2021-22 Middle School Science

December - Science Newsletter

Science Teachers,

Happy Holidays! Hopefully you have fully recovered from Thanksgiving break! We wanted to make you aware of happenings in Pasco County Science and wish you a very happy holiday break. Please read below. Remember that the science showcase deadline for paperwork is Dec 17th!

zoom_out_map

Secondary Science Showcase Paperwork

Just a reminder that all project forms and paperwork are due by Dec 17th. If you're coming in a little late to the game, all necessary information and a recording of the coordinators meeting can be found on the Showcase webpage (https://pasco.k12.fl.us/PascoScienceShowcase).

School fair winners can be registered in zfairs as of now and all paperwork can be uploaded when ready. To register your winners, simply go to the zfairs site (https://fl-pses.zfairs.com/) and click "create an account:" at the top of the page. Select student and then follow the onscreen instructions. Make sure you have a teacher account prior to registering students so that they can be linked to you.

zoom_out_map

WE NEED JUDGES!

Our next generation of successful scientists and engineers needs you! We are in need of judges with expertise in science, technology, math and engineering related fields. Volunteering to judge at the Pasco Science & Engineering Showcase is a rewarding and uplifting experience that is actually best realized when a student researcher is presenting their project and realizes their judge both understands and cares about their research. By judging, you are providing encouragement and opportunities for our future scientists and engineers to grow and succeed. If you are interested in volunteering as a judge, click the image to register. Please consider judging 1 or both fairs. The link will take you to the Pasco zFairs website where you can use the "Create an Account" feature to the right and then select "Register as a Judge".

Science Support

zoom_out_map

High Course Failures Got You Down?

We had the opportunity to examine Quarter 1 data from MAPS, walk-throughs, testing, and course failure rates so that we could explore and share district level trends with superintendents. If you or your grade level PLC struggle with high failure rates, take a moment to explore the Tiered Intervention Resources we have created for MS science. They include CFAs, tracking documents, and links to remediation/acceleration that you can use with your students to help them recover their understanding and improve their grade. Check them out using the link below. They can also be accessed from any of the scope & sequence pages on the Secondary Learning Network.

https://pasco.instructure.com/courses/362961/pages/cfa-banks-and-tier-2-resources

zoom_out_map

Take your Core Instruction to a whole other level!

You may have noticed a new "Explore Learning Gizmos" icon on your MyPascoConnect Dashboard. Through some grant funding, we were able to procure access to the Gizmos platform for all middle school science teachers.

To access the Gizmos, you will have to set up your account first. Below is the blog post that Explore learning shared on the process. Once your account is fully “registered”, it will link your classes. The blog post below walks you through the steps.

https://explorelearningllc.force.com/help/s/article/Gizmos-First-Time-Login-for-Rostered-Teachers

Once your account is established, click on Teacher Resources. There you'll find:

a Quick Guide that will help you navigate all of the amazing resources
a PLC tool kit
and State Specific Resources that show which gizmos are aligned to each Florida science benchmark

If you're no stranger to gizmos and want to just dive in, click the "Find Gizmos" link at the top of your class homepage to search by grade, topic, or benchmark. Remember that Gizmos are a Tier 1 Core instructional resource that can elevate what you are already doing everyday in your classroom. Check out this quick guide to help you integrate gizmos into your everyday instruction.

Science Early Release Day 3 - Follow Up

Thank you again for participating in the 3rd Science Early Release Day Session. We introduced the EXPLORE Phase of the 5E model and asked you to examine two different lesson plans to look for evidence of appropriate Engage & Explore criteria.

The session resources and a recording are housed on the Secondary Science ERD Canvas Course Page (enroll here: https://pasco.instructure.com/enroll/9HNCLK)

As a reminder, your follow-up activities include

Apply what you read and discussed about Explore in the session.
Review the two lesson plans provided, focusing on the Engage and Explore phases of the lessons.
Do the sample lessons meet the framework criteria for both Engage and Explore?
There is no submission component for this assignment. Be prepared to share your thinking and evidence at ERD Session 4 in December.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out! You can either respond to this email or contact Lesley Kirkley or Jessica Maxwell at lwade@pasco.k12.fl.us or jmaxwell@pasco.k12.fl.us. We look forward to a great learning session together and can’t wait to see you all.

zoom_out_map

ERD Session 4 Reminder

We are looking forward to our next Early Release professional learning day coming up on Wednesday December 8th.

Wave 1 Schools 12:30-1:30

CSRMS, PMS, RRMS

Wave 2 Schools 1:30-2:30

BPMS, CCMS, CENMS, CHMS, CLMS, GMS, HAC, HSEC, JLMS, PRSMS, PVMS, RBSMS, SRK8 (MS), SSMS, TEWMS

Zoom Session Link

Wave 1 @ 12:30pm: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81441603407
Wave 2 @ 1:30pm: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83097999217

I AM A SCIENTIST SPOTLIGHT

To counteract the stereotypes and ensure a more equitable future for STEM, we need more classrooms and resources that celebrate the incredible range of personalities, interests, backgrounds, and pursuits that drive discovery and progress. Every month, we will be sharing a new "I AM A SCIENTIST" spotlight highlighting an amazing real world scientist.

We encourage you to share this information and the scientist's story with your students each month because every student deserves a chance to see themselves in science.

Science is a uniquely flexible career.

“I think you have to be ambitious and curious, because there are often a lot of things you don’t understand. You have to be able to push forward and stay motivated.”- LOUISE NUIJENS, PHD

open_in_new zoom_out_map

She was born in South Africa but spent most of her childhood in the Netherlands.
She really liked math and physics in school. She liked the idea of meteorology because it used physics and math in an applied way.
Now part of her work is trying to improve the formulation of clouds in weather and climate models to make better predictions, a complex challenge!

Download his poster here!

zoom_out_map

MIDDLE SCHOOL WATERSHED AMBASSADORS PROGRAM (@CROSSBAR & STARKEY PARK)

All Watershed Ambassadors Program visits are a go for this year. The Pasco Environmental Programs Team has posted the visit calendar to the WAP's Program Site. All 7th graders participate in this amazing experiential problem based program at Starkey Park or CrossBar Ranch. Please reach out to Karen Stewart for program information.

Compassionate Schools

We are so happy to share that our new mindfulness program, Inner Explorer, has been added to your myPascoConnect dashboard! All you need to do is click on the app, and it will automatically sign you in using our district's single sign-on (SSO) capabilities. We encourage you to take some time to browse the resources available to you through the app including teacher guides, related videos and books, and parent letters you can send. Please reach out to Lesley Wilson lrwilson@pasco.k12.fl.us or Susanna Haberle shaberle@pasco.k12.fl.us with any questions.

12 Days of Tech-mas- Coming Soon!

Join us for the 12 Days of Tech-mas starting on Thursday, December 2nd. We will be featuring tips and tricks on how to navigate your Windows device.We will also have a drawing that you can enter at the end of each skit or screencast. Just fill out the form to be entered. We will have $25 gift cards to Amazon, Starbucks, Walmart, and Dunkin’. If you watch all 12 videos you will be entered in a grand prize to win $100 Visa card!

To view these, please log into myPascoConnect each day. You will see an announcement and instructions on what to do. Please check out this flyer for more information. We hope that these bring you joy and some tips for your new device!