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Thank you for posting this. As an old science teacher, what I am seeing is the Scientific Process being expanded upon in this article. As teachers, teaching students to be thinkers and not regurgitators of facts is very important. I would much rather a student understand the process of "if I do A to B and C happens, but I wanted D to happen, what do I need to adjust to A and B to get the result I want." Rather than spitting out D happens when you do a to B. It is also interesting to see him mentioning at the top that the arts make STEM "sizzle" when you see what is happening at UVA.

It is interesting to see how STEM is being looked at in other places. One thing in the article, that I haven't heard someone else stress, is the importance of empathy. I think that empathy would ensure that the students would maintain interest in a topic. However, the article makes me wonder what curriculum will look like in the future if we make these changes. Certainly, different children in different places will have different interests and will want to learn about different things, which is fine, but will be difficult with the current system of standards. I also think that teaching and learning will be done in different "teams" rather than traditional classes where all subjects are compartmentalized and divided. Another interesting point, in one of the videos, was how the students should do the investigation and research rather than the teacher. I think this is a fundamental part of project based learning.

This animation is simple to follow and has a great short quiz at the end. It shows how osmosis is different than diffusion and explains the different osmotic concentrations.

Jamie Kasper, associate director of Arts Education collaborative, provides her own perspective or interpretation of the TPACK model.

Favorite line(s): o "TPACK gives us a model to think about the intersection between technology, content, and instruction" o "We can say the same thing about technology: while we can spend a limited amount of time learning the skills to use it, we eventually need to move beyond skills to think about technology's use in learning."

The pencil analogy she makes is fantastic. "Think about this: in the 1500s when the pencil was new, people generally did not study how to use the pencil." I agree. In 1997 when I decided to go into teaching, the tools of the classroom (overhead projector, chalk, copier) really did not need to be taught as part of the college courses. Now, mastery of the tools we have and the software and websites available is necessary to be a strong educator. I also hate to use these terms, but you are "adding to the plate" of teachers by making them learn more than we had to learn in the past. But technology also "takes things off the plate" by saving great amounts of time in the daily routine of a teacher. I used to spend hours with a calculator on grades each six weeks (yes, six weeks) figuring out grades. It also took much more time finding a parent's phone number, calling, leaving a message, waiting for the call back than simple email technology gives us today.

Great resource if you have students needing makeup or home-bound. Virtual Chemistry Experiments are a collection of interative web-based chemistry tutorials. The tutorials employ Physlets and Chemistry Applets to simulate experiments or depict molecular and atomic structure. The guiding concept is to involve the read in making observations and acquiring data, and then using this information to draw conclusions and infer chemical principles.

I find these are best as additional to traditional lab experiences or, as I posted earlier, I use these for the students that can't be at school for usual labs. Understanding limitations of their own lab technique and evaluation of errors does not occur with simulations. Similar to difference between multiple choice assessment and free response.

I agree with Anna, virtual experiments wouldn't be my first choice in methodology for lab experiments, but there are somethings that you just, can't do in the classroom. Whether it is from limited resources, limited class time, or simply the experiment is too dangerous for the classroom, virtual experiments are a good alternative. I had a chemistry professor in my undergrad who was making a dvd textbook with lectures and experiments and there was a lot of cool experiments on the dvd that he would have never been able to do during his lectures.

A I just read an article about an innovation that will be awesome for military and national security. This invention will guide bullets, using lasers, to targets at a distance of almost 2 km. I know this isn't education related, but the students of today will be developing the innovations of tomorrow. I'm sure this bullet technology was engineered with a wealth of mathematics, physics, and earth space R&D.

Good science teachers capitalize on the "aha" moments and work hard to help students not only understand science, but also foster a lifelong learning in science. Why is this so important? Because science is the one subject that encompasses everything in life and helps students be curious, ask questions, and make connections as to why the world exists as it does. It is the backdrop for understanding our world, and helps us to explain and appreciate it in new ways. 1 Science is the "S' in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education. We define STEM education as the preparation of students in competencies and skills in the four disciplines (science, technology, engineering, and math). A successful STEM education provides students with science, math, and engineering/technology in sequences that build upon each other and can be used with real-world applications. STEM education creates critical thinkers, increases science literacy, and enables the next generation of innovators. Innovation leads to new products and processes that sustain our economy. This innovation and science literacy depends on a solid knowledge base in the STEM areas. It is clear that most jobs of the future will require a basic understanding of math and science-10-year employment projections by the U.S. Department of Labor show that of the 20 fastest growing occupations projected for 2014, 15 of them require significant mathematics or science preparation. - See more at: https://www.isa.org/standards-and-publications/isa-publications/intech-magazine/2010/september/why-stem-education-is-important/#sthash.WOLuwEXC.dpuf

As always, you delivered a good definition.

crash course in biology

This site is very interesting and it is something that many students would enjoy. I have allowed my students to view Bozeman Biology on You Tube. However, this site has more resources than I originally thought.

Ok, think I am starting to get this Diigo site a little bit.

This is an excellent resource for me. I will able to use it to help me in many ways.