Teachers’ Lounge

Welcome to the Teachers’ Lounge!

by megan on Nov. 7th, 2008 9 Comments

My name is Megan Schufreider, and I work here in the Academy Education Division, developing curricula for teachers and delivering science classes to students. With degrees in Biology and Museum Studies and experience working as both a classroom teacher and a museum educator, I am delighted to moderate this blog for our community of science teachers.

The Teachers’ Lounge blog serves as a direct line of communication between you and our Education Division -– and an opportunity to share ideas and enthusiasm with your colleagues. Each week, Education staff will post entries aimed to keep you up-to-date with science-related news. Science is an ever-changing discipline, and we hope to shed some light on recent discoveries to make the content accessible to your students.

In addition, we’ll recommend resources for teaching science and report on professional development events. So be sure to add this page to your Favorites.

Some thematic areas for future posts include:

  • Science in the News

  • Understanding Sustainability

  • Schoolyard Science

  • Behind Academy Research

  • Keeping a Science Journal

  • ….and more!

I welcome you to participate. Join the conversation, and keep in touch!

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9 Comments So Far

  1. Liz Perillat on Nov. 25th, 2008 at 6:05 PM

    Hi there….am helping plan the 8th grade field trip which will be sometime in May. Would like to see about getting the kids involved online now, as we live too far away to come in….perhaps you have some suggestions…thanks…Liz

  2. Sarah Hart on Dec. 16th, 2008 at 10:13 AM

    It would be wonderful if the Academy could offer free or reduced admissions for teachers. With funding the way it is too often too expensive to have a field trip but as a science teacher in Sonoma County I’d love to come and learn more but the cost can be prohibitive. Thanks.

  3. megan on Dec. 16th, 2008 at 12:51 PM

    While reduced admission categories served impractical during this first hectic year of operation, we are considering re-enacting the Educator level of our Membership ladder. We are still working on developing a package that is particularly convenient for our teacher audience. Thanks for expressing your interest – here in the Education Division, we are certainly proud of our enthusiastic constituency!

    We’d love for you to stop by for a visit, and understand that the costs may seem prohibitive (the monthly operations bill would make your jaw drop — running aquarium systems 24/7 and maintaining climate control for millions of priceless research specimens is a cost often overlooked by the public!). For 2009, I recommend purchasing an individual membership and bringing a colleague along as your free guest. Or, come by on one of our free Wednesdays (but by all means head out early!).

    For those of you who reside in San Francisco, the neighborhood free weekends will occur in May and June of 2009.

  4. Deb on Dec. 19th, 2008 at 7:22 PM

    Just watched the building of the academy on the Science channel so I had to check out your website. As a 5th grade science teacher I am always looking for ways to improve my understanding of science and your museum has some good connections and plans for content that I teach. Eventhough I teach in Maryland, your environmental ideas can be applied anywhere. Can’t wait to visit the museum!

  5. Christy on Jan. 2nd, 2009 at 11:22 AM

    I am excited that my 4th grade class was able to get a field trip spot this year, as we are a school outside of SFUSD and getting a reservation was needless to say, very competitive. I like my students to have an assignment the first half of the day and then wander around. I have been going to the Exploratorium the past 5 years, as I tie in electricity/magnetism with their upstairs exhibits. My suggestion over the next year, which I am sure you are working on as well, is adding more meaty ideas for classes in your resource section for when kids are actually *at* the museum. I like the rainforest lesson the best for my kids, though it is a pre-activity. I will be going today to come up with some ideas for my kids to do. For upper el/middle school kids, there are great possibilities to tie a larger unit idea into the museum, and use the trip as a “research” point.

  6. Carol on Jan. 4th, 2009 at 11:54 PM

    I second the vote for Educator memberships.
    Consider including activities for undergrads in the resource center. For example, I would like to bring my college class to the resource center and have them do some comparative analysis with skeletons or other materials that are unavailable at our college. Ideally, one of the Academy scientists could lead the activity. In addition to investigating the animal materials, students would get another perspective on careers for biologists.

  7. MaryC on Mar. 29th, 2009 at 1:52 PM

    I would certainly join if they had an eucator membership rate. I am a Charter Member at the DeYoung and, even though I don’t use it that often, it it great to stay informaded and share information with my students. With all the reductions in the schools and cutbacks on salaries and benefits, it is hard to pay for a full priced membership.

  8. Patricia Thayer on Jul. 2nd, 2009 at 3:52 PM

    Is there any way to get a copy of the Science Channel program on the building of the Academy?

  9. megan on Jul. 6th, 2009 at 10:57 AM

    Hey Patricia,

    If you are referring to Ecopolis, which featured our living roof, you can find a 3-minute clip here: http://science.discovery.com/video/ecopolis.html (scroll down to Ecopolis: Living Roof).

    I don’t think it’s for sale as a DVD, so the clip is the best we can offer.

    If you are looking to purchase a full-length documentary on the Academy, “Under the Living Roof” is sold in the Academy store (on-site or online).

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