www.nationallabday.org

includes Outdoor Classrooms, Labs, Fieldtrips too!

President Obama Announces National Lab Day Initiative

On Monday, President Obama announced the establishment of National Lab
Day, a new science education initiative aimed at improving labs and
inquiry-based science experiences for students in grades 6-12.

Designed to increase community-based collaborations between
scientists, engineers, teachers and students, National Lab Day emerged
from collaboration earlier this year among NSTA, the American Chemical
Society (ACS), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Jack D.
Hidary Foundation, and the MacArthur Foundation.

National Lab Day will bring together stakeholders in communities of
support where science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)
professionals and teachers can work together to assess current labs,
update or refurbish lab equipment, conduct equipment and materials
inventory, clean and repair equipment, and provide technology support.
Projects can also center on computer or outdoor labs-anywhere where
hands-on lessons in the STEM subjects can come alive.

The first National Lab Day is tentatively scheduled for early May 2010.

For more information about National Lab Day,

visit the official website at

www.nationallabday.org.

* New York Times article on National Lab Day=20
<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/education/23educ.html> =20

* About National Lab Day=20
<http://science.nsta.org/nstaexpress/NationalLabDayFactSheet.pdf> =
(PDF)=20

* NSTA's official statement=20
<http://www.nsta.org/about/pressroom.aspx?id=3D56769&lid=3Dexp> regarding =
the President's announcement=20

About National Lab Day (PDF) (http://science.nsta.org/nstaexpress/
NationalLabDayFactSheet.pdf)