The Future of Science Education

The Future We Create is hosting a video presentation and online chat titled the Future of Science Education on Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 4:00 PST. Looks like a distinguished panel of speakers will be involved. You can see a preview embedded below.

 

Teaching Channel: Science Lessons

The Teaching Channel has a rich collection of K-12 video lessons and tools for all teachers. You will also find a variety of video lessons that would be useful for K-12 science instruction. Click HERE to see videos related to science.

The video lessons include topics such as classroom management, differentiated instruction, engagement, etc. Definitely worth adding to your bookmarks!

See the embedded Welcome to the Teaching Channel video and Content Differentiation in 3rd Grade Science below…

 

National Nuclear Science Week

January 23-27, 2012 is National Nuclear Science Week. Check out the website HERE for some ideas on how to celebrate safely

You may also be interested in the live webinar on January 25th for grades 5-12.

Outstanding Science Trade Books

The National Science Teachers Association publishes an annual list of the Outstanding Science Trade Books. Click HERE to see the lists since 1996 and to preview the 2012 list. Lots of good resources here and as an advocate for teaching big ideas in science through picture books, I find this list to be a useful place for finding new authentic literature with science connections.

See the book, Poetrees by Douglas Florian as an example and click HERE for the NSTA review. Enjoy!

Dr. Art’s Guide to Science- The Glindex

I’ve been a big fan of Dr. Art’s Guide to Science for a long time and while doing some work I was reminded of Dr. Art’s Science Glindex. This online resource provides some excellent student-friendly definitions and could be a good starting place for building classroom science definitions. Here are a couple of my favorites:

• Energy: It changes forms, remains constant in amount, can be measured very precisely, and avoids simple definitions
• System: A system exists whenever parts combine or connect with each other to form a whole. The whole is QUALITATIVELY more than the sum of its parts. You, your circulatory system, water, and table salt are all examples of systems

Besides the Glindex, you will also find chapter overviews, cool activities, and links.

13 Habitat Resources from iLearn Technology

iLearn Technology recently posted a well-rounded list of online resources for teaching elementary students about habitats. Click HERE to see the original post and all 13 resources.

Draw That Habitat! from the very funny PBS show Fetch with Ruff Ruffman is one of the resources mentioned. Students are challenged to design a habitat that would meet the needs of an assigned animal. All of the drawing tools are embedded in the interactive and students can print their final creation.

Lots of great tools to check out here.

Schoolyard Ecosystem: A Field Investigation Assessment (WA State)

Schoolyard Ecosystem is a 5th grade Powerful Classroom Assessment (PCA) created by Tom Hathorn (Bethel School District). Schoolyard Ecosystem was created to:

- fill the need for an example Field Investigation assessment (there are currently no released examples)

- promote the importance of teaching Field Investigations and raise awareness

I have organized Tom’s work to include:

- statement of purpose and definition of a Field Investigation

- Scenario and Items (3 SA and 4 MC items)

- Answer key

- Student Friendly rubrics

- Links to other Field Investigation resources

Click HERE to download this resource. Please share..

Study Science at Yale.. for FREE!

Open Yale Courses is an open source provider of free and open access to a variety of introductory courses at Yale University. Science selections include:

• Astronomy
• Biomedical Engineering
• Chemistry
• Ecology
• Environmental Science
• Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology

The course provides a syllabus, audio and or video of lectures, link to books used, downloads, and some even provide access to online study groups.

I can imagine these being useful to advanced science learners and even as a source of review or professional development for secondary science teachers.

The content is also available through iTunes and YouTube. See an introduction to Physics 200 below:

K-5 Systems Standards: A Handbook

The K-5  Systems Handbook ver 1.1 is my attempt to create one document to raise awareness of systems standards and to support better understanding and teaching of systems ideas.

The K-5 Systems Handbook ver 1.1 contains:

• a preface describing the importance of systems thinking and the rationale for the handbook
• an overview of systems standards in national science standard documents, in Washington state science standards, and Washington state Test & Item specs
• a small set of tools for teaching systems: frameworks, systems questions, 3 sample lessons (including a literacy lesson)
• an emerging table of opportunities to teach systems within FOSS science kits- (would love to make this more explicit and robust)
• links to more systems resources online

I’m hoping this will be a helpful starting place for other districts, buildings, and teachers in creating your own Systems Handbook ver 1.1 that meets the needs of your context.  And as always, I would love to hear how you use such a tool and how you have modified it for success.

Also- if you are using this handbook in a professional development setting you may be interested in the Systems Handbook facilitation guide- it’s drafty but at least it’s a starting place.

5th Grade Science MSP Prep Kit: Washington State

Tom Hathorn of the Bethel School District (here in Washington state) has created a brilliant resource for 5th grade teachers: the 5th Grade Science MSP Practice Kit. This toolkit assembles and modifies many science assessment resources from OSPI into an organized and useable form that pushes beyond “drill and kill” test prep.

Clarification: The intent of this toolkit is NOT to promote abandoning authentic science instruction for test prep. The purpose of the kit is to provide:

• 5th grade students some familiarity with a scenario-based test structure
• a structure for teachers to engage students with science assessment items
• students with an opportunity to talk about their science ideas and to revise their thinking
• teachers and students with formative opportunities focused on science standards

The 5th Grade Science MSP toolkit contains:

• An overview of the 5th grade Science MSP
• A lesson structure for students to take a set of test items and then engage in discourse and revised thinking
• Teacher tracking tools and suggested calendars for planning
• Student-friendly scoring rubrics and student work samples- These are intentionally NOT identical to the OSPI rubrics. For example- the Writing a Conclusion rubric is based on Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning rather than Conclusive Statement, High/Low Data, and Explanatory Language.
• Survey tools for checking student confidence during the course of the practice

Download a copy of the MSP Practice Kit Gr 5 (2012)  and feel free to share. I’m hoping this will be a useful tool for several districts, schools, and teachers. Please SHARE BACK any improvements, modification, etc that you make to these materials.