December 2005
By Laurel Sands, Dillingham City Schools

Using High School Science to Explore Local and Relevant Issues

Did you know you can run a car off of fish oil, you can protect your remote fish camp from bears with solar powered electric fence, and you can use a Pringles can to make a solar cooker that will cook a hot dog even in Alaska? These are just some of the facts high school students in Dillingham learned last spring while participating in a duel credit class offered as a collaboration between the Dillingham School District and the UAF Bristol Bay Campus.

The Alternative Energy in Bristol Bay class had several objectives. The first goal was to create a science class that addressed regional issues. When gas and oil prices are over three dollars per gallon, it is not hard for students to realize that the future of rural Alaska may depend on finding alternative forms of energy and energy production. The second was to create a class that explored how technological advances could supplement cultural lifestyles and values. And the third was to offer students a way to earn some college credits in a school system which is too small to effectively offer advanced placement classes.

The class began by assessing how fossil fuels and fossil fuel technologies (i.e. plastics and nylon) had changed life in Alaska over the past several decades. Elders spoke to the students about what it was like when the fisherman used sailboats, grass baskets were used instead of water bottles, fish traps instead of nylon nets, and animal fur and intestine for coats, mittens and even raingear. The class continued with investigations into all different types of alternative energy.

It was amazing to discover many alternative energy technologies were already being used around our region. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game uses solar panels to charge their batteries at remote fish counting towers to run spotlights and radios. Several family and commercial fish camps use solar panels to charge electric fences that keep bears away from drying fish. The Icicle seafood plant uses biofuel made from fish oil to run their diesel truck around town. A local resident uses a personally designed wind generator to help run his shop.

Even though the Alternative Energy in Bristol Bay class did not fall into a traditional high school curriculum category such as biology or chemistry, it really challenged the students to recognize science not just as a required class, but as a means of finding solutions to local and relevant issues.

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November 2005
By Julie McWilliams, LKSD

New Science Standards and PSGLEs for Alaska!

Wondering what the scoop is on the new science standards?
If you’re not, you should be! In June of 2005, the Alaska State Board of Education and Early Development approved the new science standards and PSGLEs that were developed over a two-year period by teachers from all over the state. The revisions were a welcome change because the old Alaska state standards had been developed and implemented before the National Science standards had been published. School districts aligning their science curriculums with the new standards can be assured that they will align with the National Science Education Standards.

What’s different?
The old state standards were organized into 4 sections. Section A included all the content, including scientific facts, principles, and theories. Section B outlined the science process skills. Section C covered the nature and history of science and section D included science and technology and the application of science to every day life. The new standards are divided into 7 sections. But don’t be alarmed! This was not a case of adding more, just reorganizing and refining what was already there. The science content was split out into three different sections in order to fully address the concepts in each area. Another section addresses the cultural, social and personal connections. One of the biggest organization changes that you will notice is the order in which the standards were presented. A unanimous decision to emphasize the science inquiry and process skills as the most important standard, brought that section to the top of the list in hopes of encouraging districts to emphasize inquiry and process skills in each of the content areas.

What does PSGLE mean?
The acronym stands for Performance Standards/ Grade Level Expectations. The PSGLEs were developed for grades 3 to 11, in order to meet requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The PSGLEs list the core content that should be mastered at the end of each grade level. Districts have the freedom to add more content to any of the grade levels, but should know that the state tests which are being developed will be guided by the PSGLEs.

Why do the PSGLEs look the way they do?
As you peruse the PSGLEs you may notice that content is spread across the grades and sometimes appears fragmented. This is especially clear when you look at high school PSGLEs. Content for traditional biology, physical science and earth science is spread over three years, instead of contained in one year. This was not intended to confuse districts, but rather to meet the requirements of NCLB. Districts may choose to adopt an integrated science program or shuffle the PSGLEs around to fit into the traditional content classes.

What’s happening across the state to get the word out?
Hopefully most districts are aware of the new adoption of standards and PSGLEs. State tests are being developed and will be piloted and field-tested during the next 2 years. All district Superintendents are aware of the impending tests, but sadly some teachers are still in the dark. The Alaska Science Consortium will address the new standards and GLEs by including them in the summer science institutes. The Consortium also plans to offer an “introduction to the standards and PSGLEs” course to member districts in early 2006. The course will help teachers become familiar with the Grade Level Expectations and help develop methods for addressing the GLEs in the classroom.

How can I get my own copy of state science standards and GLEs?
Copies of the new standards and GLEs will be distributed to school districts, but you may also access them on-line at the Department of Education and Early Development. The internet address is listed below. Science standards and PSGLEs are on pages 109-136.

http://www.educ.state.ak.us/standards/

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September 2005
By Cheryl Cooper

The Alaska Science Consortium Summer Institute took place in Fairbanks this year from June 5-17, 2005. The focus was earth science and there were MANY activities that took place during the two weeks we were together.

The first week process skills and discrepant events were emphasized, the ASC Learning Cycle Model (LCM) was introduced, participants did peer teaching using the LCM, the AK Natural Resources Kit was presented, Diane McBee shared the ARIES modules and the Shake and Quake curriculum, and the guest presenter was Terry McBee, fossil expert. Terry demonstrated and instructed us in how to integrate art with the study of fossils. The second week found us working with Mike Taras, AK Dept of Fish and Game, on fire, erosion, and plant activities, visiting the Ft. Knox gold mine and the UAF Museum of the North for a tour with Dr. Roland Gangloff, learning about the SEPUP kits, having Becky Lindsey from UAF come and share about the UAF Science Education Outreach Program and again peer teaching. Along with all this we had some great literature connections shared, learned some new strategies for questioning, and gained some new insights on inquiry.

The participants left the Summer Institute with a new repertoire of lessons to use with their students and a network of fellow teachers to share information with. They are now participating in the fall follow -up class that take place from September to December. They will be meeting via audio conference and email.

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February 2005
By Teresa Elmore, Third Grade Teacher
Tok School in Alaska Gateway School District

TEACHABLE MOMENTS

In a time when teachers are told that their main focus is to be on reading, writing, and mathematics so that their schools pass the state mandates and that they are to spend time each day documenting the standards that they have taught, it leaves little time or energy for one to include other subject material like science or social studies. Therefore, one must learn to be creative and take advantage of special opportunities when they unexpectedly present themselves.

One such day recently occurred when the temperatures dropped to –68 degrees officially at Tok School. As may be the case in your area, our school never shuts down due to weather conditions and it is the responsibility of the teachers to be here at all times. So as my son and I bravely bumped (rubber tires tend to be flat for a while in extreme cold) our way to school that chilly morning, I wondered how to make my day a teaching one rather than just a babysitting one since I knew that many of our students would be absent. (They are excused from attendance at –52 degrees!

As I looked around my room upon arrival, I glanced at our most recent Weekly Reader issue which was on the topic of Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano. It had created a lot of questions and responses from my class when we read it the week before so I thought this is the perfect time to read and explore more. I raided my video closet for the Magic School Bus “Blows Its Top” and began searching through my science materials for how to make a quick volcano. As the day progressed my six third grade students and I learned how and why volcanoes are formed and then experimented to find which amount of baking soda, vinegar, dish soap, and red food coloring would make the best lava flow. Our volcanoes were made quickly and simply out of tag board shaped cones with small drinking cups used as a container in the top for our chemical reactions. I used the thematic unit Rocks and Soil by Teacher Created Materials to provide a worksheet and small hands on activity. We got out my Minerals Kit rock box and looked at pumice and sulfur rocks. We noticed the smell, texture, and floating characteristics of each. They had an opportunity to talk about places they had been where there were volcanoes or movies they had seen and one student who had recently returned from a vacation in Hawaii talked about visiting a volcano site.

You know that you have had a teachable moment when two days later everyone returned to school and those who braved the cold weather bragged to their classmates about the “coolest, best day ever”!!

If you have ideas for a spur of the moment teachable science lesson that you have used or would like to use, I would like to hear from you.

Teresa Elmore, Third Grade Teacher
Tok School in Alaska Gateway School District
telmore@tok.agsd.schoolaccess.net

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January 2005

This months news article is a LCM (learning cycle model) lesson by Jane Whaling.

Rock-Hound Science

Gear-Up - Read a story or poem about rocks to your class.

Suggestions:

Discuss the story, asking the children open-ended questions about rocks. Don’t answer their questions since they will be exploring the answers to their questions in the following activities. End the discussion by telling the children that they will have the opportunity to find out about different rocks and their characteristics.

Explore – Set up the following rock centers.

Center 1 - Observations

Center 2 – Dampened Rock

Center 3 – Scratch Test

Center 4 – Luster (This center should be in a dim area of the room).

Center 5 – True Color

Center 6 – Bubbles and Fizz

Generalize – Ask questions such as: What did you notice about the rocks that you observed? Why do you think that the rocks left different streak colors and hardness scratches? What do you think rocks are made up of? Can you think of any uses for rocks?

Apply – Tell the students that their task is to think of important daily uses for rocks. Have each person (or pair of students) to brainstorm ideas and write them down in their science journals. Have students take turns sharing their ideas. An extension for older students is to have them research rocks on the internet to see how many different ways we use rocks in our daily lives.