Leave the lecture hall behind and join us for NSTA’s first un-conference experience, taking place in Minneapolis this October 27-29, and Portland, November 10-12!

What should you expect at this un-conference?

Taking place during the first two NSTA fall conferences on science education, this will give you the opportunity to continue the conversation, not the lecture. Many of our attendees have asked us to find a way to bring together people for engaging “offline” conversations. When something special bubbles up at the conference, or if there is a groundswell of people asking about a certain topic, we’ll make time for conversation and real-time reflection. Participants will be afforded an opportunity to present their findings from the conference while connecting with other science education enthusiasts.

Who will be invited to attend?

Anyone who attends the conference is invited, and we’ll use social media to connect with teachers who long to be part of NSTA conferences but are unable to travel. We’ll bring together conference attendees, favorite presenters, teams involved in the Maker Movement, community partners, science teacher superheros, your favorite authors, and perhaps a few STEM stars.

What is the expectation during your “Un-Conference Experience”?

The atmosphere will be relaxed, open, friendly, and fun. This will ensure that all participants, especially those joining for the first time, will feel welcome and respected. Learning will be spontaneous and inviting, providing you with information and, who knows, maybe a new comrade in education.  

Where and when will it be?

The first two will be in the exhibit hall, onsite at NSTA’s Minneapolis Conference, October 27-29, and the Portland Conference, November 10-12. We’ll bring updates to you live, via NSTA’s Twitter feed and Facebook page.

How can I suggest topics?

Add your ideas to the comments here, or tweet your ideas with the #NSTA16 hashtag. We’ll be monitoring the hashtag and encourage you to join us in this new venture.

Who is the host?

This is being supported by the NSTA staff and leadership, and I am the host. Please feel free to reach out to me via Twitter as well, and follow me at @DedricMcghee.

—Dedric McGhee, STEM Manager, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Shelby County Schools

2016 Area Conferences

• Minneapolis, Minnesota: October 27–29
• Portland, Oregon: November 10–12
• Columbus, Ohio: December 1–3

National Conferences

• Los Angeles, California: March 30–April 2, 2017
• Atlanta, Georgia: March 15–18, 2018
• St. Louis, Missouri: April 11–14, 2019
• Boston, Massachusetts: March 26–29, 2020
• Chicago, Illinois: April 8–11, 2021

Follow NSTA

Two new children’s books published by NSTA Kids, a division of NSTA Press, are filled with rich illustrations and highlight the importance of discovery, observation, and investigation.

In From Flower to Fruit, young scientists are encouraged to use a magnifying glass to study plants in a garden. The book, intended for grades K–4, takes readers on a colorful journey that teaches them about flowers, fruits, and bees, and how plants have special parts that help them reproduce.   

The authors, Richard Konicek-Moran and Kathleen Konicek-Moran, write that flowers can provide “great teaching and learning opportunities for all ages,” and that botany is underrated as a topic for investigation because it is often considered a categorizing science. “We hope this book will introduce the discovery and wonder of botany,” the authors write.

In addition to the story, the authors include six activities for children and informative background information for parents and teachers. The book comes alive with beautiful and helpful drawings, illustrated by coauthor Kathleen Konicek-Moran. These detailed illustrations reinforce the role observation plays in science. “When you draw something, you look very closely at it and see things you might have missed if you were not drawing it,” Mrs. Maria—one of the story’s characters—says in the book.

Sketching, writing, and recording data and observations is also a major theme of the other new NSTA Kids book—Notable Notebooks: Scientists and Their Writings. The author, Jessica Fries-Gaither, captures why journaling is such an important part of the scientific process.

The book, written in rhyme for grades 3–5, profiles a diverse group of nine scientists (both modern day and past) and provides examples of their writings and illustrations. Dr. Jane Goodall is shown studying drawings of chimps in her notebook, Galileo’s diagram of planetary orbits is featured, and a section on Charles Henry Turner displays how his notes uncovered patterns in insect behavior. “A notebook is a place to plan experiments or tests and also to see patterns in what data could suggest,” the author writes.

Notable Notebooks includes four steps to help students create their own science notebooks. The steps encourage students to write down their findings and wonderings and share their work with family, friends, or teachers at school. “What makes a notebook special? It’s a place to think and dream, to write down thoughts and questions about all that you have seen,” Fries-Gaither writes.

Fall for These Savings on NSTA Press Books!

Between now and November 1, 2016, save $15 off your order of $75 or more of NSTA Press books or e-books by entering promo code BKS16 at checkout in the online Science Store. Offer valid only on orders placed of NSTA Press books or e-books on the web and may not be combined with any other offer.

Follow NSTA

Save

This visible image on Oct. 6 at 1:00 p.m. EDT from NOAA’s GOES-East satellite shows Hurricane Matthew as it regained Category 4 Hurricane Status.
Credits: NASA/NOAA GOES Project

As Hurricane Matthew traveled across the Caribbean and into the Atlantic, I think of how children who live in its path and those at a distance will make sense of the force of this extreme weather event. Science education can sometimes mean talking about scary or tragic events. Be sensitive to fears and stress by asking families about children’s previous experiences with natural disasters such as the flooding in Louisiana and West Virginia this past summer.

Even with relatively minor flooding events, children have questions such as, “What happens when water goes or stays where we don’t want it?” When localized flooding due to a plugged county drain affected just their building, children in the Frog Pond Early Learning Center in Fairfax County, Virginia, wanted to understand the process and talk about how to prevent it. Gail Dickert, Executive Director of the non-profit, said that the flooding led to stronger relationships with and between families. For the five weeks of cleanup after the county line backed up and poured sewage into their building, the school helped some families make other arrangements and created a combined age classroom for children 18 months to 5 years old for others. The children missed being with their usual friends but were curious about “how and why.” They were interested in finding solutions because they were displaced from their usual routines.

Resources for adults to help young children cope with violence and tragedies include The Fred Rogers Company article about tragic events. Mr. Rogers said, “In times of crisis, children want to know, ‘Who will take care of me?’…They also need to hear that people in the government and other grownups they don’t even know are working hard to keep them safe, too.” “Other grownups” includes teachers!

Resources for understanding weather events of all kinds includes the October issue of Science and Children  with “Storm Warning,” a free feature article by Tammy Lee, Meredith Kier, and Kelsey Phillips, and these additional resources:

“Science Shorts: Weather Watchers,” in the April 2011 Science and Children by Sami Kahn. 

The CoCoRaHS School Pilot Program for collecting data, a project of the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network. 

Hurricanes! by Gail Gibbons. 2009. Holiday House. 

Hurricanes by Seymore Simon. 2007. HarperCollins.

Ready, Set…WAIT! by Patti R. Zelch, Illustrated by Connie McLennan. 2009. Arbordale.