Themes, big ideas, unifying concepts—as the editor of Science Scope writes, the idea of crosscutting concepts in science is not a new one. (See the guest editorial Interdisciplinary Science: A Fresh Approach From the Past in Science Scope) But what is new in the NGSS is how the concepts integrate with science/engineering practices and disciplinary core ideas and also transcend grade levels and traditional subject areas. Many of us teachers are (or have been) challenged to connect these three dimensions in a planned and purposeful way. Fortunately for us, the NSTA journals each month provide examples and suggestions.

Science Scope—Embedding Crosscutting Concepts

“Engineering inspired by nature is just one approach you can use to incorporate the NGSS crosscutting concept of Structure and Function into your science curriculum.”

Here are some SciLinks with content information and suggestions for additional activities and investigations related to this month’s featured articles:

• Bringing Historical Scientific Arguments Back to Life: The Case of Continental Drift  [SciLinks: Continental Drift, Plate Tectonics]
• Why Theories Do Not Turn Into Laws [SciLinks: Inference]
• For the Love of Infographics  [SciLinks: Natural Selection, Adaptations of Animals, Adaptations of Plants]
• Understanding the Art in Science and the Science in Art Through Crosscutting Concepts  [SciLinks:
• The Surprising Patterns of Health and Disease  [SciLinks: Blood Type, Health Hazards]
• Everyday Engineering: Budding Sound Engineers: Listening to Speakers and Earbuds [SciLinks: Sound]

Science & Children—Structure and Function

As the editor suggests, this crosscutting concept is at the heart of engineering projects, including those that elementary students enjoy doing–building things and taking things apart. But structure and function are also  important when studying other topics such as plants, animals, and the structure of the earth. 

Here are some SciLinks with content information and suggestions for additional activities and investigations related to this month’s featured articles:

• Inviting Engineering Into the Science Lab [SciLinks: States of Matter, Sound]
• Our Garden Plot Thickens [SciLinks: Soil Types]
• Blade Structure and Wind Turbine Function and Engineering Encounters: Am I Really Teaching Engineering to Elementary Students? [SciLinks: Wind Currents, Wind Energy]
• Bringing Your Classroom to Life [SciLinks: Characteristics of Living Things]
• Inventing Mystery Machines [SciLinks: Motion-Speed Relationship, Simple Machines]
• Teaching Through Trade Books: Every Part Has a Purpose [SciLinks: Design, Inventors]
• The Early Years: Getting Messy With Matter [SciLinks: Matter]
• Formative Assessment Probes: Soil and Dirt: The Same or Different? [SciLinks: Exploring Soil, What is soil?]
• Methods and Strategies: Bringing the Outside In [SciLinks: Plants]

The Science Teacher—Energy

Energy is not just a content topic in physics. It truly is a crosscutting concept across all disciplines—life sciences (photosynthesis, respiration, ecosystems), chemistry, and Earth science (plate tectonics, earthquakes, ocean currents, weather).

Here are some SciLinks with content information and suggestions for additional activities and investigations related to this month’s featured articles:

• Finding the CO2 Culprit [SciLinks: Climate Change, Volcanic Eruptions, Natural Hazards and Disasters]
• Policy, Literacy, and Energy [SciLinks: Energy Transformations, Energy Conservation, Renewable and Nonrenewable Energy, Sources of Energy]
• Sampling in the Snow [SciLinks: Snowflakes, Albedo, Insulation]
• Our Town [SciLinks: Alternative Energy Sources, Alternative Fuels]
• Fields of Fuel [SciLinks: Sustainable Agriculture]

The 2015 NSTA National Conference on Science Education (held in Chicago, March 12-15) was a great opportunity for educators to build their capacity for understanding and implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).  In Thursday’s featured presentation (The Key to Implementing the NGSS? Teachers!), Dr. Stephen Pruitt described this capacity-building journey as a path toward expertise: gaining knowledge but also pairing that knowledge with the information on how to use it.  In Chicago, NSTA offered NGSS sessions for everyone, covering the spectrum of experience with the Next Generation Science Standards.

2015 National Conference Learning

In Thursday’s Featured Presentation, Dr. Pruitt described three key innovations of the Next Generation Science Standards–3-Dimensional learning, the shift toward students being engaged in explaining phenomena and designing solutions, and the integration of engineering with the nature of science. The conference offered over 350 sessions to learn about these key innovations and move the standards into practice. Conference attendees had opportunities to learn from the NGSS and Framework writers, science specialists, post-secondary researchers, and classroom educators.

On Friday NSTA hosted a series of presentations called the 2015 NGSS@NSTA Forum. Dr. Joe Krajcik facilitated one of my favorite forum sessions (Developing and Evaluating Three-Dimensional Curriculum Materials). During our time with Dr. Krajcik, we were immersed in NGSS experiences involving models, reflection, table talk, metacognition, and practicing all the elements of expertise. An important take-away for the group was that this “figuring out” using all 3 dimensions  by explaining or creating a model continues to build throughout the lessons facilitating the deep understanding of science.

Many of the NGSS “rock stars” describe the result of NGSS learning as creating a complete picture for the student as opposed to presenting the student with discrete pieces of information.  There were so many wonderful NGSS-focused sessions presented by teachers sharing how they are translating NGSS into classroom teaching and learning. For example, Jaclyn Austin and Emily Perry shared their Stormwater Literacy Project as part of the Natural Resources, Natural Partnerships strand incorporating the NGSS and helping students use the science they learn to impact change. The NGSS share-a-thon session on Saturday morning brought together a room full of NGSS resources and opportunities to impact classrooms.

Post-Conference Learning

A critical element to any great professional learning experience is the opportunity to put new learning into practice and reflect on product and results, as well as find on-going support.  For those new to the NGSS, Achieve announced the release of a series of videos around the NGSS developed in partnership with the Teaching Channel.  Educators can use these videos to continue learning about the three dimensions of the NGSS and how they work together.  For those ready to design NGSS lessons and units or to evaluate existing materials to see if they are NGSS aligned, the EQuIP rubric developed in a partnership between NSTA and Achieve is a tool to encourage reflection and conversation among educators working together to develop and evaluate instructional products.  The NGSS@NSTA Hub is a one-digital destination to support teaching and learning of the Next Generation Science Standards.  NSTA offers more than 80 resources (not counting their journal articles)  to support teachers in understanding the NGSS and implementing the standards.

In addition to resources and tools, educators need opportunities to have conversations and share ideas, stories, and curriculum.  As the NGSS featured presentation title indicates, the key to implementing NGSS is teachers.  Every teacher has a story to share and should be a part of the national conversation and work building curriculum around the NGSS.  There are rich communities like the #NGSSchat PLN (Professional Learning Network) and the #NGSSblogs Project that offer ongoing support, conversation, and opportunity to share and receive feedback about the frontline implementation of NGSS:  the science classroom and the programs and PD that support it.  There are multiple ways to access and join #NGSSchat and the #NGSSblogs project.  Learn more at http://www.ngsspln.com/.

Tricia Shelton is a High Science Teacher and Teacher Leader with a BS in Biology and MA in Teaching, who has worked for 19 years in Kentucky driven by a passion to help students develop critical and creative thinking skills. Tricia is a 2014 NSTA Distinguished Teaching Award winner for her contributions to and demonstrated excellence in Science Teaching. As a Professional Learning Facilitator and NGSS Implementation Team Leader, Tricia has worked with educators across the United States to develop Best Practices in the Science and Engineering classroom through conference presentations, webinars, coordinating and co- moderating #NGSSchat on Twitter, and virtual and face to face PLC work.  Tricia’s current Professional Learning Facilitation includes work around the Next Generation Science Standards and helping STEM students develop the 21st Century Skills of critical and creative thinking, collaboration and communication (including Social media and Video) and Project-Based Learning. Since 2011, she has conducted action research in her classroom to develop effective and accessible instructional and assessment strategies incorporating Best Practice in the STEM classroom, including work for the Marzano Research Laboratory. Through a partnership with BenchFly, the premier science video production platform, she works with CEO, Dr. Alan Marnett, to reinvent scientific education and communication with video. Find Shelton on Twitter @TdiShelton.

Read Shelton’s previous blog: The Next Generation Science Standards: a transformational opportunity

To see more from the 2015 National Conference on Science Education in Chicago, March 12-15, please view the #NSTA15 Facebook Album—and if you see yourself, please tag yourself!

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

Future NSTA Conferences

2015 STEM Forum & Expo

• Minneapolis, May 20–23

2015 Area Conferences

• Reno, October 22–24
• Philadelphia, November 12–14
• Kansas City, December 3–5

Follow NSTA

 Moticam X

We live in an age where iPads and cell phones are part of the everyday fabric of high school life. With this being the case, Swift Optical’s Moticam X has a great deal of promise as a scientific instrument that can connect a classroom microscope to a variety of portable technologies. As an added bonus, the Moticam X allows you to stretch your science budget by putting students’ personal devices to use instead of investing in a classroom set of new technology. The kit includes:

• A focusable lens
• Variable size eyepiece couples
• Removable mini-USB cable
• USB charger
• C-ring
• Macro-tube
• Motic calibration slide with 4 circles and cross hair
• Motic software and free apps for tablets

The Moticam X is a digital camera that can be used on its own for macro images or attached to the eyepiece of a microscope. Once in place, the digital camera streams high-resolution images to wifi-enabled devices such as  smart phones, tablets, and laptops. The Moticam X device can stream images to up to six different devices at the same time, which is excellent for a typical lab station sizes. The streaming image is 1.3 megapixels, which is appropriate for viewing on screen.

The procedure to set up the Moticam X is very straightforward. First, prior to attaching the Moticam X, I focused a microscope on a prepared slide. Next, I attached the Moticam X to the eyepiece of my microscope using a coupler that comes with the device. (If you prefer, you can attach the Moticam X to a goose-neck clamp and use it without the benefit of the microscope’s magnification.) Once the Moticam X was in place, I connected my iPad to the Moticam X by searching for it under the list of available wi-fi connections under the Settings tab. Once I established this connection I launched the app associated with the device and was able to view the slide on which the microscope was focused The device comes with software to help you connect to other wireless devices your students might be using. A router is not required.

Users can view live images, but can also save images to their portfolios. They can then use the apps image editing tools to modify, annotate, and share images. The app also comes with camera settings that allow users to make adjustments for lighting conditions (fluorescent, daylight, LED, etc.) and change the brightness, hue, color saturation, and other basic settings. You can also flip and mirror the image using the camera controls

Overall, I think this is a first-rate device that enhances the capabilities of a microscope and facilitates lab work. In addition, students can save images on portable devices and refer to them when completing homework and other assignments outside the classroom. The Moticam X is a reasonably priced and well-built device that enhances the applications of microscope viewing by integrating Wi-Fi applications to connect microscopes with modern technologies. Undoubtedly, this is the kind of the application that will help students use technology for learning and give them an opportunity to collaborate outside the classroom.

Specifications

Manufacturer: Swift Optical

Price: $449.00

Website: http://swiftoptical.com/products/d-moticam-x

Demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J38hlQAuW98

Edwin P. Christmann is a professor and chairman of the secondary education department and graduate coordinator of the mathematics and science teaching program at Slippery Rock University in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania.