Download your copy of "101 Science Misconceptions" provided by ScienceBoom.

Download your copy of "101 Science Misconceptions" provided by ScienceBoom.

Download your copy of "101 Science Misconceptions" provided by ScienceBoom.

Most noticeably, they went with a spiffy blue color scheme. The year is now broken up into two terms, with each term shown on separate sheets. The right hand column in each unit represents the Major Understandings taken from the New York State Core Curriculum, Standard 4. This addition finally bridges the gap between the Scope and Sequence and the State Standards. It has made aligning objectives with the State Standards a lot more straight forward.

Do yourself a favor and download a copy if you haven’t already. Look at the Scope and Sequence and the State Standards side-by-side and you will see what an improvement this is over the previous version.

Download your copy of "101 Science Misconceptions" provided by ScienceBoom.

Two Truths and a Lie

For this icebreaker you will pass out 3×5 cards to everyone and ask them to write down 2 true statements about themselves and 1 lie. Then each person reads their own card aloud and the class guesses which statement is the lie. It is best if the teacher goes first to illustrate how it should be done before participants write down their statements.

For example – I went to school in Hawaii, I met President Bush when I visited Washington D.C. and I once got 12 people to go skydiving. The lie is President Bush. Notice how I didn’t put the lie last and the skydiving example could be a lie.

First Impressions

For this icebreaker you tape a piece of paper to each participants back. Students stand up and mingle for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes each student writes one or two words describing the first impressions they got about the person they just met. Students shuffle and do this process again. After meeting 5-10 people, participants remove the sheets from their backs. Students pair off and introduce each other to the class using the word on the sheets. This is a feel good activity, so when you introduce this make sure students write appropriate words on the sheets.

Human Bingo

For this activity you give each student a copy of a bingo sheet. During a set amount of time, students go around and find classmates who match the statements on the sheet. Participants can’t sign the same sheet twice. At the end of the time, students tally up points and whoever has the highest total wins a prize (extra credit, candy). This is very fun and engaging. The link above is just an example you can make your own at Print-Bingo.com or Bingo Card Printer.

Candy Toss

Be sure and introduce this activity as the Candy Toss. You need a large bag of candy for this activity. Students assemble in a circle and then the teacher passes the bag around and tells students they can take as many pieces of candy as they would like (go crazy), but they can’t eat it. Once the bag has made it around, you tell the students that for each piece of candy they took from the bag, they have to say one statement about themselves. Thus the more candy they took, the more they will have to say. After completing this, they can eat the candy.

Commonality

In advance prepare 3-4 sets of 3×5 cards that have names on them that are related. Then pass them out randomly and have students find their matches. For example you would prepare 4 cards each one with a different name such as Homer, Marge, Bart and Lisa once those 4 students find each other they should realize they are the Simpsons. You can use band members, movie characters, presidential candidates, etc. Be creative, but use something students will know. Once they have found each other, have them sit together and introduce the group to the class. This is a great activity to get students into random groups.

Good luck tomorrow and have a great year.

Download your copy of "101 Science Misconceptions" provided by ScienceBoom.

Space ship takes a look at rebuilding human civilization. What if the world was coming to an end? Who should we choose to continue the human race?

Students are taken on a thought provoking journey to a time when the Earth will be destroyed. A giant meteor is headed toward Earth and life as we know it will end. Scientists have found an inhabitable planet and built a ship to carry a small group of people there. 11 people were originally chosen, however there is actually only room for 7 on the ship. Through a process of elimination students must choose the seven best candidates for this journey.

Procedure

1. Typically I begin by describing the end of the world (PowerPoint Slide 02), emphasizing that no one left on Earth will survive.
2. Next I give the story about the spaceship and show them the PowerPoint images of the each of the potential passengers
3. I then pass out the worksheet and have students on their own chose seven people they think should go.
4. Then students discuss their choices with their group. In order for someone to be added to the group list, everyone in the group must agree. You can have students put their choices on a piece of poster paper.
5. After all the groups have made their choices, the groups present their choices and explain why they made those decisions.

Things To Keep In Mind

1. There are no right or wrong answers, but there are better choices.
2. Male to female rations are important (we want to rebuild humanity right?)
3. Questions like, do we need religion, guns or art on the new planet always spark a conversation.
4. Finally, have fun! This activity really gets participants engaged.

Materials

1. PowerPoint Presentation
2. Worksheet
3. Poster Paper
4. Markers

Good Luck, if you have any questions about or modifications to this lesson, please let us know about them in the comments section.

Download your copy of "101 Science Misconceptions" provided by ScienceBoom.

Download your copy of "101 Science Misconceptions" provided by ScienceBoom.

I want to tell you about a free eBook I’m giving away to my RSS subscribers as part of a site re-launch. I’ve been working hard over the past few months on this book and creating several new ScienceBoom episodes. The book contains 101 science misconceptions along with some great illustrations done by Ramsey Ess.

The illustrations will be available on T-shirts in a few weeks.

The Book

When I first began teaching, I was surprised by the things my high school seniors believed. Such as the Sun traveling around the Earth, dinosaur bones buried by the Devil, and the Moon being larger than Earth. As I was discussing this with my friend John Herrera, the idea for 101 Science Misconceptions was born and now I want to pass it along to you for being a subscriber to ScienceBoom.

How To Download the eBook

101 Science Misconceptions is free to everyone who subscribes to this site via the RSS feed. All you have to do is click the RSS link at the top of this page, in the address bar, or use this link to subscribe -

http://feeds.feedburner.com/scienceboom/sgKG

If you are new to RSS, please watch the following video:

If you prefer you can subscribe by email:

Once you have subscribed, when you read this blog via RSS you will see something like this at the end of every post -

Click the download link or the cover image in your RSS feed and you will be taken to the page where you can download a copy of the book.

If you have any feedback after reading the book, please feel free to leave comments here or in the ScienceBoom forum. Enjoy!

Michael Doig
Author

Download your copy of "101 Science Misconceptions" provided by ScienceBoom.

I recently stumbled upon the Apple Learning Interchange which is a social network for educators. You can find a wealth of content ranging from simple lesson ideas to in-depth curriculum units for K-12 educators as well as a new channel for Higher Education faculty showcasing campus projects, research and more. Some of the lesson highlights for science teachers include:

• From Aardvarks to Zebras – In this unit, students will investigate the relationship between man and animal. Based upon their research, students will formulate a position on one or more issues relating to the interaction between man and wild animals and the resulting effects. Students will also develop and present a digital product, which advocates their position.
• Google Earth: Small World, Your World, Our World – Google Earth has become a quick and easy way for teachers to involve students in active, engaged 21st Century learning. In this lesson, teachers will learn how to use the tools and resources within Google Earth to help teach everything from geography to math.
• Tails from the Tetons – The mountains, valleys, lakes, river and skies are home to an amazing variety of animal communities. In this EFT, we will focus on the Grand Teton’s intact temperate ecosystems and the animals that inhabit them, including wolves, bears, buffalo, antelope, and many others.
• Protect. Preserve. Be Proud. – In this project, students working in groups plan, conduct research, and manage a public awareness campaign dedicated to the preservation of a community place. Throughout this project students will develop an awareness of places around them, how it affects them, how they affect it, and how it affects the world by developing and sharing a vision for using that space.

The site is great is great for inspiration. Many of the lessons are well put together and the secondary science section has a wide variety of resources including videos of Jane Goodall, sample activities for global warming and a virtual reality muscle simulator. Really cool stuff.

Download your copy of "101 Science Misconceptions" provided by ScienceBoom.