A Pond Investigation

I chose this article because when I was in grade school we had a pond that I always wanted to investigate. I thought this article would give good ideas on how to do that and it did not disap... See More

I chose this article because when I was in grade school we had a pond that I always wanted to investigate. I thought this article would give good ideas on how to do that and it did not disappoint. I learned that every grade level could use the same pond to investigate and still learn something new every year. From grades Kindergarten through 5th grade, each have a TEK under ‘Scientific Investigation and Reasoning’ that has to do with collecting and recording data. As the grades develop the TEKS get more developed. For example, Kindergarten starts out as (2C), “collect data and make observations using simple tools”. Whereas 5th grade TEK (2B) develops to “collect and record information using detailed observations and accurate measuring”. These TEKS could be used to collect and observe the data that articles states for each grade level. Such as Kindergarten measuring the amount of rain, while other grades measure the other parts of the pond the article suggests throughout the year. I really enjoyed this article and didn’t have any questions after reading it. I liked how the upper elementary teachers came together to help the lower elementary teacher come up with ways for them to utilize the pond as well. I loved the ideas that they came up with to get all the grades involved and sharing what they all found.

Teachers teaching Teachers

The author describes how teachers from one building provided professional development for teachers in another building on how to use the environment outside of the building to teach science.... See More

The author describes how teachers from one building provided professional development for teachers in another building on how to use the environment outside of the building to teach science. Clearly describes where they found funding and how lessons were designed - the lessons they model could actually be used as is for elementary environmental classes. The only problem is the website is dated - while one could use terraserver, there are other (some better) resources out there. In addition to using Google Map, teachers might consider using The National Atlas @ http://www.nationalatlas.gov/mapmaker While not as easy to manipulate as Google Map or Google Earth, the images are very sharp and clear and there is a lot of data available for researching other topics. One benefit of Google Earth, though, is the historical feature to see how an area has changed over time - both great resources for students at any level.