Free Educational Programs

At the last science class of the semester, Dr. Kat introduced us to a great resource.  Dr. Kat's husband who works for a local natural gas company graciously showed us the educational class that his company offers to local schools.  Many utility companies have educational programs to educate the school children in their area of the different forms of energy.   One piece of advice that was offered is that if you feel like there is a natural gas leak or any problems then please call 811.
We were shown different characteristics of natural gas and how it burns.  For example we learned that anything less than 5% gas will not burn and anything more than 15% just explodes.  We saw that water vapor formed after the burn.  the by products were CO2 and water vapor.  This experiment can be done in the classroom with vinegar, baking soda and a balloon or you can contact a local utility company to see what educational programs they have available.

 I looked into the companies in Rutherford County.  Middle Tennessee Electric and Middle Tennessee Gas offers educational programs but Consolidated seemed to only have printables available.  Here are the links to their websites.

Middle Tennesse Electric
Consolidated Utilities/
Middlee Tenneessee Gasy

Fall = Beautiful Color

As the different colors of leaves begin to change on the deciduous trees, you can begin to tell that the trees are starting to go dormant for winter. Some people may think that the original color of deciduous trees is green, however the original color of the tree’s leaves is only shown during Autumn. When plants make food, they use the process called photosynthesis which uses sunlight, H₂O, and Co2 to create glucose for the plant’s nutrients. This process takes place in many of the plant cells in deciduous trees that contain chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is a green pigment that helps the cell capture sunlight needed for completing photosynthesis. This pigment is what makes the color of the leaves during the spring and summer, green. So when Autumn comes, the plant stops the cycle of photosynthesis when the temperature decreases and the length of day decreases. Then the chlorophyll disintegrates and the green colors gradually disappears bringing out the true colors of the tree’s leaves (which tends to be colors like: orange and yellow). The bright reds and purples we see in leaves are made mostly in the fall. In some trees, like maples, glucose is trapped in the leaves after photosynthesis stops. Sunlight and the cool nights of autumn cause the leaves turn this glucose into a red color.  This is where the beautiful colors of the autumn leaves come from.  I LOVE Fall!

PRIME Song

Mix it up!  While observing a math class recently, I was in a 6th grade math class that was looking at prime numbers.  To hook the kids, the teacher played a great song called Prime Numbers.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRz4hW9SPPc  It was a fun way to start the class.  
Next she gave them a foldable for their Math folders that gave hints to remember prime numbers.  The foldable was an ingenious idea.  It previously was a black folder with pockets.  It was folded in 1/4s to make a neat and different foldable that has the room to hold tons of smaller foldables.  I hope I can get a picture to show.  This teacher said she had found this idea at a math conference.  Next she did a round robin contest where they had to say the prime numbers in order!  I had to stop and think!  It was tough!  Last man standing received candy! All in all it was a fun Math class!

Great way to use a 25 cent folder!

Blow Minds. Teach STEM

One of our professors mentioned a site entitled TED talks a few weeks ago.  On it is a wealth of information regarding different subjects in education.  I have been inspired by several teachers in Rutherford county who are now STEM teachers.  They are inspire both boys and girls in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.  The projects they do with their students are exciting, fun and educational.  They make these subjects come alive for students.  It's not the same old, boring, rote teaching from the textbooks.  One day students are creating airplanes, another day they are researching and creating.  There is no set curriculum for STEM teachers, so each teacher is creating their own for their classes.  There are quite a few industries that offer STEM educational grants and STEM project ideas.  Several utility companies have representatives who will come to the class offering free demonstrations and learning opportunities.  In all there is a wealth of opportunities out there for STEM teachers to create a fun, educational environment.



http://ideas.ted.com/2014/09/19/baratunde-thurston-blow-minds-teach-stem/

Instilling the love of SCIENCE

Sadly the powers that be have put such an emphasis on Math and English Language Arts that Science has been placed as secondary or on the list of not as important.  How devastating to the science world!  Instilling the love of science at an early age is so important.  We need to encourage questioning!  I have blogged about this previously.  Look at all of the medical discoveries that have happened over the past 10 years.  Would these medical breakthroughs have happened if students did not have a teacher to encourage their questioning or their interest in science?  Personally this effects my family.  My son who was born with a congenital heart defect has benefited GREATLY from medical advances.  The man who did the first pediatric open heart surgery which was unheard of at the time.  If he had not questioned, thousands would not have benefited.  Since my son was born in 2005, another brilliant group of scientist have developed a technique to place heart valves through a heart catherizations.  How wonderful for so many children that now they can have defective or non working heart valves replaced without cracking their chest!  And why is this possible?  Because someone questioned!  They questioned why couldn't they do this?  How can we do this through the least invasive way possible?  Science is IMPORTANT!  The discoveries just in the medical field alone justify the important of science.  I do not feel that I am biased because my family has benefited.  We have all benefited.  How important for us to encourage science.  Maybe one of our students will discover the cure for Ebola or even cancer!  Dreaming big!

Farm Field Trips

Saturday, my group did a lesson plan on the benefits of fruits and vegetables.  Depending on where you teach, there will be some children who are not exposed to fruit and vegetables that do not come out of can or maybe not at all.  Also no matter where you teach, unless it is an agriculturally dominant area, many children are not aware of how these fruits and vegetables grow.  They are not aware of the difference of root vegetables, fruit trees, fruit growing on vines, or on shrubs.  Tennessee has a great website called Pick your own farms... www.pickyourown.org/TN.htm  This gives you the time a year that fruits or vegetables are in season, locations and times that they are open.  Many of these farms cater to school groups and are prepared with tour guides to show children how the farms work and how things grow.  These trips can be educational.  Also farmer's markets are in many towns and cities.  To promote these markets, there will be people who can show kids fresh produce and how that is grown.  They also discuss the road from farm to the grocery store.

Rambling thoughts

I have really noticed lately the lack of teachers who are able or willing to teach high school mathmatics and the upper level science courses. I have debated, internally, why this is the case. With such a focus on English Language Arts and Mathmatics, have we stopped teaching our kids about the wonders of the science world? Have lost focus and stopped wondering how things work or are created? Have we stopped questioning? Have we stopped wondering? It would be interesting to see the enrollments of the engineering schools. Have they declined in the past decade? Have we squashed creativity so much that we have all become the status quo? The job market seems to say we have stopped wondering, creating, questioning. There is a movement in the Math and Science worlds that creates curriculum for classes called STEM. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Teachers of STEM have the opportunity to encourage creativity, wonder, questioning in the classroom. I sincerely hope that this is the beginning of a movement to return to what this country originally contained and that was a country full of opportunities to create, build, discover and wonder. That is why we were one of the greatest nations at one time. We surpassed other countries with our inventions and discoveries. This doesn't have to just begin in a middle school STEM class but it can begin in the elementary level. As teachers of K-6 we can inspire children to discover, question and wonder. We could start a moevment. Now that is an exciting thought.