By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2015-07-26
Add these journals to your summer reading!
The Science Teacher: Big Data
As the editor says this month, “Scientific progress doesn’t result from simply accumulating data.” And data is definitely accumulating rapidly! Analyzing and interpreting data is one of the NGSS science and engineering practices, and how to organize, analyze, and interpret data (from students’ own investigations or from the work of others) and how to recognize valid conclusions from data are important if our students are to be informed citizens and potential scientists. (Career of the Month: Data Analyst).
It’s easy to find articles or news sites that summarize data and present an interpretation, but the editor continues: “…students can engage in the higher-order thinking involved in analyzing and interpreting large science datasets (big data) and designing their own inquiries to discover patterns and meaning in mountains of accessible data.” These data are collected by probes and investigators and are often streamed in real time. The featured articles in this edition focus on classroom strategies for investigations using secondary data.
One of the suggested projects that I am familiar with is NOAA’s Data in the Classroom. Each module has five levels of lessons ranging from teacher-presented ones to letting students explore the data to full-blown problem solving and invention. Each module shows the associated data in a variety of formats and guides the users through how to interpret it. There are “checkup” questions throughout, and teachers can download the materials.
[For more on the content that provides a context for these projects and strategies see the SciLinks websites for Birds, Telesccopes, Watersheds, Estuaries, Migration]
Continue for Science Scope and Science and Children.
Science Scope: Science for All
Strategies that help students with learning disabilities, students who are English Language Learners, or students with physical impairments have the added benefit of being appropriate for others. This was also the theme for the April issue of The Science Teacher, so we have a lot of resources on this topic in addition to these featured articles!
If you have students with learning disabilities in your classes, Supporting Science Access for All Students: Using Content Enhancements to Create Pathways to the Big Ideas discusses how to incorporate instructional strategies that make science activities more explicit and connected. This could benefit all students who struggle.
[For more on the content that provides a context for these projects and strategies see the SciLinks websites for Antibiotics, Bacteria, Astronomy, Telescopes, Bird Adaptations, Fishes, Fossil Record, Populations, Communities, and Ecosystems]
Science and Children: Learning Progressions Plus!
The NGSS provides information to support the development of learning progressions based on research. Students bring different backgrounds and skills to the classroom, so this issue intersects with the Science for All themes of other NSTA K-12 journals.
[For more on the content that provides a context for these projects and strategies see the SciLinks websites for Watersheds, Water Underground, Fossils, Recycling, Composting, Life Cycles, Metamorphosis, Insects]
Add these journals to your summer reading!
The Science Teacher: Big Data
By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
Posted on 2015-07-25
Twitter is a treasure trove for news. These tweets caught our eye at NSTA recently, and they could surely be useful conversation starters in the classroom. Read on, and share the stories that caught your eye this week!
How do fireflies glow? Mystery solved after 60 years: http://t.co/ubgknu0xs8
— National Geographic (@NatGeo) July 24, 2015
Did you know ice cream dates back to biblical times? #PBSIceCreamWeek (via @PBSFood): http://t.co/CzbatTIecH
— PBS Teachers (@pbsteachers) July 25, 2015
Looks like colonizing the moon could be 90 percent cheaper than we thought http://t.co/426qm7Ajxh pic.twitter.com/ZB0ALHIXgu
— Popular Science (@PopSci) July 25, 2015
CRISPR has “promised direct assess to the source code of life.” Your Saturday #longread, from @Wired: http://t.co/nkxvRSX1jx
— NOVA (@novapbs) July 25, 2015
What will really happen when San Andreas unleashes the big one? http://t.co/C00GW99dzP pic.twitter.com/BEzoQUyNH0
— Ask Smithsonian (@AskSmithsonian) May 29, 2015
Are you bored? Guess what, that’s a good thing because you’ll be more creative. http://t.co/QBKo8RrgQa
— Ainissa Ramirez (@ainissaramirez) July 25, 2015
#Goodmorning #Philadelphia! One of your cheese steaks would be great 4 months into my #YearInSpace pic.twitter.com/IQ9HjZcInV
— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) July 25, 2015
The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all. Follow @NSTA on Twitter to see more stories like these and get the science education resources you need.
Twitter is a treasure trove for news. These tweets caught our eye at NSTA recently, and they could surely be useful conversation starters in the classroom. Read on, and share the stories that caught your eye this week!
How do fireflies glow? Mystery solved after 60 years: http://t.co/ubgknu0xs8