No Child Left Inside Day
No Child Left Inside (NCLI) Day (Tuesday October 13) will be the focal point of Earth Science Week.
On the first NCLI Day, held during Earth Science Week 2008, teachers and earth scientists led students outdoors to sample water, interact with earth systems, and observation the natural world in action. This day proved to be a popular event for schools, youth organizations, government agencies, and others interested in promoting outdoor educational activities. Now, to encourage even broader participation, AGI has developed an educator's guide for organizing NCLI Day in local schools and communities. This online resource provides 10 outdoor activities, information on how to plan your NCLI Day event, and classroom follow up activities. Download a copy of the NCLI Day educator's guide through the Earth Science Week website at www.earthsciweek.org/ncli. Earth Science Week is an annual celebration of the geosciences held the second week of October to promote an understanding and appreciation of the earth sciences.
Differentiator
The Differentiator - http://www.byrdseed.com/differentiator/
Struggling to create the best objectives for your lessons? Use this free tool created by an educator to create great objectives for differentiated instruction. Based upon the new (1990s) Bloom's Taxonomy, click on the action verb; enter your content, resources to be used, final product, and group size. You will see your objective created across the top of your screen. Be aware this site does include some “click me” advertisements for contests and more. And the review team did notice one typo. However, we still felt this site would be helpful to many teachers out there “in the trenches.”
In the Classroom: For example, use a verb from Bloom' taxonomy such as "evaluate." Click on the portion of the sentence at the top to enter your content such as "patterns of environmental issues." Choose the resource to be used, final product to be made, and number of students in group from the appropriate tabs. Example objective: Students will evaluate the patterns of environmental issues using websites to create a news report in groups of two. Save your objective by copying and pasting into any document or online tool. This site will give you many project ideas that you may not have thought of yourself. Although this site is deceivingly quick and simple, it could be very useful when writing detailed, powerful lesson plans.
Thinkfinity Hot List
http://wvde.state.wv.us/technology/resources/thinkfinity/wow.php
Cool things that other teachers have found which are arranged on the WVDE site.
Google Earth
http://www.planetinaction.com/index.htm
The Eagle Has Landed: learn about the moon landings with Google Moon.
Fly Through New York with Google Earth 3D Buildings.
Pilot a ship through the world's busiest ports.
Journey North
Journey North: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/
Seasonal change is all around us. Children see it in the length of a day, in the appearance of a flower, in the flight of a butterfly. Journey North is a free, Internet-based program that explores the interrelated aspects of seasonal change. Through interrelated investigations, students discover that sunlight drives all living systems and they learn about the dynamic ecosystem that surrounds and connects them.
Sunlight and the Seasons: Children study seasonal change in sunlight in a global game of hide and seek called Mystery Class.
Plants and the Seasons: Children explore tulip growth in their own gardens, running an experiment that tracks the arrival of spring.
Seasonal Migrations: Children follow animal migrations. They observe, research, and report findings and watch journeys progress on live maps.
Journey North for Kids: A simple, student-directed entry point to Journey North studies. Engaging stories, photos, videos, and slide shows from the natural world build observation skills, inspire scientific thinking, and create fertile ground for discussions and new questions!
CSO Connection:
4th Grade Power Standard 7: link
4.2.7:describe the effects of altering environmental barriers on the migration of animals.
3rd Grade Power Standard 2: link
SC.O.3.2.3:compare physical characteristics and behaviors of living organisms and explain how they are adapted to a specific environment (e.g., beaks and feet in birds, seed dispersal, camouflage, or different types of flowers).
Journey North - Hummingbirds
STILL Seeing Hummingbirds? Please Let Us Know! Since August 21st, 800 people from Alaska to the southern tip of Texashave shared their hummingbird observations and a picture of fallmigration across North America is beginning to emerge. Right now, theTexas Gulf Coast is experiencing an early and phenomenal build-up ofruby-throated hummingbirds as they prepare to cross the Gulf of Mexico:
"Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have just taken over the back yard," wroteHarlen Aschen from the Texas Gulf Coast yesterday. "Forty to fifty inthe yard this afternoon. With the drought, these birds are famished andare looking for nourishment before their flight across the Gulf. This iswhat we would usually see the first week of October and we have beenseeing it like this for almost ten days. It was suggested by a TexasParks and Wildlife Department (bird-)bander that we get nectar out forthem early, have plenty, and keep it out!"
Please Report Your Hummingbird Observations!* PLEASE REPORT NOW if you are still seeing hummingbirds.*
You Can Report Your Sightings Here:http://www.learner.org/cgi-bin/jnorth/jn-sightings
Hummingbird Migration Map: Get Ready to Watch it Changehttp://www.learner.org/jnorth/maps/humm_fall2009.html
Watch how the map changes over the next few weeks, as hummingbirds vacate the north and fewer and fewer people report them. (Remember, report only if you are still seeing hummingbirds. This is how the mapwill show migration patterns.)
Some Migration Highlights: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/humm/DataReported.html
You can read all of the observations people have submitted at the linkabove. Here are some highlights:
* What was the most common sign that migration had begun? "The femaleshave been plentiful but we haven't seen a male for some time," explainedone of the many observers who noticed this change.
* People were amazed at the sheer volume of food the tiny birds began toconsume. "They are starting to bulk up and get the little pot belliesthat become evident in fall in preparation for migration," wrote anobserver in New York.
* By measuring food consumption, several people saw a clear change whenthe hummingbirds began to leave. Here's an astonishing example that wassent on August 22nd from Missouri, "After several weeks in early Augustof feeding frenzies (seven feeders available), pace has slackened. Whatwas a half-gallon a day consumption is now less than half-gallon a week."
* The numbers of hummers at feeders has declined clearly in many areas.Said an observer in Montrose, Colorado on August 21st: "Last week we hada swarm of 15 eating furiously and now they have gone. I have seen about6 hummingbirds regularly this week."
* What was the most unusual report? How about this one made from a boatin Corpus Christi Bay? "We were on the water, dolphin watching, and saw6 hummingbirds within a 45-minute stretch. They were flying about 3 feetabove the water level, heading south over the Gulf of Mexico."
Thinkfinity Back2School
Thinkfinity has organized several great interactive games, podcasts and activities to help you get your year off to a great start.
Click this link to see what they have: http://thinkfinity.org/backtoschool/main.aspx
