8th Grade

MATHCOUNTS Foundation

— mathcounts.org

5-8

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0 promising practices http://www.mathcounts.org/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:50

How It Works

The MATHCOUNTS Foundation is a non-profit organization striving to engage middle school students of all ability and interest levels in enjoyable and challenging math programs. This site offers a large variety of resources for both students and educators. View programs to find information about The National Math Club, Math Video Challenge, and the MATHCOUNTS competition series. Discover the Solve-a-Thon fundraising program to create fundraising pages for your program and school. Be sure to explore the Resources portion of the site. Find a Problem of the Week including extensive archives, an electronic school handbook featuring 300 problems correlated to NCTM grade 6-8 standards, and MATHCOUNTS minis - a series of short video explanations of MATHCOUNTS problems. This site includes YouTube videos. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.

In the Classroom

Be sure to bookmark this site for use throughout the school year. Share with the head of the math department and other math teachers as a valuable resource. Consider creating a fundraising page using the Solve-a-Thon program to raise funds for manipulatives and classroom resources. Include the problem of the week on your class webpage or blog as homework or extra credit. Include links to video explanations of problems on your class webpage to reinforce current learning concepts.

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Tag(s): video, competitions, problem solving,

My Next Move

— US Department of Labor

8-11

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0 promising practices http://www.mynextmove.org/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:50

How It Works

"What do you want to do for a living?" is the springboard for this career and guidance site from the US Department of Labor. Choose from three options depending on how sharply focused your career goals are. Consider job titles, explore general career groups, or take an interest inventory to help guide you. Each job title links to a fuller description: the skills, abilities, and knowledge needed for the job, the education required, the job prospects in that career and the personality traits that are linked to success in the career. Job titles are also categorized by whether the long term prospects for growth in that category are strong, whether the career is part of the "green economy" and whether there are internships or job training programs associated with that career.

In the Classroom

Ask students to complete the interest inventory independently to get insight and ideas about possible careers. Then use the examples from students’ results to explore representative industries or job titles. Help students appreciate that career planning is an ongoing process that includes education, aptitudes, and personality in order to find a "good fit." My Next Move is a great resource for helping students get more concrete information and insight into the sometimes vexing question of "what I want to do when I grow up." Use it in guidance classes or as part of a budgeting and life planning section in Family and Consumer Science or business classes.

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Tag(s): financial literacy, careers,

Twubs

— Twubs, Inc.

8-11

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0 promising practices http://www.twubs.com/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:50

How It Works

Looking for an easy way to follow hashtags or conversations on Twitter? Use this tool for more useful hashtags that pull tweets, videos, images, and more in a convenient place in real time. Hashtags are not just for fun, but also for finding and curating content from professional learning networks (PLN’s). Use this tool to follow and participate in a chat easily and efficiently with no other tweets clogging up the stream. Enter the hashtag to view the active (or already completed) chat. Choose the speed of the chat flow. Use the Pause feature to stop the chat temporarily while checking a specific tweet or replying. View the hashtags with or without signing into Twitter. Note: New to Twitter and hashtags and unsure how to use it in the classroom? Looking for more ways to use Twitter in the classroom? Read more about Twitter at the TeachersFirst’s <a href="/spectopics/twitterforteachers.cfm">Twitter for Teachers</a> page. Be sure to check with your district’s policies before using Twitter and Twubs with students.

In the Classroom

Create a hashtag for use by students when quoting and reacting to comments from presenters. Follow the hashtag for various events occurring elsewhere in the world to obtain perspectives from people of different nationalities. Use a segment of a prior chat (screenshot an image of the Twubs) to share with students. Use to identify different perspectives from those around the world. Find shared commonalities among people and differences that allow students to understand world happenings using a different lens. Follow Tweets from scientists (such as #MarsRover) or for content (#STEM). Use results from a Twitter chat to create essays, stories, or artwork depicting content from the chat. Find chats for all kinds of teacher interests to build not only your PLN, but your knowledge base in the document Twitter Chat Schedule, <a href="/single.cfm?id=13782">reviewed here.</a>

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Tag(s): chat, twitter,

Created Equal

— National Endowment for the Humanities

8-11

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0 promising practices http://createdequal.neh.gov/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:50

How It Works

Four documentary films related to the Civil Rights Movement, available to stream either in part or in their entirety, form the centerpiece of this effort from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The films cover time periods beginning with the Abolitionist Movement and continuing through the Freedom Marches and the turbulent 1960s. Explore the meaning of freedom and equality in the United States with relevance still today. There are teacher resources, lesson plans, and suggestions for aligning lessons to the Common Core.

In the Classroom

The documentaries, or the excerpts presented, are all available to stream from the site. While they may be too lengthy to show in their entirety during one class period, they have also been divided into clips according to themes. For example, Equality is part of the full video about Law and the Strategy of Nonviolence. This makes them more adaptable for classroom use. Share the videos on your interactive whiteboard or projector, or flip your class using EdPuzzle, <a href="/single.cfm?id=15288">reviewed here</a>, and have students watch clips at home and come back to class ready to discuss. EdPuzzle is a great way to take sections of videos and add your own voice or add questions within the video. Alternatively, you could use VideoAnt, <a href="/single.cfm?id=14943">reviewed here</a>, to enhance student learning with students asking questions about the parts where they need clarification. The issues raised by these Created Equal documentaries may be easily incorporated into lessons related to the Civil Rights Movement, modern U.S. history, Black History Month, or civics and government. Use these videos as conversation starters in the classroom.

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Tag(s): segregation, black history, bill of rights, emancipation proclamation, civil rights, civil war,

Legislative Explorer

— Center for American Politics and Public Policy

8-11

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0 promising practices http://www.legex.org Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:50

How It Works

With so much data out there, how are we, as citizens, to manage this information to make good choices? The University of Washington’s Center for American Politics and Public Policy takes the massive amount of information about US legislative activity from 1973 to the present and helps us visualize the progress of bills through the legislative branch. Color-coded "particles" represent each bill on an interactive field for each two-year legislative session. Set the field in motion and watch bills move through committees and onto the floor of the House or the Senate. Notice how many "particles" (each representing a bill) remain clustered in committees throughout the legislative session and how many actually make it to the President’s desk and become law. The animation is much more powerful (and informative) when you select an issue, a state, a legislator, a committee, or a party from the drop down menus, but the "big picture" visuals are also informative.

In the Classroom

Despite being fairly wonky (political geeks will LOVE this site!), Legislative Explorer will also help civics and government teachers present the overall picture of how a bill makes its way (or doesn’t) through the legislative branch. On an interactive whiteboard (or projector), the visual impact of how many bills are proposed in a session is stunning. Once past that, however, students can research the activities of their local legislators, by name or by state. What issues matter enough to them to result in bill sponsorship? Alternatively, divide students into groups and have each group research a specific committee. What bills come to that committee? How successful is that committee in moving bills to the President’s desk? How does the activity in the most recent Congress compare to that from 40 years ago? Have the issues changed?

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Tag(s): branches of government, congress, advanced placement,

Numbeo

— Numbeo

8-11

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0 promising practices http://www.numbeo.com/common/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:50

How It Works

Numbeo is a crowd-sourced database of statistical information about cities across the world. It includes information about quality of life factors like cost-of-living, crime, health care, pollution, and traffic. Select a category and a city to view data about that location. Compare locations on that criterion. See the information displayed on a map. There is an enormous amount of data here; however, keep in mind that the data is user-generated and will only reflect what others have entered. Consequently, it is constantly being updated and revised. Numbeo provides real-time numbers that students can use to learn how to analyze statistical information and graphs.

In the Classroom

Send students to this site to research quality of life factors across the globe. How does the price of gas in Indonesia compare to the price of gas in their hometown? What income is required to rent an apartment in New York City? At another level of inquiry, WHY is the cost of living higher in some parts of the world than it is in others? What factors contribute to the quality of life? In a math class, use this data as "meat" to learn about comparing and displaying data. Your students will find the data interesting enough to pay attention.

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Tag(s): consumers, statistics,

Biomimicry 3.8 Institute

— Biomimicry 3.8 Institute

8-11

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0 promising practices http://www.biomimicry.net/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:50

How It Works

What is Biomimicry? It is the copying of patterns and ideas in nature to solve technological problems. The number 3.8 refers to the billions of years there has been life on this planet. Biomimicry brings biologists and designers together. As our impact on the Earth has wrought much damage, this new approach can solve some of our most pressing problems. Find a wealth of resources within each of the major topics on this site. Use the Inspiring tab to read articles and view other media about Biomimicry. Wish to learn more or pass on information? Use the Educating tab for ideas for K-12 and University students as well as your professional growth. For more information on K-12 tools and curriculum, see this related review, <a href="/single.cfm?id=15898"> Biomimicry in Youth Education</a>.

In the Classroom

Use this resource to learn more about Biomimicry and how technological problems have been solved using this approach. Share the stories with your students as informational (and inspirational) reading in the sciences. For example, schools of fish swim through a vortex of water that pulls them along with the others. This understanding is being used to design better wind turbines. Look through the Biomimicry Fundamentals ideas to see where you think you should start with your students. Challenge your students to explore the site for articles THEY believe are connected to something they have learned this year in your class. Create a wall of pictures and ideas in the classroom of patterns and processes learned in class that can be an inspiration for design later. Gifted or technology students will love learning about Biomimicry.

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Tag(s): STEM, design, problem solving, natural resources, engineering,

Bozeman Science YouTube Channel

— Paul Andersen

8-11

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0 promising practices https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEik-U3T6u6JA0XiHLbNbOw Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:50

How It Works

This YouTube channel covers a variety of science topics in an entertaining and engaging way. View playlists for various subjects such as AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Physics, and more. View the most popular videos such as A Tour of the Cell and Photosynthesis. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

In the Classroom

Flip your classroom and use a video as homework. Have students take notes about the material and write down questions they still have and topics that confuse them. That activity can uncover misconceptions. Show the video to the class, and then discuss the concept at length. For more advanced classes, provide time for students to choose a video to view and research the underlying concept. To share a single video from this site without all the YouTube clutter, use a tool such as Clipchamp, <a href="/single.cfm?id=18306">reviewed here</a>, or Watchkin, <a href="/single.cfm?id=16658">reviewed here</a>. Students can create a mini-lesson that can be shared with the class or on a blog, wiki, or your class website. Challenge cooperative learning groups to create videos and share the videos on a site such as TeacherTube, <a href="/single.cfm?id=9419">reviewed here.</a>

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Tag(s): atoms, motion, forces, cells, photosynthesis, mitosis, meiosis, dna, mass, energy, elements, molecules,

GDP: Measuring the human side of the Canadian Economic Crisis

— National Film Board of Canada

8-11

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0 promising practices https://www.idfa.nl/en/film/6741ad71-a20c-4c92-9834-d8e17078cfa8/gdp-measuring-the-human-side-of-the-canadian-economic-crisis Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:50

How It Works

The National Film Board of Canada documented the economic crisis through short films and photo essays between 2008 and 2010. We hear about economic downturn every day, but it can be easy to forget the human side of hard times. Economic failures are more than statistics on a graph; they are the realities that affect lives. GDP presents these stories in 135 episodes and 53 photo essays. Search the stories by theme--community action, real estate, farming, natural resources--or by using the interactive map. Although the stories are from Canada, their appeal is broader, and they parallel what occurred in many countries.

In the Classroom

This site can put a human face on the numbers for students studying current events, economics, or social studies. The site may also be useful as an example of how to tell stories related to history. Consider asking students to analyze HOW the stories are told, either using film or still photography. How can we use these media to illustrate a historical event? For students considering a History Day exhibit or documentary, these stories may provide inspiration and direction. As Common Core calls on students to engage in digital writing, showing these examples to help students plan student-made media will be more meaningful than simply talking about it.

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Tag(s): media literacy, canada, photography,

Edward S. Curtis’s The North American Indian

— Northwestern University

8-11

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0 promising practices http://curtis.library.northwestern.edu/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:50

How It Works

Between 1909 and 1930, photographer Edward Curtis set out to document the life and culture of the North American Indians, and this site shares his work. Like so many of his time, he viewed Native Americans as a "primitive" race of people whose customs were a source of curiosity. As westward expansion began to destroy the culture of indigenous people, Curtis wanted to record, through photographs and narratives, what he believed was a savage and mysterious world before it disappeared. While Curtis’ work represented the popular viewpoint of his time, today we recognize that it is, at best, the impressions of someone who neither understood nor particularly valued what he was recording. This digital reproduction of the entire project needs to be carefully previewed and introduced so that we don’t perpetuate this way of viewing Native American life. In fact, some of the images of the ceremonial life were never intended to be seen by "outsiders," and their use today is controversial. The site does a good job of setting the context for the use of Curtis’s work and helps establish respectful boundaries.

In the Classroom

We have come a long way from the study of Native Americans as a single generic group. Careful use of the images and narratives from Curtis’ work can help illustrate that outdated mindset and provide a contrast to today’s understanding of the contributions indigenous Americans have made to US history and culture. Share these images on your interactive whiteboard or projector as part of a guided discussion.

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Tag(s): native americans,

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