By Martin Horejsi
Posted on 2011-11-21
As the Christmas shopping season moves into high gear, the competition among the tablets will also gain momentum with ads for higher speed or lower price. What does all this matter to the science teacher? Well, believe it or not, it comes down to standards.
It’s not the standards we are used to teaching, but rather the standards of industry that will guide the producers of content into the hands of the consumers. Without a popular or universal standard, it’s an expensive risk for publishers to make a version of their science content available for a specific tablet or app with little more than the whims of the consumers and educational tech advisors as the guarantee that the work of the publisher will remain viable. The tablets and apps are similar to new languages. If enough people adopt the new language, then it is worthwhile to publish content in that language. But where is that tipping point?
Another aspect of a tablet’s chance of survival is its ecosystem. In tech terms the ecosystem is all of the content, apps, connectivity, and peripherals of the particular tablet. A diverse ecosystem is good sign that the tablet will have enough of a presence in the food chain to survive long enough to attract the attention of publishers and app writers.
You could think of the various tablet operating systems as biomes that support the life in the ecosystem. When HP cut its TouchPad tablet along with its WebOS, not only was the TouchPad’s ecosystem devastated, but arguably the entire biome disappeared from this planet.
The biomes of Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android OS support the richest ecosystems right now, and although some tablet islands have evolved to significantly complex levels, the ability to interbreed with mainland tablets is limited. Sony has developed its own tablet to serve its own content, and work with its own products as well as include or install some legacy games which is something reminiscent to the disproven theory of ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny. But it also can play well with Android apps.
Other tablets including the Nook Color and the Kindle Fire are enticing mates with the peacock plumage of low price and large storage and their personal cloud filled sky, but some early adopters wonder now if e-reading has taken the backseat to rich media viewing (and shopping) which could likely open again the wounds of video games and movies out competing printed text for user attention to the point the high quality e-ink screens are evolving out of the tablets. Ask Maggie at CNET discusses the Nook/Kindle/textbook issuer here.
So here lies the big question. Traditional textbooks have significant limitations, significant weight, signification costs, as well as limited shelf life, limited potential for alternate media, and limited space for diversions from standards-based content. If a single tablet emerged as the dominant content predator in a biome containing most of the schools, then science textbook writers could justify the costs and time to build effective e-texts around that dominant platform. But until one emerges that meets the appetite of the schools and the publishers, then a majority of the publishers and authors involved will sit on the sidelines waiting for the genetic dust to settle and a clear organism emerges victorious.
Some of the features that I believe the must-have tablet for science teaching requires is robust I/O meaning it is easy to put stuff on it and transfer stuff off it, in addition to outputting its screen to large displays. It needs cameras, microphones, device connectivity, wireless connectivity, GPS reception, easy app access, and realistic and effective classroom controls. Of course it would also need a tether-free life, and the strength, durability and long battery life of a black ops military-grade tablet, if such a thing exists…which I’m not at liberty to disclose. My dream device would also have a built in Geiger counter, IR thermometer, oscilloscope, multimeter, barometer, strain gauge screen (to use as a digital balance), mass spectrometer, pH meter, gas chromatograph, and light meter. Floating would be nice, and waterproof is a given. Solar power backup is a reasonable request, but I can understand if it would cost more for lifetime unconditional fault-free warranty.
So in the end, an almost unfathomable paradigm shift in science teaching is-at the moment-just out of reach. Just imagine a sub-454 gram tablet filled with every possible/needed science book, video, table, chart, lab notebook, emergency/first aid procedure, MSDS, photograph, dichotomous tree, graph, handbook, test prep, etc. that provides connectivity to school, college prep, scholarships, career information, government facilities, science organizations, journals, websites, breaking science news, NASA missions, equipment catalogs, education standards, etc.
On top of all that, the cost of the tablet could be less than that of two print textbooks. It could works across all grade levels, many subjects, is perpetually up to date, and is multi-lingual. What’s there not to like?
A pipe dream? No. But before companies invest in a completely new medium, expectations for a financial return are reasonable. Or are they?
The environment of the educational tablet is changing more rapidly then the dominant species have adapted. Somewhat of a vacuum has been allowed to form, and now more then ever before has the science content landscape been up for grabs. Whatever media-organism can capitalize on these new niches may prove to the next Tyrannosaur, saber-toothed cat, or Homo sapiens. And many are looking at us to fill the void.
Us?
Hmmm.
Why not?
By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2011-11-19
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2011-11-17
My school is planning an Intergenerational Day, in which students invite grandparents or other guests to attend school for part of the day. We’re also inviting residents of a local retirement community. I’d like to participate with my fifth grade science classes, but I want our guests to be more than spectators. Do you have any suggestions for appropriate activities?
—Stacy, Dayton, Ohio
The high school where I taught had a similar event every year. In addition to lunch in the cafeteria with the students and a mini-concert by the band, the guests spent two or three periods in the classrooms. They enjoyed being around the students, and it was an opportunity for them to see what goes on in school beyond what they learn from the media.
The goal should be to get students and guests to interact with each other during the time they’re together in your classroom. Fifth-graders could certainly assume some responsibility for planning activities, giving them ownership in the day.
Rather than seating your guests in the back of the room, include them in small group discussions or activities with students. For logistical and safety reasons, you may want to avoid activities that require goggles or other safety equipment. Check out NSTA’s journal Science & Children for activity ideas. Or you could ask the students investigations they have already done would be interesting to share with the guests. Students could be the facilitators and guide their guests through the investigation.
For example, some activities fifth graders and guests could do together include
Your guests may be interested in how students are using technology. Does your classroom have an interactive white board? Your guests may have seen these boards used on television and might be curious about how they work. You could ask students to demonstrate how to interact and provide opportunities for the guests to experience “board time.”
Students could teach their guests about other technologies such as science probes or iPads. If you have an electronic response system (i.e., clickers), you and your students could prepare a survey, game, or other activity that gives the guests a chance to use them. Your and your students could demonstrate video conferencing (such as Skype) with students and guests in another classroom or another school.
Students could also share how they contribute to a class wiki or blog and invite the guests to contribute. Students and guests could work together with online simulations or with tools such as Glogster to create posters or Edmodo to communicate.
Interviews could be a low-tech activity. Brainstorm ahead of time with your students to prepare questions such as “What inventions or advancements in science do you think have had major effects on our lives?” “What was it like when you studied science in school?” “What was your favorite science topic?” “What is/was your job and how does it involve science?” “Do any of your hobbies include scientific topics?” Students could take notes and summarize their findings.
Afterward, ask students to describe the day and what they learned from interacting with the guests. Perhaps you’ll identify some people in the community willing to volunteer as tutors or mentors for your school or to share their life experiences in more detail.
My school is planning an Intergenerational Day, in which students invite grandparents or other guests to attend school for part of the day. We’re also inviting residents of a local retirement community. I’d like to participate with my fifth grade science classes, but I want our guests to be more than spectators. Do you have any suggestions for appropriate activities?
—Stacy, Dayton, Ohio
By Claire Reinburg
Posted on 2011-11-17
Why write in science class? As Jodi Wheeler-Toppen, editor of the new NSTA Press book Science the “Write” Way, notes in her Introduction, “there are many reasons to have our students write, but the one that is most powerful for me is simple: Writing helps students learn.” Scientists write their observations and analyses and publish their work. Students can reap the same benefits that scientists do from writing, including connecting prior knowledge to new findings, organizing their ideas, and uncovering questions for further study. The November issue of NSTA’s Book Beat offers numerous resources for broadening your approach to incorporating writing in your classroom.
In this issue of Book Beat, you’ll find freebie chapters from How to Write to Learn Science, 2nd Edition; Science the “Write” Way; and Lecture-Free Teaching. Strategies and tips for teachers of English learners are included in free-chapter downloads from Science for English Language Learners and Teaching Science to English Language Learners.
By Peggy Ashbrook
Posted on 2011-11-15
Children observe and document seasonal changes as they begin to learn how living organisms respond to their environment.
By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2011-11-14
By Claire Reinburg
Posted on 2011-11-14
Being part of a military family, Veterans Day holds special significance for me. Members of my family have served in the Coast Guard, Navy, and Army. Wherever I am on Veterans Day, I seek out a way to reflect on the sacrifices and accomplishments of the men and women who serve in our armed forces. This year I had occasion to visit The National WWII Museum while in New Orleans for the National Science Teachers Association area conference. The scope of the exhibition galleries in this 11-year-old museum is overwhelming; the curators and historians took care to present an overview of the war in all theatres, with special emphasis on the amphibious invasions or D-Days. Moving from gallery to gallery, visitors see large-scale illustrations of battles across continents side by side with small objects soldiers carried and brought home, such as the metallic “cricket” clickers paratroopers used to signal one another in the French countryside. A soldier’s bullet-punctured helmet is displayed not far from a pocket Bible, carried by a Marine into battle in the Solomon Islands. In one gallery that focused on the war effort at home, I saw my reasons for being in New Orleans and at the museum come together in a compelling look at science and engineering that helped win World War II.
The exhibit supplies a summary of “Some Wartime Scientific and Technical Advances” that included the Jeep, high-octane gasoline, Teflon, synthetic cortisone, the electron microscope, and M&M’s. Penicillin, discovered and developed in 1928, was moved into mass production during the war, a boon to battlefield medicine. An engineering marvel that contributed greatly to the U.S.’s ability to ferry troops efficiently from sea to land was the Higgins landing craft, invented by Andrew Jackson Higgins of New Orleans. Higgins Industries and its affiliates manufactured more than 20,000 of these boats, which facilitated swifter landings of troops and equipment around the world. General Dwight Eisenhower is said to have called Higgins “the man who won the war for us.”
Another feature of this gallery is discussion of the extensive programs of conservation, salvage, and recycling the American public participated in to aid the war effort. In addition to adhering to rationing programs, Americans delivered tin foil, metal, used cooking oil, and nylon stockings to collection centers. These salvaged materials could be repurposed into shells, parachutes, and explosives. A gallery sign notes the salvage yields of some household items: 30,000 razor blades could yield 50 .30-caliber machine guns. And 30 lipstick cases could yield 20 ammunition cartridges.
As I moved through the museum, gaining a deeper understanding of World War II, I reflected on the American ingenuity and inventiveness that fueled many of the Allies’ strategies. Today’s military embodies this spirit of invention, continuously improving technology and equipment and advancing medical practice to improve care for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. In “With STEM, Almost Everything Is Possible,” Debra Shapiro writes of a remarkable advance in prosthetics research announced at the New Orleans NSTA conference by Colonel Geoffrey Ling, program manager for the Defense Science Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
As a student of science and of history, I could not have asked for more from my New Orleans experience this Veterans Day. For a glimpse inside the NSTA conference, be sure to browse the NSTA Blog entries from New Orleans. For a virtual visit to The National WWII Museum, visit their website. Teachers and students should visit The National WWII Museum’s website “Science & Technology of World War II” for cool lessons and activities like “Moon Phases and Tides in Planning the D-Day Invasion,” “Waves, Sonar, and Radar” and “Send a Coded Message.”
By Debra Shapiro
Posted on 2011-11-13
I enjoyed watching auto races as a child, so I decided to check out Norm Barstow’s session, Elastic Power: Wind Up Your Engines and Explore (a.k.a. “NASCAR in New Orleans”).
Start your engines…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOs1lJBlTNs[/youtube]
I interviewed Barbara Park about her experiences in this session.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf62Zjwq39c[/youtube]
By Claire Reinburg
Posted on 2011-11-12
Steve Rich’s early morning NSTA Press Session in New Orleans “Bringing Outdoor Science Into Your Classroom” drew teachers eager to explore strategies to incorporate more of the outdoors into their science lessons. Rich presented dozens of ideas for activities linked to nature, and the participants brainstormed about “what can we bring indoors to study?” Some of the ideas included samples of soil, seeds, leaves, seashells, and branches. When collecting specimens like this, Rich stresses always following safety precautions like placing caterpillars or bugs into a critter container and then releasing them outdoors again later in the day. Teachers also should be sure to research federal and state regulations on collecting specimens in the wild to be sure they follow the rules in their local area. A survey of the schoolyard with students is a simple activity that can yield wonderful objects for study, such as seeds for measuring and comparing or artifacts such as insect wings lying beneath spider webs that students can draw and record their observations about in a journal. The teachers present used Rich’s own collection of artifacts as inspiration for a brief writing activity that yielded fascinating read-alouds such as a short poem and a CSI-type case summary. Steve Rich is the author of Outdoor Science: A Practical Guide. His forthcoming book on bringing outdoor science in will be published by NSTA Press in spring 2012. Rich shared the following web links with workshop participants seeking new ideas for outdoor or indoor science activities: