K-5 Science Newsletter
FEBRUARY 2018
Office of Teaching & Learning 365-5727
Sandee Donald, Executive Director
Leslie Kelly, Director of Elementary Curriculum and Instruction
Heather Allen, K-5 Science Coordinator, hallen704@columbus.k12.oh.us
Jennifer Nord, 6-12 Science Coordinator, jnord5257@columbus.k12.oh.us
Geri Granger, K-12 Spruce Run Coordinator, ggranger9556@columbus.k12.oh.us
CCS Professional Development Opportunities
Integrating Vocabulary Through Nonfiction Text K-5
February 6, 2018......4:30 - 6:30 pm
@ Ecole Kenwood French Immersion (3770 Shattuck Ave.)
CIMS #: 1000030352
This PD will provide information about effective strategies for integrating social studies and science vocabulary using nonfiction text. Participants will receive a copy of, Vocabulary Games for the Classroom, by Carleton and Marzano, and a small group text set of your choice. This will be an interactive time of planning and preparing for implementation, as well as, learning about the research that supports the strategies. It is a great time for teaching partners to come together to learn, plan and create.
Picture Perfect Science PD - Teaching Science Through Children's Literature
March 13, 2018......4:30 - 6:30 pm
@ John Burroughs ES (551 S. Richardson Ave., 43204)
CIMS #: 1000030821
This is the original Picture Perfect Science PD (the first 3 books: Picture Perfect Science, More Picture Perfect Science & Even More Picture Perfect Science)
PPS uses the 5E lesson plan format to incorporate fiction and non-fiction children's literature into hands-on inquiry science lessons.
Participants will receive 1 Picture Perfect Science resource book for attending!
Last offering this school year - hope to see you there
Picture Perfect STEM PD
April 24, 2018......4:30 - 6:30 pm
Location to be determined - More information to come
Picture Perfect Science has created 2 new resources:
Picture Perfect STEM K-2 and Picture Perfect STEM 3-5
Come to engage in 5E lessons from the new Picture Perfect resource books. Don't let the word STEM scare you off. The new lessons embed even more reading-comprehension strategies that integrate STEM subjects & ELA through high quality picture books. The lessons will lead your students to ask questions and define problems; obtain, evaluate, and communicate information; and engage in argument from evidence.
Participants will leave with 1 of the new resource books.
This will be the last offering this school year
February is Black History Month
African American scientist & inventor contributions you may not know
- The blood bank
- The hinged door on the street mailboxes so the mail doesn't get wet
- Potato chips
- Gas mask
Books:
- The Doctor with an Eye for Eyes by Julia Finley Mosca
The story of Dr. Patricia Bath - As a girl coming of age during the Civil Rights Movement, Patricia Bath made it her mission to become a doctor. When obstacles like racism, poverty, and sexism threatened this goal, she persevered―brightening the world with a game-changing treatment for blindness!
- Who Was The Hair Care Millionaire by Mary Kay Carson
The incredible and true story of hair-care tycoon Madame C.J. Walker. Born into poverty on a Louisiana plantation, the child of former slaves, and orphaned at the age of 7, she began to concoct her own hair treatments as a young woman and sold them door-to-door, eventually making a fortune and providing dignified employment to many other African American women.
- Hidden Figures The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
Explores the previously uncelebrated but pivotal contributions of NASA's African American women mathematicians to America's space program, describing how Jim Crow laws segregated them despite their groundbreaking successes. Includes biographies on Dorothy Jackson Vaughan, Mary Winston Jackson, Katherine Colman Goble Johnson, and Dr. Christine Mann Darden.
- Ticktock Banneker's Clock by Shana Teller
Throughout his life, Benjamin Banneker was known and admired for his work in science, mathematics, and astronomy, just to name a few pursuits. But even when he was born in Maryland in 1731, he was already an extraordinary person for that time period. He was born free at a time in America when most African Americans were slaves. Though he only briefly attended school and was largely self-taught, at a young age Benjamin displayed a keen aptitude for mathematics and science. Inspired by a pocket watch he had seen, at the age of 22 he built a strike clock based on his own drawings and using a pocket-knife. This picture book biography focuses on one episode in a remarkable life.
Website Resources:
Newsela - Making Things That Change The World: STEAM & The Black Experience
and packet
INFOhio's World Book Kids articles
Scholastic - Culture & Change Black History in America with teacher guide
Kids Info - Famous Inventor Biographies and Famous Inventions Facts
ENGINEERING WEEK is Feb. 18-24, 2018
The celebration of National Engineers Week was started in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers in conjunction with President George Washington’s birthday. President Washington is considered as the nation's first engineer, notably for his survey work.
Engineering week is:
A time to celebrate how engineers make a difference in our world
Bring engineering to life for kids, educators and parents
Increase public dialogue about the need for engineers
Highlight the importance of math, science, and technical skills
The packet below includes lesson ideas, a book list, engineering videos, engineering career videos, and fun facts.
4th grade - ENERGY experiment
For lesson ideas:
Picture Perfect Science (red book) lesson - BATTERIES INCLUDED
Picture Perfect STEM 3-5 lesson - LIGHT IT UP
Ohio Energy Project has free lessons
With your energy ball or stick, have students hold hands while each touching a metal conductor. The ball will light up and make a noise.
Now have 2 students touch a metal conductor with one hand and have each student dip their index finger in the same cup of salt water. What happens? Does the same thing happen with only water?
Experiment with other liquids to see if they will conduct electricity.
4th grade ROCKS 4.ESS.2
Your House Rocks (free)
Ohio Rocks! Activity Book, 24 pages (cost $2.50 per copy)
CONSERVATION POSTER CONTEST
The 2018 Poster Contest Theme is: “Watersheds: Our Water, Our Home” Focusing on good water conservation habits that will keep our water resources safe and productive now and for future generations.
The Conservation Poster Contest is an annual event sponsored by Soil and Water Conservation Districts nationwide. The purpose of the contest is to provide young people with an avenue to gain a better appreciation for our environment and share this caring sentiment through artwork.
Spruce Run Family Day - OPEN to ALL (teachers, students, neighborhood)
Franklin Park Conservatory, Franklin Soil and Water, and Slow Foods Columbus will be giving this month's presentation which will begin in the classroom at 10:00 a.m. The session will then be repeated at: 11:00, 12:00, and 1:00. Make sure you stop by the house conference center for crafts, activities. Stop by the barn for opportunity to sit in the "soil tent"
WHY GARDEN IN THE WINTER?
- Greens and root vegetables thrive with little water.
- The amount of time needed to tend / maintain the garden is low.
- Pests and disease are virtually non existent.
- You could be enjoying fresh greens all winter long!