Environmental Issues! Students using the new probes and Indoor Garden to manipulate variables!
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!

Students are using Vernier Probeware to study phase changes! Thanks to Duke Energy for supporting teachers and students!!

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.

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!!

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

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.

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.