inquiry

Whack a Stack

October 3, 2008

Needing to teach Newton’s Laws?  Don Rathjen, staff educator at the Exploratorium, has been teaching mechanics to students for over 20 years.  This one’s an old favorite — a noisy activity with wood flying everywhere.  You can listen to Don demonstrate how to teach the activity (and geekgirl has some fun with it too) on [...]

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Blogs on education

June 13, 2008

Hey, I just stumbled upon this very useful list of blogs from the National Science Digital Library — all having to do with education, digital technology, and inquiry, among other things. If you’re a STEM educator (that’s Science, Technology, Engineering & Math education, definitely check out this list. What a find! Also check out the [...]

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Principles of Learning

May 2, 2008

OK, sure, that’s a boring title for a post. But this list represents THE most accepted principles of how people learn. We all learn, even if we’re not in school, and knowing how you can learn better is very useful. And for teachers, this represents the distilled knowledge of how you can help your students. [...]

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Hands-on Science

January 18, 2008

Hey, I’ve posted a new episode on my podcast. Check it out; I think you’ll like it! Title: Science Teaching Tips Episode: Hands-on Science When staff physicist Paul Doherty began to teach, he started by doing lots of demonstrations. But now, he explains, he has students get their hands on the science, which helps them [...]

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That’s a Good Question

November 18, 2007

I’ve posted a new episode of my Science Teaching Tips podcast… That’s a Good Question TI staff biologist Karen Kalumuck tells us how she tries not to answer every question in the classroom -– instead, she guides her students to discover ideas for themselves. Karen Kalumuck’s website: http://philo.exploratorium.edu/karenk/

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CA Science Teachers Association

October 29, 2007

I just came back from the CA Science Teachers Association in Long Beach — a very good time. I like science teachers. They’re erstwhile, smart, and care about kids. I gave a presentation on electrostatics — you can download my handouts. I saw one very good presentation on how to transform traditional cookbook-type labs to [...]

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Take it Outside

October 14, 2007

I’ve posted a new episode of my Science Teaching Tips podcast… Episode: 18. Take it outside Sometimes kids don’t have much experience with nature. TI teacher coach Kim Marie Hansen tells us how she got her inner city students outside and observing the world, by using nature journals.

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