Dear Eagle County Science Teachers,

We are grateful that you selected Lab-Aids and SEPUP for pilot testing. For those not involved in a SEPUP pilot we will have two webinar presentations next Friday, May 15th at 9am and 2pm. Additionally, we have provided a comprehensive review video and highlights of Issues and Science below. 

Do you have any questions for our Lab-Aids representatives you want addressed during these presentations? If so click here and let us know. 

•  Student Centered

•  Hands-on with a purpose

•  English and Spanish Student Books

GET TO KNOW LAB-AIDS

Lab-Aids is the exclusive publisher for SEPUP, an acronym for Science Education for Public Understanding Program, located at the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Lab-Aids partners with SEPUP to publish digital and print materials and produce science lab equipment.

SEPUP requires students to interact with scientific content multiple times through varied learning experiences including investigations, laboratories, readings, and simulations. Literacy skills are embedded into the investigations and will support Eagle County curriculum goals.

How can the exploration of issues in our world today, prepare our students for the decisions and solutions of tomorrow? Each unit in Issues in Science is framed with an overall focus to guide the learning and instruction. How should we prevent the spread of an infectious disease? How is a growing population affecting the availability of natural resources? These issues and their connected phenomena drive the storyline of each unit for students to investigate, discuss, analyze, and design solutions in Issues in Science, designed for the NGSS.

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How are we culturally responsive?

Lab-Aids supports Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices. 

  • Foster Positive Learning Communities:
    • 4-2-1 model supports heterogenous grouping, networking, and collaboration.
    • Activates multiple intelligence through varied activities.
    • Support materials are organized and easily accessed. 

  • Student Centered/ Relevant to Student's Lives: 
    • Students generate, investigate, and respond to questions relevant to their lives.
    • Presented in a student-centered storyline, main characters are students and reflect the diversity of society.

  • Engaging, Rigorous and Relevant:
    • Challenges students to think critically and address relevant issues.
    • Issues-based - student explorations build their expertise - they propose solutions supported by data.
    • Their voice is respected and valued, encouraging divergent thinking supported by their evidence and reasoning. 

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

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Build sustainability

Science educators have come to trust Lab-Aids as a valuable resource for engaging and worth-while professional development.

Our trainings are like our programs; engaging, hands-on, and personally relevant. From our popular conference workshops and getting-started days to full year implementation and district level train-the-trainer programs we are here to support our schools - now and in the future. 

It's how all PD should be.

Teachers PD

Using a model similar to other large districts, we will create an intentional plan within Eagle County to build internal leadership and long-term sustainability of the program.  

HOW LAB-AIDS SUPPORTS EAGLE COUNTY CURRICULUM

Literacy supports throughout

Our labs provide frequent opportunities for students to develop their language skills, each providing embedded strategies to help teachers explore students' thinking. 

The Three-Level Reading Guide is a reading strategy that focuses students on processing content in text. It guides students from the literal level of understanding to the higher levels of interpretation and application of the reading.

Talking Drawings help students construct diagrams to visually communicate their ideas about a concept. 

Use of a science notebook is also integrated.

Learn more

Materials chosen for durability and low refill cost

We provide teachers with all the tools needed so that they can get back to what matters: teaching. Lab-Aids provides all the needed components for an authentic inquiry classroom. From one day activities to full year curriculum, we offer a range of classroom solutions.

1. Student books 2. All Equipment 3. Online Resources 4. Organized Drawers 5. Signature Items 6. Listed Drawer Contents 7. Storage Carts

4-2-1 Grouping Model - Students working collaboratively

Group work helps students build skills and is critical in helping an issue-oriented classroom succeed. The 4-2-1 cooperative approach offers a structure that helps teachers reduce off-task conversations, students dominating discussions, and lack of accountability. 

Having students evaluate the ability of their group to work together also improves group interaction skills. Students improve their ability to work with others when allowed to self-assess their interactions when working in groups. 

ENCOURAGING MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES FROM STUDENTS

Issues-based science means we ask for their position, supported by data.

SEPUP is built intentionally to encourage discussion and evidence-driven debate.

Students gather data and then make decisions.

Input is respected and valued as the researcher-expert.

TAKE A LOOK INSIDE

Earth Science

Students address how the growing human population affects the availability of natural resources and where we should store our nuclear waste. They gain an understanding of where the best choices for construction are. Students discuss how the weather affects people and how people affect the climate and work to figure out what kind of space missions we should fund and conduct. 

Earth's Resources
Geological Processes
Land, Water, and Human Interactions
Solar System and Beyond
Weather and Climate

English
Spanish
Select Teacher Pages
Student Work and Notebook
LABsent Activity video sample

Life Science

Students conduct labs to understand how engineering can be used to improve the lives of those living with medical conditions. They learn the effects of introduced species and what can be done about them. Students ask and find how we should prevent the spread of an infectious disease. These and many more issues and storylines are introduced in our Life Science units. 

Biomedical Engineering
Body Systems
Ecology
Evolution
From Cells to Organisms
Reproduction

English
Spanish
Select Teacher Pages
Student Work and Notebook
LABsent Activity video sample

Physical Science

Students develop an understanding of how science and technology work together in order to make personal and community decisions. For example, the Energy unit has students investigate and make decisions on what devices are more efficient than others, how we can manipulate energy transfer and transformation to use energy more efficiently and what can we do to reduce energy use. Throughout every unit, student gather and apply information as evidence to support their claims and arguments. 

Chemical Reactions
Chemistry of Materials
Energy
Fields and Interactions
Force and Motion
Waves

English
Spanish
Select Teacher Pages
Student Work and Notebook
LABsent Activity video sample

Colorado Science | Grades 6-8 Correlations                NGSS | Grades 6-8 Correlations

TEACHER RESOURCES

Tools for Teaching SEPUP

We are constantly finding different ways to help teachers understand the SEPUP lesson and best ways to give your students a better understanding. Take a look at this video on Climate Change and data skills for students from our Weather and Climate unit. 

WHY WE USE SEPUP IN COLORADO

Issues and Science is relevant, hands on, fun, organized, challenging, and designed for the middle school brain. My students love the flow and are consistently surprised when their questions are answered as we move through the activities. The routines are established and this leaves more space for creativity in content. I love that each unit has a variety of types of activities, including modeling, design challenges, labs, investigations, problem solving, etc. The content reading activities are spaced in a relevant way when students are ready and need more information. My students keep a Science Notebook for all their materials that are filled with writing, sketches, and lab work. In addition to written work, there is a TON of student talk and problem solving as a team.

Issues and Science is organized! The materials I need to deliver hands-on lessons are right there ready for me. The layout of the Teacher's Edition makes my planning more efficient. I can focus on incorporating my personality into each lesson, because I can trust that the content has been thoroughly researched and field tested in classrooms. Issues and Science is perfectly aligned with NGSS. In addition to the high quality content, the cross cutting concepts are clear and well placed. Looking for patterns not only helps kids with science, but also in their math confidence. Organizing and evaluating data is consistently practiced. My favorite part of the NGSS edition [of Issues and Science] is the emphasis on Science and Engineering Practices. My students love collecting data and then using the knowledge to design a solution to a relevant problem.

My district adopted SALI, the first edition of Issues and Science, in 2007. In using the NGSS edition, my biggest shift is that I can use more time and energy on deepening my understanding of content and adolescent brain research. Since using SEPUP programs I have become a more well rounded, energetic teacher.

Lisa Yemma | Middle School Science Teacher | Slavens Elementary, Denver

 

Contact Bill Gipperich • Science Curriculum Specialist • 319-560-4913 • bgipperich@lab-aids.com