There will certainly be a number of legal and union negotiations to follow, but thought this might be a topic that warranted discussion in this…See More

Blog post by Richard Varner Nov 4, 2010

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Richard Varner commented on Darlene Kellner's blog post 'NASA Kids in Micro-g Challenges Students to Design an Experiment for the International Space Station'

This is an amazing experience! I've had the oportunity to work with teachers in CT who have been accepted for in-flight ISS experiments and they all rave about the interactions they provide for their students. Here is another related…

Nov 4, 2010

Susan Kaye Quinn commented on Richard Varner's blog post 'The Science Connections in Science Fiction'

I'm not a teacher, but I know that our jr high (gr 7-8) uses team teaching and thematic units. For example, Anne Frank is used in everything from english (obviously) to math and science in a coordinated effort. As a school board member, it was…

Oct 8, 2010

Richard Varner commented on Richard Varner's blog post 'The Science Connections in Science Fiction'

As the National Middle School Association's conference in Baltimore approaches, I was thinking a bit more about Debbie Silver's comments on interdisciplinary units. When I worked at Lincoln Middle School and, to some extent, at Howard…

Oct 8, 2010

Richard Varner commented on Richard Varner's blog post 'The Science Connections in Science Fiction'

I'll be on travel in MA for the STEM Summit, but did go on line to view a youtube posting of FUTURESTATES. Very interesting. Love the social implications, very much like the classic Rod Serling Twilight Zone episodes. Thanks Kim!

Sep 26, 2010

Kim Lightle commented on Richard Varner's blog post 'The Science Connections in Science Fiction'

Just came across this free webinar - Teaching with Science Fiction Film: FUTURESTATES from ITVS - http://www.learncentral.org/node/104600 - on Learn Central. It is Monday - so short notice but might be worth checking into.

Sep 26, 2010

Richard Varner replied to aimee's discussion 'How Many of You Know About the USA Science & Engineering Festival?'

Aimee, NASA will be participating in this event and as I understanding it right now there will be many exhibits and interactive activities both along the National Mall and along a secion of Pennsylvania Ave that will be closed off at the Freedom…

Sep 24, 2010

Profile Information

Which best describes your position?: Other

What discipline(s) do you teach?: Science, Mathematics, Technology, Social Studies, Enrichment, Other

I can help with: Content knowledge, Gifted and talented, Instructional strategies, Integrating technology, Being a new teacher, Science fairs/competitions, Standards, Student misconceptions

Richard Varner's Blog

"Social" Site Separation in Some States or is Web 2.0 a no Go?

There will certainly be a number of legal and union negotiations to follow, but thought this might be a topic that…

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Posted on November 4, 2010 at 10:04am — 2 Comments

The Science Connections in Science Fiction

As I was preparing for a summer rocketry program and activities at Western Connecticut State University this week, did some quick background research in an attempt to connect Robert Goddard's work of almost a hundred years ago to today's adolescents.

Turns out that Dr. Goddard has credited the classic novels of Jules Verne and Orson Wells as his early inspiration to look skyward and dream of tomorrow's realities. When his research was moved from Devers, MA to Roswell, NM in…

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Posted on August 23, 2010 at 10:57am — 18 Comments

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At 10:43pm on January 11, 2011, Kim Lightle said…: Hope you join us online this Thursday, 1/13 at 4pm EST as we explore how reader's theater can be used to improve comprehension of informational text and help students learn science concepts. We'll focus on science-themed text, but the same principles can apply to other content areas as well. You can find the link to participate, the descriptions, and archived recordings of all the webinars at http://wiki.nsdl.org/index.php/BeyondPenguins/Seminars

At 4:50pm on October 21, 2010, Kim Lightle said…: Hi Richard - Did you see Science 360 today? There is a video about using science fiction - I thought of you! http://news.science360.gov/archives/20101021

At 10:26pm on March 18, 2010, Rebecca Lawson said…: Great, Richard!!

Our Southern Baptist relatives might not be too keen on the Mormon connection, but this is very interesting!!

Your work does sound like a dream.

Do you have an idea for the best way to share the science/tech integration info. Do you think it would work best in a blog, a forum conversation, or as part of the tech integration group?

So glad you are here! Although I only teach science through computer managed instruction software this year, I am very interested in learning from you!
Rebecca

At 8:40pm on March 18, 2010, Rebecca Lawson said…: Richard,

Welcome to MSP2! I love the questions that Davilla posted to you. This could be a great way to get some discussion going on this topic. Maybe you could post in the Forum and invite other comments.

If there is a way I can help, please let me know.

In addition to welcoming you to MSP2, i also have a personal interest in welcoming you. My mom's maiden name was Varner. We don't know a lot about the Varners ... just the ones around us who are kin. We live in SC. Where do your Varner relatives live? Has anyone in your family researched the family?

Also, I noticed that you work for NASA. (As a Teacher Leader I get to see email addresses that regular members do not see.) Also, I notice you are in Maryland? Do you work at Goddard? A friend's father worked there back near the beginning of the space program. He built a lot of the payloads for the rockets back in those days. (Now, that is a very general statement because I don't know a lot about it.) He probably retired in the late 70s or early 80s.

Personally, I have always been a space junkie. It has been fantastic to see two shuttle launches .. but never a night launch. That is a disappointment. Back when Shepard and Glenn were our nation's heroes, we took our transistor radios to school so we could hear the fantastic things that were happening. In the summer, I would pin my radio to the clothes line as I hung out the clothes so I didn't miss a second of the coverage.

When my brother was young, he had a book that talked about a family going on a visit to the moon. I always thought we would be able to go into space in my lifetime. However, as an adult, i realize the monetary implications of this dream.

Enough ... but it is exciting to have some NASA folks with us here. Please let me know if I can help in any way.
Rebecca
Rock Hill, SC

At 1:49am on March 18, 2010, Davilla Riddle said…: For those members that are learning to integrate technology, what suggestions or tips do you have, if any?

At 7:30pm on March 17, 2010, Davilla Riddle said…: Hi,
Welcome to MSP2.

Is there anything I can help you with right now?

What is one tip you have for integrating technology in a science or math classroom?

Would you like to contribute a cool tool you have used recently in your classroom?

Aloha.

At 4:09pm on March 17, 2010, Kim Lightle said…: Hi Richard - I bet you are at Susan and Jessica's workshop at NSTA sitting right next to Anthony - Welcome aboard!

We are using this NING network as a place where educators can connect with each other (through answers to profile questions and the advanced Members search) and also as a way to connect educators with exemplary resources and professional development opportunities.

If you look on the Main page - you'll see MSP2 resources in the upper left hand box - we have resource guides where we have sifted and sorted and contextualized resources on topics important to middle school math and science teachers, an archive of all of our past webinars, the ability to search the MSP2 collection, and pages of teacher opportunities and grants.

We have have on the right side of the page our two project blogs - Resources for Math and Science and Connecting News. We also RSS feed the Teach Engineering blog and two NYT blog feeds.

You can see a list of all the MSP2 events and others that we think would be of interest to our audience under the Events tab. We have groups - including a book club - and lots of conversations!

I was thinking that we need to make sure that we are including any NASA events, teacher opportunities, etc in the portal and we are always looking for people who would like to present to our community about resources, science content, etc. Seems like we should tap into the NASA well. So glad you joined - Kim