A good slogan to introduce this project is “think globally, act locally.” The purpose of the project is to inform students that the actions they take at home may have a far-reaching effect. The assignment will help to create community awareness and involvement by developing environmentally friendly habits. To achieve this goal, students will complete a comparison chart and create an information guide that looks at their homes as a microcosm of what may be occurring in the larger environment.
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Reading in science class doesn’t have to be boring, but it’s no secret to students or teachers that textbooks aren’t much fun to read. To enhance and integrate your science curriculum, try using alternative reading resources such as Biodiversity, by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent and The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton. Students will soon discover that the right combination of nonfiction and science fiction reading with correlated labs, inquiry-based activities, and simulations can make for a fun learning experience while exploring concepts related to environmental science, evolution, adaptation, and biodiversity.
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Coaching, as a means to support inquiry-based teaching, starts by changing the culture from within (school, teacher, and student) rather than from external mandates. Recognizing that teacher empowerment is the first step toward increasing student achievement, coaches support teachers as they relinquish non-productive, traditional practices. Through sustained collegial interactions within a strong support system provided by coaches, teachers are more willing to leave their comfort zone on a path of continuous improvement toward inquiry-based teaching and learning. This article describes how one school district in Massachusetts implemented this approach with success.
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If our citizens are ever to be effective stewards of our environment, acting responsibly needs to be modeled and taught at home, and reinforced by the school and the rest of the community. We must also get our students out of the classroom and into the field as often as possible, and find activities and teaching strategies that will connect students to the world around them. We need to develop a population with a strong environmental sense of stewardship. To do this, each of us must reconnect with our natural environment. Now that the old folks are gone, we must become the “grannies” to the next generation.
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Since the first discovery of malformed frogs by an adventurous middle school teacher and her after-school science club in 1995, outreach programs like A Thousand Friends of Frogs (see Resources) have been created to connect students and teachers with scientists so that they can better understand frogs and their habitats. Many of the amphibian-malformation activities published in education-practitioner journals approach this subject through internet investigations (Webster 2002), hypothetical case studies (Murphy and Fortner 2001), or reading with discussion (Davidson, Matthews, and Patrick 2001). These activities can be supplemented with inquiry-based labs designed to instruct and engage students about conservation biology, as described in this article.
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The bubbles-on-a-soda can activity is an illustration of Charles’ law, which states that for a fixed amount of gas, there is a direct relationship between the temperature of the gas and its volume. In other words, if the temperature of a fixed amount of gas increases, so does its volume. The opposite is true, as well: If the temperature of the gas decreases, the volume decreases. Your students will "bubble" forth with enthusiasm as they engage in this hands-on activity.
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Modifying and building on a lesson created by the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre, the British Columbia Ministry of Education, and the Provincial Learning Network (2000) that supports National Science Education Standards Teaching Standard A—Science as Inquiry and Content Standard C—Life Science (NRC 1996), the following activity will literally tie your students in knots to create not only a human food web, but a web of understanding about the interdependence of all organisms and abiotic factors in an ecosystem.
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To combat the problems associated with high levels of ground-level ozone, the Clean Air Act of 1970 called on all government agencies to take measures to reduce ground-level ozone in our air to 120 parts per billion (ppb). Detection of ozone levels is accomplished in a number of ways. This article describes a technique that allows students to evaluate their school’s environment and air quality using an Eco Badge. The Eco Badge comes in a kit that has 150 test cards (strips) and five Eco Badges, plus background information on ozone and its effects (see Resources). Throughout the activity, students use scientific process skills such as: data collection, analysis, and interpretation; measuring; experimenting; and observing.
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Students often have difficulty grasping the complexity of ecosystems and the importance of biodiversity. The following activity applies students’ creativity and basic math skills to creating a sustainable and diverse food web. The biological budget activity ties together numerous ecological concepts (structure of a food web, diversity and interdependence of organisms, and transfer of energy through an ecosystem), making it a great way to review concepts and terminology for an ecosystem unit (NRC 1996). The ecosystems represented in this version of the biological budget are coral reefs, mangrove forests, and seagrass beds.
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With the move in the last decade toward a standards-based science curriculum, assessment has become an important part of science teaching and learning. National policies such as the No Child Left Behind Act place additional emphasis on the importance of assessment. Although many teachers have a fairly solid background in assessing end-of-term learning, and they typically engage in formative assessment in an intuitive fashion, they tend to struggle with using formative assessments that allow them to examine student learning throughout the process of teaching. One option that will allow classroom teachers to achieve this goal is the graphic organizer. Graphic organizers can be used as powerful tools for probing and analyzing student thinking and learning.
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A word wall has many uses in the middle school science classroom. It is ideal for reinforcing vocabulary and connections between concepts. In this article, the author describes an interactive way to use the word wall to create food webs. In addition, an enrichment activity using the word wall as a game that students play at the end of class is also featured. Once students are comfortable with the vocabulary introduced through the word wall, they can engage in a culminating activity that allows them to work in pairs to make as many connections as possible among the words. You’ll be amazed at how many different combinations the groups develop and the various ways that the webs evolve.
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For some school districts, the convenience, organization, curriculum scope, and sequence provided by science kits make them a tempting choice for incorporating hands-on, process- and inquiry-based science in the classroom. When teachers consider adopting whole curricular packages or individual kits, they should make sure the safety piece is in place. This article addresses the following questions that teachers should consider before investing in a kit: Are the activities safe? Are the activities age appropriate? Is personal protective equipment included? Are Material Safety Data Sheets provided? Can the activity be done safely in a science classroom or science laboratory?
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This past summer the International Astronomical Union (IAU) approved new definitions for objects in our solar system that orbit the Sun. The definitions now allow for only eight planets, while objects smaller than planets will be known as dwarf planets, and those even smaller will be referred to as small solar system bodies. Most notable of the changes was the redefinition of planet and the subsequent transfer of Pluto from planetary status to its new designation as a dwarf planet. The reasoning behind the new definitions and the reclassification of objects is illuminated in this month’s Scope on the Skies column.
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The development of literacy skills is essential for student success. According to the National Science Education Standards, “Scientific literacy entails being able to read with understanding articles about science in the popular press and to engage in social conversation about the validity of conclusions” (NRC 1996). Teachers can help students develop these skills by finding methods that not only motivate but also engage students in the reading process. One such method is described in this article wherein students draw after reading science content. When students summarize by drawing they must form a visual representation of the information they’re trying to convey. This provides an opportunity for students to elaborate and encode the information in a personally meaningful way. In addition, drawing after reading encourages students to reflect on what they have read and allows time to process the information.
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In the engaging unit described here, imaginary organisms are used to teach a variety of topics related to ecosystems—food chains and energy flow, food webs, limiting factors, carrying capacity, and the effects of natural and human-made events on ecosystems. By inventing organisms, the teacher is able to control the level of complexity, and the number of organisms can be modified to meet each student’s level. Because the organisms are figments of the imagination, the assignment is not complicated by students’ prior knowledge. Once the unit is finished, the class can discuss the ecosystem and how it is similar to and different from real ecosystems.
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A concept map is a two-dimensional, graphic or schematic diagram illustrating the interconnections, and often the hierarchy, of a particular concept or topic. Concept maps are especially important in teaching science because they depict the interrelationships among the members of a group or a system. Concept maps are often used in science to represent ecosystems, mechanical systems, and social systems. This Toolkit column provides meaningful ways to make the most of concept maps, especially in the area of assessment.
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Why has glacial melting occurred? What happens when that much freshwater enters the ocean? Will this melting continue? These questions inspired the authors to design a directed inquiry in which middle school students simulate glacial retreat in Antarctica. Students melt glaciers, change the water level and salinity of the Southern Ocean, and examine alterations to the Antarctic food web—all without leaving the classroom. This hands-on activity simulates the past, present, and future of the Antarctic Peninsula.
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