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The plants around us provide a perfect hands-on biologyclassroom for students of all ages.  Fromplanting that first bean in a paper cup to conducting more involved andcomplicated high-school biology experiments, studying plants can be aneffective, concrete, fun, and low-cost way for students to explore the livingworld. 

Autumn doesn’t officially start until next week, but thesigns that the season is imminent are all around us. The nights have becomenoticeably cooler, and the days shorter. Trees are beginning to change color,and will soon begin shedding their leaves. For many plants, the lifespan of their hardworking leaves has come to anend; they will soon color, shrivel, and finally die. In some parts of thecountry, many plants will remain dormant for the winter, and only graduallyre-animate in the spring, when they unfurl new leaves.

You probably remember exactly where you were and what you were doing on the morning of September 11, 2001.  On that day, history gained a new day of infamy that will be a part of American History classes from now on.  Although this piece of contemporary history is seared in their parents’ minds, it might be just another story for many students who are too young to remember the events themselves. In remembrance of the tenth anniversary of this tragedy, many teachers are planning to cover the events and the aftermath in some way.  Teachers have a chance to use this awful event to continue the learning for future generations.

This week marks the 10th anniversary of 9/11. For me, the only day that was worse than September 11, 2001 was September 12, 2001. By then, the shock of what had happened was starting to recede, and the grim reality of the utter devastation was sinking in. Most of our K-12 students are too young to remember much, if anything, about that day, but it remains a watershed event in American history.

It’s always fun to do something unexpected in the classroom, and to watch the kids’ reactions. It’s especially gratifying when the event furthers a curricular goal, or makes subject matter more palatable to the students.

In the past couple of weeks, the word “hero” has been a huge part of the news media as 30 American soldiers were tragically killed in a recent Chinook crash in Afghanistan. The crash caused the highest number of American casualties in one day since the beginning of the conflict. As the names of the fallen were being released, friends and family remembered the soldiers as heroes. One 10-year-old boy posted a picture of his dad, a pilot of the downed helicopter, on CNN’s iReport and described him as a hero. This touching personal account of loss touched many people and caused an outpouring of comments on the site.

We study history to learn from other people’s mistakes and successes. More importantly than learning the facts about particular historical events, we want students to form connections with the history they are studying so they can apply the lessons to their own lives. In order to do this, we can help students compare and contrast historical characters and events to current events and people. The featured resources on The Gateway to 21st Century Skills this week employ creative techniques for the study of the American Civil War.

Not all of the students in my chemistry class will be going on to earn a technical degree in college. Although understanding the intricacies of balancing equations, predicting the products of reactions, and carefully following the scientific method is important for these students, they also need to learn to be educated consumers of scientific information.

Although it was a few years back, I distinctly remember the hours I spent studying to memorize the steps of how a bill becomes a law. Passing the Constitution test was a requirement for passing the eighth grade, so it was a pretty big deal to us at the time.

Younger students don’t spend much time thinking about laws, or how they are created. They understand laws as “rules” that are meant be followed, and that the appearance of police officers and general unpleasantness may occur if the rules (laws) aren’t obeyed. It’s not until upper elementary and middle school that students really start to grasp the notion that laws don’t just arbitrarily happen, but are in fact the result of a lengthy process that often takes unexpected twists and turns.