Loren Nomura
Waipahu High School
HI

Solar System

Sat, Sep 08, 2012 4:50 PM
Our Solar System

Seeing as how I never taught a space science class, I thought that this SciGuide helps teachers like me come up with hands on but cost effective projects or experiments students can do. One of these experiments is building a volcano, which can be done with everyday household items like baking soda. The SciGuide also does a good job on how this volcanic activity can tie into phenomenon that actually occur in our solar system, like on Mars' Olympus Mons. There are also sections on Asteroids and Comets and theories on how our solar system was formed, so I think this SciGuide pretty much covers all the bases. There are some things that need to be updated though, like how Pluto has been downgraded from planet to dwarf planet. But other than that, that is really minor and the SciGuide is great.

Reproduction and Heredity

Sat, Sep 08, 2012 4:39 PM
Reproduction and Heredity Review

The SciGuide features two main sections, "Every Organism requires a set of instructions for specific traits" and "Reproduction is the characteristic of all living things." In the unit plan given in this section, it has videos on the journey of the sperm as it reaches the egg, mouse genetics, and passing on DNA. Parts of the lesson rely upon the students viewing the video prior to conducting the lesson - so like all lessons it's wise to make sure you have enough time to view these videos as well as the logistics like having a projector. Doing this lesson would undoubtedly be a bit more difficult if you are floating and don't have your own classroom. This SciGuide is also meant mostly for 6-8 graders but for teachers like me who have many ELL students the difficulty level of this SciGuide may actually be more appropriate for 9th graders, especially if you have an integrated science class. All the links that I clicked on worked, which is good, since other SciGuides in the past have had outdated links. Would recommend using this SciGuide.

Cell Division and Differentiation

Sun, Feb 19, 2012 3:59 AM
Flip Charts

This SciGuide was pretty helpful because I had only just heard of mitosis and meiosis flip charts at the end of the last school year and was a little bummed that I hadn't done it earlier with my students. This year I will and I plan to use the guidelines listed in the SciGuide. The flipchart is a great way for visual learners to understand cell division. Also the pdf file that has students calculate the percentage of time that cells stay in for each phase of mitosis was particularly helpful because it involves students doing basic math integration, which is a very weak point at our school in which students still have yet to make significant gains.