Sea Monkeys!

Leilani asked if she could bring her Sea Monkeys to school. Being that I am teaching early childhood, I thought it would be a great way to intrinsically motivate the students to create rich language opportunities, enhance writing skills and enable the children to ask questions and learn about new ideas.

Before Leilani shared the Sea Monkeys with the children, the students wrote predictions about what they thought the Sea Monkey looked like.

Leilani shared that the Sea Monkeys love the sun. She feeds them algae to crave their hunger and to keep them healthy.



After learning about the Sea Monkeys, the children returned to their seats and wrote about two things that they learned about the Sea Monkeys.

Thanks to Leilani for sharing her treasure!

Science Secondary Grades - Lessons Posted to Atomic Learning

Below are links to Science Secondary Grades lessons that have been created by Adams 14 Global Learners, Doug Abshire and James Howat.  These lessons have been posted on Atomic Learning.  Note you must be logged in to your Atomic Learning account to access the lessons.

• Science Secondary Grades
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  • A. Where Science and Society Clash
  • 
    
    • How do we know what we know?
    
    
  
  
• 
  
  • B. The Human Genome Project
  • 
    
    • The Human Genome Project Lesson Plan
    • The Human Genome Project Presentation
    • The Human Genome Project Research Worksheet
    
    
  
  

science rules!

We, Doug Abshire (ACHS), Kristen Edwards (ACMS) and Emily Klein (KMS) recently made a presentation to the Adams 14 Education Foundation requesting vernier science data-collection equipment for elementary, middle and high school science classrooms.

From the vernier website

"Whether you're looking for cutting-edge technology to enliven and support your labs in chemistry, physics, physical science, math or biology, there's a Vernier solution appropriate for every grade level."

We are excited to announce today that we will receive significant funding from the Adams 14 Education Foundation which will allow us to promote digital science data collection, another 21st Century tool for students!

We want to thank the members of the Foundation directed by Tony Uva for their support of science education in ACSD14.

According to the Foundation:

"While the Foundation operates independently of Adams County School District 14, we share a vision of enhancing education for all students. Our foundation funds programs and services not normally funded by the District’s operating budget.

Because of the efforts of the Adams 14 Education Foundation, Adams 14 students are experiencing the joy of learning, the satisfaction and heightened self-confidence achieved by mastering reading, and the promise and pursuit of a better life through education"

"It goes without saying that all of us in Adams 14 share a love for education. But more than that, we possess the desire to help talented and motivated young people realize their dreams. Our role at the Adams 14 Education Foundation is one of helping to nurture and develop the creativity, skill and genius residing within each of our students."

THANKS! Adams 14 Education Foundation! YOU ROCK!

PS... Please refer to a previous post by Emily Klein with a link to her class data collection "hot hands" activity and collaborative blogging / sharing of data.

PPS... Thanks to Dave Tarwater and Joe Miller for their support of 21st C tools in the classroom.

Ideas for Using Weblogs in the Science Classroom

Hi -

I was parousing the NSTA website looking for some ideas to engage my students in the earth science unit coming up. I found this great article about using weblogs in the science classroom. Even if you don't teach science, there is some excellent ideas here! (The title of the article is "Using Weblogs in the Science Classroom" and the author is Staycle C. Duplichan.)

Here are some examples the author gives of how to use weblogs:

Current event Ask a classmate Book club Report
• Students are required to post a summary of a current event, such as global warming, for each grading period.
• Students post a question for other classmates to answer. An example of a possible post is, “How can I remember the difference between interphase and prophase?”
• Students reflect on their favorite science book.
• Students are assigned a subject to research. Each student or group could
be assigned a scientist, theory, organ, kingdom, or disease to report on.

Creative writing What if Debate Online reading
• Students write how a cell is like a factory. Each student posts one example.
• Students write a complaint letter from the heart to the cholesterol molecule.
• Students write a love letter from the lungs to an oxygen molecule.
• Students are asked if their life would be different if their knee joint became a ball and socket joint. Each person posts one example and responds to others.
• Students are asked, “What if pollution killed all of the earthworms?”
• Students are asked to reflect on how the Earth would be different if the temperature rose 20 degrees.
• Students are asked, “What are the legal ramifications of DNA testing?”
• Students are asked, “What is your opinion on using animals for testing
products?”
• Students are asked, “Should stem cell research be allowed?”
• Students are assigned to read an article from Google Scholar.

Visual aids Lab report Study habits
• Students post digital pictures of lab setups.
• Students post digital pictures of pictures of lab procedures.
• Students draw steps for any lab procedure.
• Students draw and label a key scientific concept.
• Students post their lab results.
• Sutdents post their data for comparision.
• Students post how they remember vocabulary or facts.
• Students give examples of how they study for tests.