Activity sheets are one page summaries of teaching activities in a standardized format. Teaching activities in this context includes everything from a 5 minute in-class exercise to an extended student project. The goal of the activity sheet is to concisely communicate to other teachers what the key elements of the activity are so that they can adapt the activity for their own environment; or perhaps use it as a source of inspiration and good ideas.
Activity sheets are categorized by teaching method (optional), inquiry level, grade level, activity type, and discipline. Approved activities are added to the SERC database and can be sorted by category and browsed by anyone.
In some cases an activity sheet may contain all the materials necessary to conduct the activity; student handouts, instructor's notes and the like can be embedded in the page as downloadable files. In some cases the activity sheet may draw heavily on materials available elsewhere with links or bibliographic references provided as appropriate. In some cases an activity sheet may describe an activity that has been documented elsewhere: either on the web, or in print. In all cases teachers will benefit from the standardized format which allows them to efficiently skim a large number of examples to find those most relevant to their needs. And in the later cases where an activity sheet is based largely or in part on pre-existing materials the creation of the activity sheet creates a bridge between the existing material and the teaching method information.
Authors retain copyright over the materials they submit. However, by submitting your activity you are agreeing to share it under a Creative Commons license that allows others to reuse your materials for non-commercial purposes as long as they give attribution and share any derivative work similarly.
After you submit this form you will be able to immediately view a page containing your materials and make changes to that page. To do this you will need a SERC account. Visit the login page to create an account if you do not have one already. Make sure to use the same email address to create your account and on this submission form.
After submitting Shawn Hubert will contact you via email within 3 weeks about your MnSTEP stipend and course grade.
The title should be evocative of the main point(s) of the activity. It needs to communicate the full context of the activity on its own as it will show up in places like search returns (e.g. Google) where people won't have any contextual clues. So it should convey the idea that this is a teaching activity, what the subject matter is and what the relevant pedagogical focus is. For example: Investigating Conduction: Calculating Heat Transfer Through Various Solids
Provide your name and the name of your school, city and state. If the page is based on materials originally created elsewhere that should be noted with attribution given to the original authors. For example: Jon Smith, Apple View Elementary School, Any Town, MN, based on an original activity from the FOSS Kit, Physics of Sound, p.38.
Provide you school email address. If more than one author, separate addresses with a comma. Email addresses will not be displayed in the activity page but are used for internal tracking.
This text should make it clear what the activity is. It should provide an overview of the things that students will do and the intended outcomes. The description should be concise and compelling: typically no more than 1-2 very brief paragraphs.
In this biology field lab, students investigate whether a goldenrod gall fly larvae population collected from a restored prairie area is different from the larvae population collected from a small native prairie 10 km away. They determine populations at both sites using a transect method and compare the combined class data for the two groups of gall flies. Students write a lab report describing their results. A description of this lab report format is provided. Students also develop a new, testable question related to insect populations and propose a procedure to gather data on this question.
What concepts and content should students learn from this activity? What is this activity designed for students to do? Provide 1-3 learning goals. Are there higher-order thinking skills (e.g. critical thinking, data analysis, synthesis of ideas, model development) that are developed by this activity? Are there other skills (observation, questioning, writing, oral presentation, field techniques, equipment operation, etc.) that are developed by the activity? Also list 2-3 key concepts and 2-5 vocabulary words to be discovered or reviewed by students through this lesson. (Remember: a concept is a complete sentence, not one word.)
List the Minnesota Academic Science Standard(s) for your grade level that this activity directly supports? Also provide a few words that identify the standard or specific benchmark. For Example: 8.III.A.4 rock sequences
This text should help faculty understand the types of teaching situations for which this activity is appropriate. Important types of context include educational level, class size, institution type, etc. Is it a lab, lecture, field exercise, or a longer project? How much time is needed for the activity? Is there special equipment that is necessary? Are there skills or concepts that students should have already mastered before encountering this activity? How is this activity situated in the course? How easy (or hard) would it be to adapt the activity for use in other settings?
This section should include a narrative describing the mechanics of the activity and the materials needed to implement it. How will the lesson be introduced? What materials are used? What will students do? What are your closure strategies? If the activity is fully documented or adapted from another source provide the URL or complete reference.
For all materials include, in the box below, a brief description of each item covering what it is and what its role is in the activity.
If you upload files as part of your activity remember to consider their final use in deciding on appropriate formats. Materials that other faculty are likely to modify should be provided in easily editable formats (plain text, Word files), whereas materials that will be likely only used verbatim are most convenient in formats that are universally readable (PDF format is often a good choice).
Once this form has been submitted we can work with you to integrate the downloadable files into the text of this section.
Please be sure all materials you upload can be freely redistributed. For more information about copyright as it applies to materials you are sharing through this site please check our more detailed discussion of this issue.
e.g. 'Student Handout for Sauerkraut Assignment'
UnspecifiedJPEGGIFPNGMicrosoft WordMicrosoft Word 2007 (.docx)PowerPointPowerPoint 2007 (.pptx)ExcelExcel 2007 (.xlsx)Acrobat (PDF)Rich Text FileText FileComma Separated ValuesFlash VideoQuicktime VideoQuicktime MP4 VideoFlash MP4 VideoMP4 VideoMP3 AudioPhotoshopIllustratorKMLFileKMZ FileZip Archivegzip ArchiveStuffit ArchiveDisk Image FileHTML FileEncapsulated PostscriptPostscriptTIFFJar ArchiveUnknown BinaryThe system will attempt to determine the correct file type based on the name of the file you've selected. Choosing the correct file type here will override that.
e.g. 'student_handout'This will be the name of the downloaded file. By default the system will generate this based on the title you specified and the type of file. If you specify a name here it will over-ride the automatically generated name. This is generally only useful when uploading file of a type not recognized by the system (not in the list of file types above). In that situation choose File Type: Unknown Binary and include the appropriate suffix in the file name here. e.g. myfile.m3z Avoid spaces or special characters in the file names.
(You)Someone else -- Describe below.
A short description of where the material came from. Include names and institutions of authors and contributors as well as acknowledgment of any work from which this was derived.
The creator/copyright holder must have agreed to allow distribution of this file through this site. If you are the creator we strongly encourage you to select the CC Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike option.
If none of the above licenses apply describe the conditions under which this material appears on this site as well as any information about reuse beyond this site.
Distributing information on the web generally requires the permission of the copyright holder--usually the original creator. Providing the information we request here will help visitors to this site understand the ways in which they may (legally) use what they find.
If you created this file (and haven't signed away your copyright) then we'd encourage you to select the CC Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike option. You'll retain the copyright to your file and can do as you please with it in the future. Through this choice you are also explicitly allowing others to reuse that file as long as they give you attribution, and don't use it for commercial purposes.
If the file (or content within it) was created by others you'll need their permission. If it predates 1923 or was created by a U.S federal employee (as part of their job) it is likely in the public domain (and we can all do as we choose with it). The original author may also have explicitly stated how it may be reused (e.g. through a creative commons license). You can describe the licensing/reuse situation in the box above.
Without permission you should not upload the file. There are several options in this case:
The Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center has more good information about copyright as it applies to academic settings.
If you have more than 5 files include the first 5 here. After completing this form you will have the opportunity to edit the resulting web page and be able to upload addtional files at that point.
This section should include notes and tips for instructors who might use the activity. Information such as common areas of confusion, things that need reinforcement, safety guidelines, and other practical tips and pointers for making the best use of the activity are appropriate. Note that this section should complement, rather than repeat, the specific description of the activity provided above. Also, briefly describe how this activity is different from what you (and your students) have done in the past.
This section should describe how the author determines whether or not students (either individually or collectively) are achieving the learning goals outlined for the activity. Other relevant assessment strategies may also be described in this section. Include an overview of the student work that will be recorded, viewed or handed in.
The short description should be a distillation of the summary above. This description will be displayed in search returns. The optimal length for this description is on the order of 1-2 sentences. For Example: This activity is a field investigation where student gather data on goldenrod gall fly larvae populations in two areas and develop a new, experimental question.
« Previous Page Next Page »
