The internet is a wonderful way to explore the world, but kids need to be safe!  That's why we're sharing links for our videos via Safe Youtube to support your distance learning this mission!  You can send parents here to collect the links or copy and paste them and share via the platform of your choice.  The videos are visible on this page as well, thanks to Weebly's YouTube embedding tool.   To ensure kids' safety, we advise teacher and parents not to share this page directly with your young students if they are unsupervised.  Children should also be supervised if watching videos or livestreams directly on the site.  

Hello everyone! I've been busy chatting with teachers and educational leaders near and far and what strikes me most is how much everyone wants to help.  Teachers are going above and beyond to attend to their students physical and mental well being.  AND teachers are being incredible LEARNERS as they rapidly grow their skill sets to cope with our unfamiliar new reality.

I really want to help too so I held a few Zoom calls yesterday to talk about the upcoming mission and spotlight all the ways the lessons we will soon be sending your way can be implemented at home.  I shared tips from some of our Super Teachers and let you know about the additional supports we'll be providing during this mission to hopefully make your distance learning efforts a bit easier.  

Our users said they'd like to continue regular meetings during the mission.  I've got our first of those meetings scheduled for Friday March 27 at noon.  I'll post additional dates and links here as I schedule them.  I keep looking to the good things that are coming out of these shut downs.  Getting to actually SEE YOU on these calls is at the top of the list.  :-)

****IF YOU NEED CALLS ON A DIFFERENT PLATFORM OR OTHER TIMES LET US KNOW!  WE'LL ACCOMMODATE!****

​Zoom sessions for Go2Science Support

• Friday, March 27 noon EDT  https://us04web.zoom.us/j/148458061 Meeting ID: 148 458 061
• Friday, April 3 noon EDT
  
• ​Friday, April 10 noon EDT
  

Updated on March 25, 2020.

As an increasing number of schools are facing extended suspensions of in-person learning, teachers are working to craft realistic, yet meaningful distance learning experiences for their students.  We're taking the following steps to support both exiting subscribers and new users:

1. We’ll provide “Safe YouTube” links to each of the Borneo Field Videos and Livestream Archives weekly as the mission unfolds.  This allows you to share those links with families so kids can watch at home while you direct the mission by sharing the lessons and integrations you choose.  
2. If you livestream on behalf of your class with questions they’ve submitted ahead of time, shoot us an email after your session stating the time you joined us and we can share a direct link to your archived session.
3. We are making all of our resources for the next 8 weeks free (the entire Borneo mission) so that families can join us directly.  We do reserve the right to limit their ability to ask questions during livestream in the event of a HUGE response.  We want our subscribers to have priority.  Of course, we can not control HOW a family uses the mission materials so if you want to direct the outcomes closely, this may not be the best option for you.
4. In addition to our weekly newsletter during the upcoming mission, we'll also be hosting weekly video conferences.  These are an opportunity for teachers to share strategies and for us to give support for each upcoming week.

The hypothesis for this mission is that forests with larger trees have more biodiversity than forests with smaller trees.  They’ll be ample opportunities to use photos we provide to track the diversity we’ll see.  There are hands on lessons in the works that can be implemented at home with readily available materials.  Some lessons will even work best outside in the fresh air.

We will have lessons to you no later than the end of March.  Our first pre-mission email with supplemental materials should be in your inbox on April 2.  Our first livestream date is April 7th.  The last livestream is scheduled for May 14th.  We may adjust the times or numbers of live sessions depending on your needs.

All the best,
Beth and Curtis

Wow!  The Day 11 Lesson is full of possibilities!  It can help you address scads of standards with your students.  

Day 11: Moving Water This engineering and design challenge gives you the opportunity to address more than the engineering standards.  Students can also explore forces and motion, earth sciences, and properties of matter.  Skim through the standards to decide what sorts of guiding questions you might ask to focus student work.

• K-PS2-1. Plan and conduct an investigation to compare the effects of different strengths or different directions of pushes and pulls on the motion of an object.
• K-PS2-2. Analyze data to determine if a design solution works as intended to change the speed or direction of an object with a push or a pull.
• K-LS1-1. Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive. Examples of patterns could include that animals need to take in food but plants do not; the different kinds of food needed by different types of animals; the requirement of plants to have light; and, that all living things need water.
• K-ESS2-2. Construct an argument supported by evidence for how plants and animals (including humans) can change the environment to meet their needs. Examples of plants and animals changing their environment could include a squirrel digs in the ground to hide its food and tree roots can break concrete.
• 2-PS1-1. Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties. Observations could include color, texture, hardness, and flexibility. Patterns could include the similar properties that different materials share.
• 2-PS1-2. Analyze data obtained from testing different materials to determine which materials have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose. Examples of properties could include, strength, flexibility, hardness, texture, and absorbency.
• 2-PS1-3. Make observations to construct an evidence-based account of how an object made of a small set of pieces can be disassembled and made into a new object. Examples of pieces could include blocks, building bricks, or other assorted small objects.
• K-2-ETS1-1. Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.
• K-2-ETS1-2. Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.
• K-2-ETS1-3. Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs.

As I look back at the comic for this mission, I'm struck by how much impact a word can have.  I love the way Ben uses the word zoom in each of the panels below.  It shows such motion and reinforces the meaning of the word.

We have one final 3D print to share for this mission.  It's a fantastic print to use for a mystery bag or mystery print activity!  On Day 11, Curtis joins a crew member is using a jembe (similar to a hoe) to dig a trench.  If you are able to print the file out of the view of students, slip it into bag or box so that students can feel it without seeing it.  Let them know they saw this object in one of the field videos.  Then encourage them to describe the features they feel and predict what the object could be based on what they feel.  This activity can be a great way to focus a group while building language skills!

To delete a support, click the delete button.  Hover over a support turning it blue.  Click and poof, it's gone!

Unlike most of our missions, students will know if the hypothesis true once they see the Day 12 field video.  There will be no doubt if there is drinkable groundwater under HIP Academy, but the impact that water will have is uncertain.  How much water is there?  How many people can that help?

Your students CAN calculate this!  We've provided handouts to help you frame this juicy problem for your students.  Calculate in jugs or liters depending on your goals and time available.  Using liters gives students the chance to work with numbers into the thousands, while using jugs keeps numbers in the hundreds.  In either case, providing tens frames and manipulatives can help your students stretch their math skills as they grapple with the problem.   

As students grapple with this problem, they'll apply what they know about counting, base ten operations, and skip counting while building a foundation for future work with multiplication.  Without a meaningful problem, it can be challenging to get students to maintain focus during productive struggle, but it has been my experience that if students care they really, really try!  It can be hard not to swoop in with the answer or even just a more effective method before allowing time for that struggle.  I encourage you to ask guiding questions and provide organizational supports instead!  I can't wait to see how your students work this out!

As teachers, we know what it is like to make sacrifices for our students.  We work beyond contract hours.  We make sure kids have snacks.  It goes on and on!  Imagine, however, working without a salary at all!  Teachers at HIP Academy are making that sacrifice right now!  While it is incredibly moving that they are willing to give so selflessly for their students, it is not sustainable.  Read on to see how you can help!

Spending time with Livingstone has been incredible!  It is clear that the village holds him and his brother Fred (a HIP teacher) in the highest esteem.  The community knows the education the teachers are providing at HIP is critical not only for the future of the children, but the future of the whole village. 

Life in Livingstone's village is rich in family time and close community connections.  In other areas, however, they have great need.  School funding is one of those needs.  

Budget shortfalls mean the teachers at HIP Academy are currently forgoing their salaries of just $50 a month. That's why Livingstone (with Beth's help) is launching a funding campaign in hopes of raising funds to pay a competitive salary and allow his dedicated teachers to continue to do their transformative work.  Even beginning teachers in the US make more in a WEEK than a Kenyan teacher makes in a YEAR.

Please take a moment to check out the campaign.  Livingstone would greatly appreciate your help in getting the word out!  ​ If you can donate, thank you on behalf of  HIP Academy and the whole community.