Grades 6-12

November 2021 Secondary Science Newsletter

Secondary Science Department

Jenny Nord, Secondary Science Curriculum Coordinator

Email: jnord5257@columbus.k12.oh.us
Website: https://www.ccsoh.us/site/Default.aspx?PageID=2577
Location: 3700 South High Street, Columbus, OH, USA
Phone: (380) 997-0466
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColumbusCitySchools/
Twitter: @ColsCitySchools

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Compare this List to the Skills You Teach your Science Students

Attributes Employers Seek on a Candidate's Resume:

See the table below. Are you teaching any of these within your discipline? It is amazing how many of our science soft skills are actually skills employers are looking for.

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Opportunities for Students

The Ohio Student Wildlife Research Symposium is Back!

After two years of cancellations due to COVID-19, the student wildlife research symposium is back! Join fellow student researchers Thursday, March 31, 2022, at Hueston Woods State Park as they reconnect for the 4th Annual Ohio Student Wildlife Research Symposium as part of the 54th Annual Environmental Education Council of Ohio (EECO) Conference. The symposium will kick off the EECO Annual Conference once again, which will continue through April 3, 2022.

The Call for Proposals is open now, with a submission deadline of Jan. 14, 2022. Any middle or high school-age student may present a poster on research related to native Ohio wildlife and their habitats. Paper presentations are selected by a panel to fill a limited number of presentation slots. Paper presentations must be completed research. Posters can be either completed or ongoing research. Guidelines are included in the Call for Proposals. Submissions not selected for paper presentations will be allowed to present their research as part of the poster session. To learn more about this program, please view the session at the Ohio Department of Education’s Building Bridges conference in summer of 2021 or visit Ohio Student Wildlife Research Symposium to view the abstracts, poster topics and presentations from previous symposiums.

Future Cities Competition

Future City Competition (FCC) is a STEM competition where middle schoolers (grades 6-8) work as a collaborative team paired with a mentor to image, research, design, and build cities of the future that showcase their solution to a citywide sustainability issue. This year’s theme, “A Waste-Free City,” has a goal of designing a zero-waste city. The Ohio region competition is planning to remain virtual for this year’s competition. This opportunity will allow students to strengthen their math, science, writing, public speaking, problem-solving and time management skills. Register now! For more information about this competition or assistance in starting a team, please view Future City Ohio or send an email. To see videos of past competitions, check out this YouTube Channel.

Capital University Girls in Science Day

“Capital University Girls in Science Day” will occur on Thursday, December 16th, 2021, and was founded by Dr. Carmen Dixon to address the lack of females in upper-level STEM classes in high school, university, and ultimately the workforce. Capital addresses this by hosting seventh and eighth grade girls from local middle schools to come to campus and work with female science faculty members in workshops using hands-on activities that revolve around a theme, such as this year’s theme “Solving a Crime with Science,” The girls get to work with female role models in the STEM profession, see that they are not along in their interest in STEM, and get a taste of the various job opportunities available in STEM careers for them. As part of the cost-free day, lunch, supplies, and T-shirts commemorating the day are included for each participant.

The hands-on workshops led by Capital professors this year include:

Blood typing – a packet will be presented at the beginning of the day to the students with the story. We have various samples of blood from various suspects, and this workshop will study how to type simulated blood.
Gel electrophoresis will be used to analyze DNA samples left at the scene
Dissection of sheep hearts
Computer science investigation of engineering ‘chip’ from the crime.

These all fit the story of the crime and students will have a discussion at the end of the day about what they learned, how they found out, ‘who done it,’ etc, along with a panel discussion with the mentors about how they got into the STEM field, classes they took, obstacles they face, and how they combine work and family. Contact: Carmen Dixon (cdixon2@capital.edu)

Genes in Space:

Here is an opportunity for students to engage in authentic science research at no cost. Genes in Space is an experimental design competition for students in grades 7-12. Each year, we invite students to propose DNA analysis experiments that address challenges faced by space travelers, then launch one winning experiment to the International Space Station. This recent CNN article offers a bit more info about what we've been up to lately: https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/17/world/genes-in-space-deep-space-travel-scn/index.html

The contest has proven to be a great resource for science teachers. It offers a compelling, real-world context to teach the scientific method. It can also be used as a platform to teach modern laboratory techniques including gel electrophoresis, PCR, and more. Note that we are also offering virtual professional development sessions throughout the school year, in which teachers can learn more about the contest and gain hands-on experience with the biotechnology tools in the Genes in Space toolkit. You can find more information about those workshops here.

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Articles That Might Interest You

EdWeek:

-10 Ways to Tackle Education's UrgentChallenges: https://tinyurl.com/e2m33fxn

-How to Teach Students to Disagree Respectfully: https://tinyurl.com/566dr38x

-4 Social Emotional Practices to Help Students Flourish Now: https://tinyurl.com/bjfvxfe7

-8 Ways the Pandemic May Affect Students in the Future: https://tinyurl.com/4ahn22wp

-The Real Reason Students Don't Ask for Help: https://tinyurl.com/2bkevrhr

-6 Small Instructional Changes Teachers Can Make for Big Results: https://tinyurl.com/d3hp5fcz

-3 Ways to Get Started with PBL: https://tinyurl.com/yp3ypatt

-Accelerating Learning: Tech Advice: https://tinyurl.com/u3uv7v8w

-13 Ways to Include Art in Content Courses: https://tinyurl.com/kh9kmpuc

Top Hat:

-17 Learning Strategies to Implement in your Classroom: https://tinyurl.com/2ehmb74p

Mentoring Minds:

-SEL through Inquiry and Investigation: https://tinyurl.com/ycwnadt2

Carolina Biological:

-Make Sense of Student Sensemaking: https://fs24.formsite.com/edweek/images/WP-CarolinaBiological-Making_Sense_of_Student_Sensemaking.pdf

NSTA:

-7 Safety Tips for Teachers: https://tinyurl.com/99d5v7m8

-Empowering Students through Choice: https://tinyurl.com/3x5rj522

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Microscope/Balance Repair

Need repairs done to your microscopes or 3-beam balances? Please let Jenny know so she can get it scheduled for you. In order to complete the work, you will need to find a separate room for our repair gentleman to work in that is away from staff and students. We need this for Covid19 protocols. This is what our serviceman says he needs in order to satisfy the protocols:

I know most every school location is unique. Due largely to the repair activity, I have to stand while I work. To assist those newer to the service activity, I need a well lit area within 25 feet of a 120 volt outlet that has a cleared 6 to 8 foot counter height (36") space to work. I've worked in remote (less used) areas of large classroom labs, empty classrooms, well lit prep rooms, libraries, teachers lounges and offices...to name a few. I do sporadically apply compressed air to remove dust from lens surfaces, typically in short 1 to 2 second bursts. It may occur every 10 to 15 minutes on most of their microscope/balance supply or only a few. The product used is the same that folks use to remove dust from keyboards so there is an audible hissing sound when the air is dispensed. This is the loudest noise I make during the repair process. They may also have a supply of old microscopes and/or parts that have held back to use during microscope service. I need to have those items available so I can use when appropriate.

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Resources You Might Find Useful

PBS:

-Study Seasons on Earth and Mars: https://wosu.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/buac18-68-sci-ess-seasonsearthmars/seasons-on-earth-and-mars/

-Nova: Earth System Science: https://wosu.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/earth-system-science/

Ditch that Textbook:

-Digital Escape Rooms: https://ditchthattextbook.com/digital-escape-rooms/

1: Directions for making easy Google Forms escape rooms
2: A planning template to help you think of clues and ideas
3: A Google Form you can copy to get started (just click the "Use Template" button)

-10 New Collaborative Slides Activities: https://ditchthattextbook.com/student-collaboration-in-shared-google-slides/ (Youtube video assistance:)

-20 Ways to Use Wakelet in your Classroom: https://ditchthattextbook.com/wakelet/

-20 Canva Templates to Use in Class Tomorrow: https://tinyurl.com/4j2hva94

-Brain Dump Template: https://tinyurl.com/c8eadfwx

Grow Next Gen:

-Water Quality and Human Impacts Lessons: https://grownextgen.org/curriculum/water-quality-and-human-impacts?mc_cid=f0d4e2e261&mc_eid=3307d6cd6b

-Chickenology workshop

Join us Monday, Dec. 6 for a brand-new workshop! How do environment, heredity, and genetics affect living organisms? Engage your students with this STEM-based curriculum unit focusing on 8th grade Life Science standards. Register now!

Carolina:

-Chemistry Solutions Practice Problems: https://tinyurl.com/78ycxhw3

-Setting Up and Performing a Titration Video: https://tinyurl.com/9st54jtr

-Free Resources for Teaching the Body Systems: https://tinyurl.com/h3n8jwj6

-Free Biology Resources: https://tinyurl.com/k2uk56de

-Free Chemistry Resources: https://tinyurl.com/8we3e2r5

-Earth and Environmental Resources: https://tinyurl.com/au6suxak

-Physical Science and Physics Resources: https://tinyurl.com/tpkynvyc

-General Science: https://tinyurl.com/tc98p3h6

-Free Lesson on Anatomy of a Human Leg: https://tinyurl.com/3ahhhdnz

NSTA Free Lessons:

-How Do Things Make Sound: https://tinyurl.com/3umbezb3

-Why Do NASCAR Drivers Need Fast Reactions (sight): https://tinyurl.com/3y3zj88y

-Why Do NACAR Drivers Need Fast Reactions (sound): https://tinyurl.com/rct7ua8y

-How Do NASCAR Cars Stop after 200MPH: https://tinyurl.com/fuzvpkh6

-Why Are NASCAR Crashes so Dangerous: https://tinyurl.com/tm6suw89

CK12:

Learn new ways to support student learning at our upcoming webinar!

At CK-12, we are committed to developing exciting changes to our platform. Whether you are brand new to CK-12 or one of our power users, this webinar will guide you through our newest and most exciting features.

Webinar: What’s New with CK-12 in 2021?

November 3rd at 3:30 PM PDT

Register Now

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Interesting November Dates 2021

Nov 1: World Vegan Day

Nov 3: National Cliche Day: That's the day to "think outside of the box" if you want to "open that can of worms"!

Nov 5: World Tsunami Awareness Day

Nov 7: National Cancer Awareness Day

Nov 10: World Science Day for Peace and Development: It is observed on 10 November to highlight the important role of science in society and the need to engage the wider public in debates on emerging scientific issues.

Nov 11: Armistice Day: This day is observed in the commemoration of the end of World War I.

Nov 12: World Pneumonia Day

Nov 13: World Kindness Day

Nov 14: World Diabetes Day

Nov 14: Children's Day

Nov 16: World Tolerance Day

Nov 17: National Epilepsy Day

Nov 19: International Men's Day

Nov 20: International Children's Day

Nov 21: World Television Day