SRI&ETTC

In honor of World Wildlife Day, we would like to share some resources with educators on how to help students learn about and appreciate wildlife. The UN celebrates World Wildlife Day on March 3, marking the day they signed an important Convention to protect endangered species. The theme for 2022 is 'Recovering key species of flora and fauna in our ecosystem. The goal? To raise awareness about critically endangered animals, with an aim at generating workable solutions that will conserve them.' There are many ways for people of all ages to get involved in helping protect wildlife and their habitats. In observance of World Wildlife Day, be sure to explore all the resources available, the UN has an extensive list of resources for celebrating World Wildlife Day with your students. So today, let's all take some time to appreciate the amazing creatures that call our planet home. By immersing students in the beauty of the plant and animal kingdoms, educators can help inspire a life

Virtual field trips have evolved into an innovative way to teach. They provide a different perspective, meaning teachers can now explore anything they want while providing their students with valuable knowledge. They offer a different perspective, which means teachers can teach about anything in any situation while providing their students with useful and practical content understanding. Imagine if, instead of showing videos and primary source examples from other countries, teachers were to take their students on tours in person? It's more exciting as students could be sitting in classrooms anywhere while learning through engaging lectures or presentations by experts who have traveled extensively through other countries! If you haven't yet dipped your virtual hiking boots into a Scottish stream, try this one on for size; hike the Old Man of Storr .

Heritage Documentation Programs offers a virtual field trip takes you through the experience of  Ellis Island in a 360-degree tour.  This tour is excellent for students as they learn about the history of the arrivals and see where many of our families came through when making their way to America from other countries. Each screen offers information and history on each page, with primary source images and files from immigrants, as well as videos to watch and mesh models of architectural features to examine. We suggest you explore the toolbar, which offers thumbnail views and site fly-throughs of the entire complex. No matter where you click, there is historical information on the right-hand side.  When you are done with one "slide" you click "next" and it brings you to more information and media including data about the immigrants. To frame the conversation with students, try the five-part video series on this page that includes some essential questions to dri

Mathematical manipulatives such as Algebra tiles allow students to practice algebraic thinking.  These tiles have been proven to provide concrete models that can help students develop concepts related to integers, algebraic expressions, equations, and polynomials.  For students new to solving equations, solving for x is abstract. In elementary school, we use number lines to understand integers. Similarly, algebra tiles make solving equations, combining like terms, or factoring polynomials a visual and more kinesthetic process. This virtual option from @DidaxEducation   allows you to use Algebra tiles regardless of where the student may be, provided they have access to the internet. Some teachers actually prefer the virtual tiles to having plastic pieces or cardstock bits that need to be managed, organized, and cleaned after each use. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics  @NCTM also has a virtual option with a little more explanation on how to use them and this emulator als

Challenge your students to draw isometric hearts for a Valentine's themed STEAM activity. We also love these origami hearts folded in three different ways from Emma at Gathering Beauty.  Please visit her site for the templates and directions.    For the Littles, we have these Valentine's cards with yarn and cardboard shared by @DarcyGrimesNC and if you really want to get making, dig out the wood, hammer, and nails, and some threads to create these beautiful string art woodblocks. In West Orange, @BevTindall had a "Hearts and Crafts," idea that involved paper quilling. There are so many STEAM and STEM-based choices for us to use, depending on what we have on hand in our MakerSpaces.  It isn't "Heart" to get started... and we hope you share your 2022 ideas with us! 

"How do we make Energy from Air? Cesar, Alejandro, Maynor explored that topic and the Sustainable Development Goal #7 (Affordable and Clean Energy). @AshleyShunk393 was one of many teachers who took their science fairs online! The main goal of a virtual science fair is to give students a way to showcase and share their science projects in an approach that adds more audience to the experience and extends the communication about their work. Take a moment and learn how to host a Virtual Science Fair in Wakelet. Students do not need accounts, you can create your own collection and invite students to be contributors. They can embed their own text and screen recorded videos from Flipgrid and links to their work.  @techieteacherZA   from   Steyn City School has a wonderful explanation of how they managed the process  in 2020, but you can look at some later efforts by searching Science Fair 2021 in the top search bar of Wakelet, to find more recent samples.