The NGSS Classroom: Connecting Climate Research with the Clean Energy Industry

How do you explain global warming AND make it relevant for middle school students? First, connect two Port of San Diego environmentalists with one Scripps Institution of Oceanography researcher. Next, add five enthusiastic middle school science teachers.  Then, meet for two days to co-develop a brand new Earth Science lesson that will tie together authentic…

The NGSS Classroom: SDSP Tackles Argumentation in Secondary Science

(Photo by Melanie Villanueva, @MrsVchemistry) If you were asked, “Is climate change actually occurring?” would you base your answer on what you believe, or are you able to back your answer with evidence to support your claim? In science, the practice of argumentation – making a claim, providing evidence, and offering strong reasoning to support…

Tapping Real Science for San Diego Classrooms

Each ONR-REAL teacher team created a poster and presented a five minute “flash talk” on their research-based lesson at the fall 2017 ONR REAL showcase. SIO’s Dr. Michael Latz (right) with SDUSD and SUHSD science teachers Scott Frazier, Kearny High School; Tracy Mesina, Granger Junior High School; Katie Kennedy Hendrick, Olympian High School; and Alexandra…

In San Diego, Bringing Local Science Research into the Classroom

San Diego is perhaps best known for its beautiful beaches, sunny skies, and world famous zoo. But it is also home to world-class scientific institutions. From UC San Diego to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, from the Salk Institute to Qualcomm, San Diego has an abundance of scientific and engineering prowess. Locally, however, most San…

Creating New Science Lessons for San Diego: Leveraging UCSD-Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Naval Science

From the spectacular and colorful undersea world of bioluminescence to the acoustic ecology of dolphins and whales, San Diego-based science was the focus of an intensive two-day workshop linking five renowned scientists and 25 high school science teachers from throughout the county. Participants gathered for a focused Lesson Study workshop to create Next Generation Science…

Innovation and Networking at UC San Diego’s ‘Teaching for Impact’ Education Conference

Light morning drizzle and grey skies could not stop 230 dedicated educators from attending “Teaching for Impact: Innovative Practices for Today’s Standards,” the third annual conference for local educators hosted by UC San Diego’s Department of Education Studies (EDS) and the Center for Research on Educational Equity, Assessment and Teaching Excellence (CREATE). Held at Pepper…

What do Dolphins, Mud, Lasers, and Brain Waves Have in Common? Great San Diego Teachers and Scientists…

A group of enthusiastic science teachers reunited at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Museum on October 20, 2015 to share science lessons inspired by local naval scientists. The science lesson showcase was a culmination of teachers’ work from the Next Generation Science Teacher Leaders Institute held last July. Twenty-four teachers worked alongside four researchers from…

NGSS POWER Grant Energizes South Bay Teachers

Picture a group of science teachers huddled together, arranging themselves as human bowling balls, billiard balls and other moving objects, and moving in slow motion to demonstrate the science of energy transfer. Or imagine constructing the strongest brick possible using only bamboo skewers, an aluminum pan and a polyurethane foam. These along with other creative…

Helping Researchers Support Teachers to Tackle New Science Standards

Teachers crouch down; some spread out on the carpet, others lean over, straining to see from their seats a few feet away as SPAWAR scientist Dr. John deGrassie first shines a flashlight through a rectangular box of water and then a green laser beam a few minutes later. These middle and high school science teachers,…

Educators Dive Deep at Annual EDS/CREATE Conference

Teachers explore an engineering design process for elementary students at “Diving Deep: Transforming Educational Practice for All Students through CCSS/NGSS” conference at UC San Diego. “When educators take a Saturday to learn together about new ways to support young people, you know public education is in good hands,” said CREATE Associate Director Susan Yonezawa with her co-organizer…