Join our marketing director Leigh (and a host of other critters) as they explore the Catskill Mountains around her farm — and what happens when it rains and rains and rains, with a lesson from our new Soils module!

Click here to download our Mud in the Mountains! Virtual Field Trip…

Want to be a Science Companion Virtual Field Trip Guide?

We’re having so much fun with these that we’d like to share!

Send us pictures from your vacation this summer to enter our Intrepid Virtual Field Trip Guide contest. If we choose your photos to fit with a lesson from one of our modules (you’re welcome to make suggestions or leave it to us), we’ll feature you as our guide and send you a free Science Skill Builders module, which is a great tool for any elementary classroom!

Send your photos and/or any questions to leigh(a)sciencecompanion.com!

Join us for a celebration of speed and motion at the Indianapolis 500, combined with a lesson from our Motion module.

Click here to download the Indy 500 Motion Virtual Field Trip…

___

—

Want to be a Science Companion Virtual Field Trip Guide?

We’re having so much fun with these that we’d like to share!

Send us pictures from your vacation this summer to enter our Intrepid Virtual Field Trip Guide contest. If we choose your photos to fit with a lesson from one of our modules (you’re welcome to make suggestions or leave it to us), we’ll feature you as our guide and send you a free Science Skill Builders module, which is a great tool for any elementary classroom!

Send your photos and/or any questions to leigh(a)sciencecompanion.com!

Download it here:

Science Companion Light Field Trip

More from Science Companion on the road in Pennsylvania.

1

Researchers from the University of Chicago’s Center for Elementary Mathematics and Science Education (CEMSE) and a cohort of Science Companion authors visited Central Bucks School District in Bucks County, Pennsylvania last week. CEMSE is collecting and analyzing data to study the effects of Science Companion on student achievement and on student and teacher attitudes toward science. Student outcome data, student questionnaires, teacher questionnaires, and fidelity of implementation instruments will yield data that CEMSE will analyze to determine Science Companion’s impacts and effectiveness.

Jen Arrow’s Life Cycle Wall:

12

Lisa Cirulli’s classroom:

1

Nature’s Recyclers lesson outside:

It was a busy week, but great fun for the authors who got to see Science Companion in action!

1

Science Companion is on the road!

1

Science Companion and our fabulous Pennsylvania sales Reps Molly and Sam Felicia hosted an author event in Bucks County last week. We had a bunch of authors on hand as well as folks from CEMSE.  Great food, great conversation — a great evening, all around! It’s really a treat for our authors to get to meet and learn from teachers in the classroom.

1

1

From left to right are Molly Felicia, Meg Griffin (PA trainer), Carol Frymire (CEPC HR), Lance Campbell (author), Colleen Bell (author), and Sam Felicia.

1

A Virtual Rock Walk through Indiana

___

In honor of all of our teachers participating in the I-STEM Resource Network‘s wonderful pilot program, we invite you to join us as we check out some of the rocks in Indiana — and where they came from in our latest Virtual Field Trip.

___
These field trips are a”Science in Real Life” Series from Science Companion, pairing a lesson from one of our modules with a special place or current event.

Click to Download your Copy.

Check Scribd for Other Virtual Field Trips!

An Innovative Free Online Pilot Program!

___

We know that both time and financial resources are limited for school districts these days. So, we are delighted to introduce an exciting new digital opportunity for you to try Science Companion materials at no cost, at a scale that is easily manageable.  And it’s high tech, too!

___

Come to our Online Pilot Website and find:

• Sample lessons from eight of our modules.
• Conversation and support from content and teaching experts.
• Free digital teacher materials and student resources.
• Directions on how  to order  ‘lending library’ for kit materials.
• A pilot that will give you a rich taste of inquiry science but requires no more than a handful of classroom sessions.

___

“I think this is an awesome resource for doing science.” Field Test Teacher

___

There are a limited number of online pilots available, so contact us now to  find out how you can explore Science Companion at your pace, for free. (And, of course, we have traditional pilots available too. Just ask!)

___

Click here to visit the Science Companion Online Pilot Website!

Email us at pilots@sciencecompanion.com for more information.

___

___

We’re  are honored to have been chosen by MMSA, the Maine Mathematics & Science Alliance as the inquiry science curriculum for the ongoing L-SILL Project (Linking Science, Inquiry and Language Literacy).

___

What L-SILL is working towards:

The goal of L-SILL is to improve student achievement in science by supporting sustained professional development and the implementation of science-authentic classroom strategies that incorporate reading, writing, and speaking in the context of inquiry-based science. L-SILL provides school-based support with a variety of workshops and conferences open to any K-6 science teacher or administrator in Maine.

What they have to say about Science Companion:

Science Companion is the K-6 science curriculum program selected for L-SILL because of its focus on inquiry, developmentally appropriate content, pedagogical strategies, focus on the big ideas of science, and strong integrated literacy components. Science Companion incorporates children’s literature to model processes of science as well as to illustrate concepts and ideas. Scientists’ notebooks are an integral part of each kit, integrating a writing component. Questions and discussions are scaffolded in the Teacher’s Guides to assist teachers in guiding science discourse that will enhance students’ conceptual understanding of the targeted concepts. Reading, writing, and speaking are the essential components of literacy and Science Companion uses these to support science learning. Visit the MMSA to arrange a workshop at your school.

___

We think the MMSA is pretty cool, too!

Click here for their 2010 Maine STEM Summit Report!

__

***

Science Companion Teacher Lesson Manuals and Student Reference Books  are now available online for easy access anytime, anywhere.

•••

Science Companion is now available digitally, with all teacher materials  and student reference books bundled into hyperlinked PDF files. From the interactive Teacher Lesson Manual (iTLM), teachers can:

• Jump instantly to all of the other standard materials in the module, including:

• visual packs student science notebook teacher guides
• teacher masters
• student reference books
• assessment books

• Use classroom technology easily and effectively with instant access to images for projector or SMART board

• Plan lessons from anywhere without having to carry books

• Print anything from the digital files except student materials

Our iTLM’s are available as your full curriculum or as an upgrade along with your regular print materials so teachers have the best of all worlds. Download a Flyer here…

Our digital Student Reference Books can allow your students to access their materials from their computer at school or at home.

Contact your rep to ask for samples!

••••

April’s Virtual Field Trip, just in time for Earth Day:

•••

Join Science Companion author Colleen Bell and her family on a Spring Wild Walk in Manuel Antonio National Park in Costa Rica. Find monkeys and sloths, frogs and birds, along with a tree that has a completely unusual idea about what bark should look (and feel!) like…

Science Companion Collecting and Examining Life Virtual Field Trip.

•••

Click here to find it on Scribd.

(If you have trouble downloading it from our website or from Scribd, just email us at team@sciencecompanion.com and we’re happy to send you a copy!)

****