Reflection questions are offered at two levels: 1. District and school level, for system-wide reflection, appropriate for district administrators, building principals, department chairs, content lea ders, coaches 2. Teacher level, appropriate for individual teachers in considering their data/information
Material Type: Reading
Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) includes assessments in English Language Arts and Mathematics which are taken by students in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Students in grades 4 and 8 are administered the Science PSSA. The English Language Arts and Mathematics PSSAs include items that are consistent with the Assessment Anchors/Eligible Content aligned to the Pennsylvania Core Standards in English Language Arts and Mathematics. The Science PSSA includes items that are aligned to the Assessment Anchors/Eligible Content aligned to the Pennsylvania Academic Standards for Science, Technology, Environment and Ecology.
Material Type: Reading
In this lesson, students expand their understanding of solid waste management to include the idea of 3RC (reduce, reuse, recycle and compost). They will look at the effects of packaging decisions (reducing) and learn about engineering advancements in packaging materials and solid waste management. Also, they will observe biodegradation in a model landfill (composting).
Material Type: Lesson Plan
The purpose of this lesson is to understand that cities are urban ecosystems which include both nature and humans, in a largely human-built environmental context and that urban ecosystems have emergent properties that cannot easily be seen by simply looking at the different functional parts of a city: The whole is more than the sum of the parts. Urban Ecosystems 1 introduces some of the principles of ecology, including the definition of an ecosystem as a community of living organisms interacting with its non-living environment. Students will be introduced to the study of ecosystems and models that are used by urban ecologists. The class will be invited to visit websites to see where the cities are on the planet, and they will have a chance to try some hands-on urban nature education activities. This lesson was developed by Dr. Penny Firth, a scientist, as part of a set of interdisciplinary Science NetLinks lessons aimed at improved understanding of environmental phenomena and events. This is the first of a strand of five lessons.
Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan, Reading
This video segment from NOVA: A Desert Place describes the physical characteristics and organisms that define the desert biome.
Material Type: Lecture
This fun Web site is part of OLogy, where kids can collect virtual trading cards and create projects with them. Here, they take a look at some of the questions that go hand-in-hand with genetic cloning technologies. The site opens by telling kids that in the future, technologies like cloning may be very common and that some of the decisions we will need to make in coming years are hard. Then, they are asked to imagine that it is the year 2020 and to take a peek at what's on the minds of one future family. Using this family's thoughts as a base, kids are asked hard questions such as, "Do people have the right to know the chicken they're eating is from a clone?" and "Is it okay for parents to clone their favorite child?"
Material Type: Assessment
