What we did in class this week

Soon the students will take over reporting on what we are learning in class, but I thought I'd update one last time.

In Physical Science students have been exploring the how science works as a process, and what measurements we use in science. They drew a cartoon explaining the difference between a hypothesis, a theory and a law, and also wrote up how they would conduct an experiment to answer a question they had.

We had a wonderful, if damp, morning making field observations in Advanced Biology. We then discussed what each person was now an expert on. We are currently working on a diversity of life project. Each student is creating a poster to be put up in the hall that explains each of the 6 kingdoms in biology.

Earth Science is diving into the different spheres of the earth. Students are researching on their own, then creating a way to present the information (poster, brochure, etc).

Everyone is a-twitter in Cool Science as we are doing a lab today looking at freezing points. Why are freezing points so coll (pun intended)? Because without being able to manipulate freezing points, we would not be able to make ice cream. We also practiced observations. Try having a family meal where you practice observing the meal with your five senses!

Biology we have been practicing our observation and questioning skills. Monday afternoon was the perfect weather to go explore the ditch and cattails at the back of the school, and yesterday we designed an experiment based on what we had observed on Monday. We will be looking at the metric system next.

What do shells and coral have to do with Chemistry? After learning about the metric system we had a lab yesterday measuring different shells, and calculating the density of each object.

Producing Questions

Today in all science classes we did an activity designed to train minds to produce and analyze questions. This question formation process is one we will do many times through out the school year. If you want to try it out, here is the prompt we based our questions on from the 5th period "cool" science class:

"The kitchen is a laboratory, and everything that happens there has to do with science"

The rules:
1. Write down as many questions as you can.
2. Do not stop to discuss, judge, or answer your questions
3. Write down questions exactly as stated.
4. Turn all statements into questions

This works really well if you set a timer- I gave the students 30 minutes, but you could try it in 5 minutes, or 10 if you don't have as much time.

Why is the ability to ask questions so important? Ask your student- they should be able to tell you!

Citizen Science

One of my goals for this year is to get each class involved in a citizen science project. What is citizen science, you say? Citizen science is when folks all over the world come together to help researchers collect data, identify trends, or solve problems. The idea is that the more people working on a project, the more likely the solution will be solved, sooner than later. It also allows models to be much more accurate, as each person contributing adds more points of data.

Our local Fish and Game harness the power of citizens like you to study animals throughout Idaho- here is a link detailing some of the projects, one of which includes our own mascot, the wolverine.

https://fishandgame.idaho.gov/content/post/citizen-science-and-mbi

Some citizen science projects take the shape of games that you can play to solve problems:

http://ictmagic.sharedby.co/share/G0hoLT

Two different games that relate to the diversity of life.

http://eterna.cmu.edu/web/

Playing around with RNA

http://blog.eyewire.org/en/

Map how the brain works

http://nanodoc.org/

Help develop cures for cancer

Others involve monitoring the natural world in your community, and reporting on what you see:

http://gbbc.birdcount.org/

Bird watching from your dinning room table

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/citsci/

A bunch of different projects relating to birds

https://www.aza.org/frogwatch/

Have you seen a frog recently?

You can even use your smart phone to be a citizen scientist:

http://www.whatsinvasive.org/

Identifying invasive species and where they are

http://snowcore.uwaterloo.ca/snowtweets/

Tweeting snow depths and location to create a map of snow coverage

http://creekwatch.researchlabs.ibm.com/

Reporting water pollution with a click of a camera

Citizen science is a great way to be part of large projects, and to contribute to the knowledge and health of our world. 

Science Notebooks

 One of the common themes across each class in science is going to be a science notebook.  Science notebooks can take many different forms, from paper in a binder, to a composition notebook, to waterproof field journals that will fit in a pocket, but they all have some common important characteristics.

1. Observations

In a field notebook, the observations might include time of day, coordinates, weather, date, plant species, type of terrain, and sketches. In a lab notebook there might be a recording of what substances are being used, and their properties.

2. Questions

These questions are going to form the basis of the hypothesis, and will guide both your data collection and further observations.

3. Data/results

In a naturalist notebook this might be the most lightweight section, but for any notebook that contains experiments, this is an incredibly important section.  Taking down legible data the first time insures that if computers are wiped, there is still a record.

3. Reflection

Taking down observations and data means nothing without also interpreting. While this is the most subjective section, it can also be the most important. This is your chance to make meaning out of what you observed.

Why are science notebooks important?

1. They allow students to engage with the material on their own terms, and grapple with it, which ties into critical thinking skills.

2. Since they are handwritten, they help students remember the materials and concepts (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110119095458.htm).

3. Science notebooks allow students to play to their learning strengths. Sometimes a notebook has a lot of drawings, sometimes it is almost all writing, and other times it is filled with charts and graphs and other graphic organizers.

4. They are great for increasing literacy skills.

I will bring in many of my old notebooks so students can see the different types. 

Hello Garden Valley!

I am so excited to be the new science teacher here at the high school. Here on the blog I will post pictures and descriptions of all the exciting things we are doing in class. This way you can see what is happening in each class, and share with your friends and family.

To the left you can click on the About Me section and read a brief description, and to the right you can click on individual classes. Here there will be important information such as syllabi, assignments, due dates, and labs or projects to look forward to.

To start the year off, I thought I would post a couple pictures of neat plants and animals I have gotten to see in my travels- feel free to ask me about any of them, and keep an eye out in the future for goings-on in the classroom.

Here is a baby guitar fish off Heron Island in the Great Barrier Reef.

These neat lizards were all over Sydney, Au.

A pademelon in Lamington National Park, Au. You can also see a movie I helped produce in college about these creatures at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vJ4I7ohO9I

This cute flower is from Mt Ainos, Kefalonia, Greece.

A western tanager from McCall, Idaho.

Redwood trees just south of the Oregon border.