Using Internet Resources to Improve Instruction:
Using Internet
Resources to Improve
Instruction
Table of Contents:
Susan Bender
 New iPad Apps to make grading easier
 Free way to Save YouTube Videos to Your Computer
 CDC Disease Related Video Clips
Billy Caroll
 Web App Review: PowToon Edu
Brandi Duncan-Herrington
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Things Shared on Facebook This Month
o Things you did in your class this week.
o What you did this week that went really well?
o Your best strategies that help you survive when you are overwhelmed.
Space Weather
Food Safety
Science Puns
Science Stuff: Measuring the Rate of Cellular Respiration
Facts About Earth
Plate Tectonics
Teachers Being Students: “What is Mass?”
Aleta Sullivan
 How Birds Choose a Mate
 Penicillin Action on Bacteria
 Human Body – An Anatomy App for Kids
 The Black Death for iPads
 Free Technology For Teachers
o 6 Resources to Help Students See the Effects of Climate Change
o Dozens of Games About Mammals, Birds, and Dinosaurs
o 2 Online Forensic Science Games
o Marine Data and Underwater Galleries
o Why Do We Have Body Hair?
 The Body Blog: From Oral to Anal: A Gastrointestinal Journey!
 NASA Science News
Deborah Duncan
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Problem Attic
Page 1 of 6
Using Internet Resources to Improve Instruction:
Page 2 of 6
Internet Sources Disclaimer: As far as we know these sites are safe. We have visited them with no
adverse problems. Some may send you to Facebook and give a warning but this is because they are
redirecting to a different site and there is no danger. I have tried to remove the Facebook part of the
link so you can visit most of these at school. I may have missed a few and some are blogs that are
blocked at some schools. If you can’t get to the site because it is Facebook, do a SEARCH for the title
and most of the time you can get to it at school.
Susan Bender
Two new iPad apps. GradeCam and Zipgrade. Both free they allow you to take a picture of a
bubble sheet and the app grades the test for you :)
Everyone always asks about a FREE method to save youtube videos to your computer. Well here it
is!!! Click on the YouTube video that you wish to save when the address pops up. Insert two lower
case 'ss' after the www. and before the word youtube. This will take you to a free website that
allows you to save the video in your choice of formats. If you are not sure choose mp4
Free disease related video clips from the CDC http://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/video/
Billy Carroll
Looking for a cool way to introduce a new topic in the classroom? Bye bye boring PowerPoint!
Web App Reviews: PowToon Edu
www.webappreviews.org
By coincidence, for a technical writing project, I needed to learn about reverse
osmosis. Think you...
Brandi Duncan-Herrington
Things Shared on Facebook this Month:
Share one thing you did in your science class this week that was successful.
Tina Scoggins Walters Before students started their equipment lab, I gave each of them a poker chip. The students
could use their poker chip to ask me one lab related question, but if they used their chip the couldn't ask any more
questions. They were uncomfortable at first, but learned to read instructions and work together to solve problems.
They guarded their chip like a trophy!
Teresa Kennedy Thompson Kelley Using conspiracy theory to explain scientific method. Talked about the most
current one that Obama birth certificate is fake. Showed them a 3 minute clip about Donald Trump on The View 2
years ago making his case. Made them talk about what he is trying to prove and the facts that back up his beliefs.
They had to write at least 3 statements or facts that Donald gave during the interview that based his opinion. Then I
made them try to prove Obama is an American citizen. After that I pointed out that they are using scientific method.
They loved it!!!!
What did you do this week in your science class that you feel went really well? Share so others can learn
from your successes.
Brandi Duncan Herrington My students were able to successfully tell the difference between qualitative and
quantitative data by doing a lab where they used both. They applied the language and described their own data as
either qualitative or quantitative. Beats the heck out of just taking notes about it any day.
Using Internet Resources to Improve Instruction:
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Tammy Smith McKenna My students now understand how to use interactive notebooks in class.....and the Scientific
Method! On a roll!!
Robert Maynard In discussing the scientific method, I made a new fictional restaurant. We went through the steps
needed to decide if this restaurant was worth going back--the ultimate question to be answered about food.
Nicholas R. Perez I introduced Cornell notetaking.
Aleta Sullivan Habitat lap sit and oh, deer from project wild - with great graphing and carrying capacity discussions
Share one of your best strategies for survival when you're feeling overwhelmed.
Brandi Duncan Herrington Deborah Norwood Duncan taught that it was ok not to grade all of an assignment. I
pick three or four of the questions and score those only. Saves time and still gives me an idea on who has the concept
and who does not.
Deborah Norwood Duncan I check homework for completeness not correctness. The test lets me know if they did
the homework themselves or copied another student's. They can only make 140% of their test grade which means
that if they past the test and have completed the homework they get 100% of the homework points. Otherwise I
multiply their test grade by 1.4 and this is the percent of the homework points they get. So make 30 on the test
(which means they didn't do their homework) and they can make 42% of the points allotted for the homework.
Tammy Smith McKenna Eat chocolate!!! Lots of chocolate!!
Lisa Livingston Reeves Read Philippians 4:4-9
Belinda McKee Matlock ....my best friend and teacher pal and I leave campus between 3:30 & 4:00, drive to Sonic
happy hour, get large diet Dr. Peppers, sip and whine, complain, brag, chat, brainstorm, complain, chat......then drive
back to our rooms and work some more......
Teresa Kennedy Thompson Kelley Have a glass of wine or a margarita. Deborah Norwood Duncan I also check
homework for completeness for a participation grade (classwork grade). 0 if not done 100 if completed. Also I give
many quizzes sometimes 2 a week to see how much they comprehend. It really helps them for the major cumulative
test or 2 as I am teaching the different competencies in bio 1 Like I tell them, there is a method to my madness.
Carl Dewitt Lots of fried food... On a productive note, time your sleep by how long it takes to go through a full REM
cycle. 90 min intervals. You will feel more refreshed if you wake up after 4.5 or 6 or 7.5 hours than if you wake up at
5.5 or 8.5 hours. Waking up during a REM cycle cause all types of blood pressure/grogginess problems.
Eva G Sumrall-Butler I go through about 15 pieces of Mentos gum in a day
http://spaceweather.com/
SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar
flares, auroras, and...
spaceweather.com
The weakest Solar Max in 100 years continues today with another 24 hours of quiet.
None of the sunsp...
http://appleandthyme.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/food-safety-week-2011-what-goes-on-behindclosed-doors/
Food Safety Week 2011- What goes on behind closed doors?
appleandthyme.wordpress.com
This week is Food Safety Week (6-12 June) as hosted by the Food Standards
Agency (FSA) is well-timed...
Using Internet Resources to Improve Instruction:
Science puns are the best. - Imgur
Page 4 of 6
imgur.com
Imgur is home to the web's most popular image content, curated in real time by a
dedicated community...
http://sciencestuffbyamy.blogspot.com/2012/12/measuring-rate-of-cellular-respiration.html
Science Stuff: Measuring the Rate of Cellular Respiration
sciencestuffbyamy.blogspot.com
This blog is about a day in the life of a high school biology teacher....the triumphs,
the failures,...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/12/facts-about-earthinfographic_n_3744288.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003
http://www.kidsdiscover.com/infographics/infograhic-plate-tectonics-for-kids/
Infographic: Plate Tectonics - KIDS DISCOVER
www.kidsdiscover.com
Illustrate the concept of plate tectonics for kids with this detailed full-color infographic
from KI...
This was very insightful when contemplating how to better teach what mass is to my students.
http://www.sciencefix.com/home/2013/9/2/teachers-being-students-what-ismass.html
ScienceFix - Science Fix - Teachers Being Students: "What is Mass?"
www.sciencefix.com
Four brave non science teachers at my school were asked the question, "What is
mass?" ...
Aleta Sullivan
from John M Moore, NABT
From Alton Biggs and the Texas Association of Biology Teachers:
If asked how birds choose a mate, you'd probably say by color, by song pattern or maybe even by
size. But I'm betting you wouldn't say by odor. Well, you need to read this:
http://phys.org/news/2013-09-birds-sweet-smelling.html#nwlt.
Using Internet Resources to Improve Instruction:
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Photos from Alton Biggs's post in Texas Association of Biology Teachers
If asked how birds choose a mate, you'd probably say by color, by song
pattern or maybe even by size...
Penicillin acting on bacteria | HHMI's BioInteractive
www.hhmi.org
Penicillin, as shown in this video, causes the cell walls of bacteria to rupture.
The Human Body - An Anatomy App for Kids
ipadapps4school.com
The Human Body by Tinybop is an iPad app designed to help elementary and
middle school students lear...
The Black Death for iPad
ipadapps4school.com
TimeMaps recently released a new iPad app all about the Black Death. The
Black Death for iPad is a s...
Free Technology for Teachers: Six Resources to Help Students See the
Effects of Climate Change
www.freetech4teachers.com
Free Technology for Teachers: Dozens of Games About Mammals, Birds, and
Dinosaurs
www.freetech4teachers.com
Free Technology for Teachers: Two Online Forensic Science Games
www.freetech4teachers.com
Free Technology for Teachers: Marine Data and Underwater Galleries
www.freetech4teachers.com
Using Internet Resources to Improve Instruction:
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Free Technology for Teachers: Why Do We Have Body Hair? A Short Lesson
for Health Classes
www.freetech4teachers.com
The Body Blog: From Oral to Anal: A Gastrointestinal Journey!
rachelwentzbooks.blogspot.com
NASA Science News for Sept. 24, 2013
Comet ISON is now close enough for amateur astronomers to photograph through backyard telescopes.
The comet is not as bright as forecasters expected, but experts say it is still on track to become an
impressive sungrazing comet later this year.
FULL STORY: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/24sep_ison2/
VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6Yd-TiNiyU
Deborah Duncan
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