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My eBook “Think Like a Scientist: Understanding Weather & Climate” is now available through NSTA Press. Learn more about this and other NSTA ebooks for the K-5 classroom here.
Category Archives: Digital Tools
Designing Family Investigations for Remote Science Learning
It has been eight weeks since our Burlington Schools were closed due to the spread of coronavirus through our community. What was once a temporary inconvenience as turned into a remote learning trial by fire for school district’s across the … Continue reading
Creating VR Experiences: A Journey
On February 7th I walked out of a VR EdTechTeacher workshop a bit flummoxed. For the first time in a long time I felt over my head, swimming in exposure to half dozen new tools and apps and several new … Continue reading
NSTA’s “Daily Do” and my eBook: Investigating Weather and Climate
The NSTA recently made the generous decision to open all of its NSTA Kids eBooks freely available on the web at nsta.org/ebooks. These digital, interactive readers are aligned to Next Generation Science Standards across K-5 grade levels and a great … Continue reading
Posted in 3-5, Digital Tools
Tagged climate, earth science, NSTA, patterns, reading, technology
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Coded Communications Thanks to Teacher Collaboration
Time is tight in the elementary schools to meet all the expectations of our state’s science standards. So when opportunities knocks for collaboration with teachers who have face time with students outside of their allotted science time – I answer! … Continue reading
Beyond Toothpicks and Marshmallows: Engineering Earthquake Resistant Structures
I’ve been searching high and low for an earthquake engineering design challenge that gave students more control in planning and evaluating their earthquake-resistant constructions than the common “toothpicks and marshmallows” challenge often seen in primary and middle grades. So … Continue reading
Posted in 3-5, Classroom Activities, Digital Tools, NGSS
Tagged earth science, earthquakes, engineering, waves and communication
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Facilitating a Weather & Climate Unit with my new NSTA Kids eBook
NSTA is unveiling a new “Think Like a Scientist” series of eBooks at the #NSTA17 Conference in Los Angeles for elementary age students. While NSTA has been producing eBooks for teachers and older students for some time now, these eBooks may be … Continue reading
Posted in 3-5, Digital Tools, NGSS, Professional Reflections
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A more practical approach to self-assessment rubrics (?)
Self-assessment rubrics sound like a great idea in theory. [My] thinking goes something like this… “I’ll have my students complete the rubric themselves first! It will make them reflect thoughtfully on their work and will save me some painful conversations about … Continue reading
Posted in Digital Tools, Professional Reflections
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Modeling Celestial Motions and Next Generation Professional Development
The video, “Private Universe” showcasing Harvard graduates stumbling over the reasons for the seasons has thousands of views on YouTube and has been shared countless other times in science-ed classrooms. The sometimes laughable explanation are enough to make any space science educator … Continue reading
Developing an Understanding of Light Energy through PhET Models
“Light moves in the form of waves” and is “reflected, refracted, and absorbed” are all traditional statements of light energy that become staples of assessment for student understanding. But whether students can apply this understanding is a big question. The NGSS … Continue reading
Posted in 3-5, Classroom Activities, Digital Tools, Professional Reflections
Tagged Grades 3-5, light, NGSS, PhET simulation, physical science, technology
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Exploring Heat Energy with an Infrared Camera
At this year’s Massachusetts Association of Science Teachers or “MAST” Conference I shared the Science Center’s FLIR One infrared camera purchased last year through Burlington Education Foundation grant funds. Over just the past month teachers at the Marshall Simonds Middle … Continue reading
Posted in 3-5, 6-8, 9-12, Digital Tools, Professional Development
Tagged energy, technology
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Musselman / Science 