Free FUN!! Lesson on the Nature of Science and Inquiry--a.k.a. "CUBE OF SCIENCE!"

Cube of Science!
This is one of my favorite activities to do with my newest science students at the beginning of the school year.  I usually do this with my 6th graders, because I teach all three middle grades, and it is a great way to introduce the idea of SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY (also known as the scientific method, sometimes)--tons of fun!
Click here to download the PDF, with color and blackline masters of the cubes.
Click here to download the SMART Notebook file (interactive die) that has the same PDF as an attachment.


I didn't write this lesson, it is a lesson from a book called Teaching Evolution and the Nature of Science by the National Academy of Sciences.  I have used this lesson for TWELVE years in various iterations, and I am always pleased with the results.  


Ways that I have modified the lesson from it's current format:
1. I make a large number cube out of a cardboard box instead of giving out small ones.  We do the first part as a large group--I display the cube on a stool from a lab bench so the students cannot see the bottom.
2. I do not put anything on the bottom of the cube--no "accidents" that knock the cube down will reveal the answer...this drives the kids nuts, but (and?) it models the real 'no answer key' nature of science inquiry.  After all, there is no big book of science answers anywhere that tells the scientists if they got it right...
3. Generally, I don't let the kids use the mirrors or tongue depressors as "technology" models.    In fact, the students can't touch the cubes at all...they have to ask their classmates what is on the other side--they can't turn it themselves.  This models information sharing across the lab, state, country or globe that goes on with scientists around the world.


KJ5SY4UFV9XG

Free FUN!! Lesson on the Nature of Science and Inquiry--a.k.a. "CUBE OF SCIENCE!"

It's Final Exam Time: A Vocabulary Review Tool for You!

Teachers Love SMART Boards is one of my favorite resources for SMART board lessons, links and ideas for use in the classroom.

In this case, it is a treasure trove of ready-made vocabulary games for the SMART Notebook. Many content areas are represented here, including Spanish, Math and Art Education.

Just click on one of the lessons and it will download automatically. You must have SMART Notebook in order to open the lesson.

It's Final Exam Time: A Vocabulary Review Tool for You!

SMART Notebook Lesson bank

Okay, so there are many of you out there with a SMART board who don't know that there are SMART-created lesson banks out there for any subject area (even foreign language)! GAsP!  Since this is a science-oriented blog, I will provide the links to the science lessons:

CLICK HERE FOR FREE SCIENCE LESSONS FOR THE SMARTBOARD!

The link above will bring you to the lesson pages for lessons geared towards secondary students.  However, if you click on the "breadcrumbs" towards the top of the page, you can backtrack through my search to the motherlode of elementary science lessons, or those geared towards middle level students.

You'll notice at the middle of the list there is a recommended version of Notebook, and the newer lessons are more slick and polished, and generally (though not always) have more interactive features built in.  Once the lesson is downloaded (click on the link directly below the text that says Download this Lesson Activity).  Don't bother downloading or searching for the Senteo question sets unless you have the Senteo responders.

All of these lessons are RTU (ready to use), but are also FULLY EDITABLE!  Which means that you can make minor (or major) changes to many, if not all, parts of the lesson to customize it.  Have fun and good luck!

There is also a SMART-endorsed Lesson Exchange here, where you can sign up and trade lessons with other board users all over the world.

SMART Notebook Lesson bank

Free Smartboard Lesson on Hypoxia--amazing video links for Discovery Education and the NOAA Visualization Laboratory!

http://got.im/xa

This lesson covers hypoxia in LIS and the Gulf of Mexico.  Click here to download.  For those Chesapeake bay-ers, just add a few slides and you're good to go!  Last slide is a Sentence Order Sort for the sequence on how hypoxia occurs.

If you don't have a SMART Board, and you just want the video links, here they are:

NOAA Visualization Laboratory--Creation of the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico

Discovery Education--Hypoxia, the O2 Blues--about 20 minutes, covers LIS, Gulf and Chesapeake Bay

Video clip on Density Layering (30 seconds):   This video shows the use of the Density Flow Model...you can buy this from www.teachersource.com

Dead Zone Video clip from SchoolTube.com

Free Smartboard Lesson on Hypoxia--amazing video links for Discovery Education and the NOAA Visualization Laboratory!

Free Download--SMART Notebook Lesson on Tectonic Stress--Assessment Version

Okay, so I posted an earlier version of this lesson before I did the lessons with the kids. This week, we were reviewing for a test, so I upped the ante in the lesson and even tacked on a really FUN game at the end.

My students loved game and I was actually pretty surprised at how challenging they found it to be--you might know the answers, but spelling them correctly with a short time limit is really hard! Click here to download the SMART board lesson. You must have Notebook v10 to save and use this lesson.

Free Download--SMART Notebook Lesson on Tectonic Stress--Assessment Version

SMART Notebook Lesson on Flowers and Seeds

I used this lesson in a second grade classroom as a demonstration lesson using a SMART board. It incorporates an animated video, camera captures from the video and several question prompts for eliciting responses and participation from the class. The kids loved it! You can set up the "cycle" slide so that students can place the pictures along the cycle themselves.

Download the lesson by clicking here.

SMART Notebook Lesson on Flowers and Seeds

Free Download--SMART Notebook Lesson on Levers

Great middle level or 9th grade lesson on Levers...click here to download it. It includes two matching games to identify first, second and third class levers, two interactive mini apps--one is more advanced to calculate load and effort. The last few slides are a lab activity idea for older students who are very self-directed. Enjoy!

Free Download--SMART Notebook Lesson on Levers

SMART Notebook Lesson on Food Webs

This lesson is a FREE download, just click this link to download a terrific lesson on foodwebs. It includes an interactive "miniapp" from ClickScience that graphically demonstrates the relationship between producers, primary consumers and secondary consumers. There is a sorting game at the end for food web vocabulary and an additional link to an online food web interactive activity at the end of the lesson, for kids to explore with you, or on their own.

It was created using Notebook v10, so make sure you upgrade your software (just use the product key on your board for free upgrades) before you download it so you have full functionality of all of the features in the lesson.

SMART Notebook Lesson on Food Webs

TYPES OF STRESS--Free Download of SMART Notebook lesson on Plate Tectonics

This is a free download of an Earth Science lesson on the Types of Stress--this leads nicely into a lesson on earthquakes and includes a link to a Discovery Education video called "Earthquakes-Our Restless Planet".

TYPES OF STRESS--Free Download of SMART Notebook lesson on Plate Tectonics

Plate Tectonics Animations

You'll need flash player for these .swf files, but I cannot say enough about these elegant, simple and easy to use animations for the teaching of plate tectonics. They have large buttons that are easy to use on a SMARTboard or tablet PC. You cannot use them within Notebook, but you can easily insert the link into your Notebook and then use the camera capture feature to capture a screenshot of each basic plate boundary (divergent, convergent and transform) to your Notebook file.

To access the full list of the geology animations, click this link: http://www.wwnorton.com/college/geo/egeo/animations/ch2.htm#5

Plate Tectonics Animations

Interactive Mitosis/Meiosis Animations and More!

This site has excellent animations that are especially well-suited for use on an interactive whiteboard. My personal favorites on this site are the mitosis/meiosis animations, which happen to be the first ones that he published. They are beautifully designed, uncluttered, elegant animations that can be translated into 6 languages (just click the "lips" icon on the upper right-hand side of the page).

Interactive Mitosis/Meiosis Animations and More!

Using SMART Notebook without a SMART board--and posting your slides to Google Sites!

I had a technology breakthrough today. Just a creative spark that is saving me and my students lots of headaches. Here's the story:

****I do NOT have a SMART board in my room, but my district owns many SMART boards, so we have a site license for the software. I am a SMART board trainer, so I use the software all the time with my tablet.

1. Next week is the Midterm Performance Assessment for 8th Grade in my school, so today was the day where we reviewed the principles of experimental design in class.

2. My students offered their input on what makes a "fair test" and I served as a scribe. I wrote all of these notes in Notebook 10 on my tablet PC.

3. Many students were absent today, so I posted the notes to my class blog:
http://sites.google.com/site/mrskaplanssciencepages/home/dashboard

4. Then, I emailed the notes as a PDF to all of the special education teachers that work with my students.

Here is how I did it:
1. Make slides in Notebook.
2. Save the file.
3. Click File>>Export>>Powerpoint
4. Save the powerpoint file to your computer.
5. Upload the powerpoint file to your Google Docs account.
6. Open the Presentation in Google Docs.
7. Click Share (upper right)>>Publish/embed
8. Go to your Google Sites Dashboard page
9. Open the page editor (sign in to Google Sites first)
10. Click Edit>>Insert>>Presentation
11. Select the presentation that you just uploaded to Google Docs.
12. Click "Save"

Voila! Anyone can now view the slideshow of the notes from your class!

DIRECTIONS on how to email pdf's of your slides to a colleague without opening any other program:

1. Keep the Notebook file open and save it.

2. Click File>>Send to>>Mail Recipient (as PDF)

3. Give it a few seconds to convert the Notebook file to an Adobe PDF.

4. An email message, with the PDF as an attachment should open up.

5. Enter any addresses you wish to send it to.

6. Click SEND.

Tada! No copies, no papers...

Using SMART Notebook without a SMART board--and posting your slides to Google Sites!