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==Please post your ideas to be shared amongst the class below. Please include a paragraph summary of the idea, any necessary materials or attachments, and a grade level or subject if applicable. Also include who posted it.==

__**1. Think Pair Share (Jarred Levenson)**__: The think, pair, share encourages cooperative learning as students think through questions using three distinct steps. Think, Pair Share is another way to acquire information, but become an expert on a smaller portion of the larger amount of information needed by the end of the activity. Students feel a sense of independence and responsibility when they participate in this type of activity. The activity is attached below:   __**2. Friday Question (Jarred Levenson)**__: Every Friday I ask a challenging question on the topic we are studying that may be of interest to the class. Each student has an opportunity to answer the question and put there answer on paper and drop it into the pretzel jar of answers. I will than pull answers until I find three correct answers. The first three answers that are correct will get extra credit. Even if the entire class has the correct answer only the first three correct answers get extra credit. This means students can share answers, but they run the risk of not being picked. After the three are announced I go over the answer so I keep the interest of the class.

//Example Question: How many stars are seen by the human eye on an average night in Doylestown?//

//Answer: 1750 stars//

//Example Question: What type of electromagnetic radiation is used by an MRI device?//

//Answer: None, an MRI is a magnetic resonance imaging device and uses magnet to align the polarity in cells. Magnetism is not a type of electromagnetic radiation//

__**3. Far Side warmup (Jarred Levenson)**__: I sometimes start class by throwing up a far side cartoon on the screen to have the kids read when they come into class. It can be dealing with the topic or not have anything to do with the topic. If you google science far sides on the image category thousands will come up. I save the images to my computer and throw them up on a projector. Sometimes I will discuss them, other times I will not. Depends on the mood. Sometimes the students start class by asking questions about the Far Side

Examples:



__**4. Astronomy Picture of the Day (Jarred Levenson)**__: For my astronomy unit I use this website to open the class from a picture usually taken from NASA that is quite detailed and usually can be an opening discussion to class. I have this up when students walk into class and I have them guess what it is and than we discuss the picture and usually the students have a variety of questions about the picture. Sometimes this lasts 5 minutes and sometimes I can go the entire class discussing or sharing other articles or information.

The website for astronomy picture of the day is: []

__**5. Cell Size and Scale (Jarred Levenson)**__: I use the following website as an introduction to the human body unit and use this information to show them how the size and scale of various parts of the cells can be seen. The website is an interactive fly thorugh in which the person can shrink down with the parts of the cell and see the scale at which some of these structures exist. It is neat to have the kids see how much smaller an atom is than a coffee bean. You could branch off other activities from this or simply use this as an introduction.

Cell Size and Structure Website: []

__**6. Daily Guided Notes and Graphic Organizer Packets (Chris Ward):**__ For each week, I will prepare a guided note packet which contains the pertinent information from each lesson for my students, as well as Guided Practice Questions and usually the Independent Practice portion of the lesson, however, I usually like to do independent practice on a separate sheet so that I can take it home and grade it that day. Each lesson will then correspond to Powerpoints that I have made, which will include the same pictures as my slideshows to additionally serve as a visual guide. The cover of this packet is broken into boxes for each day. The students are given a DO NOW at the beginning of class and instructed to write their answers down in the box which corresponds to the day of the week. Next to each box is a smaller box. This box is where I will stamp my students' packets to signify that they have done the DO NOW in the 3 minutes alloted at the beginning of class. At the end of the week, I collect the packets while they are doing their test and will grade them on how many DO NOWS where done each week and how closely they followed in their notes. This serves as a classwork grade for the week.

__**7. Jeopardy Review Game (Chris Ward):**__ This is a wonderful tool as long as you reinforce your expectations before you do it. Basically, it is an interactive Jeopardy Powerpoint game. You split the room up into two teams. Then, you will go down the rows and one student from each team come up to the front to compete head to head. Be sure to not skip a student and do not let them volunteer to come up, otherwise you will only have the same few students playing. Now, I went to Staples and bought a "That was easy" button.... one that was in English and one that was in Spanish. This way, the students would hit the red button to "buzz" in. Students have to answer the question on their own and are not allowed to receive help from anyone on their team. If the team shouts out an answer or helps, the points go to the other team. If the student that buzzes in misses the question, the other student has the opportunity to answer. You can decide if you would like to allow them to receive help from his or her group if neither one can answer. Both sides play for points and in the end, you can bring some kind of snack or something of your choosing for the winning team. This works for me every time and the kids really enjoy it. You can also adapt the powerpoint to whatever you want the review to be for.


 * __8. Trashketball- Another great review game (Chris Ward):__** Trashketball is a game that is used mainly for a test review. Again, you must reinforce your expectations before you do this one because it can easily get out of control. To begin you split the the classroom into two teams. You put a 2pt line and 3 pt line mark on the floor with masking tape. After you have placed the tape, you will put a trashcan across the room. The trashcan is used as the goal. You ask one member from a team a review question and if they get the question right they get to go shoot. If they make it they get the points and so on. The team with the most points at the end of the review wins the game. Below, I have attached a copy of a lesson plan for trashketball and a copy of a "playbook" which is just the question review sheet.

__**9. Weekly Research Brief Assignments (Chris Ward):**__ Each week, I will assign my students a research brief assignment. The research brief is a recent science article which relates to the current week's objectives. The instructions for the research brief are as follows: 1. Find at least three words that you have not heard before or are confused about. You will then have to research the definitions online. 2. You will have to write a short summary of the article. Your summary should be at least 5 sentences long and include at least 1 one of your words you chose in step one. 3. Please respond to my thought question. My thought question is usually something like "What kind of improvements could we make on this" or "How will this technology or event affect your life".... something to just help them think a bit more critically. This homework allows me to help them with their reading and writing skills and it completely applies to my content. The website I use for the articles is below. You can search by science discipline, topic, etc.

www.sciencenewsforkids.com


 * __10. Online resource- Curriki (Chris Ward):__** This is a great resource for all things teaching. Curriki is a nonprofit organization that is building an internet site for open source curriculum development which will provide universal access to free cirricula and instructional materials for K through 12 teachers. It was developed by Sun Microsystems CEO Kim Jones. Curriki is different from other education sites because:

Anyone with access to the Internet can contribute and use the material found on __Curriki__ to teach themselves or others. Whether it's algebra, reading, or physics, you will be able to access the curricula online, print it, or save it to a CD. All in all, it's just a pretty damn cool site and like I said before, it is free to sign up for it.
 * 1) It focuses on a complete curricula solution, not just a textbook or lesson plans, but a comprehensive course of instruction and assessment.
 * 2) Curriki has a unique approach to curriculum development, distribution and evaluation that is represented by the organization�s 3-D model: curriculum developed through community contributors, delivered globally and whose impact is determined by project and by individual.

CURRIKI

11. **__WebElement- learningscience.org (Julie Tsui):__** This "learning tool" is called [|WebElements.] There are lots of periodic charts out on the web, but this one is one of the best. ScientificAmerican.com has selected the [|WebElements]web site as a winner of the 2002 Sci/Tech Web Awards. This periodic table is interective. You can click on an element and search a lot of information and properties related to the same element. No need to google properties individually. Once you open up the learningscience.org, click "physical science", then "structure and property of matters" for K-12 grade, then click "WebElement" website. Besides the essential data, history of the element, uses and properties, the site will link you automatically to other sites to answer all your search. ( 10 th grade, chemistry class)

@http://harvardyale.glogster.com/tonys-project/ @http://amir114.glogster.com/amir114/ @http://chemisrty.edu.glogster.com/zinc/ @http://periodictable.edu.glogster.com/erbium-ernieross/
 * 12. __Digital Poster from [|www.edu.glogster.com] ( Julie Tsui):__ To use a digital poster to provide information is more interesting than the power point presentation or a poster board. Students can insert pictures, music, video, animated moving signs, poster notes to answer any questions and provide information. Attached are a few examples. ( 10th grade, chemistry class) **

13. __**Brainpop.com (Julie Tsui):**__ The site is useful in illustrate concepts and show pictures for students to understand. There are review sessions to take a quiz, answer questions to increase the basic knoledge from an interesting point of view.

14. __**Exit Ticket - assessment right after teaching (Julie Tsui) :**__ I used "exit ticket" a lot, since my students have no interest in learning quantum chemistry. During the teaching process, I required them to copy notes in order to be able to answer the two questions on the exit ticket which will be counted as grades. If they can't handle the two exit questions, they need to pay attention during class.

15. __**Hydrogel Experiment - Nontoxic and hands on experience to apply scientific theory ( Julie Tsui):**__ With the limitation of hood space, students in my class were divided into 4 groups to do experiment. I used to have four stations of different experiments for them to explore. Students do not always follow directions which might create safety issues in the lab. I am implementing non-toxic materials (rather than chemicals) for the lab. This change will make it easier for me to manage the lab sessions.

16. __**Circuits Website**__ [] This website is very helpful when you have are going over circuits. In the past I have used this website to reinforce how a circuit works, how to build one and the definition of insulators and conductors. The student logs on to this website, enters their name and begins each mini lesson. I have them read the material do the activity and them take the mini quiz. Since this website does not allow you to keep records I used the clip option from my Microsoft Office One Note and made a worksheet that goes exactly with this website so that students can mark the answer on their worksheets as well and then they can see what they made a mistake on and I have something to grade. The worksheet I used in uploaded below. __** 17. Boyle's Law and Charles's Law **__ [] This is a good animation to use for Boyle�s Law and Charles�s law. It�s often difficult for students to visualize pressure so the model of the piston helps them see that. Before I used this interactive I would ask students what they think would happen when I changed pressure, volume or temperature while keeping one of these constant. While explaining the inverse relationship of volume and pressure I would increase the pressure of the piston and bring to their attention how little space the gas molecules have. In addition, to show the Charles�s law I would show that even when I fix the volume and do not change it when I change the temperature of the gas particles the volume of the gas also changes. I would then do a quick check for understanding. To use this interactive I would only need a projector and my laptop. The guided notes and actitivities are below. 18. __**Density Interactive**__ [] Often students confuse mass/ weight with density. Sometimes it is hard for them to realize that density of objects with the same volume can change. I would use this interactive after I had taught mass, volume and density. This interactive would be a Do Now. I would be sure to ask students to define density in their own words. For this task I would define density as a specific amount or mass for a certain size. I would keep the volume of the objects constant and show that as I change the materials they sink or float and the mass change even though the volume stayed the same. I would do a check for understanding while showing the different materials sink or float. The guided notes and actitivities are below. 19. __**Phase Change Interactive**__ @http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/states-of-matter I love this interactive for teaching students how to read a phase change diagram. I would use my guided notes for how to read a phase change diagram and then I would use this interactive as a guided practice in combination with white boards. I would ask students what happens in the phase change diagram as I add or remove heat and as the finger pushes down more pressure. I would ask students to answer questions on their whiteboard so that I can get a clear visual of who truly understand this diagram. I would take turns keeping one thing constant (temperature or pressure) and show how the other factor changes and how the point moves on the phase change diagram. 20. __**Cell Interactive**__ [] This interactive is helpful with almost everything about cells. I would use this interactive the same way for each option. I would show these interactive after I give guided notes as reinforcement and then ask check for understanding questions to see if they truly understood everything. I think this interactive is best for complicated cellular functions that can be hard to visualize like glycolysis, kreb�s cycles, mitosis and meiosis.

21. **__ Discovery Channel Resource (Chris Ward)- __** This is an amazing resource for all of us to use. The website has sponsored contests for students, a resource library for teachers, an expansive lesson plan library, videos, etc. The website also has a very cool section which is dedicated to promoting more writing and story telling in the classroom. When you go to the site, go under featured content and to the teacher hub to find out the details. Very easy to navigate and awesome material.

Discovery

22. **__Donor's Choose (Chris Ward)-__** Not sure if everyone is familiar with this site, but this is a great tool for teachers, especially science teachers, where you can place an ad, if you will, for something you need for your classroom and then donors can choose to fund your request based on your description. So for instance, let's say you would like a tesla coil for your classroom, you would go on the website, write up a description of what you need, why you have the need in your room and you can also tell them where to get it from. If someone chooses to purchase it for you, it becomes your property, not the school's. You just have all of your kids do thank you cards and take some pictures of it in action in the classroom and boom, you are now the owner of a Tesla coil. My wife and I did this and received a $600 projector for our classrooms. It works people!

Donor's Choose

23. **__Online Resource- Teacher Tube (Chris Ward)-__** Basically, this is a youtube type website that is almost completely geared toward teachers. You can find video demonstrations for science class, people acting out texts and plays, etc. I use this website all of the time when I can find some great video demonstrations. The website also contains handouts, powerpoints, teacher classifieds, pictures, audio files, you name it. And my main reason is because the school district DOES NOT block you from using this site at school. So in case you are in a pinch and need a quick video demonstration, you can log onto the website from school.

Teacher Tube

24. **__Online Resource- TFA.net (Chris Ward)-__** I know, this may be considered a cheap resource for me to post, but I think this is honestly the best resource of anything I use. You will find amazing handouts, lesson plans, templates, classroom practices, powerpoints..... everything under the sun. The other nice thing is that they will have videos on there showing best classroom practices in action. So, maybe if you want to up your game, you can find some new classroom activity suggestions or how to assert your authority or creating a sense of urgency in your room, etc. It is just an amazing resource. My only request is that you don't mess with anything on there :) The website is below and my username and password are as well. This website is a TFA only resource, but it is too good not to share.

TFAnet

username: cmward7029@yahoo.com password: bandname

25. **__PSSA released items (Chris Ward)-__** While I am not one for standardized tests, we all know that we want to prepare our students for the 8th grade or the 11th grade PSSA. So, we need to be exposing them to the types of questions as soon as we can. I work in previous year's PSSA questions in almost every test and sometimes as an Exit Slip. These questions also assist our students in taking the benchmark exams. Please find the official PA website below which contains older, released PSSA material, study guides, how to help your students prepare, etc. Maybe not the most resourceful website of the ones I have given, but this is a great help for your students in the long run.

PSSA released

26. //Tryscience@home (Julie Tsui) - I found these home experimental activities through learningscience.org. The site listed around 15 easy to do experiments for students to have hands-on experience. t is important to relate our daily life with scientific theories.// //27. [|www.edu.glogster.com] ( Julie Tsui) - It is easy to do digital poster presentation with their premiem package. Here is a link [] to view 15 posters in moving presentation. To view detailed information, you just have to click on the individual poster to activate the music and the youtube video. It is a great presentation tool.// //28. Element builder Gizmo (Julie Tsui) - This is a webbased simulation program from Learningscience.org. [] The program allows you to add protons, neutrons, or electrons to build element. Once you build the element, information like element symbol, electron dot diagram, group #, period #, and its chemical properties will show on the interactive screen.// //29. Google docs spreadsheet with gmail to document individual student's performance among teachers (Julie Tsui) - this will allow all the 10th grade teachers to discuss and share information about individual students on-line at at the same time. Incident information or parents contact information can be documented on one spot by different teachers.// //30. Photoelectric effect interactive ( Julie Tsui) - the photon model of light can be visualized and described via this interactive website. [] When light is shining on the metal but there is no current, increasing the frequency will lead to a current, but increasing the intensity of light or the voltage between the plates will not.// // 31 Periodictable of element (Julie Tsui) -With Brainpop.com, Mobby and Tim explain the periodic law in a simple and easy to understand way. Review quizzes were provided for assessment. // // Julie T PP Activity: //

[] This is a GREAT way to explain how to balance equations in chemistry. I would use this after guided notes as a guided practice and have the children help me balance equations. It is difficult for students to visualize adding molecules and this allows them to see it.

[] I would use this interactive as a way to explain the correlation between adding heat/energy to chemical reactions. While teaching enzymes it was imperative the students understand the definition of activation energy and total energy of the experiment. The graph on the side of the interactive shows how the total average energy changes when you add heat to the experiment and how it lowers when you take heat away. I can show students how the green bar representing the total energy moves above the site of the activation energy and makes the experiment run faster. [] This interactive would be a nice addition along with a demo on static electricity. I usually demonstrate static electricity by rubbing a balloon on a girl or boy with long hair and showing how the balloon is attracted to the hair and makes it stand; however, it is difficult for students to visualize that there are positive and negative changes on the hair and when you rub it the negative charges come off on the balloon and make a partial positive charge on the hair. This interactive shows this. I would again use this as a guided practice. __**﻿ Career Project **__ In this project students must research a career they want to pursue and the college or trade school they would like to pursue and how science will help them to realize their dreams. This project is important for a few reasons. First, it is a formal research paper. Students are not supposed to write �I� or �me� but describe the profession in 3rd person. In this paper, like in college, they will have writing guidelines. Finally, it allows them to see how important science will be no matter what they decide to do in the future and how it is important to them now. Students also have to turn in a resume from the future with the paper. What they would have wanted to accomplish and experienced by the time they apply for their jobs. In addition, I give students an example of the introduction and a simple format to begin the paper to help them along. For differentiated purposes students who may work better with visual things can do a poster and video in addition to the paper and their paper can be 2-3 pages shorter. Students are graded on the PA writing rubric.  This is a power point that I created in order to teach meiosis. The guided notes that I have go with the power point. This is a good way to teach meiosis because it breaks the steps down simply and you can move back and go forward in the power point as you please.