Tag: science

  • The Orbital Perspective: Inspired by Chris Hadfield, Ed Robertson, the Wexford Gleeks and Rod Murray

    Thanks to a recommendation from my Canadian friend and fellow educator Rod Murray (@mrmuzzdog), this morning I started my day with an inspiring, co-created song by Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield), Ed Robertson (@edrobertson,) and the Wexford Gleeks (@wpa_to) recorded together when Commander Hadfield was orbiting our planet as an astronaut aboard the International Space Station in…

  • Polar Extremes on NOVA – Behold the Reality of Higher Carbon Dioxide Levels

    Thanks to Mike Sharp, one of the members of our Sunday School class this year (“Curiosity and Questions: Jesus and Science”), I learned about the new NOVA PBS Special, “Polar Extremes.” Here’s a 3 minute preview of the full episode I watched tonight, which runs just under 2 hours long. I watched it on AppleTV…

  • Podcast468: Reflections on Blended Learning Techniques with Google Sites, Slides and Social Media

    Welcome to Episode 468 of the Moving at the Speed of Creativity podcast, a show by Dr. Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) focusing on digital creativity, media literacy, digital literacy, digital citizenship, instructional technology integration and engaged learning both inside and outside the classroom. This episode includes a reflection by Wes about some of the techniques he…

  • Inspired by National Geographic Explorer Andres Ruzo

    This past Wednesday, I had the remarkable good fortune to hear National Geographic Explorer Andres Ruzo (@georuzo) share a fantastic and inspiring presentation at school for all our 6th graders. Andres is the brother of one of our French teachers, and is a geothermal scientist conducting research in the Peruvian Amazon Basin in an area…

  • Interactive App and Software Options for Human Anatomy Classes

    One of the science teachers at my school recently asked me to do some research on available apps as well as hardware/software options for interactively demonstrating and teaching human anatomy to students. Here’s what I emailed him tonight: I’ve done some research about app options for human anatomy / dissection and this is what I’ve…

  • Amazing Animated Space Films: Wanderers and New Horizons

    Videos about space have been some of my favorite things to share with 4th and 5th grade STEM students the past two years. Yesterday I added several new space video links to my STEM curriculum “Curiosity Links” page, which my friend Bill Casebeer shared with me this weekend. The first is a short film (just under 4 minutes…

  • 30 Reasons I Love Teaching Elementary STEM

    This is my 20th year in education but my second year back in the classroom, teaching STEM full-time to 610 4th and 5th graders at Independence Elementary in Yukon, Oklahoma. Our STEM program is very unique, since it’s in the “specials “rotation for all students that also includes PE, Music and Art. This is the…

  • 2015 Classroom Challenge: STEM Curiosity Links

    As 2014 draws to a close and we look forward to what 2015 will bring, I’d like to share a simple and fun classroom challenge with you: STEM Curiosity Links. For the past two semesters, I’ve made a point of sharing several STEM “curiosity links” with my students at least once per week. On days I share…

  • Great Videos To Show Students About NASA and Orion

    Today was a very exciting day at school for several reasons. One was the successful launch and recovery of the unmanned spacecraft “Orion” by NASA, which some of my STEM students watched and experienced in real-time. The launch was at 6:05 Oklahoma time (7:05 Florida time) and the splashdown in the Pacific Ocean happened 4.5 hours…

  • STEM and Scratch Resources (May 2013)

    I shared the following websites and resources with an Oklahoma City suburban school administrator recently who is helping start a STEM program at one of their elementary schools next fall. If you’re a STEM educator or involved with a K-12 STEM program these might be helpful. Both Chris Simon and Amy Luffelhotz are grade 4-5…