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=The Cedarbrae Science Department= Leaders in Digital Innovation

Thanks you for visiting our evidence/results website. This is just a taste of some of the innovative tools and methods applied by the Cedarbrae Science Department to reach a range of different learners as often and as effectively as we can! Please, explore, enjoy, and EXPERIENCE!

Please click the following link and enjoy in full screen! @http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9dfwGAAQFE

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Our department is actively using Moodle on a daily basis to create an effective and safe blended learning environment for teachers, students, and staff collaboration. Through the use of the Moodle students are able to access class materials, make up for missed lessons, collaborate with other students, as well as seek extra help after hours. Students are also able to complete assessments for and of learning, as well as upload assignments to this space for teacher and peer review. The use of Moodle was been invaluable and our classrooms and ability to reach every student has changed drastically.
 * __Moodle__**
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 * __Global Teenager Project__**

https://gtpenvironmentalsustainabilityfeb2012.pbworks.com/w/page/50830328/FrontPage Using a Wiki as a space to collaborate, students from around the world work in learning circles to, pose questions, investigate and publish answers at a global scale. The Global Teenager Project allows for highly engaging lessons that will link to the curriculum as well as the students own community.

The Global Teenager project is an initiative run with several schools across the globe to create collaboration and discussion around world-wide eco initiatives. This global teenager project has helped our students expand their knowledge base and cultural experience while creating relevant research questions collaboratively as a class. Students are then to research their assigned topic to develop answers that pertain to their own community/ country. We are currently running this program with our grade 11 university preparation biology and chemistry classes.

Example Wikis: http://sbi3uplants.wikispaces.com/ http://ecocare.wikispaces.com Wikispaces provides students the freedome to create their own webspace. For example in our 11U biology class we have created a multi class collaborative wiki space that will function as the independent studies unit for one of our plant unit. Students have created wiki pages pertaining to their chosen topic on plants, related to the ministry curriculum guidelines. Students will then use these pages collectively as a database for study in preparation for the unit test on plants. The proof of the value of this tool is that stundents used what they learned in class to develop their own wikis for clubs and community groups. The wiki spaces are a great educational tool as students learn how to collaborate together online as well as develop their 21st century skills.
 * __Wiki Spaces__**

__**Web Quests**__ http://www.catawba.k12.nc.us/techtrac/plus/muckinhoupt/ Web quests are used amongst our department to increase depth of understanding beyond the guide of the textbook. We have used web quests in grade 9 academic and applied science, as well as grade 10 locally developed science as a means for teaching a variety of concepts in the Physics strand. The response from students completing web quests was very positive and the statistical evidence regarding test scores, supports the use of these web quest to increase academic success.

__**Virtual Field Trips**__ [] [] Virtual field trips have been used in the grade 11 university preparation biology class to take students out of the classroom and into the appropriate field of study. The above link takes students to an Afri-cam that has been set up in Africa. Students can monitor animal behaviour and activity in a location that most would never be able to go otherwise. The response from students for this particular activity is very good. Students love to have this opportunity to create new experiences and to try activities that are foreign to them.

__**Bringing Professionals into the Classroom**__ We have within the year brought a professional from the Ministry of the Environment into a grade 9 science classroom where they spoke to the students about the affects of using road salt on the environment. Students had the opportunity to debate this subject prior to having the professional in the classroom. A discussion led between the class and this scientist enabled students to ask questions about road salt, the environment, and the educational requirements needed to obtain this type of job. This experience was invaluable for the students as they were able to make concrete connections between curriculum content and real-life career options.

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 * __Sponge Lab Technologies__**

Students used online virtual software to explore the detailed structure of a plant cell and experience in a limited time frame what factors affect plant growth. Students were assigned task cards and completed a variety of tasks using the Digital Lab software. Students found this experience quite engaging and learned both a lot about the inner workings of the plant as well as how to independently navigate a foreign technology.

__**ExploreLearning.Com**__ [] Explorelearning provides students and teachers access to the world's largest repository of interactive laboratory simulations. The virtual labs allow for genuine inquiry learning and help teach students challenging concepts through exploration. The tools are flexible enough for students to design and conduct their own labs with their own questions or work through a guided experience designed by the teacher or explorelearning content producers. Each lab includes assessment questions that provide instant feedback to students and reporting to the teacher account.

__**Skype**__ We have used Skype to bring professionals into our classroom as well as to engage in multi-class debates on specific curriculum related eco topics. Through Skype students can interact with these groups not only through audio control but also through the use of the built in cameras on the netbooks. Students found these activities to be extremely engaging and very much liked being able to view other classes on the data projector. This increased student engagement and helped students to take more ownership or their own learning.

__**Phun**__ [] Phun is the ultimate virtual physics lab! Students have the opportunity to design and conduct labs in a open ended sandbox style physics simulation. Students take ownership of their learning by developing a question, actually creating the apparatus and finally conducting their virtual experiments. The only limitation of Phun is the imagination of the students!

__**Audacity and Podcasting**__ [] Audacity is a free open-source program that we use to create audio podcasts with students. Creativity is key when designing podcasts assignments for students and have resulted in such hits as the element interview, emergency lab safety phone call, Darwin's audio diary and more! Students with a flair for the dramatic can make their projects come to life using the voices and enhanced audio such as music and sound effects. All the equipment you need is already present in the hardware!

__**Inter-School Collaboration**__ The Ceaderbrae science department is so full of creativity and collaboration that one building cannot contain us! We have started to collaborate 24/7 with other science departments by having shared virtual classrooms. Differentiated instruction becomes a breeze when you have 3-4 teachers teaching the same students. Our current relationship with David and Mary Thompson continues to develop and we plan on expanding to have student collaboration between the two schools. We plan on continue to expand our "digital department" as we move forward and the computer cart will give us greater opportunity to innovate and share!