Ed Scanlon (Morgan Park HS)
showed us how to construct an Analytical Key for Identification. (handout)
Directions: Group the 30 organisms according to some characteristic and then subdivide each group according to different states of that characteristic. Students are given a sheet of 30 Whatsits (drawings of obviously related organisms). By the end of the activity, students must have assigned a 2 word name to each Whatsits and written out a classification scheme that will give each Whatsits a unique name. Ed took us through this in some depth, and we really learned something! Thanks, Ed

Zoris Soderberg (Webster School)
showed us how to play "Astronomy," which she does with her students. We made a grid of 9 boxes (like tic tac toe), Zoris would call out a word, and we each would write that word (noun) in one of our boxes randomly. Example:

Then Zoris would call out a definition of one of the words, and we would make an X in the square that answers the definition. The first person to get 3 in a row calls out "Astronomy" - but then must give the correct definitions for the words in those three boxes on his sheet - and so win the prize. One might have

--- the words could be any that come up in a given area of study. A fun way to test for learning! Great, Zoris!

What good ideas will there be at the next meeting?! Don't miss it!

SEE YOU THERE!