Spigot Science Magazine

Extreme Weather

David Cochran — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 20:30:32 +0000

We’ve all seen our share of extreme weather. This issue of SITN encourages you and your students to discuss it in the classroom.

Science in school vs. science in life

David Cochran — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 20:58:56 +0000

Science is often taught as a separate subject in school. We treat it as something unique, discrete. But that is school, not life.

In life, we do not separate things into categories, because it is difficult to look at a real world event and decide which category it fits. For example, if we are studying the impact of drought on third world nations, are we studying science (lack of water), geography (global location of stricken nations), or social studies (how people with limited resources adapt).

The answer is often– it depends on which part of the problem we are studying.

Faster than the speed of light?

David Cochran — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:39:04 +0000

Do you have time for reading this? Maybe not, but you would if you could travel faster than the speed of light. Are you skeptical? You should be–you’re a scientist. And scientists are taught to be skeptical. That’s why they test theories over and over again.

Is the reading level too high? Here’s what to do.

Valeria Girandola — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 23:01:45 +0000

The students in front of you are a mixture of auditory (hearing) learners, visual (seeing) learners, and kinesthetic (hands-on) learners–or a combination of either two or three of these modalities. Try reading aloud any article that you know would be great for your students. Actually, perform it–pausing, inflecting your voice, and interacting with your

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Take Five

David Cochran — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 20:14:05 +0000

The first five minutes of class are critical to establishing a climate for learning. Too often classes start with attendance and housekeeping chores rather than engaging students in thought related to the topic of the day. Time is at a premium in most classes, so using that first five minutes wisely is important.

Here is what some teachers do to make the most of their start up time.

Flotsam pollutes ocean currents

David Cochran — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 17:55:02 +0000

The earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan last March had many consequences. Among them was that many houses, cars, furniture and other flotsam washed into the ocean. The debris got picked up by the ocean currents and is making its way across the Pacific Ocean toward the west coast of the United States. This article

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Teaching science vocabulary in context

David Cochran — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 18:03:46 +0000

Science vocabulary can be difficult, sometimes even abstract, and this is one of the reasons students don’t connect when reading science texts or articles. If they don’t understand the vocabulary, then there is a very good chance that they won’t understand the underlying concepts.

Students need to see, hear, say, and write the vocabulary words in order to know them, remember them, and use them. Seeing the definitions of science words in the context of the article helps students understand the meaning of the words and adds to the students’ understanding of the concepts. Here are some examples of “in context” definitions in the OCEANS publication:

Fun, stickers, stars, and candy

Valeria Girandola — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 02:19:43 +0000

There’s a lot to be said about using word games to anchor words in the brain while having fun at the same time. A load of positive feedback can work wonders.

Students love the competition, the stickers, the stars, and the candy. Teacher/student-made games, easily made from the internet provide a lot of practices: crossword puzzles work on spelling and meaning;

Too Many Jellyfish?

David Cochran — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 13:30:47 +0000

Where are you on the food chain? Well, if you are a jellyfish, you’re pretty much down at the bottom.

Thankfully plankton are even lower. Otherwise, there’s not much left for you to eat. Besides, plankton are delicious! It’s your favorite meal, and the ocean has a lot of it.

But, what happens when there are too many jellyfish? Is there enough food to eat?

The sea creatures we love to hate

David Cochran — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 13:30:28 +0000

They are slimy, giggly, and overall scary creatures. They often are greeted with terms of endearment like “yuck” or “disgusting”. Nevertheless, kids can’t resist poking them with clamshells when they wash up on the beach.

Everybody seems to love hating jellyfish. Too many of them can ruin a perfectly enjoyable day at the beach. Sometimes they can actually sting you. Nobody is quite sure what purpose these creatures serve.