General FOSS CA Tips (K-2) The FOSS Science Resources book is very engaging for students and relates well with the activities. The reading pieces are short, so they can be done as homework and re-read multiple times in class to reinforce understanding of key content. To help with time management, we highly recommend using the students, older students, and volunteers to set up and help clean up materials needed for each activity. We recommend teaching science in the morning, first thing or after recess/lunch, so that you have an opportunity to set up materials. The morning also has the added bonus of having both teacher and students fresh, with plenty of energy to give to these fun and engaging activities. Afternoons often find both students and teacher tired and lacking the energy necessary for focusing, problem solving, and making thoughtful connections. A rolling materials cart is useful as a space saver. The cart can be positioned centrally with the materials needed for an investigation activity and then rolled out of the way once students have their materials and are ready to start the activity. It can again be rolled out for collecting materials and easily taken to the sink area or counter area for clean up. We have noticed that when activities are introduced with a question, both teaching and learning are improved. You will find that this lead question helps frame the lesson and ensures that the inquiry process leads eventually to the data and interpretations needed to develop an explanation of the original question. Students will find that writing this lead question in their notebooks will help them develop a context for the various parts of the investigation and collection of data and lead naturally to an attempt to explain their answer to the original question. Their notebooks will make more sense and be more likely to show an understanding of relationships and connections and a clear expression of a conclusion supported by evidence. We noticed that when this lead question was missing, lessons and notebook entries tended to look more like unconnected statements and data charts. In FOSS CA, K-2, these questions are revisited in the Wrapping Up sections found at the end of most parts.

Plant and Animal Care This module uses living organisms. For more information on organism care, visit this module's Teacher Resources section and click on the Plant and Animal Care icon. If the icon isn't visible, scroll down. For an overview of all FOSS California Living Materials Cards, click here.

Scaling PDF documents When you print any of the student sheets, lab notebook sheets, or assessment masters you have downloaded from FOSSweb, you may see a difference in scale between the original printed sheet and the downloaded sheet. This doesn't usually matter, but in some cases, you will want the scale to be the same (for example, to match the index card for the anemometer in the Weather and Water Course for middle school). To make sure this happens when you print a pdf file, there is an option on the print window that pops up "Page scaling." Your default is probably "fit to printable area." To get the original size, change this category to "none" before printing.

FOSS CA Audio Stories Now Available Audio versions of FOSS Science Stories for the FOSS California modules are now available! Students can listen to the audio as they follow along in their own copies of the book. Listen to the FOSS CA audio stories. --NM

Animals 2x2 Chant Observation Bugaloo I am a scientist and I am here to say I observe animals everyday. I look, I listen, and I touch too! Doing the observation bugaloo! I am a scientist and I am here to say I observe fish and that’s okay. Eyes, fins, gills, scales, And don’t forget they have tails! I look, I listen, and I touch too! Doing the observation bugaloo! I am a scientist and I am here to say I observe snails and that’s okay. Tentacles, foot, shell, air hole, And a tongue called a radula! I look, I listen, and I touch too! Doing the observation bugaloo! --Anonymous

Science Notebook Index Templates Below are downloadable PDFs of science notebook index templates that can be printed for students to insert into their notebooks. Consider how much room your students will need to write when selecting a template. Four-page index template. This index has 6 to 8 letters per page. Works well for grades K-2. Two-page index template. This index has 12 to 14 letter per page. Works well for grades K-8. One-page index template. This index has all the letters on one page. Works well for grades 3-8. For more information on using these index sheets with notebooks, see page 15 of the FOSS Notebook Folio. --Brian Campbell