This is the Classroom group for the Spring 2017 PlantingScience projects from Marion Jr/Sr High School, led by teacher Jason Keeler and scientist-liaison Hannah Schneider. We will be working on the Wonder of Seeds.

Please describe what outcomes both for yourself and your students that you wish to achieve by participating in PlantingScience. (300 words or less)

My big goal is for students to have a science 'experience' where they 'do' the work of a scientist. I think the online setting causes my students to see the project as more than just an everyday investigation but one that has validity outside of the classroom because they post their projects online and because of their interaction with other students and their mentors.  

What is the name of the course you are teaching (optionally include a short description of what you will cover and how PlantingScience fits into the larger course).

Science 7. We are just finishing a unit on light and mechanical waves causing change and will move to photosynthesis after the PS investigations.

How much have you taught regarding the topics of the investigation theme (e.g. photosynthesis, genetics) prior to starting this investigation? Are you using PlantingScience to reinforce concepts already learned or more of a discovery tool for generating ideas about the topic?

PS will be a discovery tool to explore plants/light/energy/change and really to just focus on ‘doing’ science and understanding the nature of ‘cause and effect’.

Important dates and times:

2/21-24: First login/introductions and post ideas (we will be finishing up corn competition discussion about how to set up controlled investigations.)

2/27-3/3: Finalize question early in the week and their investigation design by the end of the week. Students must collect and bring needed materials by Monday (6th) to begin their investigation!

3/6-3/10: Must plant and begin investigations this week to get approx. 3 weeks of growth for investigations that need growth time after germination... I recommend that anyone who hasn't started at this point to change their investigation to measure something shorter like germination rate where they don't have to let their plants grow.

3/13-3/17: Monitor growth and collect data. (During this week I usually have them complete some additional diagram analysis assignments beyond the PS project. Otherwise I pretty much try to have them focus on one project at a time.)

3/20-3/24: Monitor growth and collect final data and formulate graphs. All measurements completed by this week.

3/27-3/31: Spring Break

4/3-4/7: Wrap up... post final data tables/graphs and conclusions; thank mentors, make 'ppt page' posters if possible.

Class meeting time(s): What time and which day(s) of the week does your class meet?

M

9:40-10:20

2:00-2:40

T-F

8:00-9:00 am

1:30-2:30 pm

Estimated number of days per week your students will be able access the website to post information &/or communicate with mentors.

Most every day!

Classroom demographics and expectations:

Science background and language skills.

My group of students is pretty varied in experience and ability. I have some really exceptional students and some that struggle. It is an inclusion classroom with several SPED students. For the most part students lack a significant amount of experience conducting investigations from the start to the finish. They have completed science fair projects in elementary school. They will likely need a lot of encouragement to include detail in their communication and in their descriptions of the investigation and data.

Is there additional information you think would be helpful to mentors (e.g., access to equipment, your class expectations)?

Mentors need to be able to talk with kids on a REALLY basic level as I've had mentors in the past that kind of talk over the kid’s head. It really is more about just conducting an investigation, learning how to interact with each other as they work on a project, and thinking about cause and effect that is more important than needing any real depth of knowledge about seed germination.