the network for middle school math and science teachers

All Blog Posts (117)

The Science Connections in Science Fiction

As I was preparing for a summer rocketry program and activities at Western Connecticut State University this week, did some quick background research in an attempt to connect Robert Goddard's work of almost a hundred years ago to today's adolescents.

Turns out that Dr. Goddard has credited the classic novels of Jules Verne and Orson Wells as his early inspiration to look skyward and dream of tomorrow's realities. When his research was moved from Devers, MA to Roswell, NM in

… Continue

Added by Richard Varner on August 23, 2010 at 10:57am — 7 Comments

Critical Thinking Skills

Today I just picked up my issue of EdDigest from the post office and quickly noticed an article on Critical Thinking Skills for the new workforce we are currently teaching. It is amazing, we are preparing students for jobs that have not even been invented yet. I thought about this upcoming school year. I immediately started thinking as I was reading the article, am I able to incorporate "(the four Cs)" they refer to, into my curriculum? I'm sure it's going to be pretty easy to incorporate the Ef… Continue

Added by Dr. GBJohnson on August 15, 2010 at 7:43pm — 4 Comments

Technology for an AMAZING beginning of the school year.

As of today I have 25 days of summer left. I’m not normally a “countdown” person, but I have many changes coming my way which may lead to this school year being my last at teaching middle grades students. Instead of thinking about which filing cabinet holds beginning-of-the-year stuff, I’m wondering how I can “changeitup” to make this school year an AMAZING year for me and my students. Fro

… Continue

Added by Karen Jones-Hennessy on July 23, 2010 at 12:49pm — 1 Comment

Contribute Your Expertise to the Next Generation of Science Education Standards

The draft science education standards framework has been released - please consider reviewing and providing feedback.

Continue

Added by Kim Lightle on July 15, 2010 at 3:48pm — 1 Comment

Two Cents' Worth

… Continue

Added by Davilla Riddle on July 7, 2010 at 10:04pm — 3 Comments

Newbies

As a newbie to MSP2 trying to find my way, I’m thinking about all of the new teachers with giddy anticipation also trying to do it all and do it all well! Adding technology to our classes is just one way to be a “cutting-edge” teacher, but how does one get the basics to help them on their path toward technology integration? Alan November, a leader in education technology is not only a teacher’s teacher for both new and seasoned educators, but will have you laughing more than your own class clown… Continue

Added by Karen Jones-Hennessy on July 6, 2010 at 11:13pm — No Comments

Open Source Alternatives to Popular Education Applications

I came across this great list of open source versions of popular education apps. Hope you all find it handy too. If anyone has experience using any of these, I would be very interested to hear from you.

Sarita

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/osrc/article.php/12068_3888901_1/50-Open-Source-Tools-That-Replace-Popular-Education-Apps.htm
Continue

Added by Sarita Pillai on July 1, 2010 at 2:30pm — No Comments

Service learning and STEM

There have been a couple of posts on MSP2 about service learning and STEM. Eric Biederbeck shared information and his thoughts from a conference session entitled Teaching STEM through Service Learning. Tom Jenkins shared posed the question, "Service Learning-Why not it Math, Science and STEM?" after attending a workshop.

It's safe to say that Eric, Tom, and I… Continue

Added by Mary Henton on June 24, 2010 at 5:19pm — 5 Comments

Thoughts on Marzano's - Generating and Testing Hypothesis

Hello fellow Science and Math teachers. This is the first time that I have blogged! I am wondering how many of you are familiar with Marzano's Teaching Strategies? If you are could you please post some insight on #8 Generating and Testing Hypothesis. I thought this was perfect for a Science teacher like you and me.

Not sure what I am talking about check out this site: http://www.middleweb.com/MWLresources/marzchat1.htm… Continue

Added by Kimmie Vogt on June 17, 2010 at 3:01pm — 1 Comment

Mobile Science Program - Science in Motion

Science in Motion is a mobile science program that brings expensive equipment and knowledgable instructors to schools around the state of Pennsylvania. Started in 1987 with federal funding at Juniata College in central Pennsylvania, Science in Motion began receiving state funding 12 years ago. This school year, it got $1.9 million from the state, a drop of $600,000 from the year before, plus some private donations, and the use of storage, office, and lab space from the 12 colleges and universiti… Continue

Added by Sarita Pillai on June 15, 2010 at 9:25am — No Comments

Get kids (yes, even middle schoolers) reading about math, science, and social studies!

Hi everyone-

I thought I'd share this great list of children's literature, both fictional and informational text, with you. It was compiled by one of my former graduate students, school librarian Michelle Levy in Michigan, and posted to the LM-NET school library email list today.

Want to know more about how your school librarian can (and maybe *should*) support your teaching? Get in touch!

Marcia

I.N.K.
Inte… Continue

Added by Marcia Mardis on June 11, 2010 at 2:30pm — No Comments

STEMtube for Student Projects

Edutopia's Katie Klinger blogs about this new resource - STEMtube - an online warehouse for student projects. While there is limited content on the site right now, this has the potential to grow into a fantastic resource of student-producted artifacts. To re-state Dr. Klinger's question - how might STEMtube be useful to your students, or your own children? http://www.edutopia.org/stem-education-online-resource-stemtube… Continue

Added by Sarita Pillai on June 3, 2010 at 11:30am — 1 Comment

Safely Recycling eWaste

http://bit.ly/MSP2ewaste

I think most of us are trying to do the right thing when it comes to recycling all those old computer pieces and parts, cell phones, and other techie geegaws. Thought you might be interested in this article from Popular Mechanics that describes new standards for ewaste.

Excerpt from article - So just what should you do with the gadgets that are completely beyond repair? "Most… Continue

Added by Kim Lightle on June 1, 2010 at 10:32am — No Comments

Let's Present with Prezi! Webinar Recording and Resources

We had a really good webinar yesterday with four educators talking about how they are using Prezi in their teaching and professional development work. Hope you check it out! http://bit.ly/ckDlPg
Continue

Added by Kim Lightle on May 27, 2010 at 12:34pm — No Comments

Food Pulper Replaces Garbage Disposal

The Power of Pulp! This article talks about how Ohio State University is diverting waste from a new building on campus by the addition of a food pulper, which mashes up organic
waste and turns it into a byproduct that can be recovered and used in
multiple ways. The article also talks about OSU's new biogas facility. Very green!

http://oncampus.osu.edu/2010/05/the-power-of-pulp/… Continue

Added by Kim Lightle on May 26, 2010 at 10:00am — No Comments

Gallon of Gas Plus Air Makes for Plenty of Pollution

Our local paper runs the Car Talk column - this one was really great. I knew those car talk guys were smart - but they could be chemistry teachers!

Dear Tom and Ray:

I've heard that each gallon of gas burned by a car releases about 20 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere.
I'm not a chemist, but even allowing for some creative reactions and recombinations going on, how does combusting about six and a half pounds of fuel turn into 20 pounds of CO2? I can't quite get the… Continue

Added by Kim Lightle on May 24, 2010 at 12:30pm — No Comments

Improving Student Learning with iPod Technology

The iREAD -- I Record Educational Audio Digitally -- program showcases how teachers and schools are using iPod applications to boost achievement and excite students about reading, writing, and math. It's now a nationwide program used in more than 100 K-8 classrooms. Interesting to think about how this might apply to science and other content areas.

http://www.edutopia.org/ipod-technology-improving-reading-skills… Continue

Added by Sarita Pillai on May 20, 2010 at 3:00pm — No Comments

Children Involved In SAT’s Boycott Could Be Educationally Better Off?

The DCSF and educational authorities in the UK are facing a dilemma. How do they efficiently measure school performance without interrupting the learning process for children and overwhelming the teaching resources?
Universally teachers belonging ot the National Union Of Teachers NUT and National Association of Head Teachers NAHT will demonstrate their frustration with the process by boycotting the SAT’s scheduled to be
held this week.

Checks and b

… Continue

Added by Alistair Owens on May 16, 2010 at 4:30am — No Comments

Facebook as an Organizational Tool for Students and Teachers?

An interesting article from Edutopia on the role of social media in education. http://www.edutopia.org/social-media-education-examples-facebook.
Continue

Added by Sarita Pillai on May 12, 2010 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Just How Big is the Oil Spill in the Gulf?

This fascinating in a scary way. One of the Google Maps engineers designed an image of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that you can move over any city including your own to give you an idea of how large an area the spill is covering. You need Google Earth plugin to see it right on the web page. See http://paulrademacher.com/oilspill/.
Continue

Added by Kim Lightle on May 10, 2010 at 5:08pm — No Comments