Inside this issue

Curriculum…………………2

New Teacher Profile.......2

New HS Courses........……3

Technology X 3.…………..4

Did You Know?...…………4

D4………………………………4

2015-2016 & WFISD Secondary Science

Welcome back to another school year & a special thanks to you all for your attention

& positive responses to the Argument-Driven Inquiry training that was provided

during the second day of DSD. As your curriculum coordinator, I am constantly look-

ing for new & effective instructional strategies to share with you. My hope is that you

give the process a try & see how your students respond. Please remember the re-

sources that are available on the “S” drive to help you with this process.

Change– we have all heard quotes concerning “change”- about babies & change;

about vending machines & change. Here is one by Ernst Haeckel, “Nothing is constant

but change! All existence is a perpetual flux of ‘being and becoming!’ That is the

broad lesson of the evolution of the world.” Our district is in the midst of many

changes: a new superintendent & assistant superintendent.; the second year with

new instructional materials in science; two brand new high school courses & one re-

visited; & the upcoming bond election & the many, many changes it will provide.

Please continue to stay patient with us as we work through the many challenges that

will be involved with the building additions at the jhs campuses. I know you will do

what is best for your present & future students.

The picture at the top of this page is from the Garden of the Gods visitor’s center in

Colorado Springs looking towards the amazing sandstone rock formations with

beautiful Pikes Peak in the background.

Knowing you will have a great year, Steve.

Field Trip & Consumable Funds!

Please remember that each secondary campus has funds availa-

ble to purchase campus consumable materials. The three high schools each have

$400; HALC has $50; & the three junior high schools each have $250. Materials

should cost less than $40 & be something you can pick up from a local vendor or

online. Check out this link for a single page sheet that walks you through the pur-

chasing procedure. You must have permission from your dept.

chair prior to purchase.

As a secondary science teacher, you also have access to $1500 to

use to provide transportation for student field trips. Access this link to be taken to

the WFISD, Secondary Science Meetings & Announcements page where you’ll find a

link to the form (look under Field Trip Request + Post-Trip Survey Forms). I am

available to help assist with field trips if you contact me ahead of time. Remember,

you must have permission from your principal & you must have the travel details

worked out before you submit a field trip request form!

September 2015 Volume 4, Issue 1

Secondary Science Newsletter Wichita Falls Independent School District

Curriculum Concerns– What Science Content Is Being Taught Across the District?

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Course Going (1st 6 wks) Coming (2nd 6 wks)

Grade 7

Classroom Procedures & Rules/Journal Set-

Up/Lab Safety & Equipment; Atomic Struc-

ture & Periodic Table/Physical & Chemical

Changes

Force, Motion & Energy Relationships; Flow of

Energy

Grade 8 Science Safety; Interdependence Among Liv-

ing Systems [Review Life Systems from Gr. 6

& 7]; Atoms

Atoms cont.; Periodic Table; Chemical Formu-

las, Equations, & Reactions

Biology Science Safety & Evidence-Based Thinking;

Ecology; Biochemistry

Cells; Cellular Processes

IPC Lab Management; Motion: Position, Speed, &

Acceleration; Motion: Forces & Momentum

Energy: Potential & Kinetic; Energy: Conver-

sions & Conservation; Energy: Waves Intro-

duction I

Chemistry Laboratory Management; Matter; Atomic

Structure & Theory

Electrons in Atoms; Periodic Table & Periodic

Law

Principles of

Technology–

Physics

Lab Safety/Management/Management/

Math/Problem Solving; 1D Kinematics; 2D

Kinematics

2D Kinematics cont.; Gravity, Rotational Mo-

tion, & Momentum

Env. Systems Earth’s Systems Resources Within Earth’s Systems

Earth & Space

Science

Introduction, Minerals the Building Blocks of

Rocks; Rocks: Materials of the Lithosphere &

Classification

Weathering, Soil, Mass Wasting & Running

Water/Groundwater, Topographic Maps;

Restless Ocean

Science Teacher Profile: (Wichita Falls High School)

I know you want to help me welcome Phillip Walker as a new secondary science teacher in the WFISD. He is currently teaching Chemistry I AP Chemistry & coaching at WFHS. I’ll feature a new science teacher in each month’s newsletter... Elementary School– Kountze Elementary in Kountze, Texas (north of Beaumont)

Secondary Schools– Kountze High School & Carthage High School

College– Stephen F. Austin State University; BS in Chemistry; MS in Chemistry

Previous Experience– 11 years teaching/coaching experience at Lytle HS, Carthage

HS, & Cedar Creek HS.

Professional Goals– to continue teaching science & become head boys’ basketball coach

Hobbies/Interests– enjoys spending time with family, travelling, & spending time out-

doors

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Three New HS Courses by SHenderson & others WFISD has recycled a previous high school course- Pre-AP Physics, & is offering two

new courses- Forensic Science + Earth, Wind, & Fire. These three additions will allow

us better prepare our students to graduate under the new state Foundation Program.

Pre-AP Physics was brought back following requests from Dorene Baker

(WFHS) & Pat Tempelmeyer (RHS). Since the WFISD offers a CATE course for high

school physics credit (Principles of Technology), teachers felt there were students

enrolling in AP Physics 1 that were not being successful. Since there are now three AP

Physics courses (AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2, & AP Physics C), this Pre-AP course is

perfect for the student who wants a more challenging level of physics but is not quite

ready for AP-level work.

Forensic Science is being taught by Sabrina Bradley (WFHS) & Autumn Weber

(RHS). These teachers attended a week-long training in Huntsville where they got to

visit the 22-acre Sam Houston State Univ. Body Farm. They have pics!

From Autumn @ RHS: Forensics at Rider is off to a great & fun start. So far, we

have gone over the legal systems & history of forensics, which includes testimonial

evidence. As one of the activities, students had to sketch a ‘suspect’ also known as one

of our principals. Students did as well as expected & the principal got away with

‘stealing’ my iPad! Now, we are starting to learn how to work crime scenes. Students

are learning how to correctly sketch & photograph as the law enforcement officers do

exactly in the field. Currently, we are doing mini crime scenes in class, where the stu-

dents set up a hypothetical using Halloween props. Then, they get to sketch each oth-

er’s scene & practice drawing the crime scene to scale using a grid on the floor. After

this unit finishes, we will start getting into fingerprints & other trace evidence. The

response from students has been overwhelmingly positive- they are very engaged in

the subject matter & they use their previous knowledge from biology, chemistry &

physics to solve real world problems.

From Sabrina @ WFHS: In Forensic Science, students are learning the funda-

mentals of forensic science, & how to apply those concepts to real life. We study crime

scene processing & evidence handling, as well as the unique challenges faced as foren-

sic scientists. We’ve had two guest speakers so far, one a retired SWAT member &

another a US Marshall. It’s a very hands-on course with many ways to apply the

knowledge learned throughout the class, & opportunities for students to solve mys-

teries & crimes. It’s a great way to apply the basic science knowledge they learned in

Biology & Chemistry to a field that is built around inquiry, problems-solving, & critical

thinking.

Earth, Wind, & Fire is being taught by Bryce Henderson (RHS). Bryce attended a

9-day training in Austin this summer to prepare for this new course. This course is

the only dual enrollment course in the district..

From Bryce @ RHS: Earth, Wind, & Fire (not the band...) is going great so far this

year. One of the primary goals of the course is to get students to think like a geoscien-

tist & students have already come a long way since we began. My students are doing

great & have been adjusting well to the expectations & rigor that accompany a college

geoscience course. We have been doing some higher level (intense) college labs, in-

cluding one in which the students had to collect magnetic data along the Mid-Atlantic

Rise & East Pacific Rise. After learning how to read a compass & gather data, students

plotted their results so that they could see the magnetic reversals in the oceanic crust.

Despite some difficulties & challenges (this being a pilot year) students are enjoying

the class & are doing well, overall!

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Did You Know?

- Contact Steve with suggestions for future newsletters @ shenderson@wfisd.net

- Check out the WFISD Second-ary Science webpage @ http://www.wfisd.net/page/579

- Dates, Deadlines, & Dog-matic Dribble:

The 2nd 6 weeks runs Mon. Oct. 5th to Fri. Nov. 6th

Secondary science dept. chairs will have a Lync meeting on Tues. Oct. 6th from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm

There will be an Advanced Academics meeting on Wed. Oct. 7th from 3:45 pm to 5:00 pm at ??

Secondary parent confer-ences are Thurs. Oct. 8th

Science facility checklists are due to Steve by the end of the day on Fri. Oct. 9th

CAST 2015 attendees will meet in the SRC classroom on Mon. Oct. 12th from 3:45 to 4:45

TAKS Exit Level Retest is Oct. 21st

The testing window for CBA I (Gr.8 science & biology) will be Mon. Oct. 19th to Fri. Oct. 23rd

Gr.8 science teachers will meet Thurs. Oct. 28th from 8:00 am to 11:00 am in #301 at the Ed Center

Biology teachers will meet on Thurs. Oct. 29th from 8:00 am to 11:00 am in #301 at the Ed Center

Foldit

(Article by David Kapuler called “10 Sites for Creating Graphic Organizers from 9/4/15 Tech & Learning’s enewsletter) Graphic Organizers are used daily in education for any curriculum to help teach any subject (i.e. mind maps, brainstorms, etc.) These web-sites have made it easy to make beautiful-looking graphic organizers, great for visual learners. 1. Exploratree - A great visual site for creating a mind map with lots of

templates. 2. Mind42 - Nice collaborative mind mapping site with lots of tem-

plates and easy to use. 3. MindMeister - Beautiful looking mind mapping site with the ability

to embed into a site or blog. 4. MindMup - A easy to use site for creating brainstorms or mind maps.

5. Mindomo - One of my favorite brainstorming apps that also lets a user flip their classroom, collaborate, comment, and much more.

6. Popplet - A excellent app that allows students to think and learn vis-ually by brainstorming and mind mapping.

7. Storyboard That - A excellent site with educational portal that edu-cators are using in a variety ways, such as creating timelines, story-boards, graphic organizers (t-charts, grids, etc.), and more.

8. TotSplash - A fun site for creating and organizing ideas into a brain-storm or mind map.

9. Webspiration Classroom - From the creators of Inspiration a very popular web-based program for creating visual brainstorms that can then be turned into an outline with a click of a button (I put in an unblock request for this site).

10. WiseMapping - A great site for creating visual mind maps and brain-storms.

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Sites for Creating Graphic Organizers

Need a better way to teach the basic behind the four

levels of protein structure? You should try Foldit. It is

an online puzzle game which lets you get familiar with

the protein folding problem. The University of Washington’s Center for

Game Science in collaboration with the UW Dept. of Biochemistry have

developed this game as a part of experimental research. For the non-

biologists, Foldit is a free, downloadable, game-inspired program that

teaches about hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic & hydrophilic interac-

tions, & protein side chains! You’ll find intro puzzles, science puzzles, &

contests @ https://fold.it/portal/

A work in progress! Did you know you can click on Help in the bottom

right corner (after logging into your account) to connect to a page that

contains “Courses” on all of Eduphoria’s products where you can read &/

or watch a helpful video? They also include screen shots in their training

documents. More to come on this new product...