In a letter to the West Virginia Board of Education, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) encourages the members of the Board to eliminate changes that were made to the Next Generation Content Standards and Objectives for Science in West Virginia Schools and revert back to the original published text. The West Virginia standards are based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), but changes were made to two performance expectations prior to adoption that do not reflect the intent of the original published NGSS document. The letter is below, and readers can download a copy as a pdf here.

January 13, 2015

West Virginia State Board of Education
1900 Kanawha Boulevard East
Charleston, WV 25305

Dear Members of the Board,

On behalf of the Board, Council, and 55,000 members of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), we strongly encourage you to eliminate changes that were made to the Next Generation Content Standards and Objectives for Science in West Virginia Schools prior to adoption in December and revert back to the original published text.

While West Virginia standards are based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), changes made to two performance expectations do not reflect the intent of the original published NGSS document or the Framework for K-12 Science Education.

The first change focuses on S.6.ESS.6. The original NGSS text states, “Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century,” but it was changed to read, “Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise and fall in global temperatures over the past century.” Adding the words “and fall” to S.6.ESS.6 risks confusion among students between the concepts of weather and climate.

The second change focuses on S.9.ESS.14. The original NGSS text states, “Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth systems.” This text was replaced with, “Analyze geoscience data and the predictions made by computer climate models to assess their creditability for predicting future impacts on the Earth System.” The original wording asks students to use data and models to forecast the rate of climate change and future impacts on the Earth System. The revised wording asks students to assess the credibility of computer climate models to predict future impacts on the Earth System. This substantially changes the intent of this learning goal.

We are pleased that West Virginia state leaders have been at the forefront of developing the NGSS, and we will continue to support West Virginia science teachers as they bring high-quality science to all students. NSTA supports the NGSS the way the writers wrote it because it reflects the best research in science and on how students learn science. It is our hope that you will reverse the changes indicated above so as not to compromise the work of so many science and education experts, including many science teachers in West Virginia.

Sincerely,

Dr. David L. Evans
Executive Director
National Science Teachers Association
1840 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22201

The power of a Bluetooth-connected Dissolved Oxygen probe is not only from the DO data, but the places the data can be collected, and the ways the data is presented. Over the holidays I took the Pasco wireless DO probe up in the mountains to generate some data and answer some questions. Since my winter/spring lesson plans will address the use of the probe outdoors, I needed to be more than a little familiar with it, and ensure that any limits or barriers of the technology were of my choosing or creation. 

Three sites were chosen in which to measure the DO; a ice-covered pond, a small creek, and a rushing mountain stream. The DO probe connected to a Bluetooth transmitter called a SPARKlink Air to my iPad Air protected by both a UZBL Shockwave case and a Ziploc® bag.

Needless to say, the DO Probe, the Bluetooth basestation, and the iPad worked flawlessly. The biggest hurdle was simply trying to view the iPad screen though a soggy plastic bag and against the glare of a snow-covered landscape.

The durability of the Pasco DO probe was obvious, and while I don’t recommend any abuse, I do encourage data collectors to push the envelope.

As you can see in the pictures, the weather was a bit of a challenge, but nothing that a pair of Ziploc® bags couldn’t fix. I’ve used the iPad in temperatures so low that only a few minutes of touch-display would work before the iPad had to be warmed up again before responding to a fingertip. Battery life was not a problem, but it was definitely less than under optimum conditions according to the battery-life indicators.

The Pasco DO Probe was lowered half-meter by half-meter with pauses at each interval until it reached its full 3m length.

The data from the pond shows changes in both DO and Temp during the probes decent. The probe was paused for about five seconds every half-meter. The inverse relationship between DO and Temp is clearly presented in the graph, and occurred at approximately the middle depth of the pond which from summer measurements is slightly less than 3m deep. A joy in data such as this is found in the inspection of either DO or Temp  across depth in isolation, and in relation to each other across depth.

A plastic bag stopped the snow, but not the Bluetooth radio signal from the Pasco SPARKlink Air. I intended to use both Bluetooth ports to collect windspeed as well, but the heavy snowfall changed my plans.

The next stop was a slow-moving creek wandering though a snow-covered meadow.

The probe sat on the bottom of the creek for the entire data collection. The steel cover-weight made positioning and stabilizing the probe underwater much easier. Ice chunks are visible in the flow visually documenting the water temperature.

The data shows a stable temperature just above 0 degrees C as well as a healthy DO level.

A bridge above a small stream provided an excellent basecamp to collect DO measurements in the center of the flow. The 3m cable length was just enough to reach the water. The beefy UZBL case provided plenty of grip even while wearing gloves to make working ten feet above the water of less concern then slipping around in my own boots.

The Pasco DO probe was lowered into the flow, but because of the current, the probe remained near the surface just as a fishing lure approaches the surface when in motion.

The river DO data was very similar to the meadow numbers, but with a slightly higher temperature and a surprisingly lower DO concentration.
The slow moving meadow water often had chunks of ice in it testifying to its transitional temperature where water straddles two of its physical states.

Using a DO/Temp graph provided by USGS Water Quality website, it is clear that the data collected was well within expectations based on water type and seasonal temperature.