There are many lists going around about what the next decade will bring in K-12 education, especially focusing on those things that will become obsolete.
Well, I decided to create my own list of 5 things that should be obsolete in K-12 education by 2020.
Homework
The United States continues to fall behind most Asian and some European [...]

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David Wetzel on March 5th, 2010

Students need opportunities to experience the Nature of Science experiences that replicate the way scientists search for answers to scientific questions.
There is no one scientific method process used by every scientist.
The Scientific Method, as taught in schools, is a false process and a oversimplification of the way scientists actually work, along with missing the point [...]

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David Wetzel on February 26th, 2010

A nature journal allows students to make observations and connections about the natural world in which they live.
As they develop their own nature journals, students develop a concrete understanding of what is going on in the part of nature they are studying.
One example is the impact of global warming on animals which live in a [...]

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David Wetzel on February 22nd, 2010

The science community needs to develop better ways to assess students’ understanding and skills, not just their science factual knowledge.
For many years, education has traditionally been about standing in front of a classroom and giving a great lecture, or just a lecture. What people rarely do is try to work out whether or not the [...]

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David Wetzel on February 19th, 2010

Ever wonder what to do with all those old phone books?
Earth Day is coming and a good earth day activity is to develop creative uses for these phone books, beyond just recycling or throwing them in the garbage.
Phone books have a myriad of uses such as shredding the pages for use as packing material, compost [...]

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David Wetzel on February 15th, 2010

A common question every parent and teacher has heard from children at some point — Why is the sky blue?
Learning the correct answer is important. Because once children hear an answer several times, right or wrong, this answer becomes embedded in their brain.
Convincing them otherwise, especially if they learned the wrong answer, takes a lot [...]

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David Wetzel on February 12th, 2010

As many of you may have discovered, I also found that many of my previous colleagues have little use for technology for teaching.
They are mired in excuses such as using technology is cheating, students learn best through lecture, the stresses of NCLB makes it too difficult to do anything but have students memorize facts to [...]

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David Wetzel on February 10th, 2010

Starch is a polysaccharide carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds. Starch is produced by all green plants as an energy store. It is the most important carbohydrate in the human diet and is contained in such staple foods as potatoes, wheat, maize (corn), rice, and cassava.
Fats consist [...]

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David Wetzel on February 3rd, 2010

The Museum of Animal Perspectives (M.A.P.) collects and displays wildlife imagery from all around the world captured using remote sensing cameras.
Most remotely sensed videos and photos that are presented are supplied by Flickr and YouTube.
The rest of the images that appear here come directly from wildlife filmmakers, researchers or stock agencies.
Most of the imagery that is [...]

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David Wetzel on February 1st, 2010

The following are discrepant events that does not turn out as expected.
These anomalies challenge students’ beliefs and makes them more receptive to learning what you want them to learn.
Alcohol and Water Miscibility: Discrepant Event
Miscibility means how completely two or more liquids dissolve in each other.
Materials Needed per Group: two 50 mL beakers, 0ne 100 mL [...]

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