The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation seeks high-achieving high school seniors with financial need for its College Scholarship Program, the largest undergraduate scholarship in the nation. Selected students receive college planning support, ongoing advising, and up to $40,000 per year to attend a four-year accredited undergraduate institution. If you know students who stand out for their exceptional academic abilities and achievements, persistence, leadership, and desire to help others,please encourage them to visit the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s website to learn more. The application closes on November 3. 

See http://www.chicagomuseumweek.com/ for all the details.

Global #gtchat Powered by TAGT is a Twitter chat held weekly. Each week features a different topic and transcripts of the chats are available. Participating is a nice way to get a boost of support. Here is the complete description from their web site..

Global #gtchat Powered by the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented is a weekly chat on Twitter that takes place on Fridays at 7PM ET/6PM CT & 4 PM PT in the U.S. Find your time zone here. On the third Sunday of each month, #gtchat moves to 4 PM ET /3 PM CT and 1 PM PT in the U.S. (your time zone here) to accommodate the schedules of those who are unable to attend on Fridays. For 1 hour, parents, educators, advocates and experts in the field of gifted and talented gather to share resources, links, authentic life experiences and insights about gifted issues.

Founded in 2010 by Deborah Mersino, this successful Twitter chat is now moderated by Lisa Conrad who may be followed on Twitter @gtchatmod. The #gtchat Community includes archived transcripts at Storify, a Facebook Page and this Blog where weekly posts summarize each chat and include all the links provided during the chat. The conversation does not end with the last tweet of a chat. More than 1,200 tweets are devoted to the #gtchat hashtag each week. Just search “#gtchat” on Twitter to see what’s happening in the gifted and talented community.

A wide-range of topics are discussed each week. Past topics have included: twice-exceptional gifted children, perfectionism, multicultural gifted education, executive functioning, parenting gifted children, differentiation, acceleration, how to write an individual education plan for a gifted student and much more.

At #gtchat, we also are proud of the many guest experts in the field of gifted education who have joined us to discuss their area of expertise. Past guests have included Dr. Lynette Breedlove (Executive Director of Gatton Academy), Dr. Lynne Kenney (The Family Coach), Dr. Joy Lawson Davis (Bright, Black and Gifted), Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman (Ungifted), Calista Frederick-Jankowsi (Davidson Young Scholars), Lisa Van Gemert (American Mensa), Ian Byrd (Byrdseed Gifted) and many more.

Have we piqued your interest? Join us on Twitter by following @gtchatmod and the hashtag #gtchat. See you on Fridays at 7/6 C!

Registration is open for Fermilab's fall line-up of Science Adventures. Classes are for students in grades K - 8 and  generally take place on Saturday mornings. Example classes include "Dinosaur Hunt" (grades K-2), "Magnetic Magic" (grades 1-4) and "Lego Engineering" (grades 6 - 8). See the Fermilab Science Adventures web page for a complete listing of classes and registration information.

From the Adler Planetarium web site:

Spend an Evening Underneath the Stars

Don't miss your chance to spend a night at the museum!  Please note that Astro-Overnights are limited to children ages 6-10 (entering 1st grade through 4th grade) with their families, scout group, or other special group. All children attending the evening-only portion or the full Overnight MUST be accompanied by an adult. 

• Check out our hands-on activities
• See two amazing sky shows
• Telescope Observing
• Enjoy a light snack
• Savor a continental breakfast

Want to enjoy the evening, but can't spend the night? No worries. There is an evening only option available on select dates. Enjoy the same program, but sleep in your own bed.

Tickets for 2016 Astro-Overnights will go on sale Saturday, August 15.

Upcoming Astro - Overnight Dates:

February 5, 2016

March 4, 2016

March 11, 2016

April 1, 2016

May 6, 2016

June 3, 2016

From the Adler Planetarium 5/21/2015 Adler Planetarium email newsletter:

How big is the Solar System, really? How long does it take light to travel from the Sun to the Earth? See for yourself with Planets on the Path, the Adler's new walkable scale model of the Solar System.  

Starting this Memorial Day weekend, you'll find planet installations spanning Chicago's entire lakefront. Beginning with the "Sun" station at the Adler, you can follow the "planets" south to Calumet Park or north to Juneway Terrace Park. If you walk at a leisurely pace, it will take you about the same amount of time to reach each planet as it would take a beam of light. Pretty cool, right? 

Learn more about Planets on the Path and map your route today!

Every Saturday morning beginning April 4, through June 6, 2015; lectures start at 11:00 a.m. (No lecture on May 23rd [Memorial Day weekend]).

Lecturer: Andrew McCann, EFI Postdoctoral Scholar 
Topic: "Nature's Timepiece: The Exotic World of Pulsars"

Kersten Physics Teaching Center
5720 S. Ellis Avenue, Room 106
Chicago, IL 60637

Neutron stars are born in the final moments of the supernova death of massive stars and, in keeping with their exotic origin, they exhibit unmatched extremes in a variety of ways. Not only are they the smallest stars we know of, neutron stars are the most dense solid objects in the known Universe. Their surface gravity is 100 billion times that of the Earth and their magnetic fields’ strengths, which can reach 10¹⁵ Gauss, are the strongest known to exist. Neutron stars are born rotating rapidly and their emission, like the beam from a lighthouse, is observed as a highly stable and regular periodic pulsation - hence the name 'pulsating star' or 'pulsar'. Although pulsars were discovered over 40 years ago and the number of known pulsars exceeds 2400, the physical processes which power the vast array of unique and often bizarre phenomena observed from pulsars are poorly understood. Explaining the observed behaviour of neutron stars has become one of the most challenging puzzles in high-energy astrophysics. Despite the longstanding mystery of their emission, the steady and predictable pulsations from pulsars make them remarkably powerful astrophysical tools. This duality has put pulsars at the centre of some of the most compelling astrophysical research of the last few decades.

Each week we will explore different aspects of this duality, by reviewing pulsar phenomena in different wave bands (radio, optical, x-ray, gamma-ray) and by discussing the role of pulsars in tests of Einstein's theory of relativity and in the search for gravitational waves.  No scientific background is required -- just bring your curiosity. 

See The Compton Lecture Series web site for complete details.