Coweta Science Update
February 2020
Using Phenomena in the Classroom
Classroom Innovation Summit Call for Proposals
Equity Instructional Planning Look-Fors
Science Self-Evaluation Checklist
Teach Engineering!
(K-12) Looking for that next great STEM challenge for your students? Check out teachengineering.org! If you're looking for something quick, check out the Sprinkles. Looking for a Maker Challenge? Maybe you need a whole unit plan? They have you covered! You can browse by topic or NGSS standard. Link your favorite high interest novel with an activity to bring reading, writing, and STEM together in your classroom. This is one of my favorite resources for STEM!!
Milestones Technology Enhanced Items
Willy Wonka Revisited
Tour the Electromagnetic Spectrum
American Museum of Natural History's OLogy Website
(3-5) OLogy is a place where students ages 7–12 can learn about the brain, climate change, the Earth, water, and more. They can collect virtual cards and make projects with them. The site has kid-friendly interviews with scientists, games, activities, and quizzes. An Educator page tells how to use OLogy to support reading comprehension in your classroom.
Bond Breaker Classroom Edition
(8-12) Middle and high school students can delve into the worlds of atoms, molecules, and chemistry research with this chemistry-themed puzzle game developed by the Center for Chemistry at the Space Time Limit (CaSTL) and TestTube games. The game combines rigorous science learning with gameplay, allowing students to manipulate protons, molecules, laser light, and more to solve challenging levels in a nanoscale world. The game can be played online or downloaded as an app for iOS and Android devices. In addition, lesson plans that guide teachers in using the game as a classroom teaching tool are available at http://bit.ly/35RkGAF. Lesson plans support the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and cover topics such as chemical reactions, thermal energy and change of state, and Van der Waals forces (for the middle level) and thermal energy transfer, atomic and molecular interactions, and attractive and repulsive forces (for the high school level).
Journey 2050
(7-12) A multilevel farm simulation game and program focus on this question: How will we sustainably feed nearly 10 billion people by the year 2050? Targeted for grades 7–12, the simulation helps students learn to balance economic and social factors involved in sustainably feeding an increasing world population. The game is designed to complement learning standards in agriculture education classes and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM); social studies; and geography programs. In addition, teachers can register at no charge to access lesson plans, videos, and other resources to deepen students’ understanding of the influence of agriculture in our communities and introduce new careers in the field.
National Geographic Professional Learning Courses
(K-12) Designed for K–12 educators and offered several times during the year for FREE, these online courses provide teaching tools and content expertise from National Geographic on topics such as Mapping as a Visualization and Communication Tool in Your Classroom (all levels), Collecting Data to Explore Plastic Pollution in Our Communities (all levels), Teaching Global Climate Change in Your Classroom (middle level), Connecting the Geo-Inquiry Process to Your Teaching Practice (all levels), and Integrating Service With Learning Goals (all levels).
Teachers can receive graduate credit through a partnership with the University of San Diego (to learn more, visit http://bit.ly/32YdqlF). K–12 teachers can also take coursework to become a certified National Geographic Educator. Through this professional development program, teachers gain practice in generating classroom activities that are interdisciplinary and centered around real-world problems at local, regional, and global scales, as well as develop leadership skills and a nationwide network of committed colleagues dedicated to innovating across disciplines.
Engineering for Good
(6-8) Developed by PBS Learning Media and KQED Teach, this three-week, project-based learning unit for middle level science classrooms focuses on developing solutions for negative impacts of plastics on the environment. The unit supports the NGSS and promotes the engineering design process as students define a problem, brainstorm solutions, develop prototypes, and iterate on their designs. The project culminates with students producing videos about their solutions to share with the community. In addition to lesson plans and videos, the unit instructs teachers on how to create digital media artifacts such as digital stories and data visualizations.
National Geographic’s Water Cycle Resources
(5-12) At this National Geographic Resource Library website teachers will find a collection of vetted resources to deepen students’ understanding about condensation, precipitation,and weather patterns that are affected by, and a part of, the water cycle. Most appropriate for grades 5–12, the standards-supported resources include encyclopedic entries on various topics (e.g., Earth, types of precipitation, air, hydrosphere, and clouds), infographics (e.g., Urban Water Cycle), and classroom activities using interactive computational models exploring water’s movement above and below ground (e.g., Availability of Fresh Water; Using Groundwater Wisely).
Wildlife Artifact Lending Library
CCSS Science Teacher Directory
Science Google Classroom Codes
Elementary: uz7l4 (that's a lowercase L...not a 1)
Middle: wumkvdb
High: s0ei0d (those are zeros...not Os)
Professional Learning Opportunities
STEM/STEAM Resources
https://www.teachengineering.org
http://www.novelengineering.org
http://www.stemcobb.com/lesson-links.html Elementary STEM Lessons
http://www.stemcobb.com/ms-stem-lessons.html Middle School STEM Lessons
Upcoming Professional Learning
3rd Grade Science Professional Learning
This teacher led session will feature lessons and resources to help you integrate science and literacy in the 3rd grade classroom.
Thursday, Mar 12, 2020, 03:00 PM
167 Werz Industrial Boulevard, Newnan, GA, USA
Middle School Professional Learning
Thursday, Mar 12, 2020, 04:00 PM
167 Werz Industrial Boulevard, Newnan, GA, USA
Georgia Science Teachers Association Conference
Thursday, Feb 13, 2020, 08:00 AM
Columbus Georgia Convention & Trade Center, Front Avenue, Columbus, GA, USA
Comments, Concerns, Questions?
Email: donald.white@cowetaschools.net
Website: bit.ly/CCSSScience
Location: 167 Werz Industrial Boulevard, Newnan, GA 30263
Phone: 770-254-2800
Twitter: @dwhitesciguy