The Science of Gardening

Every year we plant a small vegetable garden in our backyard. Some years it does better than others. There was a year when it seemed like we were picking seven cucumbers a day. Last year the cucumbers didn't do well, but we had cherry tomatoes by the gallon! 

Our kids like helping in the garden (one of my daughters is fascinated by worms) and now they're old enough to start to understand a little of the science of gardening. The science of gardening is the topic of relatively new SciShow Kids compilation video that we watched earlier this week. 

Squeaks Grows a Garden is a compilation of four SciShow Kids videos about gardening. Some of the topics covered in the video include why some vegetables have to be planted later than others, how seeds sprout, and what plants need in order to continue to grow after they sprout. 

Three Self-paced Courses You Can Take Now or This Summer

It has started to feel like summer is right around the corner here in Maine. Twice this week I've sat outside on our picnic table to do some course work. If you're interested in a professional development course that you can do while sitting outside this spring or summer, take a look at the courses I offer through PracticalEdTech.com. 

Animated Explanations!
This five-part course teaches you everything you need to know to create and teach with your own animated explanations. In the course you’ll learn why the process of creating animated explanations is valuable to your students and to you. You’ll learn how to make everything from a simple one-frame animation to a complete animated video. Click here to learn more and get started today!

How to Create & Sell Your Own Digital Products
In this four-part course you’ll learn how to create and sell eBooks, webinars, video courses, lesson plans, and more! And I’ll help you promote your new products! All of the course material is delivered in a series of four weekly emails. Each lesson includes written materials, templates, and video tutorials. You can email me all of your questions as you go through the course. And at the end you can book a one-on-one Zoom call with me! Learn more here and get started here!

Five Video Projects for Almost Every Classroom
In this five-part course you’ll learn how to create and conduct video projects in almost any K-12 classroom! You can do these projects on Chromebooks, iPads, Mac, and Windows computers. Highlights of this course include making green screen videos, creating animated videos, and a variety of ways to create instructional videos. Learn more here and get started here.

If you’ve already taken one of these courses, thank you! Your support makes it possible for me to keep creating resources for teachers.

Alternative Search Engines Discussed by Two EdTech Guys

Yesterday afternoon Ruston Hurley and I got together to record another installment of our Two EdTech Guys Take Questions series. In the episode we answered a question about alternative search engines, went on a bit of a tangent about image metadata, and shared a couple of cool things that might inspire your students. 

You can watch the episode right here or as embedded below. A list of the resources mentioned in the video can be found here.