EBS
Partners with Amazon.com
| Now you can support the work of
the EBS Institute by using our website as a portal to
Amazon.com. We have begun featuring books and materials that
support the work of the Event-Based Science Project,
as well as science trade books that supplement our
modules. Every time you make a
purchase at Amazon.com, a small percentage flows directly to
the EBS Institute. (Please continue to purchase Event-Based Science modules directly from Prentice
Hall on their online catalog.)
Here is an example:
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Do You
Have an
Event-Based Science
Story to Share?
The Event-Based Science
concept has been available to teachers for fifteen years. Over that
time we have created 19 modules, an award-wining website, 10
remote-sensing activities, 15 Cover Your Bases activities, and 6
other activities.
Although reviewers have said
wonderful things about our work, we would like to share success stories
through this newsletter. If you have a story to tell, please send it along
with a picture of your students actively engaged in an EBS activity.
Here is what Thomas Gole,
Seventh Grade Science Teacher, Grand Rapids, MI has to say about our Blight! module.
Have you ever wondered why we have so many people of
Irish decent in the US? The answer lies in the potato famine, a
catastrophe caused by a blight. Blight!, a module in the
excellent Event-Based Science series, begins with a short
news clip that answers these questions and more. The video acts as a
springboard or "hook" to get students interested in
reporting on plants and their diseases. The module includes student
materials with text, activities, and assessment, and a Teacher’s
Guide with support and student outcomes. This complete package is an
outstanding illustration of authentic science instruction for middle
and secondary students.
Blight! is one of a series of modules that take an historical
or news-based approach to science literacy. Following the starting
video, students take on roles in a television production
company--producer, scriptwriter, director, and prop manager. As part
of their production, they must cover plant structures,
photosynthesis, the carbon cycle, pollination, seed dispersal, and
one plant disease. Roles are well defined. As part of their
research, five "Science Activities" give hands-on
experience. Titles include: "Take a Ride on the Carbon
Cycle,” “Operation Flower Power,” and "Toss Your
Salad.” Background information is included to give details to get
students started on this active science project. This material
includes articles on classification, wet mounting, using a
microscope on high power, plant parts, seed, fruit, soil, world
population, vegetables, and fungi. Other materials feature three
science careers and provide multicultural perspectives.
Finally, there's "The Presentation”-- a television show
written and produced by the students. Performance assessment
guidelines, a proofreading guide sheet, and a peer response form
will help students evaluate their efforts.
This is excellent material that teachers can use with little
additional preparation time. It's an exciting way to motivate
research and reading to promote science, and a great way to get away
from the text. This product is recommended for fifth through seventh
graders, but could be used with older students effectively. |
Never Lose
Sight of the Importance of the TASK
I recently observed students
as they presented their TASK from an EBS unit under development. What
stood out to me was the disconnect between the learning and the
TASK.
Although EBS units begin with
News coverage of a real event, it is the TASK that gives students a reason
for learning the science concepts and skills in an EBS unit. The TASK is
supposed to create the need to know that drives the unit.
Therefore the focus of any TASK presentation should be on the choices that
were made and how the things learned in the unit support the
decisions.
Make sure your students never
lose sight of this fact!
Russ Wright
President, EBS Institute
Let
Us Help Your School District Write Your Science Curriculum
Select the Event-Based
Science Model for your Curriculum-Development Project and we will help
you write your proposal.
Development of science
curriculum using the Event-Based Science (EBS) model can help you
obtain funding. EBS curricula have been supported by grants totaling over
$3 million. Funding has come from the National
Science Foundation, the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National
Institutes of Health.
The EBS Institute also
provides writing and editing services
Under contract to the American Psychological Association the EBS Institute
wrote the Teacher's Manual for the Other 3 Rs project. The writing
included both instructional materials written for use with students as
well as background material and strategies written for te achers.
The complete finished product is available here.
We are especially proud of the story The Problem at Shaker Grove School
that begins on page 48 of the Teacher's Manual.
Another example of our work
can be found at OrganDonor.com.
Here you will see Finding a Match,
an EBS biology activity that is part of the Decision Donation
program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
EBS Institute writing and
editing services focus on the domains of assessment, pedagogy, educational
research, and science for lay audiences.
On
the Road
with
Event-Based Science
We have trainers and a cadre of sales
representatives from Prentice Hall. If you are interested in hosting an EBS Workshop, or
having the Director of Event-Based Science speak at your
next science meeting, call 1-301-806-7252.
Upcoming
EBS Training & Presentations
*
Indicates that Russ Wright (founder of Event-Based Science)
will speak.
Thrill
Ride!, Earthquake!, Outbreak!, First Flight!,
Blackout! and
Fraud!
KITS
As
the idea for Event-Based Science evolved, it became apparent
that teachers wanted kits for some activities and units.
These kits are available from:
EBS-KITS
Taylor Science Center
19501 White Ground Road
Boyds, MD 20841
Kits are now available for
Blackout!, Fraud!, and Thrill Ride!, as well
as for individual activities in Earthquake!, First
Flight!, and Outbreak! For more information
about EBS-KITS go to the EBS Web site at http://www.ebsinstitute.com and follow the link to
"Ordering Modules and
Kits." Or, go straight
to http://www.ebsinstitute.com/ebs.kits.html
© 2008
Event-Based Science Project
If you have questions about Event-Based
Science, and wish to speak to the project director, call
1-301-806-7252, and ask for Russ Wright.
Event-Based
Science Home Page
Last Updated Tuesday, April 22, 2008
<webmaster@ebsinstitute.com>
EventS
is published on this web
site three times a year. New issues are posted on or about these dates: September
, December, and March.
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