FEATURED ARTICLE - The “WOW” Factor of Nature

by Amy Brown

This past week in my biology class was spent on a unit on classification and taxonomy.  This is one of my favorite topics to teach because the diversity of life on Earth is so incredible and amazing.  Just now, I am sitting at my kitchen table looking out over our large back yard.  The evidence of adaptation to our current environment astounds me.  I am making a list to share with my students on Monday:

1.   A hummingbird is at my feeder.  (Yes, in the deep south, we already have hummingbirds back from the winter.)  Its beak is perfectly adapted to extract the nectar from any flower.

2.   The bees are very active this morning, buzzing in and out of every flower in sight.  Flowering plants take advantage of the bee, and cover its body with pollen every time it lands on a flower.  What a perfect way to deliver a sperm cell to an egg cell of a flower a block away.

3.   The birds are singing like crazy this morning!  What a perfect way to find a mate and establish behavioral barriers between the species.

4.   I can see beetles who are perfectly camouflaged to blend in with their surroundings.

5.  The fruiting bodies of mushrooms are poking up from the ground to take advantage of the deluge of rain we have had this week.  Water will spread their spores to great distances.

6.  A great blue heron is wading at the edge of our shallow pond.  Its body is perfectly adapted for wading and grabbing up the small fishes it sees.

It is an amazing time of the year to be a science teacher.  Nature is packed full of examples that we can share with our students.  I certainly hope that my students come away from this unit with the same "awe" as I have when considering how natural selection has brought us to this point in Earth's history.  Every organism in our sight is adapted to this particular environment.  All we have to do is to look carefully at our surroundings and we will see a multitude of examples of adaptation.

My challenge to you is this:  When Spring hits your particular area of this beautiful earth, take a class period and go outside with your students.  Give them a magnifying glass.  Have them make a list of the living organisms they see, and have them describe how they are adapted to the environment.  Yes, some of them will be "off task" and some of them will misbehave, but some of them will get hooked on nature for life!   I teach high school students, and I am stunned each year at how few of them have ever planted a seed, taken a walk through the woods, hung a bird feeder at their home, thrown "helicopter" seeds into the air and watched them spin, watched a spider spin a web, the list could go on and on!

These children will be responsible for making decisions about our planet in just a short number of years. We better get them excited about nature.  We better make sure they understand how their actions impact our planet. Our students are the future caretakers of this beautiful planet and there is not an "app" for that.  I hope that when they are adults we have taught them enough about science and nature that they can make informed decisions about how to take care of it.

I hope that you will visit my blog and become a follower.  My blog is called "Science Stuff" and can be reached here:  http://sciencestuffbyamy.blogspot.com/.   

You can also visit my TeachersPayTeachers.com store here: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Science-Stuff

My blog has links to quite a few FREE products that can be fun activities for both middle and high school science students.  I hope to see you there!

Amy Brown is the author of the blog called “Science Stuff”.  Amy has 27 years of teaching experience in high school biology, chemistry, and AP biology.  Her blog is about ways to make your class more engaging and exciting for the students.  You can find her blog at:  http://sciencestuffbyamy.blogspot.com/

FEATURED ARTICLE - Final State Standardized Test Preparations

by Victoria Leon

Whether you agree with it or not, your state’s standardized tests are becoming more “high stakes” each year.  How well your students do on “the big test” may determine your salary, if you get a “bonus,” or if you are fired.   In the Los Angeles Unified School District, the teacher’s name and value-added rating on how effective they are is reported to the entire world via the Los Angeles Times‘ website.

So rather than debating if “teaching to the test” is helping or hindering our students, here are some practical tips to think about as your students are getting ready to take their state’s standardized tests. 

• Be sure to read your state’s standardized test directions to make sure you can use these test preparation tips.
• Move your students’ desks in long rows so that they are not touching each other a few days before you begin standardized testing.  Changing your room environment will signal to your students that the tests they will be taking are different and more important than all of the chapter tests and quizzes they have taken throughout the year.  Be sure to not change the desks on the morning of the test.  You want to give your students a few days to feel comfortable in their new testing environment.
• I strategically place students according to their ability and demeanor in their new testing seats.  In my class, two students sit side by side at each desk.  I know which students are able to sit next to another student and which students should have their own desk for the test.  I place my more able students in the front of the class.  Since I watch the class take their test from the back of the room, I can easily get to my less able students seated at the back of the class.
• I write my students’ names on a map of their testing desks.  I use this map to pass out materials and I can cross out the student’s names once they have finished the test.  
• The day before the test, I pass out name cards and put them on each student’s desk.  Then I am able to pass out all of the test materials in the morning before my students enter the classroom.  I have all of my students raise their name cards in the air and I can quickly take attendance and find out who is absent on testing day.   In California, every minute I save will allow my students to have that much more time to take the test.   We don’t have a set time limit, but my students are able to take the test up until recess.  Those students who have not completed the test may go to the library and continue to take the test during recess.   I would rather have my students be given plenty of time to take the test in my classroom than spending fifteen minutes passing out testing materials. 
• I put a cardboard divider on the side of each student’s desk.  On top of the desk is a pencil, scratch paper, and test booklet.  On the floor by their desk are seven pieces of scratch paper and two pencils.  If your state’s standardized test is timed, every second counts.  My students have learned through the year to automatically get a new scratch paper or pencil from the floor and they don’t have to waste valuable seconds raising their hands for supplies.   
• Before the test, I ask students if they need tissues.  It is hard to concentrate on a test if he or she has a runny nose. 
• Right before I begin the test I tell my students, “Breathe in...breathe out...breathe in...breath out...shake your fingers and hands...SMILE, you are more than ready to take this test...put your divider on top of your desk...you may now open your test booklet...”
• After a few minutes, I walk around the classroom to make sure that everyone is on the right page and working on the test.  I pat them gently on their back for a quick second.   Do not do the “pat trick” unless you have done it throughout the school year.  If it is the first time you do it on the day of the standardized test, it will more likely make your student jump than calm him or her down during the test.  If a student is getting agitated during the test, a calm reassuring pat may be just enough to refocus your student.  
• I know it is a balancing act, but at the same time, do not continually walk up and down the aisles.   Stay at the back of the room and watch all of your students.  It is hard for a student to concentrate on the test if the teacher is hovering right behind him or her.  
• Teach your students throughout the school year that they must check their entire test a second time.  My students easily use eight pieces of scratch paper as they check their answers over and over again in their quest to get 100% on the state test.   
• Do not have a fun activity for your students to do after they have taken their standardized test.  Sure the room is quiet, but some of your students may rush to take their test just so they can do the fun activity.  
• Do not have your cup of coffee near the test materials...accidents happen...

You may want to purchase my “Teaching Tips From an Award-Winning National Board Certified Teacher.”  It has 100 teaching tips and 28 forms.  You may also want my “Test Prep Tournaments For Any Grade and Any Subject.”   It has 11 tournaments to help your students review for your state’s standardized tests or your classroom tests.  

Wishing you the best during testing week,

Vicky Leon  

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