The focus of the 2011 science teacher workshop was Incorporating Inquiry into the Science Classroom. Our workshops target upper elementary teachers, junior high teachers as well as secondary science teachers.
During the first part of the workshop our RET teachers presented their curriculum models, which focused on communicating science concepts to ELL students (Nathan Inouye), a series of digital shorts on tide pool ecological research connected to the CA state ecology standards (Bret Klopfenstein), and students as Food-Scientists in the classroom (Sarah Martinak). PDF’s of the teacher presentations can be found at our RET project pages and the actual curriculum projects are available below.
The second part of the workshop focused on the demonstrations and activities accompanying the recently released PBS/NOVA series “Making Stuff” on the field of Materials Science. During an afternoon session we explored superhydrophobic surfaces and the “Lotus Effect” (activity available below). Please contact Frank Kinnaman for any of these files in .doc format or with any other questions about other MRL educational resources.