I know that summer is well underway when I get my July issue of The Science Teacher with suggestions for new books to read, websites to explore, and topics to think about!
Call me a dinosaur, but to me there’s nothing better than curling up with a good book on a hot summer day—at the beach, by the river, in the park, or on the front stoop/porch. In addition to those novels I didn’t read during the school year, I’ve picked out a few science-related books form the recommendations in Kick Off Summer with Reading. (See A Diverse Summer Reading List in this month’s Science Scope for another list of suggested books). At NSTA Recommends, you can get the complete list.
The summer is not just for reading. This month’s Science 2.0 article Summer Surfing has a list of 21 free web tools to support learning. I’m familiar with and have used many of them (such as Google Docs, iGoogle, Inspiration, the NSTA Learning Center, and TED. But I made a little checklist for myself to look at the others. It’s unfortunate, however, that many of these tools are blocked in schools, requiring teachers to access them outside of school.

The author of A Virtual Circuits Lab shows how to extend students’ experiences beyond their elementary or middle school circuit-building activities. Using the simulation Circuit Construction Kit from the PhET collection of simulations (which can be downloaded or used online), his physics students explored and designed types of circuits. The author notes that “the simulations themselves do not make for a constructivist, inquiry-based lesson—the teacher must use these simulations as a tool for exploration and discussion. Lessons should allow for creativity and problem solving, instead of simple observation.”
I can spend hours at the PhET site! You can search the index of simulations by science content area or by grade level (including elementary and middle levels). Each animated simulation has teaching ideas and could be used by individuals or small groups or projected to a whole class. PhET is one of the many websites on Electronic Circuits in SciLinks.
Generate an Argument has step-by-step directions for implementing this type of activity to “discuss and critique the process, products, and context of an inquiry” and includes a lesson suggestion from the earth sciences. If you feel that you need to learn more about argumentation as an instructional strategies, check out the November 2009 issue of Science and Children for more examples.
I once observed a social studies class in which the students were investigating the technologies and inventions of the American industrial revolution of the late 19th century. I couldn’t help but think that this would have made a great interdisciplinary unit. The students in From Generation to Generation: Oral Histories of Scientific Inventions of the 20th Century learned about these inventions and technology directly from people in their community who had first-hand knowledge. My school had a “senior citizens” day every fall. Oral histories would have been a great activity. There are many sites that describe how to do podcasts (the free software Audacity is popular, but if you’re a little hesitant, ask some students to figure it out and teach the rest!  SciLinks has some websites with ideas in Technology and Human Culture.
I was disappointed to see that this was Alan Colburn’s last Prepared Practitioner column. I always enjoyed his concise look at connecting theory and practice. But fortunately, we have access to the NSTA archives to revisit his work. Thanks, Alan. Your column helped me to continue to be a “prepared practitioner.”
Check out the Connections for this issue. Even if the article does not quite fit with your lesson agenda, this resource has ideas for handouts, background information sheets, data sheets, rubrics, etc.