Theresa Jones Rogue 84

Name- Theresa Jones Content Area- Science Location- NJ   USA Current School- Hackensack Grade Level- Middle School Teaching Since- 1989 Twitter- @ Website-

My 6th grade kids work in collaborative teams to conduct science investigations. "The Force" guides them in selecting their team the first week of school (I have a deck of Star Wars playing cards; they randomly choose which team they'll be on by selecting a card - 10, J, K, Q or A - from the deck, then one person on the team selects a character card - Yoda, Vader, R2, Chewie, C3-PO, or Luke - to determine which team they will be. They earn points for their team by completing assignments, getting high marks on tests/quizzes, bringing in a box of tissues at the beginning of the year, wearing school colors on Friday's, or for other various tasks. Points are earned for each team during four different class periods throughout the day, and at the end of each marking period, the team with the most points has a party during lunch, where they get to meet the other kids from the other class periods who helped earn the reward.

At the end of the school year, on the afternoons of state mandated testing, we watch the original Star Wars. When the movie is over, we brainstorm all the science fiction in the film (laser weapons, Death Star, light speed travel, etc.) and create a list. Kids each pick one topic, and research it to learn 1) What the real-world equivalent technology/invention would be; 2) When did scientists begin to work on developing their technology/invention?; 3) Is their tech/invention still sci-fi, or has it become reality - or is it in the works?; 4) How does/would their invention/technology actually work?; 5) What scientific principles are involved in making their thing reality?; 6) Is this something they would like to have/use and why/why not? 7) What are some of the benefits to their invention/technology? and 8) What could some of the negative effects of their invention/technology be? We work with our Library Media specialist to learn about valid web resources and MLA writing style. We use Google Docs to write a 3-5 page paper with references cited.

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