Feedback from the science department after attending the December National Science Teacher’s Conference in Seattle.
Registrations fees generously funded by IMS PTSA
Lorna Gilmour attended four workshops on the topics of genetics and evolution. “This year the ISD middle school curriculum has changed and we have added genetics to the 6th grade curriculum. In order to better prepare myself for the new unit, I attended a presentation on current research about teaching evolution and workshops on how to teach genetics, DNA and evolution to middle school students. There were several great ideas, websites and lessons that I will be able to use based on the workshops and presentation. I also had a chance to make contacts at the NOAA booth since I am looking for a guest speaker (scientist) to make the food web lessons in the ecology unit more real for my students. I was also able to shop around for a new camera for my microscope since we use the microscope very often now. The conference was a valuable experience. Thank you for making it possible!”
Michelle Pickard attended a seminar where she learned about utilizing Formative Assessment in the classroom. Formative assessment is a means of regularly monitoring student understanding and taking action based on student data collected. This process can be used by teachers during instruction to provide feedback to adjust ongoing teaching and learning in order to improve student’s achievement of intended instructional practice.
Olga Haider attended the NSTA Conference on Friday, December 9th and participated in several workshops. One of the most outstanding presentations focused on addressing student misconceptions of the Earth-Sun-Moon system: moon phases and eclipses. The session facilitator provided strategies and sections of Page Keeley’s, “Uncovering Student Ideas” book to effectively overcome student misconceptions of the concept. He carefully outlined a sequence of lessons to help students successfully explain these phenomena. Another session of note that Olga Haider attended was the “Solids, Liquids, and Gases: The Kinetic-molecular Theory of Matter” workshop. The facilitators provided many activities to implement in the classroom. These were designed to enrich the students’ understanding of the behavior of matter.
Patti Banashak attended a session on projects related to energy, put on by two professors from Central Washington University who work with the Ellensburg area middle schools as well as college students. “I learned about good sources for equipment to make wind turbines, fuel cells, microbe and solar generators for classroom inquiry. As our district moves towards a focus on STEM education, these project models could nicely supplement our Energy, Machines, and Motion module.” She attended 2 other sessions, including one about designing science laboratory classrooms, so that she can be involved with planning the IMS rebuild.
Michaela Donahoe: “I attended a workshop on the dynamics of water movement. There were about 10 labs that I was able to practice that helped illustrate tides, upwelling, estuaries, and differences in density. These labs directly relate to Catastrophic Events because we talk about ocean currents. Some of the stations were similar to what we already do, but were done in different ways that made sense and sometimes illustrated the concept better. “
Michelle Garlatz—“I had the opportunity to attend a variety of valuable presentations and workshops. The following were the three most beneficial for me/my students.
The presentation on Variation, Selection, and Time will be very beneficial when teaching our 6th grade genetics and evolution units in the spring. The University of Utah has created a website with animations, video clips, virtual labs and quizzes regarding variation, selection, time, DNA, heredity, and geologic time. The resources will help reinforce ideas learned in class and help students have a greater understanding of the science concepts.
I also attended a session presented by the University of California Davis that explored an educational/STEM computer game that they created called the Zombie Plague. In the activity/game, the students have to determine what caused the residents of a city to turn into zombies (bacteria, virus, etc). Through the game/activity, the students learn science topics and careers.
Another valuable presentation was “Promoting Critical Thinking in the 21st Century Classroom”. The presentation aligns with our district/school thinking goals. The presenter reminded teachers to focus on relationships, relevance, and rigor to help students think critically and improve metacognition.
