It was a beautiful sunny winter day in the mid Atlantic region in the mid 40s with little wind when I went walking in a wetlands park wearing a synthetic fleece jacket and nylon pants. The boardwalk over the water is made of recycled plastic “lumber” and the handrail is metal. Walking along, my body built up a strong static electric charge that hurt me as it discharged when I touched the handrail. Ouch!
Young children notice this phenomenon. They might get a small shock from a static electrical charge when they take off a sweater or snowsuit on a dry winter day. The spark can be seen if you go into a dark room to remove the sweater. Although the movement of electrons won’t be understood fully until the fifth grade when the concept of a “whole” being made of parts too small for us to see is taught, children can still play with static electricity. In the March 2013 Science and Children Early Years column, I write about using an activity, such as a Discovery Bottle, to explore it. Children will play with the bottle briefly. Talking with children about what they see will help them understand that their action of rubbing the bottle on the rug or their hair attracts the small particles to the inner wall. It’s not magic.
When children are interested in a hard-to-teach topic, reading a book can help them understand how their experience fits into the larger world. Do you have a book you read to children about electricity or a picture book that has some content about electricity? This doesn’t seem to be a common topic for fiction, and much of the non-fiction about electricity is rightfully for older elementary students.
Try these books, Electricity: Bulbs, Batteries, and Sparks (Amazing Science) by Darlene Stille (2004 Picture Window Books) and What Is Electricity? (Rookie Read-About Science) by Lisa Trumbauer (2004 Children’s Press), or see if any of the other works reviewed in NSTA Recommends will meet your needs.
Here are just a few of the many websites that describe the use of Discovery Bottles as craft projects and science experiences.
http://tunstalltimes.blogspot.com/2011/07/discovery-bottles.html
http://lagunapreschoolcurriculum.blogspot.com/2011/10/how-to-make-science-discovery-bottles.html
http://www.teachpreschool.org/2013/01/discovery-bottles-p-t/
http://teachers.net/lessons/posts/422.html
Wonderful as playthings, they become tools for science observation and reflection when conversation is part of the experience.

I always enjoy reading books that challenge my way of thinking. Working in education, I read many books for my professional development. Many taught me new techniques or strategies, but rare were the ones that challenged me to think in new ways. Becoming a Responsive Science Teacher: Focusing on Student Thinking in Secondary Science has at its core a philosophical framework for understanding the beginnings of scientific thinking in high school students.
The primary question the authors ask in the book is “What are the students thinking?” Responsive teachers understand that they have to assess and respond to what students need, in the moment, before they answer the question, “What should I do?” The book pays explicit attention to student thinking, interpreting it, assessing it, and making judgments about how possibly to respond.
Using case studies, such as the examination of the relationship between owls and snakes to the analysis of the meaning of lines from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, teachers can focus on interpreting and appreciating the substance of what their students are thinking.
The book holds out the promise that when you strive to help students work through their ideas about science, you help them learn how to learn science. The authors state that they believe that “there can and should be much more science going on in science classes.”
Attending to students’ thinking in science can be difficult, the authors explain. It can be unclear, and they may express ideas in ways that are different from what we expect to hear, but teachers need practice listening for them and to them.
As you advance your responsive listening skills to be a more effective educator, additional resources to consider include Page Keeley’s series Uncovering Student Ideas in Science; Designing Effective Science Instruction: What Works in Science Classrooms;  STEM Student Research Handbook; and Scientific Argumentation in Biology: 30 Classroom Activities.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, security lines are here to stay. What if you could move through with just a sideways glance at a camera? That’s becoming a reality with the innovation highlighted in the latest installment of the “Science of Innovation” video series from the collaborative team of NBC Learn, USPTO, NSF, and NSTA.

This installment also highlights the math for your STEM efforts. The video’s connected lesson plans go beyond fingerprints to help you guide students in using math to solve a biometrics problem. The series is available cost-free on www.NBCLearn.com, http://www.science360.gov, and www.uspto.gov/education.

Use the link below to download the lesson plans in a format you can edit to customize for your situation. And if you had to make significant changes to a lesson, we’d love to see what you did differently, as well as why you made the changes. Leave a comment, and we’ll get in touch with you with submission information. We look forward to hearing from you!

–Judy Elgin Jensen

Image of Tony Tasset’s EYE on location in Chicago’s Pritzker Park, Summer 2010, courtesy of Michael Kappel.

Video

SOI: Biometrics highlights the innovation to biometric identification made by Arun Ross, Ph.D. and Reza Derakshani, Ph.D.

Lesson plans

Two versions of the lesson plans help students build background and develop their own biometric identification method, perhaps coming together to agree on a “clue” left by a classmate by which that person might be identified. Both include strategies to support students in their own quest for answers and strategies for a more focused approach that helps all students participate in hands-on inquiry.

SOI: Biometrics, A Math Perspective models how students might investigate a question about biometrics by applying math concepts when analyzing physical features.

SOI: Biometrics, An Engineering Perspective models how students might devise a method for identifying individuals using physical features.

You can use the following form to e-mail us edited versions of the lesson plans: [contact-form 2 “ChemNow]

Are you attending the NSTA conference in San Antonio this spring? At this point, you should be registering, making arrangements for lodging and transportation, and thinking about your lesson plans for the substitute (if you haven’t done so already).

If this the first time you’ve attended the national conference, it can be overwhelming at first. Here are some suggestions, updated from last year’s blog.

Before you go:

• Add the NSTA Conference page to your bookmarks or favorites. Be sure to check out the Conference Newcomer’s page.
• Check out the new NSTA Conference app. Search sessions to build a schedule that integrates with your calendar; access maps of the Convention Center, hotels, and Exhibit Hall, share the play-by-play with social media, complete session evaluations, and more. Available for download via Google Play, the Apple Store, and coming soon to BlackBerry World.
• Decide what you’d like to focus on at the conference: What content do you want to know more about? What topics do your students struggle with? Are you looking for new digital resources, textbooks, or equipment? Get suggestions from your colleagues, too. Ask your students what you should learn more about (related to science, of course!). Then go to the conference website and use the Session Browser/Scheduler (or the app) to look at the session descriptions. You can print out a personal schedule or add the session information to your smartphone calendar (mine is getting full already). Pick a few sessions for each timeslot, in case the rooms are full. There are several conference venues, so allow travel time between sessions.
• Preview the Conference Transcript section on the conference site to access online session evaluations and tools to track your professional development. This is a great way to show your administrators which sessions you attended—my principal was always impressed.

Some hints on what to take:

Click for a full size infographic.

• An empty bag—preferably one with wheels—if you know you can’t resist picking up every brochure, handout, and session material you encounter (resistance can be futile), although many presenters are now posting their handouts online.
• Address labels are handy for sign-up sheets and marking your program and other materials.
• If you don’t have any business cards, get some or make your own. Be sure to include your e-mail address and what and where you teach. These aregreat to handout when you’re networking with other teachers, presenters, and exhibitors.
• A cellphone camera is handy to take pictures of equipment, displays, speakers, and new friends as well as play Click!, a photoscavenger hunt on the conference app.
• Have an envelope or other system for keeping receipts and other documents. Expenses not reimbursed by your school might be tax-deductible (check with your accountant).
• Chargers or other adapters for your electronic devices.
• Above all, take comfortable walking shoes and be prepared for the San Antonio weather!

At the Conference:

Click for a full size infographic.

• Pick up your badge holder, your copy of the program (unless you’re using an electronic option) and other conference materials ahead of time, if possible. Take some time to finalize your daily schedules. I like to put a small reminder in my badge holder with the session names, times, and locations. You can also stash a few of your business cards in your badge holder, making it easier to hand them out to new contacts and vendors.
• Consider attending the first-timers session on the first day. This year, Patricia Simmons is hosting the session “Is This Your First NSTA Conference?” on Thursday, April 11, 8:00–9:00 AM in the Texas Ballroom C, Grand Hyatt. It’s worth the time.
• Keep your smartphone handy if you’ve created a calendar on it and to access the app.
• Evaluate your sessions online or through the conference app.
• Get to the sessions early. Sometimes the smaller rooms fill up quickly. Have a back-up session in mind in case the room is full.
• Divide and conquer if you’re attending with friends or colleagues. You can only be at one place at a time, so coordinate with other teachers on what to attend and how to share notes and materials from sessions.
• Consider taking some snacks and a water bottle (the concessions are often crowded at lunch time).
• It’s tempting to collect every brochure, poster, and promotional giveaway in the exhibit area. It’s like a science wonderland! But whatever you collect, you’ll have to get home somehow. I know teachers who take an empty bag (see above under things to take) they can check on the way home (or you can ship things home via a delivery service).
• Stop by the booths at registration staffed by local teachers. Members from the Science Teachers Association of Texas (STAT), the Rio Grande Valley Science Association of Texas (RGVSA), the Texas Council of Elementary Science (TCES), and the Texas Science Education Leadership Association (TSELA) will be on hand to fill you in on the many science education opportunities in Texas
• Keep a log or journal of the sessions you attended, people you met, and new ideas. Update your homepage, Facebook, tweets, or class Wiki/blog with a summary of what you are learning at the conference. I’ve even seen teachers Skyping back to their students!
• Update your conference transcript.
• Put your cell phone on mute during sessions.
• Introduce yourself to teachers at the sessions or events. You’ll meet lots of interesting people and make many new personal connections. Although it’s important to keep up with your colleagues via texts/tweets/email, take the opportunity to actually talk to the teachers in line with you or sitting next to you at a session. The value of a face-to-face conference is meeting and interacting with real people, and teachers are the most interesting people of all.
• Attend a session or two on a topic you know nothing about. It’s a good way to learn something new.

Back Home:

• Share your experiences with your students. Use some of the promotional items you collected as prizes or gifts.
• Organize and file your notes and handouts. Share the materials and what you learned with your colleagues.
• Send a note of appreciation to the administrator who approved your attendance at the conference. Write a brief article for the school or district newsletter, if appropriate.
• Access your transcript online.
• Get ready for next year!

Research indicates that many students do not develop proficiency in scientific practices, such as argumentation. The Framework for K-12 Science Education and the forthcoming Next Generation Science Standards emphasize eight practices that are key elements of K–12 science and engineering instruction, and one practice is “engaging in argument from evidence.” In Scientific Argumentation in Biology: 30 Classroom Activities, authors Victor Sampson and Sharon Schleigh present a framework for teaching students how to understand how an argument in science is different than an argument that is used in everyday contexts or in other disciplines such as history, religion, or even politics. The framework is illustrated here:

Strategies and Activities of Argumentation

To integrate argumentation into the teaching and learning of biology,  you can use a number of strategies. The book breaks down these strategies into three main ones:
1. The construction of a good argument that provides and justifies a conclusion, explanation, or some other answer to a research question. Examples of activities for teaching your students to generate arguments include Fruit Fly Traits, Evolutionary Relationships in Mammals, and Characteristics of Viruses.
2. The design of  activities or tasks that require students to examine and evaluate alternative theoretical interpretations of a particular phenomenon. Examples of activities for teaching your students to evaluate alternatives include Plant Biomass (photosynthesis), Cell Size and Diffusion (diffusion), and Healthy Diet and Weight (human health).
3. The writing of a refutational essay to allow students to explain why a common misconception is inaccurate and then explain why a scientific view is more valid or acceptable from a scientific perspective. Examples of activities for teaching your students to write a refutational essay include Misconception About the Nature of Scientific Knowledge (nature of science), Misconception About Bacteria (microbiology), an Misconception About Inheritance of Traits (genetics).
The teacher notes included with each activity provide specific ways in which you can supplement what you are doing in your biology class. Help your students move beyond expressing mere opinions when making their claims.
Other resources to aide your biology instruction include The Biology Teacher’s Handbook and Hard-to-Teach Biology Concepts. For additional NSTA resources on argumentation and discussion in science class, see “Engaging Students in the Scientific Practices of Explanation and Argumentation,” an NGSS-related article by Reiser, Berland, and Kenyon published in NSTA’s April 2012 journal issues, and the free chapter “Scientific Inquiry: The Place of Interpretation and Argumentation” from Science as Inquiry in the Secondary Setting.

I’m newly credentialed as a principal and looking for a position at a middle school. I’m currently an English teacher, so I’m not familiar with the needs of other subject areas. What should I expect to see on a science teacher’s “wish list”?
—Tyson, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
It’s difficult to balance the roles of building management and instructional leadership, especially in today’s high-stakes situations. I’ve seen principals who worked hard to accomplish this. Being aware of the needs of students and the differences in subject areas is a step toward that balance.
You certainly should ask the teachers in your new school for a wish list, but I can offer a few thoughts ahead of time, based on my experiences as a science teacher working with some excellent principals:

• Treat teachers, including science teachers, as professional adults and worthy of your respect and trust. Ask for input before making decisions that directly affect teaching and learning. Be a good listener and recognize teacher suggestions. When you make decisions, share the rationale with the teachers. For example, the school entrance designated for bus students may not be important to science teachers, but the class schedule, budget, length of periods, or room assignment can directly affect science instruction. Become familiar with the science curriculum, standards, and assessments in place.

• Recognize the teachers’ responsibilities for safety in the labs and security in the storage areas. Teachers will need time for inventory and documentation (and this should be inservice time). Teachers must be able to lock the storage rooms and classroom cabinets. Support their efforts to communicate with parents about safety issues. Avoid scheduling non-science classes or study halls in labs—these are safety problems waiting to happen. Also avoid scheduling science classes in non-science classrooms (those without safety features, flat tables, or utilities such as water and electric). Doing so would limit the types of investigations students can safely do, and students assigned to those rooms will have a different science experience than those whose classes meet in or have ready access to labs. Keep class sizes within the occupancy limits of the lab. NSTA has several publications on safety that should be part of every school’s professional library.

• Consider the behind-the-scenes work science teachers do (especially when they make it look so easy). All teachers use their planning time for writing lesson plans and evaluating assignments. But science teachers have additional demands, in terms of lab set-up and clean-up, equipment and chemical inventories, and compliance with local and state regulations. Be careful how many preps you assign to teachers. It may be unavoidable, but having more than three preps per day is a heavy load for science teachers.

• Get to know the teachers and the science program. Ask them if you can unofficially observe lab classes (for the whole period, not just a walkthrough) to get an idea of what students learn from these activities as well as the amount of time it takes to set up and put away the materials and read a report from each student, the safety and cooperative learning procedures in place, and what the classroom looks like when it’s full of students.

• Invite yourself to department or team meetings and be a good listener. Ask teachers to frame their suggestions in terms of what is better or safer for the students. Recognize that science teachers have professional development needs in both content and pedagogy, as well as safety.

In addition to a wish list, you could also ask science teachers for their worst nightmare. I suspect that high on the list would be the floating assignment, traveling from room to room. Although it’s a reality in many schools, it’s a serious situation for science teachers in terms of safety and the types of activities that can be done (and it’s usually the newest or least experienced teachers who get this assignment). We had such a situation, and the principal asked us to work with him on a plan so that every class met in a lab. It meant sharing facilities and not having the labs open during the day to set up activities. But he recognized our situation by not giving us before or after school duties.

There is something about the changes in the natural world due to seasonal changes in spring time that inspire us to talk about baby plants, baby birds, and baby anything. During a warm spell in January I was inspired to refurbish the garden box on the playground with some new potting soil and have all the children plant greens of various kinds by taking a pinch of the tiny seeds, sprinkling them on the soil and patting them in. The warm days gave way to colder with a few below freezing, and then back up to warm. I was happily surprised to see tiny sprouts a month later because the temperature has stayed on the cold side, mostly below 40*F. Amazing how seeds sprout when the conditions are right for growth! By noticing when and where different plants grow, children are building a beginning understanding of the adaptation of a species of a living organisms to an environment.
The February 2013 issue of Science and Children has many articles for early childhood on exploring life cycles and other concepts in life science (see entire table of contents below or here). I read the articles dealing with older students in upper elementary too, because I learn science teaching methods and scientific information that shapes what I teach. Knowing what older students are capable of keeps me from trying to move the young children along too fast, and it helps me see what they are capable of doing and learning in science.
Talking about life science, I see that Patty Born Selly has a post on the Small Wonders blog about talking with children about one point on the cycle of life, death. When her children discovered a dead squirrel in the snow she allowed them to investigate and talk about death. It was an opportunity to use their observations as evidence for their ideas on why the squirrel was dead. As part of the life cycle we shouldn’t hide death from our children.
What are your plans for teaching about the needs of living organisms and how they change as they grow? Life cycles may not be in national or state standards to be taught in full until grade five, but understanding life cycles begins with prior experiences of caring for and observing living organisms. Maybe a child’s question will be the “seed” that grows into a science inquiry about the life cycle of a plant or animal.
Science and Children, February 2013, Vol. 50 No. 6
Compost: The Rot Thing for Our Earth
By: Fred Estes and Carolee Fucigna
A yearlong classroom project encourages scientific practices and knowledge about ecology.
Does What I Eat and Drink Affect My Teeth?
By: Sherri Lynne Brown
A trip to the Philippines inspires a 5E learning cycle that connects common acids and bases to dental health for students.
Free – Editor’s Note: Life Cycles
By: Linda Froschauer
Science and Children’s editor shares thoughts regarding the current issue
Formative Assessment Probes: Labeling Versus Explaining
By: Page Keeley
This column focuses on promoting learning through assessment. This month’s issue discusses the life cycle of a butterfly.
Free – Indoor-Outdoor Science
By: Jyoti Gopal and Ella Pastor
A kindergarten science curriculum develops life science investigations in and around school.
Making Connections Through Conversation
By: Julie McGough and Lisa Nyberg
First graders explore the circle of life through observations of animals in their habitats.
Methods and Strategies: I Wonder…
By: Anne Stevenson
This column provides ideas and techniques to enhance your science teaching. This month’s issue discusses how “I Wonder” boards serve as a springboard for scientific investigations
Plants, Alike and Different
By: Kathy Cabe Trundle, Katherine N. Mollohan, and Mandy McCormick Smith
The authors planned investigations and taught science lessons that help children extend natural comparisons of physical properties of humans and familiar animals to include observations and comparisons of the physical properties of plants and insects, laying a foundation for future understanding of inheritance of traits.
Science 101: How Do Earthworms Function?
By: Bill Robertson
This column provides background science information for elementary teachers. In this month’s issue the author discusses the different systems of earthworms
Teaching Through Trade Books: Figuring Out Food Chains
By: Christine Anne Royce
This column includes activities inspired by children’s literature. In this month’s issue students investigate and construct models of food chains or food webs to help them grasp the core idea
Free – The Next Generation Science Standards and the Life Sciences
By: Rodger W. Bybee
Using the life sciences, this article first reviews essential features of the NRC Framework for K–12 Science Education that provided a foundation for the new standards. Second, the article describes the important features of life science standards for elementary, middle, and high school levels. Finally, several implications of the new standards are discussed.
The Early Years: “Life” Science
By: Peggy Ashbrook
This column discusses resources and science topics related to students in grades preK to 2. This month’s issue discusses the complete life cycle of a plant
The Wonder of Worms
By: Cynthia Smith and Melinda Landry
To guide kindergarteners in developing a deeper understanding of an earthworm’s life cycle, its feeding habits, and its role as a decomposer, the authors designed an inquiry-based unit focused on red wigglers.

As an NSTA member, you subscribe to one or more journals in print/digital format. But you also have access to articles in the other journals. In the monthly SciLinks blog for each issue (and on the NSTA home page), there are links to browse the table of contents of the three K–12 journals (Science & Children, Science Scope, and The Science Teacher) along with the quarterly Journal of College Science Teaching. For the journals you don’t subscribe to, you can read/download articles as PDF documents or save them to the My Library section of the NSTA Learning Center.
In addition to the themed articles, NSTA journals have regular features that appear in each issue. Each journal has different features, but they are valuable resources for all grade levels. Keep reading to see what monthly features are available online:

Science and Children

• In Teaching Through Trade Books, Christine Royce highlights books related to the month’s theme and provides lesson suggestions for investigations. There are two lessons in the current issue on food chains for K-4 and 4-6. Middle school teachers might be interested in the latter one.
• The Early Years features activities for our youngest scientists (PreK to Grade 2). I’ve shared Peggy Ashbrook’s ideas with the educators at a nature center for ideas on projects for young children and their families. It’s interesting to see what these young children are learning.
• If you’re a fan of Page Keeley’s Formative Assessment Probes, S&C features one every month, complete with a link to download one. These could be used in other grades, too.
• Science 101 has “background boosters” with information on science topics. These quick primers from Bill Robertson can help you fill in some holes in content knowledge regardless of the level you teach.
• Methods & Strategies has ideas and techniques for science teaching. This month looks at a twist on word walls with “I Wonder” boards.

Science Scope

• Do you teach astronomy? Regardless of your grade level, Scope on the Skies is a pleasure to read. Bob Riddle provides information in an easy-to-read format with a monthly sky calendar, a list of visible planets, questions to stimulate student curiosity, and online resources to learn more.
• Scope on Safety is column by Ken Roy, NSTA’s science safety compliance consultant. The February issue discusses how monitoring and awareness can help to prevent or reduce accidents in the lab. The column also has a “Question of the Month.”
• Every month, the Teacher’s Toolkit features how-to strategies and practical advice. This month has lesson ideas for connecting engineering design and scientific inquiry.
• Tried and True has suggestions for demonstrations and experiments and usually includes examples of handouts and related resources. The current issue show how to expand a rock ID lesson into a study of stone-based construction materials.

The Science Teacher

• Safer Science has additional best practices and safety suggestions from Key Roy. This column is different from the one in Science Scope, and both are worth reading (and sharing). For example, this month’s topic is lab occupancy load.
• Science 2.0 looks at new web tools to support learning in science. In February, authors Eric Brusell and Martin Horejsi share a teacher’s experience with a flipped classroom.
• Career of the Month by Luba Vangelova is based on interviews with science-using professionals, such as this month’s materials engineer. Many middle and upper elementary classes discuss careers in science, so perhaps these brief and easy-to-read articles would be useful, first-person resources.
• Health Wise by Michael L. Bratsis addresses issues related to students. This month has ideas to help students understand the importance of exercise.
• The Green Room has the theme of “making your teaching more environmentally friendly.” In the February issue, Amanda Beckrich has suggestions for helping students look at the real-life topic of fuel efficiency.
• The New Teacher’s Toolbox really isn’t just for new high school teachers! The ideas that Michael Romano shares are also useful to teachers at all grade levels! This month features ways to break the midwinter monotony (and don’t we all face that!)

It’s hard to find time to keep up with everything, but these features are worth a quick look every month. They also make good conversation-starters at faculty meetings.