Hello HMS Parents and Students!
I have had this blog for several years, so I have decided that, rather than creating a new one for 7th Grade Science, I'll just keep this one updated. It was originally meant to encourage elementary science teachers to use their local resources to involve their students in science. If you are interested in what my students and I have done in the past, feel free to read my earlier posts!
A little about me: I have been teaching in Harrisburg for 25 years - 14 in second grade and the past 11 in fourth. I am currently finishing up the Robert Noyce Master Teacher Fellowship, a five year science program at SIU. The focus of this program, which was funded by a National Science Foundation grant, is to improve elementary and middle school science instruction by involving teachers in authentic science. I’ve been in this program since 2013, and some of the areas I’ve studied are problem based learning, inquiry, research, and the NGSS. Last summer I received NASA Globe training in Earth and Space Science and attended a Noyce educators’ conference at Kennedy Space Center. Through the Noyce program, I have also been involved in scientific research based in the Cache River wetlands and will be completing my final project about perceived risk of mosquito-borne illness in Saline County this fall.
I have loved being in the Noyce program, and it has been great for my students because they have gotten to participate in actual, real-world science, which is so motivating and makes them feel important! They have loved it! In 2015, I received the Sigma Xi Outstanding Science Teacher award from SIU for the Saline River project. My students and I go to the Saline, measure width, depth, and stream flow, do chemical water quality testing, capture and count macroinvertebrates, and record these results on the Stream Discovery Fieldscope database, which monitors water quality in midwest rivers. One visible result of this project is the Middle Fork Saline River sign on Highway 45, for which my students wrote letters to several Illinois government officials to procure.
I have recently finished coursework for middle school endorsement and am so excited that I'm going to be spending my days teaching seventh graders! Since we have one day of school and then are out on Monday, August 21 so that students may experience the Great American Eclipse with their families and friends, our first unit will be on the Sun-Earth-Moon system. We'll learn how the movement of the Earth, Sun, and Moon cause seasons, tides, moon phases, and eclipses. Because I like to involve students in their learning, we'll be drawing diagrams, doing demonstrations, taking notes, and making models. Hands-on teaching requires lots of materials so, if you have a flashlight or two that you wouldn't mind us borrowing, that would be awesome! Please put your child's name on it so that I can get it back to the right person! Thanks!
We're going to have an amazing year in Seventh Grade Science!
Mrs. Plunkett
