TRANSCRIPT
You Don't Have to Be Einstein to Do Science
3/24/25

>>Alan: Well, good afternoon. As you can see by the title, this is the science Coffee Hour. You Don't Have to be Einstein to do Science. Notice the goofy picture of Albert Einstein. As a young student he had dyslexia. And he was labeled a slow learner. But here's a quote that bears with the program that we're presenting to you today. He said this: I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious. And so the takeaway for you as itinerant TVIs is this: We want students who are visually impaired and blind in science to have equal access to that of their sighted peers. And we just want you to be curious to get there. I'd like to introduce you. My name is Alan Roth. I'm a retired science teacher. I taught at three different schools for the blind. I was an itinerant as well. And I'm currently serving as a science consultant for the School for the Blind here in Austin, Texas, working with a brand-new science teacher. I would like to share with you a couple of ideas, a couple of experiences to kind of put your mind at ease and realize that this can be a fun job. When I first started in the field, I was a substitute teacher and I walked into the classroom for the first time and I didn't know I was doing this. I used the words: Can you see this? One student looked right up at me and said, Mr. Roth, we're all blind here. We can't see a thing. I was done. I was going to leave and that was it. Well, the principal asked me to come back and I was in the classroom a second time and the student ran into the classroom, crashed into the table, and fell to the floor. And I was picking her up. She said, gee, Mr. Roth, I must be blind today. Well, we both laughed at that and I was hooked. But just a couple of stories here to kind of get you to understand the limited experiences of the kids you're working with. Let me introduce to you Bob. I asked Bob one day where do peaches come from? And he said, well, Mr. Roth. They come in a wooden box in the produce department. I was shocked. But that is just to give you an idea. Later when I was an itinerant, I went to a public school and there was a physics class. The physics class, the student needed two tactile meter sticks with Braille labels so they could run their car and determine the speed. While the sighted peers immediately wanted that setup for themselves. Let's just call it universal design for physics. Now, here's Laura to share a couple of things. 

>>Laura: Greetings. Everyone, thank you so much for joining us. My name is Laura Hospital and I've been honored to serve as a life science here at TSBVI for the past 18 years. I thoroughly enjoy sharing my students' lives and encouraging them to grow in their passionate curiosity. I have always felt that I received more than I could ever give as a teacher. And I want to tell a story about a student, actually, a passionately curious student named Doug. Doug, however had some serious misconceptions about the natural world when he entered my class. After learning about the shape of the Earth in class he asked one of his other teachers. He said how old were you when you learned that the Earth was round? This was his understanding of the world. So as part of today's presentation, we'll be sharing more about Doug's journey and how he was able to engage his passionate curiosity when provided with accessible science materials. And so we want to take you from where their knowledge is to becoming passionately curious with the tools that they need. Though I haven't served as an itinerant, I've often fielded questions related to science from itinerant teachers. And I would like to share just a short story about an itinerant teacher who called me about six years ago. Her name was Barbara. She was a motivated TVI from a Texas school district and she contacted me with a science accessibility question. She said, Ms. Hospital, when she got in touch with me -- it was kind of hard to get in touch with me because she had to call for the school, ask for my number and wait for me to call her back. She was really motivated to get her information. She said I have a student, Jose, who wants to take physics. She said, Ms. Hospital, I tried to talk him out of it. And I responded, you did not, Barbara. She said I did. I tried to talk him into taking philosophy. It was clear from our interactions that it was not that she didn't have the motivation, she had gone through all this to get in touch with me, but she didn't have the tools in her toolbox to provide accessible instruction. After collaborating with Alan and I on Zoom, during which time she pulled in two other TVIs and a generalized teacher and I think there was an administrator there. She had the tools she needed and felt much more confident to provide accessible science. Our goal today is that you'll come away from this hour excited and a little less nervous when your student, Jose or Jill, wants to take chemistry or physics or biology and that you'll know where to find the resources that you need. And be able to contact us when you have questions, because we'll be providing our information. I'm going to go ahead and -- we do have a little audience participation question for you. Based on that story with Barbara, I want you to think about your own comfort level with adapting physics or chemistry. She was kind of scared of it. Where are you on a scale of one to 10 in adapting physics or chemistry? Throw that in the chat and we'll discuss that in just a minute. 

>>Kaycee: We've got some answers rolling in. We've got 1, 4, 2, 5. So far everything in the lower half. 5. Another 5. 3. 

>>Laura: Thank you, guys. You're welcome to continue to add. What I'm hearing is the average here is probably about a 3 or a 4. Not many above 5. And so our goal today, where we want you to, you know, from where you were as far as your comfort level in adapting those high school sciences and middle school and elementary, of course. But we want you to feel more confident, you know, by the end of our discussion. And if you have questions, to know that you can contact us. So our main goal is to build confidence and help you to become less frustrated in these situations and more confident. 

>>Alan: Secondly our goal today is to provide resources. So today you're going to hear about everything from commercially-prepared products such as the American Printing House or APH. You're going to hear about tactile handmade diagrams. And the goal here is that everything that you hear today you can add to your toolbox. This is a toolbox that will be your mobile lifeline for providing resources to enable your students to have equal access. And thirdly, we want you to walk away from this hour to be encouraged. We can empower you to be successful in creating a positive atmosphere where students thrive in the science environment. But we also need to note here that your assertive attitude and your advocacy for students will go a long way for ensuring success. And along the line, sure, you'll have failures and you will encounter them. But we just want you to see those as bumps in the road as you look to being more successful and working with your science students. 

>>Laura: thank you, Alan. In regard to the type of materials that we're going to be discussing today, our goal is, again, that you walk away from today with a sense of hope in being able to provide the instruction. Not the instruction, the teachers provide the instruction, but you'll be able to provide the accessibility. Some of the resources we'll discuss are American Printing House, wonderful science materials. Most of their materials are free with quota funds. The Perkins accessible science website, and TSBVI outreach has lots of great resources as well at TSBVI Outreach. We'll be providing our contact information as well because we want you to be able to contact us when you're in that position. When you feel frustrated, like Barbara was. And speaking of contact -- 

>>Alan: And so here is our contact information for Laura and I. If you want to take a minute and add it to your phone or to your computer, if you'd like. Go ahead and do that now. We're going to repeat this slide later on in our presentation. 

>>Laura: And just an interesting piece of data -- of course in science we're really focused on data. Based on a JBIR2016 study, four of five students with VI are currently not provided with accessible science materials. And so, you know, our goal is that that improves. 

>>Alan: And this is really just a reminder how vital your role is as an itinerant. And enough said, really. 

>>Laura: Yeah. The fact that you're here says you realize how important this is. 

>>Alan: Absolutely. 

>>Laura: Technical difficulties. There we go. [Laughter] So APH products. Why APH products? Because APH products are awesome. They are well designed. They have been run through testing with science teachers from around the country and around the world. They are durable, they lost, and they're usually free on quota funds. But the main link is in your resources. We also provided a webinar that I had the pleasure of collaborating on with Roseanne Hoffman several years ago, and a link to a site where you can sign up for APH monthly news, which will provide you with valuable information on new products that are released. I wanted to kind of go back to my wonderful student, Doug, and give some examples of specific APH products that were of great benefit to him. The products on this slide are some of those. As Doug learned about the Earth, we used the APH globe for instruction. And with this simple -- I'm going to click on here so you can see that picture. With very simple tool he immediately understood using this tool that the Earth is round. He understood how much of the Earth was covered by water. Many other concepts as well. And his world began to open up. He began to be able to exhibit his natural curiosity. As we moved into more of our curriculum and some of the curriculum with space science, we used the following product, which is the sense of astronomy kit. He learned about the solar system, where the Earth is in the solar system, relative distances between planets, really broadening his horizons significantly. The real evidence of how far Doug came with his understanding of science and how greatly improved his understanding was, we had an opportunity to meet on Zoom several times with a working astronomer, a professional astronomer. And Doug's questions displayed his growing knowledge and interest in space. And this is super impressive. He even impressed the scientist with his questions. Here we come, without access to materials, Doug didn't even know the Earth was round. However with accessible science resources and instruction, he impressed an astronomer with his passionate curiosity. Our goal is that we will be able to allow students to exhibit that passionate curiosity by providing an equal access to the curriculum. Equal access to science, which is amazing. And in preparing for this presentation, what we were told by numerous experts in the field is that one of the real problems is just the itinerant TVIs knowing what is available. Simply knowing what products are available and knowing when to order them for students in which classes. We want to get a sense from our participants about how, you know, just thinking about the science resources that you know, how many are you aware of? How many could you name? Go ahead and throw that in the chat. 

>>Kaycee: Zero, someone said. DNA strand. 

>>Laura: I promise we won't ask you to name the ones you know. Just the number of resources that you're already aware of. 

>>Kaycee: Janet said the science kit with the beaker and scale, et cetera. Somebody else said 10 and then DNA, cells, et cetera. 

>>Laura: How many are there? 

>>Alan: The actual number is 26. There are 26 models and kits and everything in between. Yes. 

>>Laura: I promise we won't stay here until 8:00 p.m. going through each one of them. 

>>Alan: No. Of those 26, that doesn't include the supplement materials. 

>>Laura: APH has produced wonderful -- I'm sure there were materials prior to that -- but wonderful material that follow the curriculum for all of the classes. I have used them extensively. Highly recommend. Another great resource that we'll highlight and we'll double back to APH in just a minute. Sorry about that. Is Perkins accessible science. This is a website that Alan and I both had the pleasure of working on. It includes materials that will be real helpful. Remember, you don't have to, as itinerant TVIs, teach the curriculum. You just have to provide the materials that are needed. Often this will look like just getting those materials to the general science teacher because he or she is going to know what they are and when to use them with the student. This website includes lesson plans, resources, adaptations to materials, labs, teaching tips, blogs. I would like to take a look at it real quick. Highly recommend, from your resource list. And I think in our chat we're going to have information as well. That you bookmark this page. When you have questions on science or when you have a student in certain content, there are lesson plans, you know, in all of the different content areas of science that you can refer to. I would also highly recommend providing this link to the science teacher, to the general ed science teacher. There's a pretty good search bar at the top. If you're teaching the cell and you need some more materials or if he or she is teaching the cell and wants something that's more accessible for the student, they can use that as well. So that's the Perkins site. As we mentioned, knowing which APH products to provide information, you know, which ones to buy. You've got a student in chemistry, you've got a student in physics. You've got a student in the elementary school or middle school. What do you buy? The blogs that I'm about to show you specifically tell you what to buy, so it makes your life a lot easier. Knowing which APH products to provide students with in science is a giant step in the right direction as far as accessibility is concerned. This document, I highly recommend you bookmark it. Right now you may not have a student -- you'll have a student in science class -- but the supporting students in science classes blog on the Perkins website will provide you with all the info and guidance you'll need to purchase items and to make accessible these fields. It's posted in the chat. I think it will be on the resource guide. It also includes very specific information on how to prepare for a student in most science classes, including what to purchase in collaboration with the general ed teacher. You'll notice from elementary, chemistry, biology. I'm going to show you a little bit on the elementary page here. You've got a student in elementary, what do I do? How do I get them what they need? Here's a list of things to buy on APH from quota funds. Here's a list of other things that would be good to have and really valuable for the student to be included in the labs with science. Talking Scales. Other information for you to read and do. All in all, you know, big time saver. So that is -- let me come here. And, you know, we are taking questions in just a little bit in the chat so feel free, if you have any questions on any of this material, to put those in the chat. And now I'm going to turn it over to Alan as he helps you to understand how to best prepare for that student coming in to your science classroom and lab. 

>>Alan: Here under our expectations, this is the heart of who you are. We like you to come to an understanding that you don't have to know science at all. Your role is that of support. And the kinds of support that you give your science students is going to go a long way in determining their successes. You are the backbone of support for them. The little picture you see here, it says "forward thinking." And forward thinking, I have reference to the kinds of plans that you make now are going to impact the future. Part of that is creating an atmosphere of cooperation and collaboration with the science teacher. Hopefully -- and I mean hopefully you can meet with them earlier. You can find out what their scope and sequence is in science for the year. Get a look at their lesson plans and you can see they have a lab planned in a month. How can I prepare my student for that? This requires you to look to the future. And we're going to show you a slide in just a minute here. When your books and large print and Braille -- and it's very important that you do that well ahead of the time they first step foot in the classroom, because it does take a while to produce these things. Part of your role would be to read the IEP or ARD. Looking at the eye report, the eye condition. The Functional Vision Assessment -- I'm probably preaching to the choir on this one. But the font size will certainly be useful to you as you prepare larger-print materials. But also goals and objectives, which are a legal document that drives everything. You want to take a look at that and become very familiar with that. But your role of support may include large print, Braille labels, tactile diagrams, and everything in between. And, you know, your organizational skills will be vital here. It isn't easy to juggle. And I know. I was an itinerant. And the school day is just crazy. But all these things will be real helpful to you as you proceed forward. This particular slide I want you to take a look at. If you're ordering textbooks in Braille or large print, order by March for the fall. They take a while. Auditory books, for example. The APH resources that we're going to mention. You'll need to do that far, far ahead. And, again, your collaboration with the teacher is going to be vital in terms of helping your students. 

>>Laura: We've got about five minutes for some Q&A. If there's some questions. And we've built in two Q&A time periods. And so we've got a little bit of time. So if you've got questions, feel free to throw them in the chat. If there aren't any questions, we'll go ahead. If something occurs to you, feel free to put that in the chat. 

>>Alan: Okay. Here we are. There are a couple of pictures. This is one of Laura helping a student and the other picture is myself helping a student. And you can read the captioning underneath. My hope is that you'll be able to go into the science classroom and lab two to three days before school starts. There you'll get to take a look at what the layout of the classroom is. How are the tables organized. One of the things that's vital for science students is consistency. They'll need to be able to go into that science classroom and know exactly where things are. And when things are moved around, it's very frustrating and a lot of things can happen. So as you yourself go through the science classroom and note where everything is, ask your students. They might certainly have something to tell you about the way they want things. For example, you've read the IEP and find out that the lighting needs to be dimmed for some students. Or other things that need to arise. You may need to go in earlier and give them tactual clues. You may have to put Velcro strips along the side of the lab equipment so they know where they are. All of these things are going to be important to you. Once you get into the science classroom and the students are fairly aware of where all the science equipment is, what happens to them when they're sitting down and actually doing science. I can tell you we've met so many kids at the Texas School for the Blind who have come out of public school. And we asked you what your role was or what kind of science did you do? They said, well, the science teacher was afraid. We just were note takers. I can tell you up front that's the saddest thing I would have heard. And so when this student sits down to do science, have a tray with some raised edges so all the equipment, the modified equipment such as beakers and Braille and large print and everything is centrally located for that student so things don't fall over. And they certainly can. Another aspect of the science classroom is can you line up sighted peers to be lab partners. You would be surprised how many students in the public school want to jump in and help a student who is visually impaired and blind. And this really builds camaraderie and confidence in doing science. And that's really one of our many, many goals for you. You'll become a private eye. You could be the next private eye of the itinerant TVIs. But learning where the equipment is, the models, maybe even talking to the other science teachers and finding out where these models are. And that's really, really going to help your student. Lab safety will become very important. If you're using a Bunsen burner, we can teach your student how to handle the burner safely without any error. Time management will become important to you. Students who are visually impaired and blind take a lot longer time to do a science lab. They're trying to manipulate the products and things and figure out their way through the maze that sometimes can occur. I really want to end this section, before we look at this slide and I explain it to you. Yogi Berra, a famous, famous man in baseball said this: You can observe a lot by just watching. And so you'll want to watch the kids. You'll want to watch their interaction with their sighted peers. You'll want to watch their interaction with the science teacher and in this way you'll create a place for them that's safe and enjoyable and exciting. This particular slide just lists all the bullet points that I've just discussed. You know, just take a look at it. You'll have certainly an opportunity to look at it again. And just see where you are. Of course, Laura and I will be happy to answer your questions. That's why we're here. 

>>Laura: As we begin to discuss low tech to high-tech accommodations, I would like to start with a little story that really shows how accessibility works best for students with visual impairment. When you think about your science instruction in school, most of us think back to the pictures that are in the book. And very important for students with visual impairment -- I'm going to tell the story first, just to kind of make the point. We had students come visit from our local student, sighted students, who would come and spend the day under blindfold. I would start out having them look at a tactile diagram of a model I had in the science lab. And then very rarely could they tell what it was. Then I would pass around the model, and under blindfold they would observe this model. Almost always they were able to tell what it was. Very important, best practice is whenever possible models, models, models. And we'll talk about 3D printing and other ways to get models. There are times when it's not possible. Alan's going to discuss some other manners in which we can provide that information in accessible format. 

>>Alan: Okay. Notice your picture on the left here. And this student is accessing information with Wikki Stix. Wikki Stix are these twine that's sticky and you can manipulate it and create tactile diagrams fairly quickly. The picture on the right, you'll see that it's a typical model of a flowering plant. This one requires you simply to put Braille labels on. And for students who are accessing it because they are visually impaired and not blind, it's an enlarged model, which will certainly help them access the information. The next one over, as I'm looking at the picture to the middle or to the left of the model, is a prepared diagram, American Printing House. And everything is labeled. It's easy access and the student can touch it and figure out where the different parts are. The last picture is something that you can create. It's a tactual diagram. I would say I created this one in about 20 minutes. Don't time me on that one. But depending on your time, these are wonderful ways to create access for students. Go to the next one. Yeah. Okay. So now you have the same three. And you'll see on the right Wikki Stix. Wikki Stix created part of the tactile diagram that you're seeing on the left-hand side. This is a commercially-prepared product. I think it runs about $10. But lo and behold you're on a budget and you just can't afford $10 at a whack. Right below that are homemade Wikki Stix. We will provide a link so you can create your own. You can use any size twine, any length of twine. You can use rope and make it thicker. So this is a wonderful way for you to create these tactile diagrams. You'll see also there in the picture a hot glue gun. Now, the preference is, I would suggest to you, is to use a glue gun that's a mini glue gun and use one that's low temperature. These things can actually create, once they dry, they can create the raised lines that you need within minutes. Below that is a picture of some pens. We fondly call that puffy paint. Puffy paint is wonderful. You can buy them in little tubes and large tubes but I'm going to warn you if you use this product, expect about a one to two-hour drying time. If you don't mind staining a shirt or a pair of pants, you just have to be careful with that. The next picture in the bottom left, you'll see these are called fabric tracing wheels. Maybe some of you have used them in creating the kinds of things that you wear. This is a professional set. And the picture below it, it's Braille paper. I don't know how well you can see it. I have tried to highlight it. But whatever you draw on one side of the Braille paper, you can flip it over and now it's a mirror image and it's raised and you can add Braille labels. Speaking of Braille labels, to the right of that picture is a Braille label gun. You can use the Braille label gun as well. We also want to remind you, when you take a look at the tactile diagrams, that you are a packrat. We would think that you might have a box full of toilet paper tubes or beads or anything else you can glue in order for you to prepare the kinds of materials. We just want to caution you too. Don't miniaturize. Your tactile diagrams need to be equal or larger to a regular model. So let's take a look at some of the high-end tools you might use. 

>>Laura: Thank you, Alan. This particular tool -- and there are other high-tech tools. And when you're on the blogs which indicate what items to purchase, you'll see there's Talking Scales. There's lots of links that we didn't have time for all of those materials, but we did want to highlight this one. This is a high-tech tool available Lu independence science. A great design because this same tool is used in many high school and college classes. Big difference in this tool. It's a talking LabQuest. It allows students to hear the data in real time. Here I have it connected to a probe. I'm going to play it for y'all. It's a temperature probe and we're in Celsius. Besides being able to hear in real time the data -- it connects to a whole host of probes. pH or whatever the student needs for high school anything, there's a probe to connect to it. So it's appropriate for middle school and high school classes. It is fairly expensive. It might be the kind of item that you could purchase for your whole district and have it travel from student to student. Unfortunately, not available on quota funds. It also allows the student to analyze the data. And, you know, it has talking features for all of that as well. 

>>20.7. 

>>Laura: This is Alan and I's first PowerPoint so we're making this work. You know, thinking back to the model question. You can make them by hand but a wonderful, fairly novel manner in which models can be made are these 3D printers that are very inexpensive. Most schools have them. Make use of this awesome high-tech tool to produce models for students. Here at TSBVI, just put in an order and tell them what you want and send in a file. Many schools have that option. Students may even be involved in making them. For schools or districts without this capability, Carolyn's nonprofit called C 3D provides prints for free for students with visual impairment and they're sent directly to you. Please see the link in the chat for that resource. And Alan, moving into the low tech and high-tech. 

>>Alan: This is just a quick slide to tell you where you can buy the materials. We won't spend too much time on it but all the materials we have shown you for low tech, things like hot glue guns, et cetera, they're all available. Certainly the Braille label maker, Maxi Aids is another resource for you. 

>>Laura: We would like to play a video for you guys. This is a lab preparation video that is linked in the Perkins site. And I'll go ahead and let Greg introduce himself on this video. And then we're going to -- depending on how much Q&A there is a need for, I may even play this whole video, if we've got time for it. We're going to spend a little time looking at the resources so you can save those as well. So go ahead and start this. 

>>[video] Hello. I'm Dr. Greg Williams with independence science. I am blind and also have a PhD in compositional chemistry. We are here at the Washington state School for the Blind and we will be discussing how to safely organize and set up a laboratory bench for students who are blind or have low vision. Traditionally they have been relegated to the role of observer. We believe in order for students to succeed in the sciences it is important that they have a hands-on learning experience. This leads to greater concept development and increased interest in the presented material. As a Chinese Proverb says: Tell me and I'll forget. Show me and I'll remember. Involve me and I'll understand. Before you begin any experiment, there's a certain amount of preparation which must take place. Most importantly there must be open lines of communication between the student, TVI, and the science teacher. Secondly, the students must take the responsibility of familiarizing themselves with the lab procedures before entering the classroom. This allows them to clear up any questions with the science teacher before the lab period begins and also to understand any adaptive techniques, which must be used. Safety is the number one concern in the science classroom. Laboratory hazards do not discriminate. Therefore, it is imperative that every student know and follow the same laboratory safety procedures. This begins by becoming acquainted with the layout of the classroom, including knowing where lab benches and other materials are located. In every science classroom there is a safety shower and eye wash in case of chemical accidents. Every student must know how to operate this equipment and where to find it. To protect yourself from chemical spills or burns, there are certain precautions which must be taken. A lab coat or apron should be worn to protect clothing and skin. Goggles are used to protect your eyes. And a hair tie is used to keep your hair out of the way. It is also mandatory that there be no running or horseplay in the science lab. 

>>Laura: And I'm going to pause this for a second. We would love to play the rest of it but we want to leave time, if there are questions. So if there are questions from you, I can't tell, but if there are questions, I'll take them. Otherwise, I'll play the rest of this before we run out of time here. 

>>[video] Hello -- 

>>Laura: Right to where we were here. I didn't do a very good job of introducing who makes this video. I'm going to real quickly describe that. Greg Williams works for a scientist chemist who is blind and his company makes the talking lab. So this video is one of his employees describing lab setup and safety. Excuse me for my tech inability here as I get back to where we need to be. 

>>Alan: Do you want to go to the next slide? 

>>[video] Hello. I'm Dr. Greg Williams. 

>>Laura: Yeah. I will refer y'all to go back to that and definitely watch it. I'm not sure why it is not letting me go farther. He goes more into some specific chemistry adaptations and he's setting up with some tools there. And I'm going to come to the next slide here. There we go. Sorry about that. Okay. There we go. So if there aren't any Q&A, we'll spend a little time on the resources. If there are any questions, we would be glad to take those. Also, we're more than willing to take your questions, you're welcome to contact us directly. And so I think I'll come ahead to the resources and we'll spend a few minutes on that. You want to talk about this? 

>>Alan: We added this slide just to kind of inject a little humor. We're looking at our clocks and it's about 3:45 in the afternoon. If this is you right now, we get it. We know what it's like to be in that position but we just want to thank -- using the Texas vernacular, we want to thank all y'all dedicated itinerant TVIs and the work you do to support students who are blind and visually impaired. 

>>Laura: Yes. Yes, I echo that. And we'll spend just a couple of minutes here on the resources page. We've got a couple of pages of resources. And want to make sure that you've got access to this. This will be available in the transcript. And highly recommend that you keep these, you know, keep these resources where you can get to them when you need them. Perkins accessible science. Again, that's the website that includes lesson plans and blogs and adaptations for science. And it also includes those specific links for supporting students in different science classes. And the American Printing House -- if you want to talk about that one? 

>>Alan: Sure. American Printing House, once you go to the site, besides all the many, many models that are there, there are other resources that you can dig through later and later. There's even books on how to teach science to students who are visually impaired. So avail yourself of the resources as often as you can depending on the time that you have. 

>>Laura: And that specific link here on this resource page is the link that includes all of those blogs for how to adapt for specific students in -- for students in specific classes. And that -- we'll go forward one. 

>>Alan: That's good. 

>>Laura: We didn't talk much about this in the presentation but this is some specific adaptive materials for science. I'll give y'all a chance to look at these. A lot of different materials that you can use in, you know, in adapting science. You know, extensive list but there are lots of others as well. And, again, the adaptations, some of the adaptations -- and here's one that I think Alan would like to speak to, because I know he's adapted this for a student in class. Is how you would adapt a triple beam balance. Let's say you have a student in class that needs to use a triple beam balance. Just to give you one example here, can you speak a little bit as to how this is adapted? 

>>Alan: Sure. Many of you quite possibly used one of these when you were in high school. But what's been done here is first of all you can see how it's balanced just using a Wikki Stix. The numbers on the bottom scale, there's numbers on the triple beam balance. You can put tactual dots using puffy paint or hot glue dots. This is 1 grams, 2 grams, 3 grams, and the back scales are notched in tactile. So with a few minutes of instruction you can help a student actually find out the masses of different objects fairly quickly. 

>>Laura: I had a student who was so good at this, he could do it in record time. He impressed the volunteer he was working with on this. That is just one example. So when you have a need for something that needs to be adapted, it's very likely that someone has thought of it and it's on that Perkins site. APH, here's the sign-up for their new product info. Every month they send out an e-mail that talks about the new products. Not just new science products but products for all classes. The link to the video is life science materials. It's the presentation that I mentioned from APH that was a few other materials. And then the 3D print -- here is how you would order if you don't have a 3D printer in your school and you want to be able to order 3D prints, you would be able to go into this organization and order free 3D prints. And we wanted to again provide contact information, just as we're finishing up. Too often we get to the end of a presentation and there's no time to include the contact information so we wanted to make sure to include that. Go ahead. 

>>Alan: Sure. What you heard today just scratches the surface. And really you might be overwhelmed even watching a video. But we just want you to know that there are other in-depth videos we intend to produce and if you can just shoot us an e-mail and say, hey, I would like ones just on biology. Or I would like one just on chemistry. Just give us a shout out and we'll see what we can do to produce those videos for you. Because, really, we're here for you. 

>>Laura: Yes. Absolutely. Absolutely. It pained me to think that there were such motivated TVIs like Barbara out there who weren't getting their questions answered. That's a goal that both Alan and I definitely have. And we wanted to just thank several experts in the field who have been great, you know, help to us. Jennifer Bliss and Charlotte Cushman. Kate Fraser, Roseanne Hoffman, and Susan Osterhaus. 

>>Alan: Really, we would be remiss not to mention the school where we are, the facilities, all the talented staff who remain nameless because they like to be behind the scenes. They have contributed greatly to this presentation and we just want to acknowledge them too. It's really been fun to be able to produce this video for you. Can you -- okay. Take a look at this. If you are a Gary Larson fan like I am, you'll see the quote underneath. It's time we face reality, my friends. We're not exactly rocket scientists. And if anything, we would like to share a quote. This is a quote from when I was an itinerant. And this was actually said in class. This was a blind student talking to her sighted peer. And she said this: I just can't imagine you reading a blank page. I didn't hear any laughing but, really, we want you to laugh a little in your position, have fun with it. We know you're going to be challenged. But do you know what? The reward is worth it. You want to end with questions at the end? If they have any questions. 

>>Laura: Yes, if there are any questions, we would be glad to take those. 

>>Kaycee: Thank you, Alan and Laura. I'm trying to combine your names in my head. Yes, if you have questions, please put those in the chat. We did have Charlotte Cushman with us today and she said if folks have ideas they want to share on that accessible science site, they can do that by e-mailing Charlotte their ideas and their ideas can get put into that. Charlot.Cushman@perkins.org. You can send those to Charlotte and she can get those posted on there.