SD Unified Science
September 2022
Unified Science sparks curiosity and creativity, empowering the next generation to enact change in our local and global communities.
Science: bit.ly/sdusdscience
STEAM: bit.ly/sdusdsteam
Please share photos and other exciting news from your class with us! We would love to feature it here, on our site and on social media.
Cleaning up for the new year? Check out Buy Nothing San Diego Unified Science
Look at our new BUY NOTHING page, submit the form with your un-needed supplies and look at the available supplies from other teachers!
Science Microcredentials Available this Fall!
Applications Open Sept 14th APPLY HERE
San Diego Unified School District's Micro-Credentials are resume worthy credentials that can help you improve your practice. Completing a course earns you a micro-credential, while completing a series of courses leads to a certification in a specific topic; certifying your expertise to site and district leadership.
These internal credentials* are earned through 1-unit courses (approximately 15 hours of course-work), with offerings from multiple departments for all levels (UTK through 12). Courses are either asynchronous or hybrid and are easily accessed through Canvas (LMS).
Micro-credential courses are free for San Diego Unified teachers (with an option to buy a continuing education unit from UCSD in order to advance on the pay schedule).
*SDUSD Micro-Credentials are issued by San Diego Unified School District, not by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.
Micro-Credential: Ambitious Science Teaching: Planning for Engagement with Big Science Ideas
Micro-Credential: Physics Teaching Basics
This course is designed to review the content basics of a High School Physics course. Participants will
engage in learning of physics principles and application that could be used in the classroom, practice
problem sets and review big ideas that are part of the NGSS framework for science education. This course can also be used to help prepare teachers for the Physics CSET exam.
Attention Teachers at Title One Eligible Schools!
The materials requested through the Title 1 Overage funds last Spring have begun shipping and are currently being delivered to school sites. Please ask around about these supplies! You can check with your principal for a detailed materials list.
Attention MS Teachers: Amplify Science Opportunities
- Amplify Science Teacher Advisory Board: Open to teachers of all grade/ experience levels to provide feedback to Lawrence Hall of Science & Amplify; Sept-June commitment; $900 Stipend. Sign up Link
- Amplify Student workbooks are available in limited amount. If you are out of student workbooks we have a limited supply of workbooks to assist with restocking! Available through Destiny.
Attention MS & HS Teachers: Illumina Virtual Field Trip!
You're invited!
Illumina's in-person premiere of our Virtual Field Trip: Genomics: Decoding the Language of Life
As a key Illumina educational partner, please join us for our educator celebration on September 15 from 4-5 PM PST, at our San Diego Illumina campus. We are excited to show our support and appreciation for the hard work of educators as they come “Back to School.”
To adapt to the hybrid learning environment, open our campus to more educators and students and scale our reach, we've partnered with Discovery Education to create a virtual trip to our campus in San Diego.
Light refreshments & food will be provided. Register for an In-Person Viewing
California STEAM Symposium
The 10th Annual California STEAM Symposium is hosted by the Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation, in partnership with the California Department of Education, and the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls, on October 1-2, 2022 at the Anaheim Convention Center.
The theme for this year's Symposium is Advance Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion in STEAM: Access, Awareness, Opportunities, & Outcomes. Throughout the event, educators and STEAM enthusiasts will come together to explore high-quality strategies to cultivate systems to promote life-long learning for everyone through inclusive and targeted practices, high-impact techniques, and policies. FAQ and Registration
Register at STEAMcalifornia.org with code JOINME22 for $50 off
Green Our Planet: Hydroponics & Garden Grants Available!
Green Our Planet is bringing its programs to 250 schools this year. Pretty cool, right? But the best part is that your school could be one of them!
Green Our Planet received funding to offer grants that cover the majority of program costs for eligible schools. That means that you could be teaching with some amazing school garden programming or a fancy new hydroponics unit as soon as August!
- You can find more details about our STEMworks-accredited programs and the grants at this link, or see the flyers below!
- Hydro Flyer.................GardenConnect Flyer
- Application Deadline: We're accepting applications on a rolling basis until all grants are awarded. You still have time to apply Apply for the Hydroponics Grant here!..............Apply for the outdoor GardenConnect Grant here!
- The Hydroponics Grant covers $8,000 of the $10,000 cost of the Hydroponics STEM Program, with schools covering the $2,000 balance. The GardenConnect Grant will cover $2,000 of the $3,500 cost of the GardenConnect Program.
- Have Questions? Check out our Garden Grants FAQ at this link!
FREE HANDS-ON LABS into your science classroom from Salk!
We’re very excited to announce three wonderful opportunities, all free, all geared towards getting our free hands-on labs into your science classroom, whether you're a middle school, high school, or after-school educator.
First, we have two upcoming Salk Activity Kit Workshops, free training to equip you to use up to three different biotechnology ‘labs-in-a-box’ with up to 200 students in your classroom. The equipment is available to be borrowed, free of charge, to be used in your classroom for two weeks. And, to help make it easier on you to get the supplies, we’ll work with you to find the most convenient drop-off & pick-up of the supplies to your school site. You are welcome to attend one or both workshops:
DNA Extraction & Gel Electrophoresis
Saturday September 17
9-12:30PM. Lunch provided, with optional architectural tour ending @1PM.
PCR with Genes in Space
Saturday September 24
9AM-2PM. Lunch provided.
Lastly, our Mobile Science Lab has a survey for any & all 6th-8th grade science teachers in San Diego County. If you are one, or know one, we’d love your insightful feedback & valuable data to help drive our revamped Mobile Science Lab experience. Only those that participate in the survey will have the opportunity to apply to be one of our pilot schools for the 22-23 school year. Thank you for taking the time to take the survey or share with a middle school science teacher in your school, district, or network. SURVEY HERE.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us via education@Salk.edu. We hope to see you at one of our workshops this September!
Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching
The Center for Excellence in Education’s Teacher Enrichment Program has some exciting news about this years’ Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. Application window is now open and closes February 6, 2023. You can learn more about this opportunity below or see the letter attached for more details. Click here to register.
Resource Recommendation: https://explore.org/livecams
Check out https://explore.org/livecams and be sure to check out the "Educator" button at the top of the page. This is a great resource for some long-term inquiry projects for students to do observations, create questions, collect data, support or negate hypothesis, etc. in the real world.
We want to hear your highlights and recommendations!
We want to hear your recommendations and share them with other science teachers!
If you have a favorite curriculum, reading, activity, or PLC plan that you want to recommend to other teachers we want to capture a short (1-3 minutes) video of you describing it and share it with other unified science teachers!
Email tlerner@sandi.net and one of us will come to visit you and record a short clip !
Science Joke! 😂
Does anyone have any jokes about Sodium?
Na.
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