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What would it take to move your school or district closer toward a culture that supports and sustains professional learning communities (PLCs)?
What would it take to move your school or district closer toward a culture that supports and sustains professional learning communities (PLCs)?
Science teachers aiming to foster inquiry in their classrooms will find the sixth title in the Exemplary Science monograph series, Inquiry: The Key to Exemplary Science full of helpful advice and new techniques.

The 18 chapters in this monograph illustrate various forms of inquiry, offer detailed examples of planning and execution, and provide case studies highlighting successful implementation of inquiry. Student learning, development of positive attitudes, the ability to use concepts and skills in completely new situations are all demonstrated for use in your classroom.
Science teachers aiming to foster inquiry in their classrooms will find the sixth title in the Exemplary Science monograph series, Inquiry: The Key to Exemplary Science full of helpful advice and new techniques.

The 18 chapters in this monograph illustrate various forms of inquiry, offer detailed examples of planning and execution, and provide case studies highlighting successful implementation of inquiry. Student learning, development of positive attitudes, the ability to use concepts and skills in completely new situations are all demonstrated for use in your classroom.
Science does not exist in a vacuum and, therefore, shouldn’t be taught that way. In that spirit, Activities Linking Science With Math, 5-8, is a hands-on guide for preservice and inservice elementary and middle school teachers who want to connect science instruction with other areas of study—including visual arts, social sciences, language arts, and especially math.
Science does not exist in a vacuum and, therefore, shouldn’t be taught that way. In that spirit, Activities Linking Science With Math, 5-8, is a hands-on guide for preservice and inservice elementary and middle school teachers who want to connect science instruction with other areas of study—including visual arts, social sciences, language arts, and especially math.
Drawing from the author’s own work as a lab developer, coordinator, and instructor, this one-of-a-kind text for college biology teachers uses the inquiry method in presenting 40 different lab exercises that make complicated biology subjects accessible to major and nonmajors alike. The volume offers a review of various aspects of inquiry, including teaching techniques, and covers 16 biology topics, including DNA isolation and analysis, properties of enzymes, and metabolism and oxygen consumption. Student and teacher pages are provided for each of the 16 topics.
Drawing from the author’s own work as a lab developer, coordinator, and instructor, this one-of-a-kind text for college biology teachers uses the inquiry method in presenting 40 different lab exercises that make complicated biology subjects accessible to major and nonmajors alike. The volume offers a review of various aspects of inquiry, including teaching techniques, and covers 16 biology topics, including DNA isolation and analysis, properties of enzymes, and metabolism and oxygen consumption. Student and teacher pages are provided for each of the 16 topics.
 

Another online resource

By Mary Bigelow

Posted on 2009-06-14

In an earlier blog, I spotlighted the Teachers’ Domain website, with its collection of lesson plans and multimedia resources. The more I see of this, the better I appreciate it!
As I was searching for additional resources for SciLinks, I found another site that is a treasure of resources in science (and mathematics). Visionlearning is a collection of materials, organized into a library of science topics. Each topic has a “module” which includes text, graphics, and animations. Most topics have a quiz and an annotated list of links to related resources. The modules are peer-reviewed for accuracy. There is also a glossary that is cross-referenced to the modules.
There is an option for teachers to create “Learning Areas” to customize materials for their students. You can post assignments, notes, comments, and a list of modules for the students. Registration is required, but it is free. (The site was funded through the NSF).
The modules are heavy on text, but they present the concepts in a readable style, appropriate for students who are reading at a high school level (or for teachers who are interested in background information). The pages can be printed, a nice feature if you want to use them in class. There is a link to access just the animations that are in the modules. And another great feature – the entire site is available in Spanish.
Several of the modules are in SciLinks, but the entire site is worth a look.

In an earlier blog, I spotlighted the Teachers’ Domain website, with its collection of lesson plans and multimedia resources. The more I see of this, the better I appreciate it!

 

Rocks: collecting and classifying

By Peggy Ashbrook

Posted on 2009-06-13

On the playground two sisters collected rocks and set them on a bench where they grouped them by size. When I asked, “What kind of rock is that?” one said, “A triangle” referring to its outer shape. They also had a group based on material— small chunks of concrete were put together because “they have little pieces in them.”
Urban rock collecting is discussed on the Neighborhood Rocks webpage. View the identification pages with your class and ask them if they have seen any of the pictured types of rock before, and where did they see them?
In my east coast urban setting “real” rocks, or rocks naturally in place, are hard to find without excavating. Walking along a creek is one place to find rocks that have been moved there by natural forces, not by humans. Along the Potomac River and its minor tributaries are good places to touch water-worn rocks. (Be sure to wash hands afterwards.) You don’t have to know what type of rock it is, to appreciate that it is smooth and pinkish, or has sparkles, or has holes in it.
Label even the most non-descript rock with the location and date collected, and that single rock becomes the beginning of a scientific rock collection. Maybe a high school earth science teacher would be willing to view the collection and help with scientific names.
In the December 2006 Science and Children, The Early Years column discusses exploring sedimentary rock material with young children with an activity on making pretend rocks. Search the journal archives for “rock” find 22 more articles on teaching about rocks. Young children can experience melting ice, deforming playdough or clay, packing snow or sand into a ball, and the softening of hardened clay in water. In your experience, at what age do they typically understand the Rock Cycle?
Peggy

On the playground two sisters collected rocks and set them on a bench where they grouped them by size. When I asked, “What kind of rock is that?” one said, “A triangle” referring to its outer shape. They also had a group based on material— small chunks of concrete were put together because “they have little pieces in them.”

Are you properly evaluating the results of the tests you give to students? Can you explain the difference between classroom assessment and standardized assessment? Are you on solid ground with your grading system? Demystify—and even use—statistics to answer these important questions and more in this clear, easy-to-use text for preservice and classroom science teachers and methods professors.
Are you properly evaluating the results of the tests you give to students? Can you explain the difference between classroom assessment and standardized assessment? Are you on solid ground with your grading system? Demystify—and even use—statistics to answer these important questions and more in this clear, easy-to-use text for preservice and classroom science teachers and methods professors.
Whether we are imagining microbes or mammoths, dinosaurs or diatoms, molecules or stars, people of all ages are fascinated with the very large and the very small. New technologies have enabled scientists to investigate extremes of science previously unknown. An understanding of scale and scaling effects is of central importance to a scientific understanding of the world.
Whether we are imagining microbes or mammoths, dinosaurs or diatoms, molecules or stars, people of all ages are fascinated with the very large and the very small. New technologies have enabled scientists to investigate extremes of science previously unknown. An understanding of scale and scaling effects is of central importance to a scientific understanding of the world.
What must we teach students to enable them to fully participate in a world community where science and technology play an increasingly significant role? That’s a question that science educators continually face and that the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) helps answer.
What must we teach students to enable them to fully participate in a world community where science and technology play an increasingly significant role? That’s a question that science educators continually face and that the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) helps answer.
What is assessment?
How do you assess your students’ progress?
How do they assess themselves and their peers?
How do you assess the effectiveness of your own teaching?

College Science Teachers Guide to Assessment provides busy professors with a quick reference for promoting student reflection after exams, encouraging student-led teaching models, and looking at exam corrections from both instructor and student perspectives.
What is assessment?
How do you assess your students’ progress?
How do they assess themselves and their peers?
How do you assess the effectiveness of your own teaching?

College Science Teachers Guide to Assessment provides busy professors with a quick reference for promoting student reflection after exams, encouraging student-led teaching models, and looking at exam corrections from both instructor and student perspectives.
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