Author Bio: Connect Staff

Synergy Learning has a small dedicated staff of educators with experience both in the classroom and staff development.

Email: connect@synergylearning.org

Connect articles by Connect Staff:

  • Small Equipment and Consumable List
    This list includes items that you might want in one classroom or in a resource center.

  • Science Equipment
    An annotated list developed by Synergy Learning Staff.

  • Books that Address Materials and Equipment
    A select book list

  • What do You Need to do the Job?
    Useful tools for teaching.

  • Suppliers of Math, Science & Technology Equipment
    A short list of reliable suppliers.

  • Raptor Resources
    Books, videos, and sources

  • Tape that Bird Song!
    Recording bird songs

  • Women in Science
    Meg and Judy are among 16 women scientists at WHOI, out of the total of 126 scientists who work there, making this work force 13% female.How can schools, families and communities give girls the confidence and motivation to explore, discover and pursue what could be fascinating careers for them? What are the positive experiences they need?

  • Exploring Tides
    Exploring tides using a model of a beach in an aquarium

  • Data for All to See
    Using the entire wall for the chart, students began to see similarities and differences between substances in relation to whether they were more acidic or more basic

  • Patterns in Poetry
    Connect asked two poets who conduct residencies in schools to give us some examples of student poetry and to reflect on patterns in the words. Ann Gengarelly and Verandah Porche gave us more examples than we could publish. Here is just a sampling:

  • Guy Ottewell's Thousand Yard Model
    “Fourteen more paces to Mars. It’s the one that’s the size of a pinhead. Now ninety-five more paces to Jupiter. We need the pecan.” These are just two of the steps in setting up Ottewell’s model of our solar system. His design maintains the same scale for both the diameters of the sun and planets and the distances between them. Ottewell uses memorable objects to represent the approximate sizes of planets, thus making the distances between them even more dramatic.

  • Stars in the School!
    A collaboration between an art teacher and the classroom teacher.

  • Kippy's Window
    Having a concrete, immediately accessible representation of the sun’s apparent path across the sky (throughout the day and throughout the year) can deepen students’ understanding of celestial navigation. A technically simple way of tracking the sun is to create a reflected sundial on the ceiling of your classroom.

  • Studying Motion
    Sixth graders set out to explore motion and aspects of energy.

  • Four Paws on the Trail
    Books about Lewis' Newfoundland dog, Seaman.

  • Adaptation:
    While you don’t want to turn an interesting classroom discussion of adaptation into a lengthy session on dictionary definitions, it may be a help to have some background on this term and its complex meanings.

  • Change of State
    All the teachers involved knew that we were combining a first look at change of state with a technology challenge: to design an insulation system that kept the ice from melting for a long time. Our planning was part of a professional development effort.

  • Mechanical Puzzles
    Including mechanical puzzles in the classroom.

  • A Refreshing Shower of Books
    In addition to Paddle-to the-Sea, Holling C. Holling has written several other books that lead to regional water studies.

  • Gaining Familiarity
    Martha Mitchell notes that gaining familiarity with a problem, with people and their needs, can lead to the student-designed service learning projects or to other types of student investigations. She points to the value of, "Helping kids to see how their own actions effect the environment."

  • The Yarn Graph
    A yarn graph is one way to avoid this overload of information [data] while creating an accurate graph with non-standard units of measure.

  • Family, Community and School
    Project Prism also asks parents to examine the depth and quality of math and science instruction. This goes well beyond casual involvement of parents as volunteers in classrooms. The project hopes to give parents some tools to examine math and science.

  • Writing, Science & Math: An Inseperable Bond
    Every child has explored some aspect of science before coming to school and has both accurate perceptions and some remarkable confusions to bring to class. From the very beginning, writing and dictating can help students to form ideas and questions that can lead to further investigations.

  • "Now, Write a Report!"
    Here is a simple method that can give students the skills they need to sort through information and produce a research document that is meaningful for them and in their "own words."

  • Writing (and Solving) a Real World Math Problem
    Real world math problems link student experience to the math concepts under study. Writing about the problem and its solutions helps students to understand the process and gives teachers a new view of student abilities.

  • Some "Left Out" Activities
    Serious consideration of the limitations that left-handers face because of product design and even the arrangement of furniture or machines provides a great opportunity for a class to address design problems in some everyday tools or appliances that all of us use.

  • Village
    After the first year of teaching Village at the Greenwood School in Putney, Vermont, it became clear to Annie Quest and Matt Skeele that while Village was a fine program, they could change it to better suit their students’ needs. The Greenwood School is a pre-preparatory school for boys, ages nine to fifteen, who have learning differences in math or language or both and need special help mastering grade level skills.

  • Rolling with Rollers
    Before the invention of wheels and axles, people learned to move heavy objects with rollers.

  • By Sun and Moon
    Observing and using calendars in the classroom.

  • Three Timers
    Building timers can be fascinating for people of many ages and valuable questions always arise. Here are three designs that have had a great deal of student input, use varied techniques and a variety of easy-to-find materials.

  • Investigating Insects with Teacher-Developed Kits
    What if you had access to teacher-designed and built kits, full of diverse resources, and backed up by an experienced teacher who assembled the kits? A great deal of the worry about creating a good unit and providing quality learning for students would be alleviated.

  • Adaptation:
    Connect wanted to explore the concept of adaptation with a teacher who has taught it and thought about it at length. We turned to Eric Rhomberg, a middle and high school biology teacher, at The Compass School, Westminster, Vermont. Eric has worked with a wide spectrum of students in public and independent schools in the Northeast, as well as at the college level. He sees adaptation not as a topic within the modern biology curriculum but as, “an underlying principle,” for biology.

  • The Eye and Adaptation
    Taking a close look at the eye across many species can offer a great opportunity for adaptation experiments and discussions.

  • An Opportunity Every Day
    New national programs have health as their central mission; they provide great opportunities to weave together experiential, hands-on learning and math, science and technology concepts.

  • The Vernon Tornadoes!
    Far surpassing the usual playground style of jumping rope, these experts show neat new tricks like under arm, egg beater, feet up and wounded duck. They do individual routines, giant group routines with big ropes, even Double Dutch tricks and tricks using equipment like bouncing balls.

  • Complex Systems
    One place to look at the complexity of systems and the links between them is in a forest, where at least some of the systems may be visible. In his book, Reading the Forested Landscape, Tom Wessels contributed to an understanding of forests as multiple, linked systems. Now Wessels has gone further in explaining the value of thinking about systems in his new book, The Myth of Progress.

  • Colony Life
    When looking at systems education, a number of topics come to mind: There are solar systems, human body systems like respiratory or circulatory, there are water cycles and number systems like ancient Greek or binary code. One example that might not come to mind initially is systems of organisms.

  • Watch Out! Systems Change!
    The very word, system, may suggest permanence: something has been so well figured out that it is a system that can then be explained to others. Yet, in science, systems are changing all the time—or we are learning more about them so that the data and our information changes significantly.

  • Maine Solar System Model Grows in Complexity
    World's largest solar system model.

  • Not-So-Simple Machines
    The National Standards in science education list machines as being a prime example of systems at work. Teachers have been resourceful and creative in presenting simple machines to students over the years.

  • The Golden Triangle
    None Entered

  • Fisheries
    Commercial fishing is one of those “real-world” topics that can offer you and your students opportunities to examine several viewpoints at once, and to integrate several core subject areas. That tuna fish sandwich or breaded fillet has traveled a long way and through many processes before being served in your school cafeteria.

  • Across Time, Across Curricula
    The science and math learning that can be found in any study of oceans can also help us to look at human history and at many cultures.

  • Fresh vs. Salt
    An Experimental Meltdown

  • What's a Kid to Do?
    There are indeed some simple things that students have been doing throughout the nation to impact the level of CO2 in our atmosphere.

  • Talking Their Way into Science
    Conversations of children in science classes.

  • Literature Links 9/07
    Book suggestions to support and extend the theme: Science, Math and Language.

  • Resource Reviews 9/07
    None Entered

  • Literature Links 11/07
    Literature to support and extend your study of climate change

  • Resource Reviews 11/07
    Resources on climate change and global warming.

  • Literature Links 5/07
    Trade books that support and enrich the focus of this issue, Oceans.

  • Resource Reviews 5/07
    Resources for the focus topic, Oceans

  • Literature Links 3/06
    Literature that helps support and extend the focus of this issue.

  • Resource Reviews 3/06
    Resources for Diverse Learning

  • Literature Links 1/06
    Literature to help support and extend the topic of Early Algebra.

  • Resource Reviews 1/06
    Resources for Early Algebra.

  • Literature Links 5/06
    Literature that supports the topic of Healthy Schools and Healthy Kids

  • Resource Reviews 5/06
    Resources for Healthy Kids, Healthy Schools

  • Literature Links 9/06
    Lit Links for Observation

  • Resource Reviews 9/06
    Resources for Observation

  • Literature Links 11/06
    Trade books illustrating systems.

  • Resource Reviews 11/06
    Resources for Systems

  • literature Links 3/07
    Trade books for Geometry

  • Resource Reviews 3/07
    Resources for Geometry

  • Resource Reviews 1/07
    Resources for Good Science, Good Math.

  • Literature Links 1/07
    Trade book suggestions that encourage creativity, inquiry, observation, and attention to the process of learning and figuring things out. Some of them also show children engaged in everyday activities that use math, science or technology.

  • Literature Links 5/2004
    Trade books for the topic of Liquids.

  • Resource Reviews 5/04
    Resources for teaching about Liquids.

  • Under Pressure
    We know Alexander Graham Bell as the inventor of the telephone, but he was also an educator, among many other occupations.

  • Literature Links 1/08
    Highly recommended trade books.

  • Resource Reviews 1/08
    Resources to support Formative Assessment.

  • Promoting Hope in All Students
    Rick Stiggins has been deeply involved in educational assessment issues for over twenty-five years. He has led performance and classroom assessment programs, directed large-scale test development, and trained educators in thousands of schools to use assessment more effectively. Rick's ability to focus on practical issues has helped him become a leading national proponent for quality classroom assessment as a key to school effectiveness and student achievement.

  • Performance Assessment
    Amid the focus on formative assessment in this issue, there is also an opportunity to explore performance assessment.

  • Literature Links 3/08
    Trade books linked to computers and technology.

  • Resource Reviews 3/08
    Resources to support Screen Time.

  • The Ergonomic Computer Station
    What does your computer station look like? The following recommendations apply for all users of computers, especially those smaller users in your classroom or home.

  • Literature Links 5/08
    Literature for studying nature and the out of doors.

  • Resource Reviews 5/08
    Resources for Learning Outdoors

  • The Child's Garden - Outdoors
    The "outdoor kindergarten" is hardly a new idea: the first one was started by Ella Flautau in Denmark in the 1950s.

  • Literature Links Sept/Oct 2008
    Literature suggestions for Number and Operations

  • Resource Reviews 9/08
    Math resources for Number and Operations

  • Seeing the Numbers Around Us
    While we work diligently to use all the resources of our schools to bolster instruction, our students will often find their own valuable ways to explore concepts.

  • Literature Links 11/08
    Literature that addresses the wide diversity of students' backgrounds and lives.

  • Resource Reviews 11/08
    Resources to support Bridging the Achievement Gap.

  • The Effects of Poverty
    This article is comprised of excerpts from Karen M. Pellino's "The Effects of Poverty." Because it lists some of the potential indicators, causes, and remedies for families and children affected by poverty, it is the perfect companion article to Tom McGuire's heartfelt story in this issue.

  • Girls and Boys
    The number of public single-gender classes has jumped from 3 in 1995 to more than 350 today. Estimates suggest that by the fall of 2009, as many as 500 public schools will offer gender-separate classes, mostly in the southern states.

  • Achievement Gaps Today and Tomorrow
    Studies of skills needed in the twenty-first century point often to problem solving, team work, creativity, adaptability, and self-direction. Communication skills are essential and varied.

  • Literature Links 5/05
    Children's literature that supports the study of light and color.

  • Resource Reviews 5/05
    Resources that support and extend the study of light and color.

  • Literature Links 11/05
    Children's literature to support the study of adaptation.

  • Resource Reviews 11/05
    Resources that support the study of adaptations.

  • Literature Links 1/09
    Great children's books to support a variety of topics.

  • Resource Reviews 1/09
    Resources to support after-school programs.

  • Schools and Communities
    Community schools offer a place for students during non-school hours, seven days a week, year-round. They usually design activities to engage students and extend the learning of their school day, but these centers also offer other services. Mothers, fathers, and caregivers can benefit from workshops on parenting, job-hunting skills, and often times medical and dental care or screening. Families may be able to take advantage of housing opportunities, career coaching, tutoring, and counseling.

  • Out of School and Out of This World!
    Star Logo uses a graphical interface for programming to make it more accessible to all users. By providing the format of designing games, students are more motivated to pursue projects that have multiple steps.

  • Literature Links 3/09
    Literature that supports the topic of Science: More than a Method.

  • Resource Reviews 3/09
    Resources to support Science: More than a Method

  • Literature Links 11/03
    Story books that support the theme of Puzzles and Games.

  • Resource Reviews 11/03
    Resources to support using puzzles and games in the classroom.

  • Making Way for the Unexpected
    For the elementary science teacher, these quotes serve as reminders to us to raise our heads from the plan we carefully construct for our students to follow, and keep our eyes and ears open to the possibility of unplanned learning.

  • A Science Project Results in Major Changes
    As many sixth graders might wish to do, Gabriel Leal designed a science investigation based on his own preference for foods. His idea was that he liked pistachio nuts and it would be interesting to see if a major agricultural pest, the navel orangeworm, would too.

  • Who Developed the Scientific Method
    The world's first true scientist.

  • Literature Links 5/09
    Children's books that support the theme of motion and Newton's Laws.

  • Resource Reviews 5/09
    Resources that support the study of Newton's Laws.

  • It's Been Around a Long, Long Time
    The wheel has been around a long, long time. The technology of rolling, winding, and catching the energy of moving wind or water has been in use for thousands of years, originating perhaps in what is now known as Syria.

  • Spool Tractors
    Make a spool tractor. This is a great activity that is full of potential. It's also great for exploring potential energy.

  • Be Your Own Sundial
    Greg DeFrancis, Education Coordinator at the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich, Vermont, has begun a "Human Sundial" project for the playground at a local school.

  • Literature Links 5/94
    Children's books that support the theme of change and adaptation.

  • Literature Links 1/1994
    Books suggested to expand the study of running water.

  • Resource Reviews 1/1994
    Resources that support and extend the topic of running water.

  • Literature Links 1/1995
    Children's literature that expands and supports the study of weather.

  • Resource Reviews 11/1994
    Resources that support and extend the topic of adaptation and change over time.

  • Resource Reviews 1/1995
    Resources that support the study of atmospheric science.

  • Literature Links 9/2009
    Childrens books that support A Sense of Place.

  • Resource Reviews 9/2009
    Resources that support the study of A Sense of Place.

  • Math on Main Street
    A classroom discussion about businesses along Main Street in a small town led to a much larger project. What were the buildings used for and could students identify them all? A group of fourth-grade students set out to answer these questions by mapping both sides of two blocks in the center of their town.

  • Literature Links 1/2005
    Children's literature that supports the study of time.

  • Resource Reviews 1/2005
    Resources that support the teaching of time.

  • Literature Links 3/2005
    Children's literature that incorporates science and math concepts.

  • Resource Reviews 3/2005
    Prepared Science Kits

  • Literature Links 11/2009
    Children's trade books that support the study of data and probability.

  • Resource Reviews 11/2009
    Resources that support the teaching of data and probability.