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Feature on Technology Use and Collaboration
In this issue:
- Final Weeks of Fall Session
- Featured Teacher
- Featured Mentor
- Featured Teams
- Preparing for Session End
Final Weeks of Fall Session
Although many teams are nearing completion,
79 NEW student teams joined PlantingScience this week. We welcome the 8 new teams from David Hinson Middle School and 71 teams from Landmark High School! This is the first time PlantingScience has been used concurrently by three teachers at the same school.
Attention Teachers close to Wrap-up: Please notify PSTEAM a few days before you are ready for the post-test. The online tests are created manually for each teacher and need to be made available for your students to see. If you would like a reminder of the step-by-step instructions to view the student responses, please email PSteam@plantingscience.org.
In this issue, we highlight some of the innovative ways teachers are enhancing their students' experiences by integrating additional technologies and enhancing the community through collaborations.
Featured Teacher
Jennifer Forsyth joined PlantingScience last year and has led the way in showing possibilities for communications. Last year she encouraged team-to-tam communication with in her class. This session her Woodstock High School teams also collaborated with college teams from Emporia State University. Jen has also incorporated Vernier probes for her students to collect and analyze data. Her students also have some of the most innovative final presentations, uploaded as videos.
Featured Mentor
 Michelle Moyer from Cornell University is a new mentor developing a nice exchange with her team from Amundsen High School
Team Chibi érudite~ who are investigating " How does soil temperature effect seed germination?" Michelle has a good knack of offering thought-provoking questions along with helpful hints: "How do you plan to maintain the soil temperatures while you are waiting for the seeds to germinate? Small soil samples generally don't retain heat for very long, so if you really want to see an effect, you may have to keep the soil "hot" or "cold" until the pea seed germinates. This will take some thought (ie- if you leave the light stand on, then your "hot" treatment will be exposed to 24 hours of light. How will you make sure your cold and controls have this same light exposure without altering temperature?)" This sort of guidance encourages critical thinking and problem solving, even if student teams are not able to follow through with the suggestions.
Featured Teams
The Northwest R1 teams from Jefferson County MO are making great progress this session. We particularly like to highlight the way the teacher, Mr. Dick Willis, has fostered community communication by posting on his students' pages, which helped the mentors understand the classroom expectations. Here are a few examples with mentors Sean Hoban and Dave Matlaga:
Team Awesome and
team A & M
Suggested Comments for Session Completion
After the Thanksgiving Holiday, we encourage teachers and mentors to wrap-up communication with the teams that are still active. This is the time to discuss final results and lead the teams towards scientific conclusions. A standard and easy thing to say is "What do you know now that you didn't when you began this experiment, and if you could do it over again, what would you do?"
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Meet the Teachers and Schools
Middle schools investigating seeds
Saint Michael School (IL) - Nancy Ramig - Farewell
St. Rose of Lima (NJ) - Christina Wage - Now Online!
Oakridge MS (FL) - Georgia Stamp - Now Online!
Opelika MS (AL) - Ruth Meadows - Now Online!
David Hinson MS (FL) - Kathi Weaver - Now Online!
Nautilus MS (FL) - Everett Evansky
High schools investigating seeds
Northwest HS R1 (MO) - Dick Willis - Farewell
Long Branch HS (OH) - Evelyn Cruz, T. Monroe - Now Online!
Cromwell Wright (MN) - Lori Wester - Now Online!
Springfield Central HS (MA) - Naomi Volain - Now Online!
Stuart Public School (NE) - Kayla Fischer - Farewell
Moss HS (OK) - Cappi Coleman - Now Online!
Amundsen HS (IL) - Todd Johnson - Now Online!
Matanzas HS (FL) - Wendy Vidor - Now Online!
Landmark HS (NY) - Erik Shold, Justin Strauss, and Kevi Koulouris - Now Online!
High schools investigating photosynthesis
Woodstock HS (GA) - Jennifer Forsyth - Now Online!
North Zulch (TX) - Angela Turner* - Now Online!
Middle & High schools field-testing pollen & pollination
St. Sebastian (OH) - Betty Indriolo* - Farewell
Pershing County High (NV) - Valdine McLean - Farewell
High schools field-testing genetics with Arabidopsis
LSMSA (LA) - Allison Landry*- Now Online!
Wyandotte High (KS) - Michael Hotz* - Now Online!
C.H. Yoe High science club (TX) - Toni Lafferty* - Now Online!
High schools field-testing genetics with Brassica
Appleton West HS (WI) - Kathy Vanderloop* - Now Online!
Wichita North HS (KS) - Bill Welch* - Now Online!
Lake Orion HS (MI) - Jenn Carlson Coury* - Now Online!
*teachers attending the 2009 Summer Institute
Colleges & Universities
Emporia State University (KS) - Marsh Sundberg's undergraduate biology students will be communicating with Jennifer Forsyth's Woodstock high school student teams. - Now Online!
Contact the Team
Jennifer Potratz Project Coordinator. 8-5 Central. 314-577-9535
Rob Brandt IT and Web Manager. 8:30-5:30 Pacific. 806-879-1590
Claire Hemingway Project Manager. 8:30-5:30 Pacific. 562-308-0075
Email logistic or technical questions to the team: psteam@plantingscience.org.
Call Jennifer toll free at 1-888-778-3265
Mailing address:
PlantingScience Program
Botanical Society of America
4475 Castleman Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63110 |
