Scientists at work!! Thank you Duke Energy for the probware, Futures Foundation for the indoor garden and supplies, and KSS for all your support and guidance!
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Saturday, November 7, 2015
Yeah!! I received the Probeware!!!
What an exciting day! I received the Probeware that I was able to order because of the generosity of Duke Energy. My students are already using the Probeware. The engagement is up, the interest is up, and the collected data is so accurate! My students can now be part of engaging STEM lessons that actually include the technology portion! I will post pictures of the Probeware in use soon.
Friday, October 9, 2015
Duke Energy Grant
We will be receiving our Duke Energy grants pretty soon! I can't wait to get new Probeware for my students. Our pH unit begins next week, and the students will be able to use the water testing kit I received at the Denver, Keystone conference. This equipment will definitely benefit students, and allow them to experience STEM labs that none of them have ever experienced before!
Thank you Duke Energy!!
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Scouting out potential environmental sites for a lesson
Sunday, July 5, 2015
Today I went on an early morning excursion with my colleagues in search of a source of water near our school. Our goal was to find a source of water which would enable our students to implement a water testing lab that we will receive from our Duke Energy funded PD trip to Keystone Science School in Colorado. We didn't have much luck, the water has dried up, but we did enjoy our 3 mile trip through the scrub! Lyonia Preserve offers a beautiful scrub habitat that provides the perfect habitat for the Scrub Jay! Too bad I didn't see any!
Scrub Jay and wetland picture at Lyonia - Taken several years ago - not sure if we could have used this source even if the water was still there. https://ssl.panoramio.com/photo/27538055
https://ssl.panoramio.com/photo/34834044
Today I went on an early morning excursion with my colleagues in search of a source of water near our school. Our goal was to find a source of water which would enable our students to implement a water testing lab that we will receive from our Duke Energy funded PD trip to Keystone Science School in Colorado. We didn't have much luck, the water has dried up, but we did enjoy our 3 mile trip through the scrub! Lyonia Preserve offers a beautiful scrub habitat that provides the perfect habitat for the Scrub Jay! Too bad I didn't see any!
Scrub Jay and wetland picture at Lyonia - Taken several years ago - not sure if we could have used this source even if the water was still there. https://ssl.panoramio.com/photo/27538055
https://ssl.panoramio.com/photo/34834044
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Today was departure day. We were on the bus headed for the
airport by 6 am. A huge moose ran across the street in front of our bus on the
way off. What a grand exit! Thanks to Duke Energy and the Keystone Science
School I was able to participate in an adventure of a lifetime this week. I
collaborated with teachers from all over the US, and I hope to stay in contact
and work with all of them in the future to continue best practices that will
help our students grow. Future students will learn how to respect and study the
environment, design and implement ideas, and use our resources to sustain a
healthy and thriving environment. I hope to motivate the future engineers and
biologists that will be our future someday!
Denver International Airport - PACKED!!
Saturday, June 27, 2015
WOW, what a day! We woke up at 4:00 am, so we were ready to
board a bus headed for the continental divide by 5 am. The hike was beautiful
and so was the sunrise.
By 7:30 we were back from our hike and heading into the conference room for a fully packed day of learning. We began the day testing the water from different sources to determine what each source contained. We will be receiving the water testing kits to use with our students in the classroom. I am so excited to use them with the students!
After the testing revealed the problem we decided how we could best clean up the mess. Data was gathered and analyzed and we had a city hall meeting to determine which company and method of cleanup would be most beneficial for everyone, including the risk VS cost analysis. The KSS staff helped us learn how to keep this lesson engaging for our students, and we were all laughing so hard it made for a very fun day.
Continental Divide - AWESOME HIKE!!
I thought this sign at the beginning of the path was a little scary!
Sunrise!
By 7:30 we were back from our hike and heading into the conference room for a fully packed day of learning. We began the day testing the water from different sources to determine what each source contained. We will be receiving the water testing kits to use with our students in the classroom. I am so excited to use them with the students!
Duke Energy teacher performing a water test.
After the testing revealed the problem we decided how we could best clean up the mess. Data was gathered and analyzed and we had a city hall meeting to determine which company and method of cleanup would be most beneficial for everyone, including the risk VS cost analysis. The KSS staff helped us learn how to keep this lesson engaging for our students, and we were all laughing so hard it made for a very fun day.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Friday, June 26, 2015
Look - A moose came by to visit, SO EXCITING!! According to the locals, this is a very rare happening!!
Video of our visitors
Today was so exciting, and all the Duke teachers were collaborating to solve a local environmental issue. We discussed what we thought was causing the local citizens to become ill; then we put our research and hypothesis to work!
After traveling down the most exciting and beautiful road ever…. We arrived at the Blue River/French Creek area. Three different teams analyzed three different parts of the river. Duke sponsored teachers tested the low water area. We spent quite some time testing the river for oxygen, Ph, and zinc levels. Then we moved on to analyzing stream velocity and organism diversity. This experience was absolutely the best part of this professional development, and I can’t wait to allow my students to see how much fun it can be to solve problems and answer questions related to their local environment. We got to put on waders, enter the river, and actually use real testing equipment to analyze the river.
Beautiful view on the way to the Blue River
Duke Energy Sponsored Participants at the river.
Here I am testing the river water for Ph levels.
Kellie and I observing the water. We are figuring out what our next step will be!
We are using this large net to catch organisms in the water. We can use the collected organisms to analyze how healthy the river is. We have on waders which keep us not only dry, but from freezing! The water was around 50 degrees! So cold........
After we finished at the river we got to visit a local mine that has since been shut down.
Abandon mine tour
We had to wear hardhats during the tour. It was dark, cold, very wet.........and a very narrow path!
This was also a very informative field trip, and all the Duke teachers are excited to share what they had learned with the students in their classrooms.
 |
| Duke Energy Teachers had such an amazing time at the river!!!! |
What an amazing view!!
Local band playing at the top of the mountain.
Something we will never forget. Again, thank you Duke Energy and Keystone Science School for allowing all of us to experience such a terrific learning experience that will reach so many of our students. This will allow us to use engaging lessons that will inspire our students to become the scientists and mathematicians of the future!
3-D graph activity
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Today we started the day learning about the 3E’s of
sustainability. Triangle Triage will allow our students to voice their opinion,
and share their thoughts with their classmates. It allows them to use graphing
and make real world decisions.
What are the 3 E’s; Social Equity, Environment, and Economics. We had so much fun collaborating with peers to design a tram system, and I know my students will be engaged and motivated to become the future engineers we are all looking for them to become. The challenge of designing something that affects their daily lives will be motivating and interesting for them! The best tram system for a local environment met all the requirements of the 3E rubric. Our designs were so creative, and we learned how to help our students understand how the 3E’s relate to one another when designing a new product. Thanks to our conference today, my students will conduct a STEM lesson that they will never forget!
Testing out a tram
After the tram stem activity we had a working lunch in which we discussed an important local environmental issue, the Mountain Pine Beetle, and its affect on the Colorado forest. The beetles are destroying CO forests, yet the forestry department has found a way to make it a positive. They allow the beetle to kill the trees. This process mimics natural forest fires, which allows for new growth. I will take this back to my classroom, and use it as a lead into a local environmental issue that is affecting the environment in Central Florida. Students can learn to design both an environmentally friendly and economic product!
To finish out our day we completed a Parts Per Million, PPM, activity which will again motivate and spark student interest. We learned how to write research questions, and how to write precise questions that will help us solve an important problem that is affecting our community.
Here is the triangle that you can keep on your floor. Anytime you want the kids to use it it will be ready!
What are the 3 E’s; Social Equity, Environment, and Economics. We had so much fun collaborating with peers to design a tram system, and I know my students will be engaged and motivated to become the future engineers we are all looking for them to become. The challenge of designing something that affects their daily lives will be motivating and interesting for them! The best tram system for a local environment met all the requirements of the 3E rubric. Our designs were so creative, and we learned how to help our students understand how the 3E’s relate to one another when designing a new product. Thanks to our conference today, my students will conduct a STEM lesson that they will never forget!
After the tram stem activity we had a working lunch in which we discussed an important local environmental issue, the Mountain Pine Beetle, and its affect on the Colorado forest. The beetles are destroying CO forests, yet the forestry department has found a way to make it a positive. They allow the beetle to kill the trees. This process mimics natural forest fires, which allows for new growth. I will take this back to my classroom, and use it as a lead into a local environmental issue that is affecting the environment in Central Florida. Students can learn to design both an environmentally friendly and economic product!
Working Lunch - Mountain Pine Beetles!
Look how the beetles bore through the bark.
The beetles kill the trees, yet this can micmic forest fires which encourages new growth.
To finish out our day we completed a Parts Per Million, PPM, activity which will again motivate and spark student interest. We learned how to write research questions, and how to write precise questions that will help us solve an important problem that is affecting our community.
Parts Per Million Lesson
You can access all these cool lessons for as little as 25 dollars at this website.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Thirty-one very interesting and talented teachers, along
with the amazing Keystone staff have made for an exciting first day. We started
the day creating our Clock Buddies; this pairing allowed us to meet with many
different educators from many different places! We learned lots of new ideas
that we can take back and implement in our classrooms. Next we completed an
“Opinion Activity” that our students will love. They can discuss and graph
their opinions or beliefs. It provides a non-threatening lesson that allows all
students to discuss their feelings without feeling embarrassed or intimidated.
Next we spent some time analyzing Newspaper articles from around the United States that focused on local environmental issues. We discussed ways to engage our students with topics that affect their daily lives, as well as teaching critical reading and thinking skills, Common Core all the way! Now for the best part of our day; our visit to the Keystone Science School. We used handheld GPS devices to learn how we can help our students learn about tracking, mapping, latitude and longitude and so on…. It was so much fun; I can’t wait to implement what we learned. I have to get some of those GPS handhelds for my classroom; that is my and my Galaxy colleague’s next mission! After that, we built contour maps and studied how to implement a non-biased environmental issue lesson that might affect our local community. The staff dressed up and put on a real show for us, too funny! To end out our exciting day, we met in small group to discuss many different lessons and activities that we can implement with our students. All the teachers brought exciting and engaging lessons to share, and I can’t wait to try them out. Thanks again Duke Energy for all your support; we cannot thank you enough for providing us with this opportunity of a lifetime. We can definitely make a difference in the lives of Galaxy Middle School students!
Next we spent some time analyzing Newspaper articles from around the United States that focused on local environmental issues. We discussed ways to engage our students with topics that affect their daily lives, as well as teaching critical reading and thinking skills, Common Core all the way! Now for the best part of our day; our visit to the Keystone Science School. We used handheld GPS devices to learn how we can help our students learn about tracking, mapping, latitude and longitude and so on…. It was so much fun; I can’t wait to implement what we learned. I have to get some of those GPS handhelds for my classroom; that is my and my Galaxy colleague’s next mission! After that, we built contour maps and studied how to implement a non-biased environmental issue lesson that might affect our local community. The staff dressed up and put on a real show for us, too funny! To end out our exciting day, we met in small group to discuss many different lessons and activities that we can implement with our students. All the teachers brought exciting and engaging lessons to share, and I can’t wait to try them out. Thanks again Duke Energy for all your support; we cannot thank you enough for providing us with this opportunity of a lifetime. We can definitely make a difference in the lives of Galaxy Middle School students!
Here I am at the Keystone Science School; we are learning how to use GPS handhelds in the classroom.
Making 3-D topographic maps
Click here for topographic maps:
Finished product!
Educators from all over the US at the Keystone Science School.
GPS lesson
We located part of our lesson!
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
We arrived to Denver International Airport today! Olivia,
from the Keystone Science School, met to transport us to the Keystone School
area.
When we arrived at the hotel we completed a scavenger hunt, met roommates
and had a nice dinner! Denver is beautiful, thank you again to Duke Energy and
the Keystone Science School for your willingness to support teachers, and their
adventure to become master teachers!
Kelly McClarty and I are at the airport waiting for the rest of the group.
Bus ride to the hotel.
What a view!! Through the bus window :) ...
Monday, June 22, 2015
The Night Before
Thanks to the sponsorship of Duke Energy; I am heading to the Keystone Science School in Keystone, Colorado early tomorrow morning. I am going on quite the adventure, and I can't wait to share all of my adventures with you. Our students will learn how to put all that science they have been learning about to work, like real scientists do each and every day.
Keystone Science School
Keystone Science School
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