Here are a few templates teachers have found useful when helping students write conclusions.
WASLized-ExperimentPlan_8-06.doc
WASL Conclusion Prompt.doc
Conclusion Template.doc
Several SPS science teachers collaborated in 2005-2006 to align the chemistry content students learned in Middle School and High School. As a result, this working document was created describing lessons from the Properties of Matter module that could be changed, skipped, altered, augmented, etc.
Chemistry gr 8&9 Alignment.doc
Carolina Biological Supply has additional teacher tips documents for the STC/MS modules they carry:
Module teaching helps or product information:
Catastrophic Events
Earth in Space
Energy, Machines, and Motion
Human Body Systems
Properties of Matter
Another teacher and I were just discussing the conversion between pounds and Newtons. The actual English unit is pound-force.
1 pound-force = 4.4482216 Newtons
You can use this handy calculator to perform a grossly unnecessary number of different force conversions.
You can also check your answer by “converting” Newtons to Kilograms, then multiplying by 2.2 to convert to pounds.
1 kilogram-force = 9.80665 newton
1 kilogram-force = 2.2046226 pound-force
(This isn’t a true conversion because it assumes you’re in Earth’s gravity; otherwise, it’s not valid.)
The Circuit of Inquiries, the first lesson in Energy, Machines, and Motion, is a major challenge in classroom logistics. Working in teams, students rotate among 8 stations and perform various simple tasks as directed by instruction cards and their worksheet packet.
Some classes will handle this type of thing just fine, but others will take forever, mill about, and seem to get nothing done. I just finished my third full day on this lab, and we’re still nowhere near finished.
Today I started class by doing the graphing section (1.4?) together on the overhead, since no one had noticed that station (the only manipulative is a ruler - not too exciting). We didn’t get very far due to some unrelated behavior issues, but I think they got the idea. Of course, this lesson is designed to be a preassessment, so I may have subverted that purpose.
Some ideas to make this lesson flow smoothly:
- Clearly label the stations
- Assign specific groups to specific stations (this can take awhile, so it pays to be organized)
- Use a timer to specify how much time students have to complete each station, then rotate when the timer goes off
- Specify the order in which students will visit the stations, lest they mill about according to whim (whim being a rather non-productive kind of thing)
- Offer a whole-class reward if students finish quickly and in an orderly manner, while still doing a good job
If you only have one class doing this lesson, you may want to have students set up the stations. If you do this (as I did), I recommend having students sit down again after setup for a re-briefing before actually beginning, so there is more structure for the lab-completion portion.
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.
The new Science GLEs (Grade Level Expectations) are available in Word and PDF format from OSPI. (warning: very large 94-page file)
GLEs are detailed expectations of what will be taught at each grade level. This is possibly the most pedagogically useful document ever published by OSPI. Departments and teachers should set aside time to go through the dozens of pages of clear, well-written expectations.
Each expectation contains a task that corresponds to one of the levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Each page shows the strand, EALR, component, grade level, and specific examples. There is also a chart on p. 10 that shows the suggested sequence of topics at each grade level. I was surprised to see how much astronomy should be emphasized in the 6th grade, as the MSSSCP-adopted kits do not address astronomy until Earth in Space in 8th grade.
Do note, though, that the EALRs have not changed. The only major change is that the “systems / inquiry / design” symbol has been changed to “systems / inquiry / application.”
This 26-page document gives extensive detail on how to teach Energy, Machines, and Motion effectively. MS Word format. Also in PDF.