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QUEST for Educators offers free, standards-based resources to help your curriculum come to life with real-world connections using QUEST media.

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Educator Guides

Discover interactive ways to supplement your curriculum with QUEST media; all Guides are designed for use in both formal and informal learning environments and include information about Bay Area organizations that offer topic-specific lesson plans, workshops, and field trips.

Topic:

Forensic Identification Educator Guide

QUEST visits the lab of Chelsey Juarez, a UC Santa Cruz doctoral candidate in forensic anthropology, who has developed a novel technique using chemical isotopes to help identify the remains of migrants who die crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Use this educator guide to incorporate this story into your chemistry class and find resources for additional lessons on forensic science.

Nanotechnology Takes Off Educator Guide

From Lawrence Berkeley National Labs to Silicon Valley, researchers are manipulating particles at the atomic level, ushering in potential cures for cancer, clothes that don't stain, and solar panels as thick as a sheet of paper. Use this educator guide to find new ways of exploring size and scale with your students.

Flood Warning Sign on the American River

Storm Watchers Predict Flooding Educator Guide

Global warming and seasonal storms are putting California's low-lying areas, as well as its dam and reservoir systems, at risk. A new network of high-tech weather sensors is making the streams, tributaries and dams of the American River the country's most closely-monitored water system. Use this educator guide with the KQED radio report on Flood Technology to give your students a real-life example of the importance of studying watersheds.

Zebra fish embryo

Super Microscope Educator Guide

Cutting-edge microscopes at the University of California at San Francisco are helping scientists create three-dimensional images of cells, and may help lead to new medical breakthroughs, including a treatment for Type 1 diabetes. This educator guide provides suggestions for using the Super Microscope story in your teaching and presents many ideas for how to dive deeper into the topics of microscopes and Type 1 diabetes with your students.

Ladybug Pajama Party Educator Guide

Each year, ladybugs fly in by the millions to winter in the East Bay's Redwood Regional Park. QUEST meets naturalist Linda Yemoto, who explains this phenomenon and other ladybug facts. This educator guide assists teachers in using the 3 minute QUEST segment with elementary students and provides additional resources for teaching about ladybugs.

Urban Heat Islands Educator Guide

QUEST Radio examines how one major contributor to global warming may be our own city infrastructure: Buildings, concrete, asphalt, tar roof tops and industry that have caused cities to reach higher temperatures than surrounding rural areas. Now, green-minded architects are taking cooler approaches to their designs. This educator guide provides transcripts of the radio segment as well as tips for how to use the audio from the web site to help teach about the absorption and reflection of light and heat.

Genetic Testing Through the Web Educator Guide

If you could learn your odds of getting cancer, heart disease or diabetes, would you? QUEST investigates what it's like to order a home genetic test to forecast personal medical risks. This educator guide provides activities to assist teachers with the use of the nine minute video segment in their classrooms and provides suggestions for additional educator resources offered in the Bay Area related to the study of the genetics.

NASA Ames Rocket to the Moon Educator Guide

QUEST explores the details of NASA's plan to crash a rocket into the moon in an effort to locate evidence of water. This educator guide provides activities to assist teachers with the use of the video segment in their classrooms and provides suggestions for additional educator resources offered in the Bay Area related to the study of the Moon.

Visit the KQED Science Education Workshop Web Site

Visit the KQED Science Education Workshop Web site to find additional information about upcoming and past QUEST trainings including workshop templates, agendas, and links.

Interested in scheduling a short presentation for a group of science educators on QUEST multimedia resources or on creating Explorations? Email us at ScienceEd@kqed.org.

Educational Services Newsletter

Subscribe to our monthly update on new media, events and resources for classroom and informal educators. Topics include science, art and social studies.

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