Rincon Middle School students Kaylee Dereu (left) and Cam Jordan sketch butterflies in Su Scott's class as part of a curriculum being developed to meet new science standards.Some Escondido middle school students are putting down their books and uncovering rocks this semester as they help create new lessons that could be used as a model for teaching science.
'Most girls would think it was icky and gross, but I actually think it's cool,' student Tatiana Franco, 10, said about studying bugs in teacher Su Scott's class at Rincon Middle School.
Tatiana and her classmates are examining insects as part of a four-lesson, monthlong curriculum that aims at teaching students about ecology and biodiversity with resources just outside their door.
The curriculum, which Scott piloted last year, is tailored to meet the Next Generation Science Standards that California and 11 other states adopted in March. The standards emphasize critical thinking and communication skills and are aimed at making K-12 students more interested in science.
Scott said middle school teachers are desperate for lessons about ecology to meet the new standards, and her curriculum soon will be available on the San Diego Children and Nature Collaborative's website,
sdchildrenandnature.org.
The collaborative is a member of the San Diego Science Alliance, which provided $27,000 to develop the curriculum through an agreement with the U.S. Department of Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station.
Rincon Middle School students have collected an assorted of bugs to study as part of a curriculum to meet new science standards.Gary WarthAnne Fege, a program leader with the collaborative, said the money was used to pay for supplies, a nature educator, substitute teachers and other expenses.
'There's so much available for teachers, but they're very focused with what they do with their daily teaching,' Fege said. 'They're often not aware of what's outside their classroom. The schoolyard and nearby nature give them hands-on, firsthand learning about science and language arts.'
The collaborative earlier worked with five elementary schools in Escondido, Santee and San Diego in developing similar science curriculums.
Scott's class this week included art lessons from Liz Paegle, who used to work for the San Diego Natural History Museum. Paegle helped students learn how to draw butterflies as part of a lesson plan that includes studying bugs under magnifying glasses and microscopes.
'It's really amazing when you first start learning about bugs,' said student Daisy Ramirez, 11. 'At first you're like, 'I don't want to learn about this.' Then when you're looking at it under the microscope, it's incredible.'
Fege said the objective of the San Diego Children and Nature Collaborative is to increase opportunities for learning and to have nature become a part of students' everyday life.
'Nature offers opportunities to see many science and engineering principals,' she said.
Fege said she hopes to work with more teachers this year.
'We know a nature advocate or a very effective science teacher like Su can make a difference because other teachers can become aware of and confident in using their schoolyard as a classroom,' she said.
Scott and Fege said the outdoor lessons also are giving students a new appreciation of nature.
'These kids are such digital natives,' Scott said. 'They don't leave their electronics very often. Getting them outside is a real chore at first. They'd rather watch movies. They'd rather play with their devices.'
Entities 0 Name: Fege Count: 4 1 Name: Scott Count: 3 2 Name: Rincon Middle School Count: 3 3 Name: San Diego Children and Nature Collaborative Count: 2 4 Name: Escondido Count: 2 5 Name: Tatiana Count: 1 6 Name: Santee Count: 1 7 Name: U.S. Department of Forest Service Count: 1 8 Name: Cam Jordan Count: 1 9 Name: Pacific Southwest Research Station Count: 1 10 Name: San Diego Science Alliance Count: 1 11 Name: San Diego Count: 1 12 Name: San Diego Natural History Museum Count: 1 13 Name: Tatiana Franco Count: 1 14 Name: Liz Paegle Count: 1 15 Name: California Count: 1 16 Name: Daisy Ramirez Count: 1 17 Name: Gary Warth Anne Fege Count: 1 18 Name: Su Scott Count: 1 19 Name: Kaylee Dereu Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1vztykx Title: A Lesson Plan for A+ Teachers Description: Lots of research in the past decade underscores the importance of great teachers. Summarizing these studies, the distinguished Harvard economist Raj Chetty noted that good teachers aren't only "effective at teaching to the test and raising students' performance on tests"; they also have a long-term impact "on outcomes we ultimately care about from education," such as encouraging students to avoid teen pregnancy and putting them on the path to college and middle-class earnings.
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