Spring 2008
NSF News Highlights NASA News Releases Eureka Alert

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:


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 teachers. 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

EBS Institute Tutoring

Last Updated Tuesday, April 22, 2008
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