Keystone Weekly
volume 2, issue 3        October 2, 2000

This week's Key Points: *From the Director's Desk*, *Web Pick of the Week*, and *On the Lighter Side*
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From the Director's Desk

Fall Keystone Colloquia RSVP
A mailing is going out this Tuesday with additional information regarding the three fall colloquia, along with directions to Franklin and a response post card for you to check off and drop in the mail (or you can email, fax or phone). The RSVP is important so we can finalize food and other arrangements.

Given feedback received, the focus for the optional December 2nd colloquium will be related to the Curriculum Companion topic of "Human Body Science." (Remember this Colloquium is on a "first-to-sign-up" basis.)

I have heard from three people that their colloquium date conflicts with scheduled parent conferences. Experience from last year suggests it is almost impossible to totally avoid a few individual conflicts of this nature. Two of the three have already indicated that they will attend the optional December 2nd colloquium in its place. We encourage any others who might similarly have an unavoidable conflict to do the same if possible, so that you have the opportunity to spend time with your fellow "Keystoners" and share in the professional development opportunity.

Growing Email Communication Occurring
We are seeing a notable increase in email exchanges among project participants as our second year unfolds. More and more of you are sharing reactions to new aspects of our website, the startup of things in your classroom, resources you've encountered, etc. While we still have a number of our colleagues who do not yet have connectivity from their classroom, the Keystone "online electronic community" is continuing to gel. (Please also remember to identify yourself when sending emails, as the address may be too cryptic to even know what school district the sender is from.)

Tracking Contributed Time
By now you should have received the mailing regarding documenting contributed time. Please do complete the form for summer and September hours while it is still fresh in your mind and return it ASAP, along with the salary information sheet needed to place the appropriate monetary value on your time. (Use the October form to log your hours on an ongoing basis for this month, returning it by November 3rd.)

This record-keeping is something we are obligated to do as part of the NSF grant. While we regret the modest paperwork burden this imposes on each of you, we do very much appreciate your support in enabling us to track this important cost share data. Please contact Sharon or me if you have any questions.

NEEDED! Return of Remaining Database Forms
While I am on the paperwork issue, we are still awaiting return of some database forms (mailed with your summer institute certificate). If you haven't already done so, please locate and review your form and return it to Sharon, even if it's just confirmation that the data is correct as indicated. We need this information to follow-up on email availability, planning around kit use, etc. as the project moves forward. When this initial spate of paperwork is past we can focus more fully on the core aspects of the project, like the next new Curricular Companion, "Earth Materials," which is now largely complete except for some final editing. (I think you will like it--more to come shortly.)

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Web Pick of the Week

Kathy Porreca from the Pennsbury School District sends along this week's Web Pick.

Welcome to Webcytology! This is a website designed for students in 5th through 12th grade and fits into the Microbes unit. The site is packed with information and can be found at: http://library. thinkquest.org/27819/. The site has four major sections and I will give a brief description of each.

1. Reference: This section has a Guide, Glossary, Quizzes, and This Week in Biology History. The guide and glossary are great references for information on unicellular biology.

2. Teacher's Forum: This section has suggestions and materials to help you incorporate Webcytology into your curriculum.

3. Message Boards: In this section you can communicate with others around the world, share ideas, and ask questions.

4. Simulation: This section is the main interactive feature of the site. It allows you to create your own unicellular organism. You need to create an account, but it is free. Students could use this as the final activity in the unit and track the organism for the rest of the school year. Go to http://library.thinkquest.org/27819/sim.shtml for the introduction and an explanation of how the simulation works.

You could design a scavenger hunt from the glossary and/or guide and the simulation is a great idea, but students need to have learned about the organisms before they try this.

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On the Lighter Side

What kids really think about science…

Ideas from 5th and 6th graders
(Originally collected by Ben Stewart, retired science teacher from St. Louis)

Question: What is one horsepower? Answer: One horsepower is the amount of energy it takes to drag a horse 500 feet in one second.

You can listen to thunder after lightning and tell how close you came to getting hit. If you don't hear it you got hit, so never mind.

Talc is found in rocks and on babies.

The law of gravity says no fair jumping up without coming back down.

When they broke open molecules, they found they were only stuffed with atoms. But when they broke open atoms, they found them stuffed with explosions.

When people run around and around in circles we say they are crazy. When planets do it we say they are orbiting.

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 9819641.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

webteam@keystone.fi.edu

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