Regional Math and Science Center

As announced by President Obama in 2009, National Lab Day (NLD) will be held the first week of May, 2010. However, National Lab Day is more than just a day. It's a nationwide initiative to build local communities of support (hubs) that will foster ongoing collaborations among volunteers, students and educators.
 
A lab is a place where you can explore, experiment, test, and maybe even get your hands dirty. We're not just talking about test tubes and beakers. A lab could be a laptop to a software designer, a mountaintop to a geologist, a distant particle accelerator computer link to a physicist, or a factory floor to an industrial engineer. It's a place where hands-on lessons in science and engineering and technology can be designed to happen, or where math can come alive, and it could be anywhere in the physical or virtual world.
 
Volunteers — university students, scientists, engineers, other STEM professionals and, more broadly, members of the community — are being asked to work together with educators and students to improve labs and discovery-based science experiences for students in grades 6-12.
 
A hub is a group of volunteers committed to improving labs and lab experiences for our students. Hubs can support an individual teacher, a group of teachers, a school or school district, or a project. They form to match teachers' classroom needs with volunteer expertise, time and resources.
 
Volunteers might install software or identify useful Web resources, fix and find equipment, implement hands-on projects, help with science fairs, chaperone field trips, help with lesson development, and be an advisor for an after-school program. Connect with your teachers through the NLD site and find out!
 
Teachers are the “heart” of the National Lab Day effort. Whether it's additional lab equipment, personal mentoring from a scientist, tech support, or just an extra set of hands for a class project, teachers know how to improve their students' hands on learning experiences and are being asked to work with local volunteers to meet the needs identified. 
 
For more information and to either offer or request help with a project, visit www.nationallabday.org.