Cobb Science

Welcome to the 2017-2018 school year! We're thrilled that you're part of our Cobb Science team! This year brings many exciting changes in science education at the state and district level. First, we'd like to introduce Christian Cali as the new K-12 Science Supervisor. Christian taught science for 12 years before serving as an assistant principal at Campbell Middle and mostly recently, King Springs Elementary. Next, we're rolling out the new Cobb Teaching and Learning Standards (CT&LS) for Science and supporting you with resources on the new CTLS Teach learning management system. We're also undergoing content acquisition this year, so teams of teachers will be weighing in on the best digital and print resources for each grade/course. And of course, we'll be hosting all our awesome science events like Science Olympiad tournaments and Science Fair. Stay up-to-date with all pertinent science information by subscribing to the CTLS community and checking out our website (www.ccsdscience.com) frequently.

Access all July 26th Learning Engagement session materials at

http://tinyurl.com/2017SciLearningEngagement

Have you seen the new academic website: http://academics.cobbk12.org/index.php/ad/tl/iandi/sci/? We're always looking for stories of great science happening at your school. Please submit two to three paragraphs and some pictures to Christian (christian.cali@cobbk12.org) or Tracy (tracy.matthews@cobbk12.org) when you have something to brag about.

In order to receive the most up-to-date announcements from the Science Department, please join our CTLS Community. In addition to announcements, other instructional resources are housed in the Community page, including the SEP and CCC matrices, aligned Page Keeley Probes by grade level, etc.

Instructions for Joining a Community

Elementary teachers should join their grade level community (i.e. CCSD 1st Grade).

Middle and high school teachers should join the CCSD 6-12 Science community.

Please see the CTLS Community page for information about Page Keeley probe account access info and Legends of Learning account access (middle-school teachers only).

The Cobb/Paulding Regional Science Fair will be held on February 10th, 2018 at Kennesaw Mountain High School. The fair is open to all K-12 students and we encourage all elementary, middle, and high schools to consider holding a local school fair. Many secondary students are not aware that this opportunity is available to them.

Because middle and high school students sometimes need specific approvals before they can begin their research, we are holding a Science Fair Information Meeting for teachers on Thursday, September 7th from 5:00-6:30 pm at 590 Commerce Park Drive, Suite 140. In addition to tips on running a successful fair, we'll review all the Georgia Science and Engineering Fair (GSEF) forms necessary for projects using human subjects, vertebrates, hazardous or controlled substances, potentially hazardous biological agents, and human/animal tissues.

Our first Science and Engineering Practices (SEP) webinar (via Skype) is scheduled for Wednesday, August 9th at 4:30 pm. As you're now aware, the new standards have three "dimensions"- the core content, Science and Engineering Practices, and Crosscutting Concepts. The SEPs are not only embedded into the new CT&LS standards, but they are also a major component of our Balanced Instructional document. How can we shift our instruction to provide students with opportunities to use these practices? Join us during this 30-minute webinar investigation of the first practice, "Asking Questions and Defining Problems," by clicking this link: www.tinyurl.com/SEPwebinar1

The webinars occur on the second Wednesday of every month:

September 13th- Developing and Using Models

October 11th- Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

November 8th- Analyzing and Interpreting Data

January 10th- Using Mathematical and Computational Thinking

February 13th*- Constructing Explanations, Arguing From Evidence (will occur on Tues.)

March 14th- Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

This PLC is open to any 8th grade science teacher and will help those new to 8th grade Physical Science strengthen their content knowledge and 3-D pedagogy. Participants are expected to attend at least six of seven meetings (held alternating months face-to-face at the District Office and virtually via Skype). Sign up here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8thGradeSciencePLC

Dates include:

August 14th- 5:15-6:45 (Face-to-face at 514 Glover Street, Marietta, 30060)

September 11th- 4:30-5:30 (Online via Skype)

October 9th- 5:15-6:45 (F2F)

November 13th- 4:30-5:30 (Online via Skype)

January 8th- 5:15-6:45 (F2F)

February 12th- 4:30-5:30 (Online via Skype)

March 19th- 5:15-6:45 (F2F)

Do you want to reserve the StarLab for your school this year? StarLab is a large inflatable planetarium. The lab itself comes with several lesson ideas that allow you to seamlessly integrate the lab with your science standards. Because each StarLab costs $40,000, we require that any teacher checking out a lab must go through training. Only trained teachers should operate the StarLab once it is at your school. Join us for this training on August 28th from 5-7 pm at Griffin Middle School. Register here: goo.gl/GAhKpt

Click here for information about reserving a StarLab.