Elementary Science

Looking for a New Round of MSP Participants

We are pleased to announce that Kennesaw State University and Cobb have applied for a third Federal Math Science Partnership (MSP) Grant.  The purpose of this grant is to improve teacher understanding of science content, GPS standards, vertical and horizontal alignment of the curriculum, technology integration into the science classroom, math & science integration techniques, and provide teachers with the tools necessary to effectively teach the new curriculum.  

 We are looking for 3rd grade teachers to participate in this grant cycle. (Our past two MSP grants have focused on 4th,  5th, 6th & 8th grades.  This year we are targeting new grade levels - 3rd, 7th, & High School math & science!)

 Participant Benefits 

• 15 PLUs earned over the grant training cycle.
• A stipend of $800 (plus $125 bonus for attending 9 of the 10 days) paid to each participant for attendance during the summer training.
• Approximately $250 of resources/materials for your classroom.
• Opportunity to attend state/regional science/math conference of your choice.  
• Variety of high quality hands-on learning experiences correlated to grade level/course standards.
• In-depth training in science and/or math concepts and understandings.
• Strategies for differentiating learning, products, and assessments in the science and/or math classroom.
• Numerous resources and materials for each participant to use in their classroom.
• Interaction with a community of other highly motivated teachers of the same grade level.
• Access to science/math content specialists for questions, ideas, suggestions, or resources.

  Participant Requirements 

• Commitment to a Two year training cycle.  Fourteen days year 1 and fourteen days year 2.
• Attendance at 2 week long training sessions over the summer on July 11-15 & 18-22 from 8:00-4:00 daily.  Attendance each day is required. A second 2-week PD session over the summer will also be required during year 2.  Dates for year two will be decided by participants and instructors. 
• 3 days of follow up science  and/or math trainings spread out over the school year for years 1 & 2.  Fall 2011 dates are Sept. 23rd & Nov.11th. Payment for subs will be provided through the grant. Future training dates will be determined by participants.
• Attendance at one day of a state science (GSTA) or math (GCTM) conference of your choice. Payment for conference registration and subs will be provided through the grant.
• Desire to learn and improve science and/or math content knowledge and work collaboratively with group members.
• Willingness to implement new strategies, techniques, and report on experiences and results. 

Visit http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CobbMSP to apply to be a part of this grant.  Applications are due April 15th by midnight.  :-)  Sally

Paddle GA Scholarships Available

We're looking for a few good teachers!

Paddle Georgia 2011 will take place June 18-24 on the Oconee River from Athens to Dublin, and this year we are offering eight scholarships to Georgia educators to participate in the trip and receive Project WET and Georgia Adopt-A-Stream training. All participants receive one PLU credit.

The deadline for application is April 15.

Here's the link to the printable online application:

http://www.garivers.org./paddle_georgia/Paddle%20Georgia%20WET%202011%20Scholarship.pdf

And a link to the Paddle Georgia website:

http://www.garivers.org./paddle_georgia/

Joe Cook  - Paddle Georgia Coordinator; 303 East 5th Ave.; Rome, GA 30161; 706-235-1170; 706-409-0128

Monica Kilpatrick; Project WET State Coordinator; 4220 International Parkway Suite 101; Atlanta, GA 30354     404-362-6536  www.gaprojectwet.org    monica.kilpatrick@gaepd.org

The Science Spot

 

Looking for some new ideas to spice up your class? Check out the Science Spot. From this site you can link to a variety of blogs, websites, etc. on topics ranging from lessons plans to gardening. 

Thanks to Stacey Osborne, Mtn. View ES, for sharing! 

http://sciencespot.net/index.html

 

Free AIMS E-Activities

 
At the NSTA (National Science Teacher Association) Science Conference AIMS was giving away special deals for educators!  You can download $6.00 worth of AIMS activities for FREE until the end of the month.  Most activities are only $2.00!  Log-on to www.aimsedu.org and select E-Activities.  Then do a search for topics you are teaching.  More details below. 

Free Code:  NSTA-JM53111

Share this code with all the teachers in your building!  All can use it! 

 

The Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan

7:33 a.m., March 15 | Updated

On March 11, 2011, an earthquake struck off the coast of Japan, churning up a devastating tsunami that swept over cities and farmland in the northern part of the country and set off warnings as far away the west coast of the United States and South America. Initially recorded as 8.8 on the Richter scale, it was upgraded to 9.0, an effective doubling of its power. In the days after the quake death estimates soared astronomically, with officials saying that more than 10,000 had died in one seaside town alone. As the nation struggled with a rescue effort, it also faced the worst nuclear emergency since Chernobyl; partial meltdowns were presumed to have taken place in two reactors and four others faced serious cooling problems.
— From the Times Topics page on Japan

Here are some resources for teaching about the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan, including the latest Times articles and multimedia, related lesson plans and other materials from The Learning Network, and ideas from around the Web. We’ll continue to update this post with new material this week.  http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/teaching-ideas-the-earthquake-and-tsunami-in-japan/?ref=education

Cobb County Soil and Water Conservation District Poster Contest

 

2011Poster Contest Contest Guidelines

 

Sponsored By 

Cobb County Soil & Water Conservation District

The Cobb County Soil and Water Conservation District is sponsoring a Poster Contest for Cobb County students in grades K-5.  All posters are due by April 4^th.  Please read below for more details, rules, and prizes.    

 

The 2011 Stewardship title "Forests for People, More Than You Can Imagine" must be on your poster. (Don’t use any other title)

 

• Names on back of posters and must have entry signed entry form to be eligible for judging.

• Each entry to state contest must have been judged at each conservation district's or area contest prior to the state evaluation/contest.

• Only official state poster contest sponsors can mail entries for national contest.

2011 Categories

LEVELS for poster contest entries: Grades K-1, 2-3, 4-5

 

Prizes First place winners will receive a cash award in the amount of $50; second place winners will receive $25 and third place winners will receive $10. Prizes in the poster contest categories are sponsored by the Cobb County Soil and Water Conservation District.

 

For full contest details please visit

 http://cobbswcd.wordpress.com/

  

Download CobbPosterFlyer            Download 2011_poster_contest

Master Gardener

 

What is a Master Gardener?

Master Gardeners are residents of the local community who take an active interest in gardening and in sharing their knowledge with others.

Is Master Gardening for you?

Do I want to learn more about the culture and maintenance of many types of plants?

• Am I eager to participate in a practical and intense training program?
• Do I look forward to sharing my knowledge with people in my community?
• Do I have enough time to attend training and to complete the volunteer service?

If you answered yes to these questions, the Master Gardener program could be for you!

Visit http://www.cobbmastergardeners.com/becomeAMasterGardener.php to find out more.  If you are interested contact Sally Creel (sally.creel@gmail.com).  I have a limited budget to support teachers who are interested in gardening and school gardens.  :-)  Sally

How to Access Harcourt Science eTextbook

We have created generic teacher logins for each school.  These logins will provide access to the electronic versions of the Harcourt Science resources to all teachers in the school.  A list of these have been sent to APs.  Please do not change the password information, as this will prevent everyone from accessing the site. 

 

Attached is a quick start guide to help you navigate through the site.  It will address your most frequent questions.  In addition to this quick start guide we have posted information and suggestions about creating a generic student login for your students.  We hope that you will find this information helpful.  Please feel free to contact me (sally.creel@cobbk12.org) or Ellen Glantzberg (ellen.glantzberg@cobbk12.org) if you have any questions. 

 

To create a generic login for your students do the following:

www.thinkcentral.com

Log in using your school generic account.

Click on the Classes and Students link from the main page.

Click on Manage Students from the left menu.

Click the Add button at the bottom.

Complete the student information....

 

I would suggest that you create one generic student account for your class.  You could do the HR teacher's last name - (e.g. - for me "Creel5") as the username and the password. 

 

Once you've created a student login.  Then create a class (info on the attached quick start).  Add this student to your class and assign the 5th grade e-Textbook to them.   :-)  Sally

 

Download Cobb ThinkCentral K-5 QuickStart