Stimulating Science Simulations

One of my favorite classroom tools are the data probes from Vernier Technologies.  During our 5th grade unit study of motion, we used the Go! Motion sensor to detect student motion including speed and velocity. You can see the level of concentration in my students' faces as they collected their data using laptops and probes.  In addition to collecting the data, students developed an understanding of how speed can be represented on a line graph.     I highly recommend the use of data probes such as these.  Grant sources such as DonorsChoose and Bright Ideas are great places to secure funding. After completing this investigation, we analyzed various line graphs representing speed. Check out our notebook entries.

of Steve Spangler's Amazing and Captivating Science ideas and workshops.  He has a true knack for engaging learners.  When I heard he was performing (I mean presenting) a workshop in Greensboro, NC, of course I signed up.  As usual, it was time well spent re-energizing and re-building my science repertoire. Steve shared a cool new toy (I mean chemicals for studying properties of matter) called Vampire Slime.  It isn't your ordinary slime.  This slime appears to be a dark green color until you shine a light on it and then it turns red, but that's not all.  As soon as I got mine home, my kids wanted to check it out. One of the first things they asked was if it was red in a mirror. We all know that "vampires" can't see their reflection in the mirror right? So if this is vampire slime, we shouldn't see the red, should we? I shared the idea with Steve and he thought the results were just as interesting as my kids did.  In fact, he was so intrigued by ...

I love using Page Keely's books "Uncovering Student Ideas in Science".  The probes are written at an 8th grade level but with a little adjustment they work great with 5th grade students.  One of the probes is called "The Cookie Crumbles".  This is an excellent example of a probe that can engage students in a topic via critical thinking and discussion followed by the exploration as they re-enact the probe themeselves. Last week, I used this probe to introduce the concept of Conservation of Mass. Watch the video of one student pair as they explore and learn. Conservation of Mass - 4 min. video

One of the ways I am trying to engage students in science includes linking the learning to the real world.  Greater focus is being geared toward STEM related careers.  If we are going to prepare students for STEM related careers, wouldn't it be important to know what some of those career choices include? Here is a great website from Science Buddies that lists a huge variety of careers in science.  There are tabs with lists that include careers in math, engineering, and technology too! Let me give you an example of how this site can help.  During a physical science unit there are many options for careers that link.  Some you might think of and others you might not.  Instead of just having students build paper airplanes to experiment with force, motion, lift, and drag; challenge students to pretend they are the pilot who needs to fly the plane for a set distance or time in the air. As they modify their paper plane, they will begin to learn about the effe...

I spent 4 days assisting in the facilitation of professional development for our district this past week.  I was assigned to the physical science strand which is really one of my favorites.  Students love the hands on physical changes that come with force and motion along with changes in matter. If you want to know what tools we're using for planning, click to read more. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Some of my favorite science lessons are the ones when kids get a chance to be kids, dare I say it - like the "good 'ole days".  Today was one of those days.  Meet "Froggie". We discovered him in our student garden today. The weather was beautiful and we have been learning about weathering, erosion, and deposition.  I pulled out my popsicle sticks that are marked every cm. with a different color and used for measuring erosion on a mountain model.

I've spent a day and a half working with the North Carolina team and teams from 40 states along with Washington, DC on the charge to build capacity for state science education.  As such, we are looking closely at the Framework for Science  and the Next Generation of Science Standards .