141 Fun and Sun Rent-a-Car Resource Type: Instructional Resource -- Promising Practice Discipline: Mathematics Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 5–9 Professional Commentary: The Green family is planning a one-week vacation in Florida and needs to rent a car while there. They do not know exactly how far they will drive but estimate it will be between 500 and 1000 miles.... Career Fields: Business & Administrative Services, Hospitality & Tourism, Marketing Projects: Standards First Resource Type: Instructional Resource -- Promising Practice Discipline: Science Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 9–10 Professional Commentary: Role-playing the parts of chromosomes and centrioles, students use large chromosome models and nylon cords (spindle fibers and cell membranes) to walk through the processes of mitosis and meiosis. Physical manipulation of the chromosomes and their parts in the process of cell division and replication both clarifies and reinforces some very abstract concepts for students.... Career Fields: Agricultural & Environmental Systems, Health Science Projects: Standards First 143 Rectangle Pattern Challenges Resource Type: Instructional Resource -- Promising Practice Discipline: Mathematics Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 5–9 Professional Commentary: Students analyze three stages of a colorful rectangular pattern, and then determine the composition of future stages. Younger students can describe in words how the pattern grows, while older students can find algebraic expressions for the number of blocks of each color in the pattern.... 144 False Assumptions Can Get You in Trouble Resource Type: Instructional Resource -- Promising Practice Discipline: Science Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 5–10 Professional Commentary: Little deceptive problem stories are presented to the class, and students are challenged to solve each problem by asking only yes/no questions. The key is for students to recognize that the False Assumption is what makes the solution tricky, and that many common problems are difficult to solve because we tend to assume a particular paradigm.... Career Fields: Agricultural & Environmental Systems, Business & Administrative Services, Education & Training, Engineering & Science Technologies, Government & Public Administration, Health Science, Law & Public Safety, Marketing Projects: Standards First 145 The Great Volume Exchanger...or the Magic Matter Maker Resource Type: Instructional Resource -- Promising Practice Discipline: Science Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 6–10 Professional Commentary: The use of discrepant events to pique student curiosity presents teachers with an opportunity to explore the nature of scientific investigations. In this discrepant event the teacher pours a known quantity of water into the "Great Volume Exchanger" that increases the volume of the water.... Career Fields: Construction Technologies, Engineering & Science Technologies, General Career Skills Projects: Standards First 146 Mystery Boxes: Uncertainty & Collaboration Resource Type: Instructional Resource -- Promising Practice Discipline: Science Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 6–10 Professional Commentary: Students engage in scientific problem solving as they manipulate sealed "mystery" boxes and attempt to determine the inner structure of the boxes. Through this activity students learn that uncertainty exists in science, that science explanations seem less certain when they are based on indirect information, and that scientific uncertainty can be reduced through collaboration. (author/ts) Career Fields: Construction Technologies, Health Science, Information Technology, Manufacturing Technologies, Transportation Systems Projects: Standards First 147 Palpating Pachyderms: How Do We Interpret Observations? Resource Type: Instructional Resource -- Promising Practice Discipline: Science Professional Commentary: This lesson is built around the poem by John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887): "The Blind Men and the Elephant". Through small group activity and class discussions, the limiting influence of incomplete data and bias, along with the value of collaboration, are experienced.... Resource Type: Instructional Resource -- Promising Practice Discipline: Science Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 3–8 Professional Commentary: This promising practice lesson presents students with an opportunity to explore stereotypical images of scientists. Students draw their perceptions of a typical scientist, evaluate stereotypes in their drawings quantitatively, and then discuss the origins of these stereotypes.... 149 The Hare and the Water: A Tanzanian Folktale Resource Type: Instructional Resource -- Promising Practice Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 3–5 Professional Commentary: In this series of lessons, students explore the literary elements of a Tanzanian folktale about animals collaborating to dig a well. After reading the folktale, students respond by discussing the plot and creating a storyboard, sequencing the story's main events.... 150 Literature Circles Resource Center Resource Type: Instructional Resource -- Promising Practice Discipline: English Language Arts Ohio Standards Alignment: Grades 1–6 Professional Commentary: This resource is designed to support elementary and middle school teachers as they plan and use literature circles in their language arts classrooms. Literature circles help students to establish a purpose for reading and provide an organizational structure to support meaningful discussions of texts.... |