“We are storytelling animals, &

cannot bear to acknowledge the

ordinariness of our daily

lives.”

- Stephen Jay Gould

“We are just an advanced breed

of monkeys on a minor planet of a

very average star. But we can un-

derstand the Universe. That

makes us something

very special .”

- Stephen Hawking

In This Issue

TMMF

New Teacher Profile

Thanksgiving/Science Fun-

nies

Science Curriculum

ASOT Part 2

Did You Know?

D4

Texoma Mini Maker Faire...by SHenderson Man did my feet hurt! The first Texoma Mini Maker Faire is now a blur. I hope some of

you were able to make it to the MPEC on Oct. 28th. If not, here is some of what you

missed: a 40’ x 40’ showcase of MWSU professors & their products (including a muon

detector); drones...lots of drones (but you couldn’t fly them– only watch through VR

goggles); the Texas Parks & Wildlife & their “Wall of Shame:” a blacksmith; an art par-

ty exhibit; River Bend & paper rockets; BSA & their climbing wall; Lego land; WFISD

Robotics; face painting; a cut-away model of a jet engine from Pratt & Whitney; &

much, much more.

We actually started working on this project several months ago after an initial contact

by Mr. Steve Haviland from Think of It Computer Services (the event organizer). My

Region 9 counterpart, Cindy Dyes, & my retired friend, Lynn Seman, & I were respon-

sible for the Elementary, Middle School, High School Engineering Challenges along

with the Grade 3-12 Open Showcase. Overall, we had 38 teams & ~124 students from

WFISD schools & other school districts in the Region 9 area. The kids were great &

we were able to award a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, & Judges Choice ribbon for each challenge.

The Elementary Challenge, “Safe Landing,” asked teams of 2 to 4 stu-

dents from grades 3-5 to design & build a device that ensured that a cup

with a ping-pong ball inside landed, remained upright, & prevented the ball

from falling out when dropped from 2 meters. The lighter the device– the more points

they scored. With 18 teams & 61 students (& their parents taking pictures & videos), it

was an active competition. At the end of the one-hour build & test time, the student

teams were then run through a judging presentation area & a testing area.

The Middle School Challenge, “Soft Landing,” asked teams of 2 to 4 students from

grades 6-8 to design & build an airbag system that could safely retain & land a raw

egg dropped from a height of 2 meters. Again, the lighter the device the higher the

score. For this competition, we had 11 teams & 30 students. Special thanks for Laura

Checki (KMS) & Ferran Kaspar (BMS) for serving as judges for this

WFISD Secondary Science Newsletter; Volume 6, Issue 2 November 2017

The panel of MS judges (left) & the first place team (right) with Ferran Kaspar, Laura Checki, & Lynn Seman

cont. on p.2

New Teacher Profile (Wichita Falls High School) Please help me welcome Joy Joss, new sec-

ondary science teacher at WFHS. Joy is cur-

rently teaching 6 sections of Chemistry I &

one section of Forensic Science @ Wichita

Falls High School.

Elementary School- Hardin Elemen-

tary, Burkburnett ISD

Secondary School- Burkburnett High

School

College/Degree- B.S. in Composite

Science from Midwestern State Uni-

versity

Previous Teaching Experience– student

taught @ Rider High School with Autumn We-

ber

Professional Goals- “I want to make sci-

ence fun, & hopefully get more kids to like it.”

Hobbies/Interests– Spending time with fami-

ly & friends. Also, reading, gardening, & vol-

unteering within my church's children minis-

try.

Joy Joss– WFHS Science Teacher

Open Showcase students pose for a picture (top right) & receive a $1,000 scholarship from MSU by Steve Haviland (bottom left)

event.

The High School Challenge, “On Target,” required teams of 2 to 4 students from

grades 9-12 to design & build a device that could zip down a line & drop a mar-

ble onto the center of a paper target. Accuracy was the key to a high score on

this challenge. We had 8 teams & 30 students competing. Kudos to Bryce Hen-

derson (RHS) for helping judge. The top three teams for this challenge were

also offered scholarships from Dr. Marsden, Dean of MSU College of Mathe-

matics & Science. 3rd place students received $250, 2nd place students re-

ceived $500, & the 1st place students each received $1,000.

The Open Showcase was an op-

portunity for students from grades

3-12 to showcase their individual science/engineering project that identified a

solution to an everyday problem that directly impacted them, their families, their

communities, &/or the global population. Only one team, consisting of Sonya

Ganeshram (HHS) & her friends from Centennial HS in Dallas competed & they

each received a $1000 scholarship from Dr. Marsden.

HS judges panel crunches numbers as Steve Haviland watches (back to cam-era) including Bryce Henderson (with manly beard)

The 1st place team from Burkburnett High School, “Mitchell’s Minions,” with their ribbons & $1000 scholarship awards

Thanksgiving/

Science Funnies

Course Being Taught Now

(2nd 6 Wks.)

Going to be Taught

(3rd 6 Wks.)

Grade 6 Science Elements, Compounds & Matter

cont.; Energy, Motion, & Forces Energy, Motion, & Forces cont.

Grade 7 Science Force, Motion, & Energy Relation-

ships cont.; Flow of Energy

Flow of Energy cont.; Organisms

& the Environment/Homeostasis;

Factors Impacting the Environ-

ment

Grade 8 Science

Atoms cont.; Periodic Table; Chemi-

cal Formulas, Equations, & Reac-

tions

Chemical Formulas, Equations, &

Reactions cont.; Force & Motion

(including Newton’s Laws)

Biology Cells; Cellular Processes; Protein

Synthesis

Protein Synthesis cont.; Genetics

& Heredity

IPC

Energy: Potential & Kinetic; Energy:

Conversions & Conservation; Ener-

gy: Waves Introduction I

Energy: Waves II; Energy: Elec-

tricity & Magnetism

Chemistry Electrons in Atoms; Periodic Table

& Periodic Law

Chemical Bonding & Formulas –

Metallic & Ionic

Principles of

Technology:

Physics

2D Kinematics cont.; Gravity, Rota-

tional Motion, & Momentum

Work & Energy; Thermodynamics

& Energy in Matter

Environmental

Systems Modeling Earth’s Systems Modeling Earth’s Systems

Earth & Space

Science

Weathering, Soil, Mass Wasting &

Running Water/Groundwater, Topo-

graphic Maps; Restless Ocean

Geologic Time; Plate Tectonics,

Earthquakes & Interior, Igneous

Activity, & Mountain Building

Forensic Science CSI cont.; Death; Fingerprints Fingerprints cont.; Impressions;

Serial Killer Project

Human Anatomy

& Physiology

Integumentary System; Skeletal

System & Articulations Muscular System

Medical

Microbiology Clinical Microbiology; Bacteriology Bacteriology cont.

Rider’s New ACS ChemClub Stacie Martin, RHS Chemistry teacher, has organized a new science club at her campus

which is being sponsored by the American Chemical Society. I was invited to her first meeting

on (holy Avogadro, Batman) Monday, October 23rd. She had well over 30 students attend this

inaugural meeting. Her club has decided that they will focus on community service & chemical

investigations. Their next steps are to select officers & officially draft & adopt their club bylaws.

I know they will accomplish some great things. The meeting ended with a bang...actually sev-

eral bangs...as they investigated the reaction of water with calcium carbide.

Did You Know?

Contact Steve with sugges-

tions/ideas for future newslet-

ters

Check out the WFISD Second-

ary Science webpage @ http://

www.wfisd.net/page/579

D4 (Dates, Dead-

lines, & Dogmatic

Dribble)

The 3rd 6 weeks runs from

11/13/17 to 12/15/17

Thanksgiving Break is

11/22/17 to 11/24/17

The CBA#2 (Gr.8 &

Biology) testing win-

dow is 12/4/17 to 12/8/17

The next Biology EOC re-

test is Tues. Dec. 5th

Christmas Break is

12/18/17 to 1/1/18

Tues. Jan. 2, 2018 is a

teacher work day

The next Secondary Sci-

ence DSD will be Wed.

Jan. 3, 2018 @ McMS

“I wanted to be a scientist

from my earliest school

days. The crystallizing mo-

ment came when I first

caught on that stars are

mighty suns, & how stag-

geringly far away they

must be to appear to us as

mere points of light. I’m not

sure I even knew the word

science then, but I was

gripped by the prospect of

understanding how things

work, of helping to uncover

deep mysteries, of explor-

ing new worlds.”

- Carl Sagan

Art & Science of Teaching Part 2 I continue to learn great things through the ASOT training I am able to attend through Re-

gion 9. I thought it might help some of you to share highlights from our Part 2 training which

was held on Oct. 25th & 26th.

We focused on three design questions from this pdf. DQ2: What will I do to help students

effectively interact with the new knowledge?; DQ3: What will I do to help students practice &

deepen their understanding of new knowledge?; & DQ4: What will I do to help students gen-

erate & test hypotheses about new knowledge? Here are the highlights.

For DQ2- when previewing new content, it is helpful to use some sort of “hook” to grab stu-

dent interest. This can include using preview questions, a K-W-L strategy, an advanced or-

ganizer or anticipation guide, a discrepant event, a brainstorm, or a brief teacher summary.

When properly designed, this preview will not only inform the teacher what the students al-

ready know about this new content but also bring student misconceptions to the surface.

When organizing students to interact, it is important to teach kids the “why” of learning part-

ners, they should change partners only occasionally, & students should be assigned routine

group roles. We talked quite a bit about the idea of chunking content into digestible bites.

This relates directly to the working memory of your students & research that shows people

remember best what they learn first, second best what they learn last, & least what comes in

the middle. New material taught in small chunks cuts down on the middle! Some practical

examples include shorter teacher lectures, stopping videos at strategic points (like EdPuz-

zle) to answer questions, stopping during a lab demonstration to ask pertinent questions, &

interjecting questions during class reading time. One of the most important elements of pre-

viewing new content occurs when the teacher engages students in activities that help them

reflect on their learning & the learning process. Many teachers routinely use “Exit Tickets” to

accomplish this by asking questions like, “What parts of the lesson do you feel most/least

sure about?” or “With which aspects of today’s classwork were you least/most successful?”

For DQ3– there are many strategies to help students practice & deepen their knowledge of

new knowledge. Reviewing content via a gallery walk or a mix & mingle activity is ra-

ther effective. Effectively designed homework can not only help students deepen their

knowledge but also provide practice of a skill, strategy, or process. Examining similarities &

differences is a great way to deepen knowledge. Incorporating these thinking stems from

Lead4ward when convenient is another strategy. How can you incorporate them into an up-

coming lesson? Examining errors in reasoning is also important to help students examine

their own reasoning or the “faulty logic” of the information presented to them. Providing op-

portunities for students to practice skills, strategies, & process is also important with the final

step focused on revising knowledge of content addressed in previous lessons.

For DQ4– helping students generate & test hypotheses about new knowledge- we

already do this in science, especially when we incorporate labs that involve some

level of inquiry. This problem solving procedure was shared:

1. Identify the goal you are trying to accomplish.

2. Describe the barriers or constraints that are preventing you from achieving your goal–

that are creating the problem.

3. Identify different solutions for overcoming the barriers or constraints & hypothesize

which solution is likely to be the most effective.

4. Try your solution– either in reality or through a simulation.

5. Explain whether your hypothesis was correct. Determine if you want to test another hy-

pothesis, using a different solution.

One new thing I wanted to share was this graphic called “Lotus Notes.” Here is a link to a

sample I made on human systems. Students fill in the boxes around the topics (could even

show interrelationships) as they review specific content (in center box). Enjoy!