Monthly Themes: Explorers Writing Prompt Description: Explorers return home with wondrous descriptions of what they have seen. Have students write a paragraph that describes their favorite place or a discovery they have made. Activities Grades K–3: Social Studies Ship Ahoy! In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue on a type of ship known as a caravel. Grades K–6: Social Studies By Land and by Sea Explorers roam the land and the sea in search of discovery. Grades 1–2: Social Studies Tales of Travels Stories about unfamiliar places often inspired explorers to go somewhere new. Grades 1–3: Science In Compass Tag, students will play a game using the cardinal directions to locate different objects around the classroom. Grades 1–8: Social Studies Quizzes Test students' knowledge about explorers. Grades 2–5: Geography, Math, Art Map It! Successful explorers were map-making experts. Grades 2–5: Social Studies/Language Arts Rescue Me! What happens when an explorer becomes stranded? Grades 2–8: Language Arts Word Finds Collectors' Cards
Games As of July 1, 2013 ThinkQuest has been discontinued. We would like to thank everyone for being a part of the ThinkQuest global community: Students - For your limitless creativity and innovation, which inspires us all. Teachers - For your passion in guiding students on their quest. Partners - For your unwavering support and evangelism. Parents - For supporting the use of technology not only as an instrument of learning, but as a means of creating knowledge. We encourage everyone to continue to “Think, Create and Collaborate,” unleashing the power of technology to teach, share, and inspire. Best wishes, The Oracle Education Foundation
Native American Homes: Wigwams, Longhouses, Tepees, Lodges, and other American Indian houses There were many different types of American Indian houses in North America. Each tribe needed a kind of housing that would fit their lifestyle and their climate. Sponsored Links Since North America is such a big continent, different tribes had very different weather to contend with. In the Arizona deserts, temperatures can hit 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and in the Alaskan tundra, -50 is not unusual. Here are descriptions and pictures of some of the Native American house styles the people developed over the years to fit these needs. Native American Homes Wigwam Homes Wigwams (or wetus) are Native American houses used by Algonquian Indians in the woodland regions. cone-shaped dome-shaped rectangular shape wigwam frame Wigwams are good houses for people who stay in the same place for months at a time. Longhouses Longhouses are Native American homes used by the Iroquois tribes and some of their Algonquian neighbors. sketch of a longhouse longhouse cutaway a longhouse today Tepees Indian tepee photograph
Native American Legends, Folk Tales, and Stories Native American mythology has a very rich cultural history of its own. In the telling of tales, many things can be taught or learned. This is one of the ways that many tribes kept their cultures alive; it was not just a collection of stories, but of their beliefs, their ways, and their lives. Many legends are still told; some old, some new, but all are part of the beautiful culture that the indigenous peoples of North America have had and still have. In the telling of some of these stories, I will be handing along things that were told from grandmother to granddaughter; grandfather to grandson, for many generations. There are many different kinds of stories. In reading these tales, you may notice that many, if not all, have morals or some form of belief that is being taught; these are the teachings of the storytellers. And finally, if you retell these tales, please remember; many of these begin or end in a certain way. I will, eventually, get back to you. Legends of the Blackfeet
Home | National Museum of the American Indian 03.02.03: Plains Indians: An Interdisciplinary Unit of Study I participated in the seminar on Everyday Life in Early America. Currently, the New Haven Curriculum for first grade includes the study of Native Americans, and their beliefs, institutions, ideals, traditions, and conflicts. However, it is not developed extensively and does not include sufficient resources, goals, objectives or rationale for such a study. The Social Studies curriculum is in draft form and does not offer a significant amount of support or a detailed outline of instruction. This seminar on everyday life in early America is the perfect opportunity to merge my newly gained insights and knowledge with the open-ended curriculum and interdisciplinary studies. This seminar and its topics of discussion has increased my preparation and added to my personal background knowledge of Early America. The unit is rich in literature and illustrations, utilizing seminar discussions and children's fiction and nonfiction literature relating directly to Native Americans. Unit Outline 1. 1.
50 Really Cool Online Tools for Science Teachers A 21st-century education revolves around the Internet for everything from collaboration, tools, lessons, and even earning degrees online. If you are looking for ways to integrate online learning into your science class or science degree programs, then take a look at these cool online tools that are just perfect for both teachers and students. Science Tools to Use with Students These tools offer opportunities for learning about climate, cells, the human body, nature, and more. ChemiCool. AP Tools Whether you are setting up a new AP curriculum or are just looking for additional material to use with your AP science students, these tools will help. Advanced Placement Biology. Websites and Resources for Science Teachers These websites are chock full of amazing resources and tools for science teachers. Discovery Education. Calculators Use these informative environmental calculators with your students. Ecological Footprint Quiz. Online Games Online Science Games. Google Earth Google Earth Ocean.
Integrating the 16 Habits of Mind In outcomes-based learning environments, we generally see three elements in play: 1) learning objectives or targets are created from given standards; 2) instruction of some kind is given; and then 3) learning results are assessed. These assessments offer data to inform the revision of further planned instruction. Rinse and repeat. But lost in this clinical sequence are the Habits of Mind that (often predictably) lead to success or failure in the mastery of given standards. In fact, it is not in the standards or assessments, but rather these personal habits where success or failure -- in academic terms -- actually begin. Below are all 16 Habits of Mind, each with a tip, strategy or resource to understand and begin implementation in your classroom. The habits themselves aren't new at all, and significant work has already been done in the areas of these "thinking habits." And a renewed urgency for their integration. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Ask students to map out their own thinking process. 6. 7. 8.
The 4-Letter Word That Everybody’s Talking About - Head Count Denver — Here at this giant gathering of admissions officers and high-school counselors, I keep hearing the same word over and over. People have mentioned it during sessions, uttered it over coffee, and probed its meaning in conversations. The word is “grit.” It’s as good a word as any for the determination that many educators now associate with student success. It’s long been said that test scores and grade-point averages don’t tell you the whole story about an applicant, but these days there’s growing interest in ways of measuring—and improving—student’s “noncognitive” skills, as speakers here at the National Association for College Admission Counseling’s annual meeting attested. Some institutions, such as Tufts and DePaul Universities, have incorporated noncognitive assessments into their evaluations of applicants. After all, we’re learning more and more about why students succeed or fail. In short, Ms. Ms. That suspicion seems to be easing, however. Return to Top
The importance of stupidity in scientific research I recently saw an old friend for the first time in many years. We had been Ph.D. students at the same time, both studying science, although in different areas. She later dropped out of graduate school, went to Harvard Law School and is now a senior lawyer for a major environmental organization. At some point, the conversation turned to why she had left graduate school. I had thought of her as one of the brightest people I knew and her subsequent career supports that view. For almost all of us, one of the reasons that we liked science in high school and college is that we were good at it. A Ph.D., in which you have to do a research project, is a whole different thing. That's when it hit me: nobody did. I'd like to suggest that our Ph.D. programs often do students a disservice in two ways. Second, we don't do a good enough job of teaching our students how to be productively stupid – that is, if we don't feel stupid it means we're not really trying.
Why does failure inspire some and demoralize others? Stanford Magazine reports on the applications from psychological research Carol Dweck's work, which uses careful experiments to determine why some people give up when confronted with failure, while others roll up their sleeves and dive in. Through a series of exercises, the experimenters trained half the students to chalk up their errors to insufficient effort, and encouraged them to keep going. Those children learned to persist in the face of failure–and to succeed. The control group showed no improvement at all, continuing to fall apart quickly and to recover slowly. The Effort Effect, Carol Dweck's book, "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success" (Thanks, Dad!)
Inspirational Quotes to Live By Good quotes are often powerful words of wisdom that inspire, educate and even motivate a person to take action. They usually share common themes such as: Positive thinking leads to positive outcomesFailure is a stepping stone to successHelp yourself by helping othersDetermination, initiative and persistence are the foundation of success And yet these lessons of life are typically condensed into 1-2 lines. Therefore we thought it’d be a great idea to come up with the ultimate list of 100 inspiring quotes to live by. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. ”An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” - M.K. 9. ”Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.” - John F. 10. ”I haven’t failed. 11. ”It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” - Aristotle 12. ”It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.” - Howard Ruff 13. ”It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” - Vince Lombardi