Science Co-ordinators' and Consultants' Association of Ontario

Intermediate Science And Technology – Making It Happen (71-SC)

admin — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 15:26:55 +0000

https://summeracademy.etfo.ca/

Instructor:

Ron Ballentine and Bob Moulder

Location:

Collingwood

Topic:

Science and Technology

Grade Level:

Gr. 7-8

Dates Offered:

Jul 19 2010 – Jul 21 2010

Code (Course ID): 71-SC

Course Runs Daily From:

8:30 am – 3:00 pm

This course is designed to help grade 7 and 8 teachers, including non-specialists and those with combined grades classrooms with implementing the Science and Technology curriculum. There will be a special emphasis on the skills of scientific inquiry and technological problem solving including time to develop unit and lesson plans, and student samples. Another emphasis will be on the importance of relating science and technology to society and the environment. Practical connections to language and mathematics, including how the big ideas of science and technology provide a meaningful and engaging context for literacy and numeracy learning will also be explored. Participants will actively learn about all aspects of the curriculum and will leave with the knowledge and skills needed to implement an effective and engaging science and technology program in the fall.

Price: $45.00

Please register at: https://summeracademy.etfo.ca/node/108

Smarter Science – “Inquiry by the Bay” summer institute

admin — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:51:51 +0000

Youth Science Canada invites you to register for the two-day “Inquiry By The Bay” summer institute.

We will be presenting the Smarter Science inquiry-based framework and gear it to three different strands:

Primary/Junior teachers,
Intermediate/Senior teachers
Consultants/Coordinators.

During the institute you will learn:

the Smarter Science framework itself,
the process skills of science,
how to incorporate inquiry-based science into your curriculum,
how to use Smarter Science to differentiate your curriculum
how to use the context of science to incorporate your Literacy and Numeracy expectations
how to use Smarter Science’s online lesson planner to find and create inquiry-based science lessons
learn how to assess and evaluate inquiry-based student materials

Participants will also be the first to receive free copies of the Teachers’ Guide to Smarter Science to be published this summer. You will also be the first to see and try the Smarter Science Unit Planner and the Smarter Science Student Investigator software. Both pieces of software will be available for use on the web, on an iPhone or Touch and on Android smartphones.

“Inquiry by the Bay” will be held at the Kempenfelt Conference Centre near Barrie (www.kempenfelt.com).

The cost is $100 and includes all meals and overnight double accommodation.

Space is limited. There will be only 30 registrants and the first 30 cheques received will guarantee your registration.

Please send a cheque for $100, payable to “Youth Science Canada”, to
“Inquiry by the Bay”
c/o Youth Science Canada
PO Box 523, Station R
Toronto ON M4G 4E1

To register for the institute, please use the following link:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dDExeWtCS0F0c3RuNTlRSWs3T1RxWkE6MQ

You Are Invited….

admin — Mon, 10 May 2010 14:30:09 +0000

Notice of Annual General Meeting for SCCAO, Thursday, June 10, 2010

We are inviting you to join our final SCCAO (Science Consultants and Coordinators Association of Ontario) meeting for this current school year. Part of our agenda will include elections for several Executive positions – we have vacancies in the positions of Secretary, Communications Chair and Curriculum Chair. Please consider nominating a member for an Executive position, using the nomination form.

During this past year, we have met several times, resulting in the following:

Collaboration to create a Resource Assessment Tool – This tool is now available for SCCAO members to review resources intended for use by science and science-technology teachers in our schools. It can be applied to a variety of different forms of resources, including print, web-based and experiential learning resources. This can be found in the library of our web-site.
SCCAO Mini-Conference – On November 11, 2009, our members gathered to work with and learn further about Situational Leadership, with Dr. Douglas Llewellyn.
DI and Science Inquiry Curriculum Institute – In February, our membership met to learn how differentiated instruction can be applied to scientific inquiry, using materials from Gayle Gregory and Smarter Science. Materials from this institute can be found in the library of our web-site.

The focus of the meeting will feature a facilitated discussion to further deepen our understanding of these topics with one another. The remaining portion of our meeting will be to:

set directions for next year (in break out groups)
vote on revisions to our constitution
messages from our associate members
elections

We hope you will be able to join us on June 10 – please RSVP by May 31st, fill out registration form.

“Differentiating Science” Curriculum Institute

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:24:55 +0000

A Free Curriculum Institute open to all full SCCAO members

Thank you to all attendees of our Curriculum Institute. Materials from each segment of the day will be posted on-line soon.

Part 1: EduGains video – see http://www.edugains.ca/ ; board summaries
Part 2: Unpacking Gayle Gregory’s Differentiated Instructional Strategies for Science book
Part 3: Science Inquiry and DI – Smarter Science
Part 4: Situational Leadership – A Readiness Tool for Educators
Part 5: Next Steps

Download documents

____________________________________________________

Single Day SCCAO Conference – November 11, 2009

admin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:23:56 +0000

Second annual SCCAO Mini-Conference a great success!

The day brought together more than thirty science board leads (consultants, coordinators, teachers representing their boards) and many associate members. The morning session with Dr. Llewellyn helped all of us to identify our own leadership strengths, and learn how and when to apply alternate leadership styles in the session entitled ‘Situational Leadership’. Mike Newnham provided a sneak preview of Smarter Science, and described how we can each play an active role in supporting our teachers in the quest to develop better inquiry skills with our students.

We would also like to thank our associate sponsors, Diane Wyman (McGraw-Hill Ryerson), Reid McAlpine (Pearson Education), and John Yip-Chuck (Nelson Education) for providing meals throughout the day.

The afternoon began with the chairperson’s report, and the release of the SCCAO Resource Assessment Tool. This tool is intended to be used by SCCAO members to assist in the review of events, opportunties and resources intended for use in our schools. See the Library tab above to download the tool. Maureen Callan shared updates from the Ministry of Education. The rest of the afternoon included special presentations and reports from many of our associates, including an opportunity to learn more about Explore Learnings’ ‘gizmos‘, ’play’ with Merlan’s Labquests, see the possibilities with Ken-A-Vision, and hear about Scientists in Schools. Other presenters included Bob Morrow (CSA and Tomatosphere), Lionel Sandner (Edvantage Press), James Palcik (Palcik Educational), Mars Bloch (Let’s Talk Science), Paul Kortenaar (Ontario Science Centre). All members were also invited to share the different initiatives being supported in their home boards, along with a ‘wish list’ of areas they would like to collaborate on. This information will be used to plan out future SCCAO meetings. These will take place in the GTA but we will be working towards the goal of enabling remote members to join us with Adobe Connect.

Implementation Planning Science Grades 9-12

admin — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:02:34 +0000

The implementation approach is only for the school year 2009-2010.
The approach is designed to avoid duplication of materials and overlap of content for students.

For the following courses, teach the revised strands as published in the revised curriculum document:

Science Grade 9 Applied and Academic,

Biology SBI 3U, SBI3C, Chemistry SCH3U, SCH4U, SCH4C,

Environmental Science SVN3E, SVN3M,

Science SNC4E, SNC4M, Earth and Space Science SES4U

The remaining courses have a one year modified implementation:

Science Grade 10 Applied and Academic

Teach strand in Chemistry, Earth and Space Science, and Physics as published in the revised curriculum document
Teach the Biology strand (Sustainable Ecosystems and Human Activity (1P) or Sustainable Ecosystems (1D)) as published in the revised curriculum document pages 50 or 62

Biology Grade 12 University (SBI4U)

replace the revised biochemistry strand with the revised evolution strand (3U) as published in the revised curriculum document

Physics Grade 11 University (SPH3U)

Focus on projectiles for the Kinematics strand and replace the rest of the strand with the revised light and geometric optics strand (SNC2D)

Physics Grade 12 University (SPH4U)

Add the study of projectiles from Kinematics (3U) as well as nuclear energy from the Energy and Society strand (3U)

Physics Grade 12 College (SPH4C)

replace Motion and its Applications strand with Light and Application of Optics (SNC2P)

Science Curriculum Documents

admin — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:21:54 +0000

Curriculum Grades 1-8: Science and Technology, 2007

The updated electronic version of The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1-8: Science and Technology, 2007 includes the glossary, omitted from the previously posted version. Please note that this update also includes a revision in the Achievement Chart category “Thinking and Investigation” and reflects factual corrections in some expectations. This updated electronic version is the same as the published document.

The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 and 10: Science, 2008 (revised)

The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 11 and 12: Science, 2008 (revised)

PDF Format (1.4 MB)

Subsidized summer meteorology workshop for teachers

admin — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 02:23:42 +0000

The Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (CMOS) has been invited to send one Canadian teacher to attend PROJECT ATMOSPHERE, a two-week summer meteorology workshop specifically designed for teachers and run by the American Meteorological Society (AMS).

Expenses while on the workshop are covered by allowances from the AMS. CMOS and the Canadian Council for Geographic Education (CCGE) each provide a $300 subsidy (for a total of $600) for travel to and from the workshop. The workshop runs from July 18 – 30, 2010 and is held at the National Weather Service Training Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

CMOS invites applications from interested teachers from across Canada. The deadline for applications is MARCH 15, 2010. This opportunity is open to elementary and high school teachers. For more information and an application form please go to http://www.cmos.ca/hsworkshop.html. For a more detailed description of the workshop and the expenses covered please go to the AMS site: http://www.ametsoc.org/amsedu/Proj_ATM/projatm.html. If you would like more information or have questions please contact education@cmos.ca.