Saving Barbie's Life

Additional information can be found: https://tinyurl.com/savingbarbie

How Fast do Dominoes Fall?

Students explore the relationship between speed, distance and time by studying how how distance impacts the speed at which dominoes fall.

HS Life Science NYSSLS

The LE teachers at Indian River CSD recently created a document that separates out each HS Life Science standard with the associated CCC, DCI, and SEP. We hope that this document will be helpful in focusing the individual standards.

NYSSLS HS Life Science

3D Unit Planning - Where to start?

One of the most often questions we get asked during professional development workshops... "How do I get started?" Collaboratively, we've probably tried out a dozen different lesson and unit planning templates, but they all tried to fit a new type of instruction into a pre-existing planning framework. The NYSSLS "standards" begin at the level of the Performance Expectations; figuring out how to bring these alive in the classroom is not all that simple.

Thanks to some great elementary colleagues, I was introduced to the Frayer Model for vocabulary acquisition. This immediately sparked an idea, and with a few adjustments I think we finally have a useful tool for getting started with planning out how to tackle a Performance Expectation.

Help us pilot this planning tool! Let us know if you try it out, and share your thoughts about whether or not it was useful.

Make a copy of the original file so you can print (11x17) or edit.

Is DNA in our Food?

This slide show takes you through a 3D lesson where students plan an investigation to determine if food is a living thing.

3-D Experimental Design Templates MS & HS Levels

The following templates have been created to help guide your students as they delve into the world of 3-D investigations. Page 1 of each template is the exploration space. It is designed to be a brainstorming area as they work individually to record ideas about how they might proceed with their investigation. Page 2 is the actual experimental design page that their group agrees upon. Page 3 is intentionally left blank to allow students to build their own data tables and charts. Page 4 is a "report out" page in Claim, Evidence, Reasoning format. The last slides show a rubric I created using the performance expectations for the SEP: Planning and Carrying Out Investigations.

Reflection: My students are finding this template very easy to work with and appreciate the ability to have all their work in one place. 
- Cookie Barker

How does cell structure and function impact an organism?

This post includes resources/ materials that comprise the cell organelle structure/ function part of the cell biology unit. This slide show covers two weeks of class lessons with an emphasis on differentiated instruction. It is very much a "work in progress"- some aspects are very 3D in their instructional style, and others have a ways to go.