Project: SciNews
Website:  http://sites.psu.edu/scinews/
Program: NASA Space Grant Consortium
Goal: SciNews provides middle and high school teachers with pre-packaged lessons on science current events (such as an oil spill, earthquake, or shuttle launch). The lessons are short (~20 minutes), easy to implement, and align to state standards. I use a listserv to communicate to email educators when new materials are posted online. All of the lessons are free to download and use. Visit the SciNews website above to view and download new and archived lessons and to sign up for the SciNews listserv!

Example Lessons (pdf): 2011 Japan Tsunami // Mars Science Laboratory Rover Curiosity Launches

Project: Pennsylvania middle and high school classroom visits
Program: Dept. of Geosciences in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at PSU
Goal: So what does an earth scientist do? What kinds of classes do you take in college? What is graduate school; do you have to go? Where can earth scientists work? Most high school students take biology, chemistry, and physics either skipping earth science all together or it is not offered. As students transition to college, if they are interested in science they may chose to go into physics, chem, or biology without realizing the opportunities that the earth science field has to offer in geophysics, geobiology, or geochemistry, for example. This does a great disservice to society as earth science issues become increasingly important – think climate change, energy, and natural disasters. With that in mind I periodically visit classrooms in Pennsylvania to talk with students and work on an activity with them related to earth sciences and chemistry, biology, or physics.