- How would you feel if you were one of Dr. Sayer’s patients? Obviously, you’re going to feel different at different times - before the drug, after the drug, after the drug wears off, etc. You might even ask yourself - Is a short-lived “awakening” even worth it?
- How would you feel if you were Dr. Sayer? Did you do more harm than good, overall? Did you go too far?
- If you were unable to give consent to a doctor to undergo an experimental treatment, just like the one Dr. Sayer gave to his patients, would you be comfortable with your doctor (or anyone else) making these decision for you?
- Why are we often not grateful? - for such basic things like going to the bathroom by ourselves, choosing to make a friend, going for a walk and deciding which direction to choose. Is it true, as Leonard says, that “we don’t know how to live”? AND do we need to go through what Leonard did in order to become MORE grateful?
After viewing the movie Awakenings based on the book by Oliver Sacks, 9th grade students reflected on big issues raised by the movie. If you're not familiar with the book or movie, you can see the original trailer here. Students chose how to respond to the following questions:
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electricity from renewable sources. These scientific and technological investigations are preparing students for a future in a world impacted by climate change. They were engaged in thinking about ways they can make a difference in the world.
The ASFG 2016 Science Fair will be held on Thursday, March 3rd, 2016 in the auditorium. Every year, teachers work hard to provide quality resources and guidance for students participating in the science fair. The purpose of the event is to serve as a springboard for students to be able to participate in highly recognized national and international science fairs. This year, the Science Fair website provides access to all the resources students need from links to research topics to a demonstration video for creating a great poster. Through participating in the ASFG Science Fair, students practice important work and life skills such as time management, collaborative work, critical thinking, effective communication, interaction with peers, and citizenship. ASFG Science Fair involves open and guided inquiry, poster making, creation of effective figures and tables, referencing, experimental design, and ability to identify reliable sources of information. Biology students are using a great deal of technology in the classroom this year. They use Google Classroom for all of the major projects such as lab reports. This allows students to coordinate and collaborate on projects. It also allows their teacher to give them timely feedback on their work. In addition, using videos to illustrate biochemistry helps engage students in understanding microscopic details. The cell membrane video provides an in depth look at something only two molecules thick. Students have also recently completed web quests about Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration. WebQuests use several strategies to increase student motivation. They use a central question that honestly needs answering and provide a variety of resources to help students find the answer. Students can choose to watch videos, read articles, or complete interactive challenges to scaffold student learning. Ninth grade science students are not only learning fundamentals of science and chemistry, they are getting a lesson in thinking about learning. Students complete ungraded quizzes about science content. Then students complete reflections commenting on their preparation relative to their quiz score. How do they know their score? Flubaroo allows their teacher to send each student a personal grade report via email instantly. Students can immediately address their misunderstandings and misconceptions about the content by asking good questions. They can also reflect on how their study habits influenced the outcome of the quiz. Their teacher learns which topics are causing students trouble as well. Students are engaged in these formative assessments and gain insight about their own learning process. Simple solutions can provide great rewards. Learn more about using Flubaroo on the Teacher Resources site. Seniors in chemistry class recently used the PBS Interactive tool Tales from the Poisoner's Handbook to learn about the impacts of poisons on the human body. Students were pulled in by the comic book stories of murder and engaged with the forensics experiments to discover the culprit. PBS provides a variety of teacher resources to use with the interactive tool including lesson plans and chemistry labs based on the material. In addition to this chemistry lesson, teachers can find interactive and engaging material about history, science, literature and more on the PBS Learning Media site.
performing an investigation and preparing for the science fair presentation.
Several projects used or investigated technologies more than others. One team used 3D printing and electronics to create a prosthetic hand. Another team used lasers and magnifying glasses to investigate refraction. Others experimented with reducing environmental impacts by reducing water use and creating renewable energy sources. Students were motivated throughout the project because of their ability to investigate their personal interests. RAFT assignments encourage students to uncover their own voices and formats for presenting their ideas about content information they are studying. Students learn to respond to writing prompts that require them to think about various perspectives: Role of the Writer, Audience, Format and Topic. For this RAFT assignment, students in Biology created short videos explaining the process of how photosynthesis and cellular respiration are interconnected. Students used critical thinking, creativity, teamwork and problem solving to develop create videos to demonstrate their knowledge of biology. The freedom of expression and structure of RAFT assignments increase student motivation and learning. Learn about light, carbon dioxide, and water in the trailer to Chloroplast High School, coming soon to theaters near you. Or if you prefer learning through music, try the Epic Science Rap Battles of Bio Class. Grade 9 science, while not in the science fair this year, are doing their part to scaffold the scientific method in a way that makes it easier for students when they participate in science fair in grade 10.
Students are using Flipboard to curate their own resources for science fair next year. It will also enable them to share resources and "follow" their peers' resources - much like you would follow someone on Pinterest or Twitter, for example. Students also used Padlet to share ideas for Science Fair that were sourced at Science Buddies. At the end of this quarter, students will be sharing a scientific question, hypothesis, and three Ebsco-sourced background research documents related to their question with their teacher and Science department head. The science department is providing time for these activities, in addition to other tasks intended to build competency in producing quality scientific research, so students will spend less time trying to determine what they want to research - and more time doing the research! Students participating in the Science Fair have a great resource to help organize and prepare. The Science Fair e-pack has all of the information necessary to ensure the highest level of success for all students in their scientific inquiries. It includes everything from the mission and vision of the project to rubrics and poster guidelines. Several of the resources are new this year including Project Inspiration and the Engineering Design Process. This digital resource will help guide students to the successful completion of a scientific study that benefits students as researchers, investigators, designers and knowledge creators. |
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