Hands-on Activities for Teaching Biology to High School or Middle School Students by Drs. Ingrid Waldron and Jennifer Doherty, University of Pennsylvania The expression "hands-on, minds-on" summarizes the philosophy we have incorporated in these activities - namely, that students will learn best if they are actively engaged and if their activities are closely linked to understanding important biological concepts. Many of our activities are explicitly aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards, as indicated by (NGSS) in the descriptions below and the links to the right. To accommodate limited budgets, most of our activities can be carried out with minimum equipment and expense for supplies. Additional resources for teaching biology are available at More Minds on Activities for Teaching Biology. Read More Intro and Biological Molecules Is Yeast Alive? Students evaluate whether the little brown grains of yeast obtained from the grocery store are alive by testing for metabolism and growth. Enzymes Help Us Digest Food(revised, July, 2016) Who Took Jerell's iPod?
Parents' Guide to the CCSS Currently, each state has a separate set of education standards, lists of skills that students are expected to do by the time they graduate each grade. However, in response to concerns about American student achievement and just how prepared students are for college and careers, education leaders in 48 states, along with the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), have written a set of standards for student across the U.S. The common core state standards were released in 2010. Now, 44 states are working to implement them by 2013-2014. Here’s what you should know and how to help your child prepare for the common core: The Common Core Standards are State-Driven The common core state standards are a set of learning skills that all American students should achieve, not a federal curriculum. The Standards are a Progression In general, standards set a progression of skills that students learn as they move through school. Focus on Informational Text
How to Keep Kids Engaged in Class Have you ever plunked yourself down in a staff meeting where some of your colleagues were, for lack of a better phrase, not paying attention? Grading homework? Having private conversations? Texting? As we know all too well, kids aren't a whole lot different than adults: If they aren't absorbed by what's going on, they'll find something else that interests them. Getting all your students focused, eager, and on task at the beginning of class is challenging enough. Still, unless you manage to capture and keep students' focus, whether at the beginning of or midway through class, the engine of student learning that you are trying to drive simply isn't even in gear. From Dead Time to Active Learning I call this lack of engagement dead time. I have come to feel that dead time is so pernicious that I will do everything I can to prevent even the hint of an outbreak. They call students at Level 4, the lowest level, the work avoiders, and on level 3 are the halfhearted workers. Building Your Arsenal
Common Standards Ignite Debate Over Prereading Published Online: April 24, 2012 Published in Print: April 25, 2012, as Common Standards Ignite Debate Over Student 'Prereading' Exercises Sparked by the Common Core State Standards, teachers and literacy experts are arguing about the role of a time-honored pillar of English/language arts instruction: classroom activities designed to help students understand what they are about to read. The attacks on—and defenses of—"prereading" are unfolding largely in cyberspace, through online forums, blogs, and email exchanges. What's triggering them is educators' reactions to the new standards and two key explanatory resources created by their architects: a set of "publishers' criteria" and videotaped sample lessons. That trio has created an impression in some quarters that the intent of the standards is to "ban"—in the words of one blogger—prereading and instead ask students to approach texts "cold," with no upfront assistance. Interpreting the Standards Publishers' Criteria Mr. The K-2 criteria Mr.
Khan Academy - StumbleUpon Implementation | Common Core State Standards | Topic Specific Sources | Web links | MC3 Register | Lost Password Skip to Content Follow us on Facebook ResourcesAbout MC3 Web links > Topic Specific Sources > Common Core State Standards > Implementation Common Core Implementation ExemplarsDate Added: July 24, 2013 Visits: 55 [ Report ] This Achieve document features state practices and models used with implementing the Common Core State Standards. Common Core Implementation WorkbookDate Added: February 6, 2013 Visits: 56 [ Report ] This link to the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers' (PARCC's) website provides an implementation workbook developed by Achieve and U.S. Common Core State Standards: Progress and Challenges in School Districts' ImplementationDate Added: June 10, 2013 Visits: 15 [ Report ] This link is to a Center on Education Policy report exploring the issues associated with implementing the Common Core State Standards. Common Core VideoDate Added: January 8, 2014 Visits: 98 [ Report ] Back to Top
50 Important Links for Common Core Educators Educators across the nation are working hard this summer to begin developing updated curricula that will fit into the new Common Core State Standards, which will be fully applied in 45 U.S. states (Texas, Alaska, Nebraska, Virginia, and Minnesota have opted out of statewide participation) by 2015. Yet despite the hubbub about the new standards, which were created as a means of better equipping students with the knowledge they need to be competitive in the modern world, many teachers still have a lot of unanswered questions about what Common Core will mean for them, their students, and their schools. Luckily, the Internet abounds with helpful resources that can explain the intricacies of Common Core, offer resources for curriculum development, and even let teachers keep up with the latest news on the subject. Groups and Organizations Useful Resources Curriculum Development Blogs State Tools Some states have created helpful websites for teachers all about Common Core.
The Most Useful Resources For Implementing Common Core — I Hope You’ll Contribute More (NOTE: Readers have begun to contribute some excellent ideas in the comments. I’ll get around to adding them to the body of this post but, until then, be sure to review the comments, too!) I’m obviously not a real big fan of Common Core standards, and am a bit skeptical about its practical impact on what happens in the classroom. Nevertheless, they’re here, and I thought it would be useful to readers and to me to begin to collect some practical and helpful tools. I’m starting off with a few today, and hope readers will contribute a whole lot more — for all subjects and grade levels. You might also be interested in these other lists: The Best Resources For Learning About Common Core Standards & English Language Learners The Best Articles Sharing Concerns About Common Core Standards The Best Resources For Learning About The “Next Generation” Of State Testing My Ed Week post, Best Ways to Prepare Our Students for CCSS in Language Arts . ASCD has a free newsletter called The Core Connection .
Tools for the Common Core Standards Phil Daro, Bill McCallum, Jason Zimba A Grecian urn You have just purchased an expensive Grecian urn and asked the dealer to ship it to your house. He picks up a hammer, shatters it into pieces, and explains that he will send one piece a day in an envelope for the next year. You object; he says “don’t worry, I’ll make sure that you get every single piece, and the markings are clear, so you’ll be able to glue them all back together. I’ve got it covered.” In the Common Core State Standards, individual statements of what students are expected to understand and be able to do are embedded within domain headings and cluster headings designed to convey the structure of the subject. Standards for a Grecian Urn The pieces are designed to fit together, and the standards document fits them together, presenting a coherent whole where the connections within grades and the flows of ideas across grades are as visible as the story depicted on the urn. Why is paying attention to the structure important?