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Article

First Day of Physical Science Outline: Mr. P's Sound Beginnings

by Michael Moynihan

First Day of Physical Science Outline: Mr. P's Sound Beginnings

by Michael Moynihan

It’s the first day of school. Students arrive at Mr. P’s Physical Science class with a mix of anxiety, interest and uncertainty. What will this year be like in science class? How difficult will the class be? Where are my friends sitting? Who are these new students I do not know? I can’t believe I’m sitting in class right now when just yesterday at this time I was fishing at Bear Creek with my best friend Justin, enjoying the last day of summer vacation… Thoughts are also racing through Mr....
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2
Article

First Day of Biology Outline: Mr. B's Sound Beginnings

by Michael Moynihan

First Day of Biology Outline: Mr. B's Sound Beginnings

by Michael Moynihan

The first several days… Mr. B starts the course in a way similar to his friend Mr. P, the eighth grade Physical Science teacher (first reading at least the introductory part of the article A Sound Beginning: Mr. P and Physical Science is recommended). He greets the students as they meander into his Biology class. Administrative details take up about half the first class and then the real teaching begins. The logical starting place is for Mr. B to explain what Biology is and why it is worthwhile to study...
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3
Article

Counting the Crumbs: Experimental Design and the Chemistry of Cookies

by Kat Hussmann

Counting the Crumbs: Experimental Design and the Chemistry of Cookies

by Kat Hussmann

Teaching the scientific method through a baking project. This lesson will help students: Understand modern science as an inquiry-based approach advanced by carefully designed experiments. Become familiar with the scientific method and how to apply this method in the real world. Analyze collected data and present findings to peers. Overall Objective Too often students learn the scientific process as bystanders, never sitting in the driver’s seat to see the path that lies ahead on the journey to exploration of their natural world. Many students can rattle off the steps of...
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4
Article

Force and Momentum: Exploring a Point of Intersection Between Classical and Modern

by Dave Maxham

Force and Momentum: Exploring a Point of Intersection Between Classical and Modern

by Dave Maxham

At the beginning of every year in physics, I start out with an overview of Aristotle’s ten categories of being: This diagram shows that the most fundamental category is “substance”: It “stands under” the other nine accidents, supporting them. It cannot be directly sensed by any of the five senses. Impossible to directly see, hear, touch, smell or taste a substance (we only see, hear, touch, smell or taste the accidents) The substance is only grasped by the intellect as the intellect abstracts from the information we receive from our...
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5
Article

Science and Technology

by Thomas Hardy

Science and Technology

by Thomas Hardy

Click here to download a printable PDF of this chapter of the textbook, Physical Science and Technology. Purpose: To understand what science is, and what technology is; how science proceeds; and how technology proceeds. I wrote this textbook with the hope that you will find this the most interesting science course you have ever taken. I hope you will be able to look at the technologies you use every day with “new eyes” and understand very well how science is done. To start, let’s define a few terms. What is science? What is...
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Podcast

An Introduction to Natural History with Eric Heil: On the Study of Our World Fully Alive

featuring Eric Heil

An Introduction to Natural History with Eric Heil: On the Study of Our World Fully Alive

featuring Eric Heil

In certain school systems, it is perhaps more common to find students dissecting samples and diagraming abstractions. The boys in the Lower School at The Heights, however, begin their scientific formation not in a lab, among dead specimens, but in nature, among living creatures. Their text book is not full of paper, but of paper’s source, trees; for their primary text is the book of nature itself.  In this week’s episode, Eric Heil takes us outdoors–so to speak–for a discussion of natural history. With over fourteen years of experience teaching...
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Science Teacher Resources

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This second collection of the Initiative for the Renewal of Science Education, Teacher Resources, contains firsthand testimonials and methods from educators with the goal of assisting other educators in their teaching of scientific thought in the classroom. Teachers explore their lesson plans and important preparations they make for their science classes, presenting simple methods on how to engage the critical thinking of their students. Common themes include emphasis on inquiry-based approaches within designed experiments, the importance of a vivid imagination, and the intersection between classical and modern thinking. This collection, while emphasizing the utility of other teacher’s processes, hopes to connect the broader topic of What is Science with the idea that scientific thinking builds on the ideas of others. Click here for more information about The Initiative for the Renewal of Science Education.