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“Why are today’s liberals usually right , and today’s conservatives usually wrong ?” To answer this question, asserts Chris Mooney, we need to explore “the emerging science of the political brain” (7). The result is Mooney’s latest book, The Republican Brain: The Science of Why They Deny Science—and Reality (New York: Wiley, 2012).  Basically, Mooney sets out to explain what he sees ( and has seen before ) as Republican aversion to science by using the object of that very aversion–namely, various studies from the mind and social sciences.  I won't go into too much detail on the book's argument, but a key question for Mooney is whether the split between “liberal” and “conservative” that runs through the book constitutes an  a priori category of analysis and, if so, whether it’s a legitimate one. For Mooney, “conservatives” (and their opposite) are real, set apart by a deep, psychological “resistance to change,” which is tied to “less Openness to Experience (and other related t

This is a great lesson that we found through one of our resources at school called Math Buddies.  It is a prepacked kit with manipulatives, games and lesson plans all packaged up together to use for tutoring or intervention groups.  Sometimes, we use activities from it for the whole class....like this Visual Model How much is a pound? Start off with a 8 X 2 inch paper strip. This represents a pound. Then fold it 1/2, then in 1/4, then in 1/8ths and finally in 1/16ths. Label each section -   oz.  And record in your science notebook!

So today, we moved from simple grams to an actual kilo-gram.  This is one of my favorite FOSS lessons because it is actually building a kilogram unit using rocks!  The students will work as a team to create 10 bags with 100 grams of rocks in each bag.  I have five science groups, therefore each team is responsible for creating two bags filled with 100 grams of rocks. As each team filled the bags with rocks, they were able to put gram stackers on the other side of the balance scale to equal 100 grams.  The kids really enjoyed this because they had to be precise in their measurements. Next, we put all ten bags together into one gallon sized bag. I also had a kilogram weight that we passed around so that the kids could feel the weight of a kg vs. the weight of a gram. It was a good connection to count each bag by 100's until we had all 10 bags which equaled 1,000.   I think having this visual model is important because mass is one of those units that can be hard to visualize - you can

Our measurement unit continues and this week we are on to mass.  We started with the gram unit and used our gram stackers to measure three small units - a wood chip, a washer and a tile.  At first, we felt the mass in our hands and tried to put them in order from heaviest to lightest.  This lesson comes from Measuring Matte r the newest FOSS kit. Then we actually weighed them and recorded the mass in our notebook. It's a simple way to start, but sometimes that is the best way to make sense of mass. You can see the set up of our science notebook really well in this entry: Focus Question: Data - trial one and trial two Conclusion Next, we were able to put the steps in order to show how to measure mass using a balance scale. I think these lessons are simple in nature and therefore make an impact on our students.  When you teach measurement, it is so easy to teach it through worksheets and center games.  Don't forget to actually get out there and measure real objects!!!  Just sayin

Join us for an experiment in terror!!! Dr. Warren Chapin is investigating the scientific nature of fear . What makes the spine tingle when we’re afraid?  Is it possible to die of terror?  Not prone to scare easily himself, the doctor uses drugs to self-induce hallucinatory nightmares . As coroner, he finds disturbing, unexplained marks on the vertebrae of corpses and a mysterious creature lurking on an x-ray … Is fear something more than a passing emotion? To his horror, the doctor learns that fear is a frightfully LIVING force —and the only way to kill it is to scream .  Don’t miss this cult classic from director William Castle in glorious black-and-white. And don't forget to scream . . . scream for your lives! Before & After --Learn Five Facts about Fear --Groove to pulse-pounding tunes --Try our fiendish cocktail of the night, the Chiller --Win creepy-crawly door prizes! This "mad scientist" edit ion of the Secret Science Club meets Wednesday, March 28 at 8 pm @

Somehow I find the time to connect science into every part of my day....I guess it's my passion and it overflows into all areas! Right now we are reading Owl in the Shower   by Jean Craighead George.  It is an excellent story about the fate of an owl after a logging company has clear cut the land in the Northwest.  It is told covering the points of view of the owl (sort of), the logger (Leon) and the tree huggers (the teacher! ha ha). My students and I are familiar with owls living in Virginia, but not with the controversy surrounding the spotted owl out west.  The book is full of great vocabulary, interesting points of view, funny owl stories and lots of true facts. We have loved every minute of it! As I have been reading it, I started a vocabulary chart to post in the room.  I ask the kids to remember three interesting words from the day's read aloud that we may need to discuss and add to our wall.  We have also added picture of the barred owl (Bardy in the story) as well as

Here in Virginia our studnets need to know how to measure a picture to the nearest inch, 1/2 inch, 1/4 inch and 1/8 of an inch.  How do we teach it? Let me show you.... First we started by passing out inch rulers and drawing three inch lines.  Then we divided one line in half, one line in fourths and one line in eigths.  Then we colored each section to show size. It looked like this in their science notebooks. Part two - we went outside to our school garden in search of objects that were less than one inch.  The students had so much fun measuring objects in nature and recording them in their science notebooks. They found a ladybug that was about 1/8 of an inch. Here is a sample of the notebook entries from one child.... I don't know if you can read it, but it says A growing white flower (1/8 of an inch). A pebble (1/4) of an inch. The inside of a yellow flower (the stigma) 1/4 of an inch Ant = Half an inch 

Like I've stated before, we jam too much information into our students heads...I think it is extremely valuable to teach our students how to measure in length, capacity and by mass.  However, do they really need to remember benchmarks for estimating and coversions between units???  Regardless, we teach it....so here is an idea my team came up with.  We decided to make a chart to show benchmark measurements for length...complete with visuals. Another thing we have to teach is how to convert within US Standard and within Metric as well as between the two.  One way to do this is also with an anchor chart to refer back to when you are really measuring items in the class room.   Here is a FREEBIE to record measurements of things in your classrooms in inches, yards and feet. Grab it here for free!

My reading specialist just spoke with the staff about language development. My school is a typical suburban school where we have many economic ranges.  However, lately our lower economic level has increased.  With poverty, comes delays in language.  Traditional methods of teaching vocabulary doesn't work very well for most of those students.  What does work?  Embedding language into your content area.  So when do you teach content vocabulary? Many teachers think they need to teach words before the encounter them.  But, research has shown that students really remember words better if they have the experience first and learn the words as they go.   Think about how toddlers learn words? As they go...when you see a bird, you say "Look at the bird."  You don't teach them bird without a bird nearby, that would be crazy.  So why do we do that in school? Here are a few strategies that I feel are the most beneficial... I know you have heard me say before how important I still

Just stopping by to let you know about an awesome Linky Party! Lorraine over at Fabulous 4th Grade Froggies is having a Linky Party for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade bloggers! It's a fantastic opportunity for intermediate teachers to link up! It also provides a place where new bloggers and blog-hoppers can go to find great resources for their upper grade classrooms! Be sure and stop by, link up, and visit! Here's a great example of a time saver that I picked up from a FOSS assessment workshop.  Research has shown that teachers can cut down at least half the time of checking notebooks IF students turn in their notebooks stacked and turned to the page to check.  It is true!  I never realized how much time it takes to actually flip through the pages in search of the assignment!  So now, my students are trained to turn in their notebooks this way!

I'm passing along an announcement for a regional environmental history conference that will be held next month at Yale. Registration is requested but free. Two Kingdoms: New Perspectives on Flora and Fauna in Environmental History A Northeast Regional Conference Yale University, Saturday, April 14, 2012 Burke Auditorium, Kroon Hall 195 Prospect Street New Haven, Connecticut The lineup of papers includes quite a few history of science and technology topics (as one would expect for an environmental history conference): forest and species conservation, plant and animal breeding, industrial agriculture, animal experimentation, and others. The abstracts for the conference are available here , and I've copied the schedule for the day-long event after the jump. I hope to see some of you there! “Two Kingdoms: New Perspectives on Flora and Fauna in Environmental History.” A Northeast Regional Conference Burke Auditorium, Kroon Hall Yale University, Saturday, April 14, 2012 New Haven, Co

Boy...are our standards confusing!  My team and I have spent quite a bit of time gathering activities that are hands-on, content rich and cover the standards for Virginia.  Are you as frustrated as we are about the multitude of measurement info that we bombard our students with?   We have been working on length and need our students to understand....Metric units (mm, cm, m and km) as well as their relationship to US Standard Units (1/2, 1/4, 1/8 of an inch, foot, yard, mile).  Phew it is confusing! This week we did several activities...including the setting the need for a standard with different sized straws as well as measuring things around the room with centimeters.  Both of these activities are from FOSS's Measurement kit and the new 3rd edition Measurement and Matter kit.   I love the meter stick that we make with this unit.  You can find it for FREE here ... along with all the other worksheets for the unit! The kids can each make their own and it is easy to use in the classr