It used to be that a unit on the polar regions focused on historical explorations or cute stories about polar bears and penguins. But with the Internet, students can get involved themselves in real-time explorations and studies, such as the ones featured in this month’s issue. In case you erased your copy of NSTA’s Science Class, this month’s issue had a list of links for On the Web: Polar Science and the International Polar Year . Other resources are available from the organizations such as the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: Polar Research and Polar Discovery. Other relevant website can be found on the SciLinks site with the keyword polar marine ecosystems.
A colleague tuned me in to Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears, an online magazine designed for K-5 teachers. But don’t scoff at this – there are no dancing cartoons here, and when I looked at the online versions for grades 4-5, this could be perfect for older students who have challenges reading high school level materials. These nonfiction books are serious science in them and the site itself is not childish.
It seems that just about every topic in science has engaging projects and resources for the classroom. But one refrain keeps coming up: “I’d love to do these, but I have too much to cover.” If we assume that “cover” means to transmit information, the lecture is how this is often accomplished. The latest issue of Learning and Leading with Technology has an interesting point/counterpoint discussion on the topic Should Podcasts Replace Lectures? One of the participants makes a strong case for the value of interactive lectures, while the other notes that if a lecture is simply a one-way transmission of information, why not take advantage of the medium that has become an integral part of our students’ lives.
Our students are already wired for sound! I had to stop for a school bus recently, and just about every student who got off had a cell phone and/or an iPod attached to his or her ears. I wonder if the students who frequently forget their homework or textbooks ever leave home without their electronics? This same issue of Learning and Leading also had an article Remixing Chemistry Class that describes how two chemistry teachers make “vodcasts” (videos with lectures and demonstrations) to free up class time for lab investigations and other activities. Unfortunately, the article is available online only to members of ISTE, but your school’s technology coordinator may be a member and can get you the article.
If you’re not as familiar with podcasts as you’d like to be, many organizations have daily or weekly podcasts (which you can also listen to on your computer – you don’t need to walk around with earbuds). Scientific American and AAAS have brief podcasts on a variety of topics. If you Google science + podcast,, you get a lengthy list. And don’t forget NSTA’s Lab Out Loud (check out episode 23 on the Period Table of Videos).
If you’d like to take the plunge and try to create a podcast, your students can probably show you how, or you can check out the Resources section of the EdTech Innovators website. These two science teachers have embraced the way current technologies can engage students. Their resources include free downloads of the software and step-by-step directions for creating a podcast. Wouldn’t it be interesting to have students create podcasts – for review or make-up work or for younger students?