The Coweta STEM Symposium is Thursday, April 16 at the Nixon Centre for the Arts. Beginning at 6pm, there will be a "meet & greet" session. During this time, schools are encouraged to share their work on STEM in the form of clubs and school activities. You can sign up for a table by clicking here. At 7pm, we will present student speakers, STEM award winners, and recognize our CCSS STEM Teachers. Please submit your application for CCSS STEM Teacher status by clicking here.

(K-12) I imagine you are already making plans for your summer vacation. Might I suggest you think about your summer professional learning too? I have two recommendations for you. The first is local. It's the Coweta Industrial Fellowship for Teachers (CIFT). CIFT is designed to expose teachers and counselors to the career opportunities available to students in Coweta's manufacturing sector. Participants experience an week long internship at local companies like Yamaha, Cargill, Kason and more. Participants are paid $1000 for the week plus a follow up date in the 2020-2021 school year. If you're interested, apply by clicking here.

The second opportunity is the Georgia Intern Fellowship for Teachers (GIFT). GIFT is similar to CIFT but it last from 4 - 7 weeks and the internship sites range from industrial to research. You are paid based on the number of weeks in which you participate. I am GIFT alum (3 times) from the GT Material Science Department. It was a transformative experience for me and the money is nice too. If you're interested in applying, click here.

The links below take you to materials from some of the best sessions I attended at the Georgia Science Teachers Conference in Columbus last month. If you'd like to know more about any of these resources just let me know!

On Friday, May 29, Coweta County School System will host a Classroom Innovation Summit. The summit is designed to showcase innovative classroom practices and resources that any teacher could use to enhance their classroom. Session range from Google Classroom hacks to becoming a GMail ninja to PBIS best practices to classroom data hacks and many more! If you have an idea for a presentation please submit a proposal here! Session are 50 minutes long. Presenters get free admission, lunch, and extra door prize tickets. Know someone who should present? Share this with them!

(K-12) Paddle Georgia Educator's Scholarship provides deserving teachers with Paddle Georgia registration ($425) along with hands on training during this expedition along the Flint River June 20-27. Application deadline is April 20. Winners announced April 25. Find our more and register by clicking here.

(K-12) Developed by the American Modeling Teachers Association and hosted by media producer Mark Royce, the Science Modeling Talks podcast series introduces top science modeling teachers and education thought leaders in a relaxed and conversational interview format. Model-based instruction helps K–college learners build, extend, elaborate, and improve the accuracy and completeness of mental models they create themselves to explain STEM phenomena. The podcast series covers various facets of modeling instruction from its premise of “collaborative sensemaking” to stories of “aha” moments teachers experience when using this approach. The episodes run from 30- to 60-minutes long and include Show Notes, which list interview highlights and link to the program transcript.

(K-12) Check out the website and resources based on the teacher workshop Using 360 Imagery to Support Place-Based Instruction, held recently at an American Geophysical Union conference focused on place-based instruction. During the workshop, teachers explored watersheds using online modeling apps such as Runoff Simulator and Model My Watershed, which allow users to adjust parameters and consider effects of different ground cover scenarios. Teachers also learned how to capture 360-degree camera images, locate 360 images online, and design a place-based instructional scenario (e.g., a virtual field trip) that connects 360 images and geoscience topics using their own images and those available in Google Street View. Earth Science All Around, the workshop’s companion website, provides access to the tools used in the workshop along with background information on place-based instruction, resources on designing virtual field trips, and tips on capturing and using 360 imagery.

(5, 8, Biology, Physical Science) This year's Milestones tests will feature technology enhanced items that require student to manipulate something on their screen to answer a question. These types of questions have been on the math Milestones for several years and were field tested on the science Milestones last year. This year these items will count towards your students' scores on the test. You can see sample technology enhanced items by clicking here.

(K-5) With paper bags and a few household items, you can spark scientific thinking and involve K–5 students in authentic science and engineering practices, including gathering and recording evidence and communicating ideas. A video from STEAM Café walks viewers through the classic Mystery Bag activity, but updates it with questions that propel scientific thinking and maintain curiosity. (Hint: It’s about the process: Don’t open the bags!) Click on the link in the video’s description to access the full activity lesson plan and accompanying student sheets (free registration required).

(1, 4, 8, PS, Physics) Use these instructional tutorials from the Academy of Model Aeronautics to explore the physics of flight and engineering design with elementary and middle level students and aviation enthusiasts of all ages. The tutorials can be used in various educational settings (classroom, afterschool program, camp, and home) and feature directions for building several different aircraft models. Featured models include airplanes from foam plates, jet stream gliders, paper airplanes, rockets, and parachutes. The site also has supplementary resources—such as a sample parent letter, enrollment form, and promotional flyer—for educators interested in hosting their own aviation-themed event.

(K-8) Developed at the University of California, Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science, these ocean literacy curriculum guides enable K–8 audiences to study ocean science and marine habitats continuously throughout the elementary and middle level years. The primary curriculum addresses familiar marine habitats such as ponds (kindergarten), life at the seashore (first grade), sandy beach (second grade), and wetlands (third grade), while the curriculum for upper-elementary students broadens to focus on ocean habitats, such as the kelp forest (fifth grade) and the open ocean (sixth grade). At the middle level (grades 7–8), learners explore the Ocean-Atmosphere Connection and Climate Change.

(K-5) STEM Lessons With Snoopy. E The Space Foundation and Peanuts have created a series of Snoopy-themed lesson plans to strengthen K–5 students’ skills in STEM. The lessons support the NGSS and feature activities such as designing a doghouse lunar lander (The Beagle Has Landed), repairing a hole in a simulated damaged spacesuit (Spacesuit Repair), exploring the fitness requirements of an astronaut (Shape Up, Snoopy), and building/testing a hydroponic germinator (Snoopy Snacks). Publication of the lessons coincides with the release of two Peanuts books from Simon and Schuster: Shootfor the Moon, Snoopy! and Snoopy, First Beagle on the Moon. The books can be incorporated as part of several lessons to engage students in the excitement of space study and provide background information on lesson topics.

(K-5) Today’s STEM instruction puts an emphasis on collaborative “meaning-making,” requiring students to attempt explanations, justify their positions, question and challenge one another’s ideas, and build new understandings together. These practices are the heart of Doing and Talking Math and Science—Strengthening Reasoning, Strengthening Language, an educational initiative developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The initiative was originally designed to help English Learners develop their language skills through middle level science and math coursework; however, the initiative’s resources—including Teaching Guides, Student and Teacher Moves Tool Cards, and Reflection Questions for Strengthening Your Practice have proven effective at facilitating discussions of complex ideas among all students. The resources provide a framework to guide students as they learn to argue from evidence and create models to explain their developing understandings.

(6-12) The Laboratory Safety Institute (LSI) is a nonprofit organization providing safety education information for government, industry, and educational laboratories worldwide. LSI’s e-book, New Chemicals for Old, presents 15 common science experiments in which less hazardous chemicals are substituted for the chemicals traditionally used in them. In promoting these safer chemical substitutions, LSI hopes to encourage high school educators who may have been initially hesitant to conduct the traditional experiments to try the alternatives in their labs. Request a free copy of the book—available until March 15, 2020—by sending an e-mail to molly@labsafety.org. Mention this listing in the Freebies column in the February 2020 issue of NSTA Reports.

(6-8) This board game from HughesNet and 4-H teaches computer science (CS) concepts and teamwork while helping students understand how CS can help professionals in any field solve problems and work more efficiently. In the game, students have 20 minutes to work collectively as members of a scientific expedition team whose mission is to collect plants in Colorado and prepare them for input into computers by correctly identifying them by their scientific names. To play, students roll dice and travel the board, answering question cards about computer programming and persevering through obstacles and setbacks encountered. Access the activity materials (e.g., downloadable game board, question card printouts, and rules) at the website.

(5-12) This website has videos, animations, interactive activities, and more to engage students ages 4–14 in learning core subjects, including science. The site offers a range of resources on kid-friendly topics, from video experiments such as How to Magically Blow Up a Balloon (ages 6–12) and Can Magnets Attract Anything? (ages 9–14) to animations such as How Do 3D Films work? (ages 7–14), Why Do Crabs Walk Sideways? (ages 8– 12), and Why Do Astronauts Float in Space? (ages 7–14). Teachers also can access online interactives to help students understand fundamental concepts in chemistry (e.g., Structure of an Atom, ages 7–14), biology (e.g., Classification of Plants, ages 8–12), and physics (e.g., Types of Motion, ages 7–14). Search for resources by subject category (e.g., biology, chemistry, experiments, physics, or technology), media type (e.g., animation, interactive, video), student age, or most downloaded.

(K-8 Make the most of a school garden with the interdisciplinary lessons in the Captain Planet Learning Gardens Program. Targeted for preschool through middle level learners, each lesson in this curriculum supports Common Core curriculum standards, encourages inquiry-based learning, and promotes environmental stewardship. Sample lessons include Nature Is All Around (preschool), which features a puppet show that teaches students how to use their senses explore nature; Air Pollution-Detecting Gardens (elementary), which teaches students about bio-indicator plants such as milkweed and what can be learned about pollution from monitoring them; and Garden Wars: Invaders, Protectors, and Partners (middle level), which explores the symbiotic relationships of various organisms in an organic garden.

Help me to help you! Let me know who you are, where and what you teach. I'll share the directory with everyone so you can form your own learning communities. Just click on this link. Easy-peasy!

Don't miss out on new resources and freebies! Join the Science Google Classrooms! Use the class codes listed below.

Elementary: uz7l4 (that's a lowercase L...not a 1)

Middle: wumkvdb

High: s0ei0d (those are zeros...not Os)

Click on this link to see a list of the scheduled professional learning dates for science this year. Other dates for specific activities (Innovation Expo, Science Olympiad, etc.) will be scheduled and sent out via email and newsletter.

Looking for ideas for your STEM/STEAM lessons? Check out some of these!

150 STEM & PBL Activities

https://www.teachengineering.org

http://www.novelengineering.org

https://www.eie.org

http://www.stemcobb.com/lesson-links.html Elementary STEM Lessons

http://www.stemcobb.com/ms-stem-lessons.html Middle School STEM Lessons

239 STEM Resource Websites

Please contact Dr. Donald White with any questions or comments.

Email: donald.white@cowetaschools.net
Website: bit.ly/CCSSScience
Location: 167 Werz Industrial Boulevard, Newnan, GA 30263
Phone: 770-254-2800
Twitter: @dwhitesciguy