Discovery Science Connection Presentation

Fairfax County Public Schools

One of Four Divisions of Discovery

Video-plus teaching tools Connection Series Productivity tools Videos, DVDs and CD-ROMs Assessment Series New Curriculum

Content

Comprehensive Collection

Differentiated Digital Content

Across a Typical MS Science Curriculum

Measurement

Flexible Toolset & Assessment Items

On-Going Basis

What They Know & What They Don’t Know

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Action

Turn Measurement Knowledge into Action thru Content Recommendations

Differentiate Instruction at the Class / Group / Individual Student Levels

Enhance Your Instruction with Multimedia Content

Browse Units, Topics & Concepts Three areas of science Unit Topics Concepts

Inquiry Problems Use the Inquiry Problems to introduce a topic to students.

Explore Concepts You can browse media in 3 categories: Interact, Watch and Read

Explore Concepts: Interact Explorations Students manipulate variables and make predictions about outcomes Virtual Labs Students design and conduct their own scientific investigations Integrated Science Simulations Students explore concepts by making choices and controlling variables Interactive Video Users click on “hot spots” to pause the video to learn more information

Explore Concepts: Watch Videos Video content is exclusive to Discovery Education Science Connection. Videos are divided into segments, so you can show only the parts of the video that best relate to your teaching.

Explore Concepts: Read Articles Support key concepts while enhancing reading proficiency with engaging, informative selections from WRC Media’s award-winning libraries Reading Passages Enhance your lessons with these highly visual and dynamic reading passages from Discovery Education’s award-winning book series. Selections include science timelines and interviews with leading scientists.

Teacher Center

Assessment Manager

Build formative assessments and view results by class or student.

Assignment Builder

Build and store online assignments for your students that use Science Connection content.

Process Skills Library

Find resources that can help your students develop their science process skills:

MythBusters episodes

Virtual Labs

Science Sleuths

Discovery Educator Network

Explore resources and community tools for educators

Log In To Demo

Discovery Education Science Connection

Review

Content

Measurement

Action

Assessment Manager

Create

Standards-based assessments

Custom assessments

Edit existing assessments

Assign

Assessments you’ve already created

Assessments created by Science Connection

Report & Recommend

View results by student

View results by class

Use Science Connection’s formative assessment tools to monitor students’ understanding and adjust your lessons accordingly.

Assignment Builder Search existing assignments Build your own online assignments incorporating Science Connection resources, assessments and links to other websites

Process Skills Library Virtual Labs Students design and conduct their own scientific investigations Science Sleuths Students examine science mysteries and use articles, interviews and video to solve the problem MythBusters Episodes have been selected and edited for Middle School audiences and illustrate the adventure and careful use of the scientific process to prove a science myth, or bust it! A variety of media in the Process Skills Library addresses the critical thinking skills students must acquire in order to successfully engage in the scientific process.

My Content Use My Content to collect, organize, retrieve, and assign your favorite Science Connection media resources in one convenient place Add media resources and assessments to folders you create Use the pull down menu to view specific media types you’ve added to My Content

My Content Add a resource to My Content: 4. Click “Add” 1. Click “View Details” 2. Click “+ Add to My Content” 3. Select an existing folder in My Content or create a new folder to add the resource

My Classes This feature enables you to create classrooms and student accounts and assign Science Connection content to students. Click a class to view a list of students Add a Student to a class Click to add a new class

Presentation Strategies and Software Integration

Presentation Models

Common ways teachers, Media Specialists, and technology coordinators display Science Connection content:

Computer connected to an LCD projector

Interactive whiteboards

Televisions with scan converters

Computer labs

Libraries and Media Centers

Mobile carts with laptop computers

Student “stations” and “centers”

Teaching Strategies to Consider Determine prior knowledge with a pre-activity assessment. Use assessment results to assign appropriate Science Connection media to individual students. Create “investigative teams.” Have students work in small groups on Virtual Labs or Explorations to develop testable questions, test their hypotheses and record results. Connect your computer to a projector and use Explorations or Integrated Science Simulations as presentation tools to kick off a lesson. Pose questions or prepare thought-provoking “lesson starters” before viewing media to actively engage students. Assign Reading Passages and Articles that reinforce concepts and provide background information. Save time by saving your favorite resources to folders within My Content.

Discovery Education Summer Institute

Best Practices in using DESC to support

inquiry based learning

differentiated instruction

preparation for high-stakes assessments in science

August 13-16

Valley Forge, PA

Lodging, meals, materials and activity costs

transportation not covered

35 Open Spots/Scholarships

Technology Information to Know Video files, images, articles and reading passages may be downloaded. All other content is available online only via streaming. A building with a dedicated T-1 line could comfortably accommodate 6 users with no buffering assuming no other users on the Internet. Home users with 56k modems can search and use support materials; viewing interactive media and performing downloads may be possible but will be very slow.