SDUSD Science

Science: bit.ly/sdusdscience

STEAM: bit.ly/sdusdsteam

Science Office Hours by appointment, please email smoynes@sandi.net

2020 California State Finalist for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) Khamphet is a 6th-grade STEM teacher at Wilson Middle School in San Diego Unified School District. At her site, she is teaching introduction to coding; gateway to technology: design and modeling, automation and robotics; and computer science for innovators and makers. Khamphet is a champion for underrepresented girls in the STEM fields. From 2014 to 2016, she mentored 16 high school girls from schools across San Diego County to design, program, and build a microlab experiment that was deployed to the International Space Station to test zero gravity.

Nominate outstanding 7-12 science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and/or computer science teachers now for this award year. https://www.paemst.org/nomination/nominate

These free online workshops include ideas and experiences that professional learning providers can use in their workshops and teachers at all grade levels can use in their classrooms.

Join us to explore phenomena, engage in meaning making discussions, and learn more about new asynchronous resources from the Exploratorium that are designed to support students’ explorations and investigations in online learning environments!

Flyer

Please email me at smoynes@sandi.net if you are interested in piloting the use of a student digital portfolio for assessing SEP and CCC.

Are you finding it challenging to engage ALL of your students during science distance learning?

Marci Sponsler, San Diego Middle School Teacher, will lead you through a learning experience using hands-on strategies that she has used successfully and virtually with her students. She will be adapting a PhET Simulation Lesson using online tools and embedding Mark Windschidtl's "Ambitious Science Teaching" strategies into the session.

Through this workshop, you will be able to try out the strategies presented during Session 1 (Feb. 16) and debrief them with colleagues during Session 2 (Feb. 23) Event Link

This workshop will be valuable for K-5 teachers as well as 6-12. The cost is $50 for 2 sessions, you can ask your principal for funding.

https://www.sdcoe.net/lls/equity/Pages/Professional-Learning-and-Events.aspx

Sentence Starters for Crosscutting Concepts

How can the CCCs help us structure conversations during times of civic unrest? Looking for causality, Defining and using the concept of systems, Observing and recognizing patterns

Are there questions and sentence frames that would be useful in leading and facilitating conversations that may be ‘off topic’?

More resources to support these conversations:

https://www.pblworks.org/blog/pbl-teachers-and-leaders-responding-attack-us-capitol

Jamboard now allows revision history.

Keyboard shortcut for MacBook Command Option Shift H

Keyboard shortcut for Chromebook Control Alt Shift H

Tijuana Estuary's annual middle & high school teacher training, also known as TOTE, that typically takes place in May is going virtual. We were unable to provide TOTE in 2020 but we're ready to bring it to teachers in March.

At this training you will:

- Learn about estuarine ecology

- Discover strategies to enhance your remote teaching

- Interact with Reserve researchers

- Experience the Detecting a Changing Climate Virtual Field Trip

- Take a Virtual Tour of the Reserve

This 5-session training takes place from 3:30-5:00 p.m. on March 2, 3, 4, 9, & 11th. Teachers on the Estuary is a teacher training program that brings coastal research into the classroom.

Learn more about Tijuana Estuary's Middle & High School Curriculum on our website.

To register, use the registration link or email marya.ahmad@parks.ca.gov.

Download the flyer

The 2021 event will transition from a weekend High School Science Day to instead a Virtual High School Science Week. Each day of the week 1-2 labs will be featured in a 60-minute interactive webinar with an opening program featuring Geoffrey Wahl on Monday, February 22nd, and a keynote presentation by Kay Tye on Friday, 2/26. The guiding theme for the event will be Where Cures Begin to highlight the importance of basic research in scientific discoveries.

The interactive webinars will give students a glimpse of a day in the life of scientists and provide students with an opportunity to interact with Salk researchers. Rather than strictly teaching content, the interactive webinar will embrace students’ curiosity by letting their questions dictate the discussion. The event will emphasize both the process of science and the people behind it.

For increased schedule flexibility for students, teachers, and scientists, each 60- minute webinar will be standalone. Students are welcome to attend one or all of the Virtual Lab Tours. There is no cost to register for the event!

Want to learn more about the program and register your students? Take a look at the event page on our website here.

Have a question about the event? Visit the Frequently Asked Question page here or reach out to the EO team at education@salk.edu.

Students to work on a conceptual project which addresses real-life issues. The competition is called the UCSD IEEE Pandemic Relief Design Competition and it is an opportunity for students to work on a conceptual project which addresses real-life issues. Over the course of a few weeks, students will work either in groups virtually or by themselves researching and designing a solution to a consequential problem resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. Selected participants will have the chance to present their ideas in front of a panel of engineers to win prizes! Students with any and all interests are welcome and encouraged to compete. The deadline to sign up is February 13th.

For more information about the competition as well as the sign-up link, please refer to our website.

Fill in your material gaps with new STEAM digital content—ready to incorporate into science, technology, art, or math classrooms. Find out how to create synchronous and asynchronous lessons using these state-funded resources now available to all CA students.

• When: Thursday, March 4, 3:00-4:00 pm

• Audience: PreK-12 | All Administrators, Science, Technology, Art and Math Teachers; Instructional Instructional Coaches; TOSAS; and Library Staff

Registration Link: https://teachingbooks-net.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcod-yrrj0rGda40nnc-VR0HJHtqAwKeblE

Link to all CA K12 Project Offerings

Exciting news: If you have a female student who is in the 7th or 8th grade, please encourage her to apply for the BE WiSE (Better Education for Women in Science and Engineering) program! Any girl, as long as she is genuinely interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) experiences, has all the qualifications she needs to apply. Application is here: http://www.rhfleet.org/application Application window: January 4th-February 5th, 2021

Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography is proud to offer financial aid for students in need so that all students may have access to high-quality virtual science programming. We connect your PreK-12 students to our ocean planet through our virtual experiential learning programs, where students meet and observe ocean organisms, explore and analyze data about changing conditions in ocean habitats, or ask questions about aquarium careers and current conservation issues.

• Our programs are aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards and designed to be engaging for students joining virtually from their home or classroom.
• Programs are 30 to 45 minutes long and are available Monday through Friday.
• Learn more about our programs and apply for financial aid on our website. Most schools in Southern California with a Title 1 status or other need will receive full support and are encouraged to apply.

The California Science Test (CAST) practice test constructed response annotated example guides for grades 5, 8, and high school have been posted! These documents are intended for use in conjunction with the companion CAST practice test scoring guides.

The new examples provide the prompts, rubrics with exemplars, and scored student responses with annotations. Each of the guides contains two constructed-response prompts, and each prompt has nine sample answers — three at each score point (i.e., 2, 1, and 0). Educators can use these examples to assist them as they develop their own constructed-response items for use in their classrooms. In addition, educators and students, working together, can use these examples to help students better understand how to respond to CAST constructed-response items.

To access both the new practice test constructed response annotated examples and the practice test scoring guides, visit the CAASPP Online Practice Test Scoring Guides and Directions for Administration web page.

• 3-4 pm Wednesdays
  
• Feb 10 & 17 and March 3 & 10
  
• Engage, Connect, Protect by Angelou Ezeilo
  
• Crystal will send the books out to the first 30 educators who commit to participate in the book club.
  

Register here.

• Biomimicry Institute: Youth Design Challenge
  
• Between Jan and April, try on the lessons associated with the YDC and provide feedback to the Institute about the lessons. Receive support from the Institute for the lessons and the Challenge.
  
• Stipend and materials will be provided to the teachers who participate!
  

Email Crystal for more information: crystal.howe@sdcoe.net

Book: “Grading for Equity” by Joe Feldman

Meeting Dates: March 2 - May 25 (Every other week)

Goal: Help educators understand and implement equitable grading practices that improve learning, decrease failure rates and grade inflation, make classrooms more caring and less stressful, strengthen relationships between teachers and students, and build students’ responsibility and character.

Announcement Letter and Registration

• This course utilizes the text, Grading for Equity, by Joe Feldman. This book will be used as a common resource to guide discussions and reflections.
• The cost for participation in the Grading for Equity Book Club is $60. A copy of the book, Grading for Equity, by Joe Feldman, will be mailed to participants in advance of the first session.
• Registration link: http://sdcoe.k12oms.org/1022-197612
• Space for the session is limited and participants must sign up by February 23.
• For More Information Please contact John Spiegel at john.spiegel@sdcoe.net

K-12 students and teachers using EE and STEAM through an environmental lens please consider applying!

Know a K-12 student who is setting an environmental stewardship example for their community? Encourage them to apply for our President’s Environmental Youth Award (PEYA).

• The President’s Environmental Youth Award (PEYA) recognizes young people across the U.S. for protecting our nation’s air, water, land, and ecology. PEYA recognizes outstanding environmental stewardship projects developed by young individuals (K-12), school groups, summer camps, and other youth organizations to promote environmental stewardship. Up to two awards—one for Grades K-5 and one for Grades 6-12—will be selected from each of EPA’s 10 regions for national recognition. The winning projects will be highlighted on EPA’s website. All student projects must be sponsored by at least one adult over the age of 21. And, if the sponsor is not a teacher, the project must have a teacher as a co-sponsor. The application and eligibility information are available on EPA’s PEYA page. Questions? Email: peya@epa.gov

Know a K-12 teacher using environmental education to set an example for their students and inspire their learning? Encourage them to apply for our Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators (PIAEE). ed by the 1990 National En Applications for both awards programs are due no later than February 19, 2021.

• The Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators (PIAEE) recognizes outstanding K-12 grade educators who integrate environmental, place-based experiential learning into school curricula and school facility management across the country. The White House Council on Environmental Quality, in partnership with EPA, administers the PIAEE awards program. Teacher awardees will receive a presidential plaque and an award of up to $2,500 to be used to further professional development in environmental education. The teacher’s local education agency will also receive an award of up to $2,500 to fund environmental educational activities and programs. Winners will be highlighted on EPA’s website. The application and eligibility information are available on EPA’s PIAEE page. Questions? Email: piaee@epa.gov

• Subscribe to the SDCOE newsletter, Science News and Updates using this link

• Use this link to subscribe to the CSTA Newsletter.

• Learn what is going on with PBL in our district. Click here to check out the newsletter and "follow" to subscribe!

• The Instructional Technology Department is excited to announce Tech Tips. This is a monthly communication providing resources for integrating technology into curriculum. http://bit.ly/sdusdtechtips