Teri Shurb # Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2003 PED 3103G – Heather Mace

Resources for Teaching Intermediate Science Puzzles Manipulatives Books Web pages Journal/Newspaper

Puzzles 1 WHERE: Puzzles can be found online and in books such as Creative Thinking (Grades 5-8) available at the Discovery Learning Store for $6.99. WHAT: School discovery has logic problems that require deductive reasoning and a tool to create search words. Creative Thinking challenges studies to be imaginative.School discovery For example, one task is to create clever names for imaginary items such as a tool that is a combination of a shovel and a rake, while another task is to find rhyming words to fill in the blanks below: Mechanics work on ________. Astronomers watch the ________.

Puzzles 2 HOW: The main use of puzzles is to challenge students and to get them to think both logically and creatively. Puzzles can develop the skills needed for the scientific method, such as deduction, observation, attention to detail and imagination. These activities can also introduce new vocabulary, review for a test or be an activity for students who finish early. These puzzles could easily be made more relevant to the curriculum by using the vocabulary, images and ideas of the current strand, as demonstrated by the search word titled “The Elements”.

Manipulatives 1 WHEREWHATHOW Ikea $0.99 Small plush bat, frog & ladybug Prizes, classify objects (animals vs. plants, toys vs. tools), examples of biodiversity, (vertebrates & invertebrates)  Gr. 7 & 10 ecosystems Scholar’s Choice $0.25 each Plastic poppersPrizes, fun, demonstrate motion and force as poppers pop up in the air, student safe activity,  Gr. 8 mechanical efficiency, gr. 10 motion My house $ free MagnetsDemonstrate magnetic force, both attraction and repulsion, student safe activity  Gr. 8 mechanical efficiency, gr. 10 motion

Manipulatives 2 WHEREWHATHOW Scholar’s Choice $1.00 Planet Earth rubber ball Prize, demonstrate motion, friction and gravity in a bouncing ball, visual aid of the earth from space, student safe activity  Gr. 9 the universe or space exploration, gr. 10 motion Scholar’s Choice $1.00 Hand BlastersPrize, demonstrate the sparks made and link it to cap gun,, student safe activity  Gr. 10 chemical processes Loblaws ~$5.00 Flowers, such as tiger lilies Demonstrate reproductive parts of the flower, students could take it apart to see how the parts look and connect to each other Gr. 9 reproduction

Manipulatives 3 WHEREWHATHOW Discover Learning $3.99 Poster of periodic table Decorate science classroom, reference for students & teacher as contains information about the elements as well as explanations of groups, atomic mass, structure of an atom, electron arrangement etc…  Gr. 7 pure substances & mixtures, gr. 9 atoms & elements and exploring matter Pet Store $ vary Fish, hamsters, mice, snake or turtles Live specimens in classrooms can teach students about responsibility and caring for animals. Also could linked reproduction or interactions within ecosystems.  Gr. 9 reproduction, gr. 7 interactions within ecosystems

Books 1 WHERE: Science Experiments by Robert Gardner is located in the Learning Resource Center and contains ideas and instructions for experiments. Two reference books are Biology by Neil Campbell and Chemistry & Chemical Reactivity by Kotz & Purcell, both orginally purchased in the university bookstore for ~$ WHAT: Gardner’s book has an experiment for differentiating between conductors and nonconductors of electricity, and another to study properties of water, such as the relationship between pressure & depth. The biology and chemistry texts have many links to the curriculum such as ecosystems; cells, reproduction; atoms and elements and chemical processes.

Books 2 HOW: The experiments on the last slide could introduce or review concepts in gr. 9 electricity or gr. 8 fluids. Experiments allow students to learn from doing as opposed to seeing or hearing and gives them a chance to develop skills such as writing a lab report or the ability to work in a group. Activities can also be fun and relevant for those students who do not normally enjoy science. The reference books could be used by the teacher to brush up on concepts or vocabulary before starting a new strand or as a place to find answers to questions raised in class. Also, using more than one textbook allows more than one point of view on a topic or more than one way to explain it.

Web Pages 1 WHERE: The following internet sites can be used to teach intermediate science: Science Snacks, Science Articles, Hot Biology Sites, Reeko's Science.Science SnacksScience ArticlesHot Biology SitesReeko's Science WHAT: Science snacks has an activity called Pie Pan Convection that involves fluid motion (gr. 8 fluids) and requires simple household products, such as dish soap and food coloring. Science articles has readings on environmental issues, such as deforestation or ethical issues, such as the human genome project (gr. 9 reproduction, gr. 10 ecosystems). Hot biology sites from the University of Toronto has links to many great sites (gr life systems /biology). Reeko’s science has an experiment to rediscover Newton’s 3rd Law with a milk carton, string and a pencil (gr. 10 motion).

Web Pages 2 HOW: As a new teacher, I need to try many new things in order to find what works for me and what students learn from and enjoy. From these sites, I will find many new activities, readings, websites and experiments to keep both my knowledge and my teaching fresh. Student activities, reading relevant articles, using the internet and science experiments are all parts of the classroom that I have planned. Information I can find on the internet will be fast and accessible, especially when I am a very busy new teacher.

Journal/Newspaper 1 WHERE: Science Scope is a science education journal published by the National Science Teachers’ Association and it can be found in the Learning Resource Center. Also included are science related articles from the Ottawa Citizen. WHAT: The journal has a wonderful article on using toys to teach physics, such as toy cars for speed and acceleration, a slinky for wavelengths and various sports balls for kinetic energy (gr. 8 mechanical efficiency, gr. 10 motion). Current news stories is a great way to make science relevant and interesting. For example, the following articles relate to the curriculum: “Typhoon hits South Korea”- gr. 10 weather, “Stamps honour Canadian astronauts” – gr. 9 space exploration and “Down by the Bay” – gr. 7 ecosystems.

Journal/Newspaper 2 HOW: This journal will be a source of new activities or demonstrations and a way to keep in touch with other r professional practice in science education. This will allow me to reflect on my own values, methods and success, while improving upon things such as lesson plans, teaching methods and assessment tools. Science also needs to be made relevant for students and current newspaper articles can be used to start discussions, serve as the basis of student research papers or just keep class interesting. Students can also be tasked with bringing in relevant or interesting articles as a simple assessment tool to get students reading.

“Hard-Copy” Resources Tangible examples of some of the above resources and a few other located during the search have been included in the accompanying bag. An inventory of the contents of the bag, as well as a very brief explanation of where the item can be obtained and its potential classroom use has also been included.