Having just completed an online course on climate change, I was interested in the Commentary: Why the Scientific Consensus on Climate Change Matters for Science Education, from The Science Teacher, and the important role science teachers play in helping students understand this global issue.

The featured articles in Science Scope and The Science Teacher focus on climate change. Both journals have excellent ideas to help students understand the local relevance of this global issue, with lessons that could be adapted for different grade levels.

Science Scope – Climate Change

From the Editor’s Desk: Tackling the Complex Issue of Climate Change: “…teaching climate change as if it were a debatable topic sends the message to students that it is acceptable to ignore scientific evidence and theories. The controversial nature of climate change is therefore exactly why we must teach it; to do so will help our students learn how to evaluate scientific information for the purpose of helping responsible citizens make informed consumer and voter decisions.”

Articles in this issue that describe lessons include a helpful sidebar (“At a Glance”) documenting the big idea, essential pre-knowledge, time, and cost. The lessons also include connections with the NGSS, and many follow a 5E format and include examples of student work and classroom materials.

• Empowering Sixth-Grade Students Through a Climate Change Lesson incorporates the question “Can a single human impact the planet’s climate?” with a 5E lesson on carbon footprints and mitigating climate change.
• Climate Change, Photosynthesis, and Misleading Information: Navigating Critical Thinking and Scientific Reasoning in the Classroom addresses whether plants benefit from increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. [I also learned a new word in this article—”agnotology”—the study of misinformation.]
• Students assume the role of paleoclimatologists using proxy data to infer past climate conditions in Looking Backward, Looking Forward
• Using Packrat Midden Models to Investigate Climate Variability demonstrates the value of using “natural archives” to explore climate variability.
• Take your lesson on food webs to a new level with The Seabird Mystery Lesson: Integrating Science Inquiry and Science Literacy. The lesson takes a systemic look at the causes leading to a phenomenon affecting seabirds.
• A Gassy World: A Climate Change Investigation looks at the question “Will warming oceans be better or worse at absorbing carbon dioxide?”
• Integrating Technology: Lens on Climate Change: Using Place-Based Learning to Explore Climate Change Effects has suggestions for students creating videos about environmental changes in their own community. The article includes suggestions for adapting the activity to local communities.
• Scientists study bats as to see the effects of climate change on their food supply and echolocation abilities. The project described in Citizen Science: Be a Bat Detective! asks volunteers to classify bat calls available online. The author includes classroom suggestions.
• The 5E lesson in Disequilibrium: Measuring Our Rising Sea Levels models the effects of melting ice with a hands-on activity..
• Using greenhouses gases as a context, Teacher to Teacher: Vote, Discuss, Revote: A Formative Assessment Classroom Technique has an example of this technique and related resources.

These monthly columns continue to provide background knowledge and classroom ideas:

• Listserv Roundup: Growth Mindset in the Classroom
• Science For All: Self-Improvement Through Goal Setting
• Scope on the Skies: A Candle in Space

For more on the content that provides a context for projects and strategies described in this issue, see the SciLinks topics Bats, Carbon Cycle, Change in Climate, Ecosystems, Food Webs, Geologic Time Scale, Greenhouse Effect, Ice, Ocean Currents, Photosynthesis, Sea Level Change, Sonar, Wind Currents

 Continue for The Science Teacher and Science & Children.

The Science Teacher – Teaching About Climate Change

Editor’s Corner: Hot Topic: “Climate change is one of the great moral imperatives of our time. Science teachers must provide students with the accurate knowledge that can inspire them to take action on a personal, community, and global level.”

The lessons described in the articles include connections with the NGSS and many include illustrations of student work.

• Is the Climate Changing Where We Live? has a 5E lesson and suggested resources for helping students see local effects of climate change.
• Even if you don’t live near the ocean, the ideas in Using Models to Understand Sea Level Rise illustrate the value of modeling in studying environmental phenomena.
• Modeling is also a feature of From Global to Local, using a socio-scientific approach to climate change.
• In the activity described in What’s Inside a Termite’s Gut?, students investigate the effects of environmental disruption on living things, among other topics.
• The authors of Science 2.0: Teaching the Facts About Climate Change suggest reputable websites with information about climate change.

These monthly columns continue to provide background knowledge and classroom ideas:

• Focus on Physics: The Ever-Present Atmospheric Pressure
• Career of the Month: Climate Scientist
• Right to the Source: Thomas Jefferson’s Observations on the American Climate
• How Quickly Do They React?

For more on the content that provides a context for projects and strategies described in this issue, see the SciLinks topics Atmospheric Pressure, Carbon Cycle, Climate Change, Ecosystem, Endosymbiosis, Homeostasis, Osmosis, Sea Level Change, Symbiosis

Science & Children – Early Childhood Life Science

Editor’s Note: Revisiting the Framework: A Clear Pathway: “Of all the sciences, life science is probably the one that is most familiar and comfortable for early childhood educators. It is easily accessible to children and relatable—a good place to start using the tools of the Framework and NGSS.”

Children are naturally curious and enjoy learning and investigating. The Guest Editorial: How to Integrate STEM Into Early Childhood Education has the results of an examination of STEM environments for young learners and recommendations for educators and parents.

The lessons described in the articles have a chart showing connections with the NGSS and many includes illustrations of student work .

• There’s a Zoo in Our Room! illustrates how students created a replica of a zoo while applying a variety of scientific practices to learn about the characteristics of animals.
• The lessons in Scaly, Slimy Fun in Prekindergarten use local turtles and frogs in NGSS-aligned investigations. Students develop a greater understanding of animal adaptations behaviors.
• Teaching Through Trade Books: Animal Parents and Their Offspring has two 5E lessons: Raising Their Young (K-2) and Living in Groups (3-5).
• In addition to traditional plant growth investigations, Growing Plants and Minds has suggestions for incorporating digital tools in ways that are appropriate for younger students.
• Planting Deeper goes beyond listing the needs of plants to investigating plant growth, adaptations, and biodiversity in the outdoors.
• How Do Plants and Animals Prepare for Winter? has suggestions for designing inquiry-based 5E projects in an outdoor setting. The “wonder wall” is a variation of a traditional word wall.
• With the ideas in Early Years: What Other Colors Can Bean Seeds Be?, students learn about the needs of and variation in bean plants.
• Formative Assessment Probes: Uncovering Young Children’s Concept of a Plant

These monthly columns continue to provide background knowledge and classroom ideas:

• The Poetry of Science: Science in the Garden
• Science 101: How Do Amphibians Breathe?
• Engineering Encounters: The Paper Airplane Challenge
• Methods and Strategies: Formative Assessment Practices to Support Students who Struggle in Science
• Teaching Teachers: Inquiry in Inclusive Preschools

For more on the content that provides a context for projects and strategies described in this issue, see the SciLinks topics Adaptations of Animals, Amphibians, Characteristics of Living Things, Classification, Pollination, Reptiles, Seasons, Seed Germination, What Are the Parts of a Plant?

TEACHERS!  What do you do with that last 40 minutes of class at the end of the week on a Friday? You may have thoughts like, “I can’t wait until this week is over!  I’m exhausted and these kid are driving me nuts!” Well, help has arrived. End the week with a “Mission Accomplished” feeling, knowing your students have something to look forward to on Fridays using NASA educational resources. It meets all the required standards across the content areas!  I will share what I do; and I am convinced you can do this, too!

My name is Pam Leestma, and I’m a 2^nd grade teacher at Valley Christian Elementary School in Bellflower, CA. In May of 2017, (and for the past 10 years), my 2nd graders and Mr. Nick Vander Dussen’s 6th graders from my school presented their Space Station models to NASA’s Digital Learning Network (DLN) expert, Michael Hare at Johnson Space Center. Our “Space Buddies” were divided into six working groups. After meeting almost every Friday throughout the year, which we called “NASA Fridays,” we learned about space related topics and living and working on the International Space Station. We ended the year with culminating activities which included planning our Space Station models, building them with parent help, using lots of “junk”, soda bottles, and hot glue guns for the modules, deciding, and then practicing what part of the model each student would share about with the NASA expert.  “NASA Day” arrived and the “Space Buddies” presented their six models, learned more about the International Space Station, had a time of Q&A, and saw LIVE images of the earth from the ISS!  It was “Mission Accomplished!” for all the students and they can now claim, “We talked to NASA!” 

I am inviting you to try having your own “Space Buddies.” Find a class at your school to connect with!  During the year, “NASA Fridays” can be simple like watching a short video clip of living and working on the International Space Station or doing a hands-on activity. It is always a good idea to check the NASA site for the most current events going on in Space and sometimes you can choose the NASA update for your time together. “Space to Ground” is a wonderful, 2-3 minute weekly update of activities.

The exciting resource that you can participate in right now is the “Year of Education on Station.”  STEM on Station is highlighting teacher Joe Acaba’s mission currently on the ISS as well as teacher Rickey Arnold’s flight in the Spring of  2018.

 I ALWAYS check the NASA main page and click on NASA TV, too.  You can watch for great programing to share or watch a thrilling, LIVE launch if it is during school hours.  Sometimes even a spacewalk which my class watched LIVE of Joe Acaba, is a blast!   

“Spot the Station” brings much excitement to my students, when they can watch a visible pass of the ISS fly over.  Enter your location and you can sign up for alerts of when the ISS will fly over your area.  We wave at Joe Acaba when we see it and I have the students send me pictures of their famiy and friends watching it and even kid’s sports teams are stopping at practice to “ooo and aww!”

The goal of “NASA Friday’s” gives the children a reason to be together and learn about space related events using NASA resources! When you do something special, make sure to take pictures of your activities! It is evidence of using STEM related topics using NASA resources!  You need a NASA media release with parent permission if you are going to share these pictures with NASA education social media.  They love your pictures and so appreciate it, proving their programs have an impact on this next generation of space explorers!        

I have done other activities using NASA resources and you may want to learn more about them in this NASA article – “The T in STEM.”

As this school year begins, consider launching NASA STEM resources into your curriculum!

Pam Leestma – 2nd grade teacher
NASA Excellence in Teaching Award 
National American Star of Teaching Award
Valley Christian Elementary School – 17408 Grand Ave.  Bellflower, CA 90706 
school:  562/920-9902     pammy_ccc@hotmail.com