Tag Archives: weather

Seasonal scavenger hunt

By Peggy Ashbrook | Published: March 5, 2010

Give your students practice making observations by doing a seasonal scavenger hunt that will require closer looks at the familiar landscape to see what has changed. (Thanks to the University of British Columbia Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research for the idea.) Does the tree (with branches low enough to see) have tightly furled [...]

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A strand of pearls

By Debra Shapiro | Published: February 19, 2010

Are you an urban or rural educator seeking pearls of wisdom for engaging your students? Plan to attend the NSTA National Conference in Philadelphia. The conference will give you those “pearls” through a strand of sessions entitled Meeting the Unique Needs of Urban and Rural Learners.

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Going green

By Mary Bigelow | Published: February 15, 2010

Teachers use several strategies at the end of the school year. One strategy is to try to cram in as many topics as possible in an effort to “cover” everything.  Other teachers use culminating or capstone projects to integrate concepts and give students a chance to use what they’ve learned in science (and other subjects). [...]

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Science in the community

By Mary Bigelow | Published: February 8, 2010

I’m hoping that secondary teachers will take a look at the articles that describe authentic investigations conducted by young scientists in their communities: Creative Soil Conservation and Boulder Creek Study. The latter has examples of student work as they studied the water quality in their communities, using various indicators, including the presence of aquatic invertebrates. [...]

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Footprints in the snow—books to extend learning

By Peggy Ashbrook | Published: February 7, 2010

With 18 inches on the ground, and another 2–4 inches of snow due Tuesday, is it any wonder I’m thinking of how to make the most of this unique material in school? When we get back to school we’ll look for signs of animal activity and read to learn how animals live in the snow. Earlier [...]

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Snow explorations

By Peggy Ashbrook | Published: December 26, 2009

The snow was lovely for me, arriving on a  Friday night after my children were home and  enough neighbors were in town to make the  shoveling more of a community gathering  than a huge chore. I did wish that school was in session so I  could learn what my students would do with  20 inches of [...]

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Let it snow!

By Mary Bigelow | Published: December 22, 2009

Here in the Northeast, we had to dig our way through the recent storm, the most snow we’ve had in my neck of the woods for two years! I once hosted an exchange teacher from Australia in January (their summer break), who had never seen snow. Snowplows, snowblowers, snowshoes, and skimobiles were all new to [...]

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Science is a breeze

By Lynn Petrinjak | Published: October 23, 2009

The average wind speed in Minneapolis is 10 miles per hour (mph), equal to the Windy City of Chicago, according to worldfactsandfigures.com. While that makes Minneapolis a less-than-ideal location for a wind turbine, it is still good setting for a wind turbine workshop! Michael Arquin of the KidWind Project will offer his insight into a [...]

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Planting this fall for springtime blooms

By Peggy Ashbrook | Published: August 29, 2009

I’m planning a fall gardening activity now, before school starts, and the first step is to mark my calendar to buy spring flowering bulbs before the end of September. Seasonal changes vary across the many climates in the United States. If you get temperatures below 40°F for extended periods of time, you can plant these [...]

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Connecting to the weather

By Peggy Ashbrook | Published: April 28, 2009

Can you tell that it will rain soon by the way the air smells? Do you like the smell of snow? I like the way the air smells just as a badly needed rain begins—it makes me think of the earth exhaling as the water soaks in (but this could be a misconception on my [...]

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