X is for eXperimental

No, I'm not cheating.You may think of x-rays, xylophones or even the phrase, "X marks the spot." But for me X is the mark of the Experimental Squadron - now part of the Aerospace Engineering & Testing Establishment - in Cold Lake, Alberta. The X on an aircraft indicated that it was undergoing modifications or assessment. I still thrill to see photos of planes with that designation. You see they remind me of my Dad, who in the earliest years of my life was an avionics engineer with the squadron.

Of course, I was far too little to understand that then. By the time I was old enough to appreciate what he did for a living, he was already working a civilian job. I learned a little about his years in the RCAF as I grew and I continue to connect with his military history, even in my adult years discovering things I never knew before.

I am no engineer, but I do have an innate interest in things scientific. And I do have an appreciation for experimental design, as well. This morning I submitted our results for the citizen science project, Tomatosphere. Now I get to tell my girls which group of tomato seeds we planted was the control, and which ones were treated to simulate an incident on the way to Mars.

Tomatosphere is a project of the Canadian Space Agency that distributes seeds to classroom teachers and homeschoolers. The seeds are planted in carefully identified containers, and students keep track of how many from each group germinate. The data collected through the citizen science project helps our space agency scientists to evaluate tomatoes as a potential food crop for growing on Mars.

Here is the story behind this year's treatment group seeds:

We are on the way to Mars and a sensor indicates some kind of problem with a storage system on the outside of the space vehicle.  The problem is investigated by an astronaut on a “spacewalk” – an extravehicular activity or EVA – who indeed finds there is a problem with the storage system. Over the next few weeks, plans are made on Earth to fix the problem and an astronaut conducts another EVA to fix the problem. However, some time has passed and the seeds have been exposed to extremely cold temperatures (-90oC), and very low atmospheric pressure (almost a vacuum). The problem with the storage system is fixed – BUT, HOW WILL THIS AFFECT THE SEEDS THAT WE WILL USE TO GROW TOMATOES ONCE WE GET TO THE SURFACE OF MARS?

The girls have gathered around, and they are very eager to learn which of their seeds were treated. (Sorry, I can't reveal that here because it's a blind experiment and there are other folks participating who haven't completed the germination yet!) I'm off to do the reveal!

I'm blogging my way from Z to A in May!
You can find my "Y" post at The Character of Education.

This content is copyrighted. Please feel free to share by sending others a link to this page, or contact the author about purchasing reprint rights. Image by Fir0002/Flagstaffotos, used under a GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2

Making Science Class Interesting

For many students, science is a tough subject they are only taking because they have to. Not everyone is going to be a scientist one day, but everyone can appreciate that science and technology have a profound effect on their daily lives. Teaching strategies can make a difference between staring at a room of bored students for an hour a day, and having a group of eager, engaged students who want to learn more.

Put science into context to help students understand it better
Help students put things into perspective by using timelines and maps to locate a famous scientist or scientific event in time and space. Use a multi-disciplinary curriculum that introduces science alongside literature, art and history. If you can't choose your text, then leave time in lectures to discuss what else was going on in the world when a scientific discovery was made, or to ask students what they have learned in other classes about the world into which a scientist like Newton or Curie or Steven Hawking was born.

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Four Common Types Homework Teachers Give

Types of homework traditionally assigned in North American schools tend to fall into one of four categories identified by Professors Jackson Lee and Wayne Pruitt of the Department of Education at Francis Marion College (Florence, South Carolina) in 1979. Each type of homework has individual characteristics, and has a specific objective. The four types are: practice homework, preparation homework, extension homework and creativity homework.

Practice Homework

When most of us think of homework, what comes to mind is practice homework. This is the sort of assignment that allows the student additional opportunities to complete a task or apply knowledge learned in class. It is the most common type of homework assigned, and has a history reaching back to the earliest days of pioneer schools.

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Letter to the Teacher of a Special Needs Student

Back to school season can be an anxious time for any parent, but especially for those of us whose children have special needs due to learning disabilities, ADHD, autism or other conditions. There is a joy at seeing our kids go off on their own to have new adventures and learn new things, but our experiences have taught us there will be challenging moments. For many of us, we would like nothing more than to take that journey with our children so we can be there to lend a hand when they or their teachers need it.

Going to school with your child may not be an option, but you can send a part of yourself to the teacher, the integration aide or the resource team by writing a yearly introduction letter. For a new student, it helps to break the ice and to prepare school staff for dealing with the child's challenges in a positive manner. For a student returning to a familiar school and resource team, the letter serves as a summary of things that have changed over the summer vacation.

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Photo: Michael Connors

Free World War I Learning Resource Ideal for Homeschoolers

As many homeschool curriculum outlines were written for American families, Canadian homeschoolers face the challenge of finding affordable and accessible materials to teach subjects like civics and history from a Canadian point of view. A number of texts are available for younger students, but finding engaging materials for older students can be difficult. Free educational resources produced by the federal government are often the solution. In this review we will look at Canada and the Great War 1914 - 1918: A Nation Born, a kit produced by Veteran Affairs Canada in 1998 and currently available on the VAC web site.

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The Value of an Accessible Education

My friend Michele Starkey shared this video with me today. While I believe her focus was more on the hardship of the children who cannot afford to go to school, what struck me about it was the efforts of a community to make that education more accessible to students who want it. It is remarkable how hard these people are fighting to make an education available to the children in their midst.

Michele looked back to the not so distant past, and saw a time when the situation was not so very different in her own family:

When we think of childhood we think of the following: A time to dream, a time to play and a time to develop their imaginations and their education. But for the kids of the Congo, days of backbreaking work in the scorching sun seems to be their only hope for survival in a country that is starving just to survive.

I thought of my own mother growing up in America. During the Great Depression, she worked for hours in the noonday sun picking apples and peaches in the orchards. It was backbreaking work too, for young boys and girls, but there were few labor laws in the U.S. during the 1930's

Regardless of how you feel about today's public schools, an accessible education of some kind (school- or home-based) is almost universally recognized as a right of all children. A discussion of what that implies can be very educational, on its own. I encourage families to discuss this together, and to take action where they see it is necessary.

You can read more of Michele's reflections on this issue in her article, Who Won't Be Going Back to School, at Associated Content. If you are touched in some way by the piece, please take a moment to leave Michele a comment or to view some of her other work. I know she'll appreciate it.

School Supplies: Tips for Parents of Elementary Students

Buying school supplies is expensive, and it can be frustrating trying to locate all the items on the list supplied by your child's teacher. Sometimes the teacher's advice can be very valuable, and other times it seems the teacher has asked for more supplies than your child could possibly use in two school years. This fall will make the eighth time we've sent at least one child back to school, and also the eighth time we've dealt with back to school as parents of at least one special needs child whose school supply needs may not be the same as those of his classmates.

One of the things we've  found the most helpful is to look at the school supply list before leaving for the store, and to think about how each item on the list will be used. If I know it will be used often, I make that item a priority and I think of where I can get the best quality for the best price. If I doubt my child will use the item, or I think another item will better serve his needs, I plan to speak to the teacher or the aide about a substitution.

Some items on the list of school supplies seem excessive. Why does a child who has not yet learned to print need a multi-pack of ballpoint pens? Children who have not mastered cursive writing should be using pencils for all their schoolwork. Does it make sense to have first graders buy a huge assortment of folders, binders and large exercise books? Does it make sense for any student to buy a lot of exercise books if the teachers rely almost completely on photocopied sheets?

Unfortunately, some teachers are more ambitious with their school supply lists than they ought to be. Some teachers collect up all the school supplies on the first day of school, and distribute them as needed. What happens to supplies that your child turned in at the beginning of the school year, and that never got used? If the teacher did not have students identify their supplies before collecting them, chances are you'll never see them again.

If the quantity for any item seems to be too large, hold some of the supplies back at home. This allows your child supplies for home use in case they are forgotten at school when an important assignment is due, and it allows you to maintain control over extra supplies for use later in the school year.

For more tips on buying school supplies, see "10 Back to School Essentials for Elementary Students."

Credit: ausbar (morguefile.com)

School Supplies: Tips for Students with ADD & ADHD

Attention deficit disorders (ADD and ADHD) are generally diagnosed using a checklist of symptoms. One of those symptoms is often losing materials necessary for a task - like school supplies or textbooks. While some people may think that hyperactivity is the most obvious sign that a child has ADHD, for our daughter the first sign that all was not well at school was definitely that she constantly lost or forgot things.

Kids who have attention deficit disorders don't like to forget things, and they like it even less when their disability gets them in trouble at home or school. As the adults responsible for helping them get a good education, it is up to parents and teachers to help kids with ADHD develop strategies to overcome their attention deficit, and to give them tools that will help guarantee their academic success.

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Credit: Alvimann (morguefile.com)

Preparing for the First Day of Kindergarten

One of the hardest parts of the back to schoolseason is getting kids out the door on time. You can make this easier for your future kindergartener by adopting a daily routine that has her getting up each day at the time he will have to rise for school. Make sure to change bed times too, if necessary.

Your child may need ten or more hours of sleep in order to be healthy, so be sure she is in bed early enough at night. Schedule a rest time for a nap or for quiet play or reading. Schools that have a full day program usually do this after lunch. if your child is attending half-day kindergarten, you can ask the teacher when the nap time will be.

Have your future kindergartener go through the morning school preparation each day, just as if he were going to school. This means not only having him up at the same time each day, but getting him to eat breakfast, dress and groom himself, and do any morning chores he is expected to do before school. Have him put on his school clothes or uniform, instead of wearing play clothes.

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Credit: S Brumley