Here are several documents for the Seattle science fair.
Judges’ score sheet
Judging criteria explanation
2003 Science fair results (winning projects)
Science fair rubric (detailed)
Here are several documents for the Seattle science fair.
Judges’ score sheet
Judging criteria explanation
2003 Science fair results (winning projects)
Science fair rubric (detailed)
As an addition to the Volcano Assessment in the Catastrophic Event Text I created this “WASL like” question. I basically change the subject of one of the released items to model the viscosity lesson in the text. I used this instead of the performance assessment (looking at rocks) as part of my test. It gave students an opportunity to do a WASL like question and it also gave me useful feedback.
Viscosity WASL Question
From the Seattle Times:
District managers propose closing the equivalent of 6 to 15 of Seattle’s 66 elementary schools and six or seven of the 18 middle schools (which include some K-8 schools). If some programs can be consolidated or school assignments reshuffled to make use of available space in large buildings, fewer schools might have to be closed.Their recommendation calls for elementary schools to have 400 students, 800-student middle schools and 1,200-student high schools.
…
The proposals for identifying which schools will survive are somewhat vague and grouped into four categories:• Location and capacity: The school can support long-term enrollment projections, is part of a feeder pattern from elementary to middle to high school, and has space to expand.
• Condition: The building has recently undergone major renovation or does not seem to need major improvements, such as a new roof.
• Academics: The school has performed well on state tests, its enrollment has not declined in the past three to five years, it houses special programs or has a very diverse student body.
• Community: The school houses a community asset, such as a child-care center, health clinic, social-service programs or a park.
In 1968, the Seattle School District operated 117 buildings with about 97,000 students. This year, it is operating 94 buildings, has about 46,000 students and uses about 70 percent of its building capacity. Its 10-year forecast shows flat to declining enrollment.
Minority-student enrollment has decreased over the past two years. The district’s demographer, Travis Colton, expects that trend to continue because of the city’s soaring cost of living and steady suburban expansion south of Seattle.
It looks like we may lose a third of our middle schools, which in my book is far too many. I like the idea of using buildings closer to their capacity, and of having more reasonable building enrollments to achieve economies of scale, but this will doubtless cause a great deal of trouble for many people.
My school in particular has felt the impact of southward migration as housing in Renton and Tukwila continues to remain inexpensive compared to rising Seattle rent. Stay tuned.
Shani from Showalter MS says:
I created an alternative to the Anchor Activity in the Catastrophic Events text. I think others may find it useful. I know after trying the text’s anchor activity the products I received were not what I wanted and did not prove to me the students had done the research and transferred the information. The alternative I created seemed to give me much better results.
Download: catastrophic-events-research-project-research-requiremnts.doc
These modified Earth in Space sheets were submitted by Alisha Taylor of the Graduate Teacher Preparation Program at Antioch University in Seattle. She says:
We found that students had more success following directions, performing learning activities, and completing assessments when they were scaffolded by a separate worksheet or data organizer rather than embedded in the Procedures section of the EIS student guide. I utilized the worksheet format to include remind students of group roles and expectations, outline
procedures, and pose pre-activity questions that asked students to make predictions. Space at the end was used to include graphs, tables, hypotheses developed, and reflection questions. These modifications were
especially helpful for our ELL students and lower readers.I have attached additional worksheets that I created as student assessments for EIS learning activities. Some are modifications of the “Procedures” and “Reflections” sections from the Student Guide and others were adpated from other sources. I am aware that most of the teachers currently using the module have completed Part One, but perhaps these materials will be useful for teachers that use the kit in the future. Please feel free to modify or reproduce these materials.
Here are the sheets, in Word format:
Also, here are some previously posted modifications for EIS.