Keystone Weekly
volume 2, issue 6        October 23, 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

Initial Fall Colloquium coming up!
Staff is completing final preparation for tomorrow's kickoff colloquium for the new school year. We have over twenty people signed up in addition to Keystone staff, and expect it to be a good event for all. Year 1 participants will receive a copy of "Inquiry and the National Science Standards," the resource book used at this past summer's KSN Institute, as well as other useful items.

Our morning will be spent doing firsthand inquiry around lots of earth science materials, with lower grade teachers focusing on Earth Materials and related kits and upper grade teachers on Changing Earth phenomena and related kits. Participants will be able to strengthen their understanding of several important science concepts, as well as glean further insight into facilitating inquiry, both of which should prove of value, whether or not you will be teaching an earth science kit this year. Teachers' Guides for the various earth science kits will be available for perusal, including the STC/MS "Catastrophic Events" module due for release in January. Most of the afternoon will center on network technology use, including taking an advance peek at the next Keystone Curricular Companion, "Our Changing Earth," which will formally appear on the site before the end of the month. We will solicit feedback during the afternoon regarding additional ways to further enhance this newest Companion before posting it.

November 16th Colloquium openings
While we also have over twenty participants planning to attend the November colloquium on performance assessment with Bud Alder, there is room for anyone from the Year 1 group who was unable to attend Bud's session last year. The project can cover travel expenses if you are able to arrange for release from your school. Bud gives an excellent presentation and you would also have an opportunity to meet Year 2 participants firsthand. Please contact Sharon if you decide to come.

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Web Pick of the Week

Composting in Schools
In the Soil Activities area of the Enrichment section of the new Earth Materials Curricular Companion you'll find a link called Composting in Schools. This site, produced by Cornell University with teachers in mind, offers friendly and relevant information about getting your own school involved in composting. Composting is a great hands-on activity, applicable to many disciplines (including biology, chemistry, soil science, and environmental studies, to name a few), addressing the interactions among biological, chemical, and physical processes. Be sure to click on the images outlined in blue to see the bigger picture.

Check out the Composting in Schools resource in the Earth Materials Curricular Companion: http://www.keystone.fi.edu/cc_em/emenrich.shtml#soil

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On the Lighter Side

What kids really think about science…

Ideas from 5th and 6th graders (Set #4)
(Originally collected by Ben Stewart, retired science teacher from St. Louis.)

Water vapor gets together in a cloud. When it gets big enough to be called a drop, it does.

When there is fog, you might as well not mind looking at it.

In making rain water, it takes everything from H to O.

Rain is often spoken of as soft water, oppositely as hail.

Rain is saved up in cloud banks.

In some rocks you can find the fossil footprints of fishes.

The main value of tornadoes is yet to be discovered.

A hurricane is a breeze of a bigly size.

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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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