What can I do on the last few days of school? This year (my first as a teacher), my exams were over, projects were completed, and my grades were turned in. But after that it was hard to keep the students focused.
—Angie, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Time is a precious commodity. It’s hard to understand why some teachers stop their class activities several days before the last day. Everything is packed up and put away, the bulletin boards are down, and students sit around in “study halls,” even though they don’t have anything to study. (Although sometimes packing up before the last day is necessary. When we were changing buildings for a renovation project, we had to have things packed up by the last week for the maintenance staff to move). It’s hard to justify to parents and students why students should come to school on the last days of the year, if all the students do is watch movies, do busywork, talk to each other, or roam the halls.
Here are some learning-related alternatives:

• You could ask them to work in groups to come up with a “guide” for next year’s class—something like The Top 10 Things You Need to Know About Chemistry Class or Physics Class FAQs (and Answers). You could make this open-ended or assign different topics to the groups (e.g., lab safety, study skills, lab procedures, difficult topics, or how to use a science notebook). You may need to model a few appropriate ideas before they start. The groups could share and debrief with each other. This could also be an informal evaluation survey, since you’ll get to see what they thought was essential or important enough to share. And be sure to share a composite list with your students next year on a bulletin board or via your website or blog.

• Try out a new technology tool with the students. For example, lino is a web-based communication system mimicking sticky-notes on a bulletin board. The instructor creates a board and shares the URL with students who can post notes on it. Students work in teams using a computer, and can see what others are posting in real time. Then you debrief as a class or in larger groups, with all of the notes visible on screen. TodaysMeet is a Twitter-like application that captures what people are thinking during an event (the backchannel). If you show a video, for example, students can add their questions and comments (140 characters) as they watch. Of course, you can monitor these conversations to follow along and to add your own ideas. Both have a basic free version that requires instructors to log in. I’m sure that students would catch on quickly, and you could decide if this is worth using next year.

• Vocabulary games, such as variations on Jeopardy or Pictionary. Some take a while to create, but a card sort or word splash is easy to put together. In charades, each team creates a pantomime of a vocabulary term or science process (it’s amazing what they can do with mitosis or Newton’s laws). Have a few prizes if you feel the need.

• Lab activities or online simulations you wanted to do during the year but didn’t have time.

• Some teachers give an end of year survey to students and debrief on the results.

Be cautious about having students assist with lab cleanup. You’ll have to supervise both those who are helping you and those who are not.
Keep the last day in mind as you start next year. Take photos or videos of activities and equipment during each unit, and have students write the captions at the end of the year. Prepare surveys and vocabulary activities in advance.
If grades are turned in, it may be hard to get students to participate especially if the whole year focused on points that “counted” for every activity. But I suspect that most students would rather have some sort of planned activity (even though they might grumble about it). In my school, the last day was a half-day to give out report cards and tie up loose ends. So I found the next-to-the last day was the more challenging one.
 
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/educationsector/4035552050/sizes/m/in/photostream/

As I was packing up materials and readying the classrooms for summer storage I reflected back over the year and thought about the next. Developing an on-going inquiry (or overlapping inquiries because more than one class uses the space at this school) is foremost in my mind. I want to find some resources to share with the classroom teachers (who are with the classes for the entire day) so we can plan together.
Have you had time to use any of the free resources available from the National Science Teachers Association? I like being a member of NSTA because I get one in-print journal in the mail, and all the archived journals, as well as getting discounts on the books and conference registrations. For those who are not yet members, there is still free access to the NSTA Learning Center (click here) where many of the resources are available at no cost after free registration. The teacher-to-teacher forums are a comfortable place to ask questions and offer answers to questions.
The elementary section includes preK as the youngest end of the preK-to-Grade 2 continuum of early childhood. There you can find new  lessons, discuss classroom management issues in science, learn how others develop inquiry in their classrooms, find out about new resources to help you teach science and improve student achievement. Online advisors are available to help you navigate and become familiar with the Learning Center. You do NOT need to be a NSTA member to use many of the resources of the Learning Center including the discussion forums. The NSTA Learning Center is a good place to start preparing for the fall—look for reading material to be ready to teach particular topics and share strategies which worked well for you this past year.
To support your use of online professional development, let your administrators know about research firm Edvantia’s study on online professional development experiences offered by the NSTA Learning Center showing significant gains in teacher content knowledge and student learning among participants from the Houston Independent School District. Results show that the use of SciPacks—interactive web-based modules developed by NSTA and offered through its online Learning Center—significantly increased teacher content knowledge of Earth science and force and motion over the course of the study and gave teachers greater confidence in their ability to teach science.
I’m joining the book group started by Kathy Renfrew, Elementary Math & Science Assessment Coordinator at the Vermont Department of Education, to discuss Hard to Teach Science Concepts: A framework to support learners, Grades 3-5 by Susan Koba with Carol T. Mitchell (2011, NSTA Press). (Yes, a little out of my normal range of preK-2 but I see it as a chance to learn what experiences my students in preK should have as groundwork.) I’m especially interested in the chapter, “Understanding Changes in Motion” by Rand Harrington with Susan Koba.
Kathy also began an on-going discussion of teaching physical science to kindergarteners. I’m curious—what has your experience been? Post your ideas or respond to any of the others at at the Force and Motion with Kindergarten thread in Elementary Science forum.
Peggy
 

On the train, returning from a busy day in Philadelphia and the annual ISTE conference (International Society for Technology in Education), I finally had time to think.  It’s been a while since I’ve been to a technology-related conference and exposition, and I used the lens of science instruction to concentrate on the sessions and the vendors (even though I could be there for only one day). NSTA was there also, sponsoring a series of sessions and hosting a poster session about the Learning Center.
I had the pleasure of attending a session on the “flipped” classroom, presented by two trailblazers in this style of instruction, Johnathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams. If you haven’t been following them on Twitter (#flipclass) or their website, these two science teachers have taken advantage of digital tools to create a learning environment that gives students more responsibility for their learning. Basically, they record presentations and assign students to view them, take notes, and ask questions—as homework (this is the “flipped” part). The class period is then devoted to hands-on learning investigations, small group instruction, and individual conferencing. Their passion and enthusiasm are amazing, as is their generosity in sharing what they’ve done via their website and YouTube channel.

Other hot topics were cloud computing, professional development, and BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)–students use their own technology (e.g., laptops, netbooks, iPads, tablets, smart phone) in school.
The exhibit hall was an electronic wonderland—from interactive white boards to netbooks to lab probes to all sorts of web-based applications. But as I reflected on over 20 years of being involved in educational technology, it seems like there are two points of view. Do we use technology to help us do things better? I saw math drills and word games, attendance and grading software, interactive white boards and projectors to enhance presentations, online assessments, and other applications that have been around for a while, although upgraded with more bells and whistles.
Or—Should we use technology to do better things? Lab probes, creative tools, and access to primary source documents and data give students a different perspective of learning—that of a producer of knowledge, not just a consumer or looker-upper. They begin to see learning not as a mastery of facts but as a creative, problem-solving, challenging endeavor, with the teacher as partner rather than presenter. (This sounds more enjoyable to me as a teacher!). Hmm.
Other miscellaneous observations–Multitasking and backchanneling were everywhere. Just about everyone had a laptop, smartphone, and/or iPad. But none of the sessions I attended was interrupted by a cell phone ringing! ISTE had a nice conference feature—from the online program you could add an event to a personal planner that would sync with your calendar. The conference app also had the planner, maps, updates, links to chats, and a gallery to upload photos. I didn’t use the conference book they gave out.

What can be a poison in one form can be therapeutic in another, which begins to explain why researchers would look to the biotoxins produced by warm water dwelling snails for solutions to chronic pain and a host of other neurological conditions in humans.

The venom of some snails has been shown to be 1000 times as powerful as morphine, a potent painkiller. Other snail venoms could be used as potent pharmaceuticals, and could be effective in treating postsurgical and neuropathic pain, and even accelerating recovery from nerve injury. But research into these potential uses is still in early phases. As recently as December 2004, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first approved a painkiller derived from cone snail toxins  under the name “Prialt.” Other drugs are in clinical and preclinical trials, such as compounds of toxins that may be used in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and epilepsy.

We have reached the 16th week of the weekly, online, video series “Chemistry Now,” and we’re sticking with nature as a source of interesting video and lessons. As we’ve written before, please view the video, try the lessons, and let us know what you think.

Photo: Richard Parker

Through the Chemistry Now series, NSTA and NBC Learn have teamed up with the National Science Foundation (NSF) to create lessons related to common, physical objects in our world and the changes they undergo every day. The series also looks at the lives and work of scientists on the frontiers of 21st century chemistry.

Video: In this 21st Century Chemist profile City University of New York chemist Mande Holford explains her research on the toxins produced by venomous sea snails, and her work to synthesize these long-peptide toxins for eventual use in treating chronic pain in humans.

Middle school lesson: In Vinegar and Baking Soda Investigation, students investigate the chemical reaction of vinegar and baking soda, demonstrating prior knowledge of concepts of chemical changes, and the laboratory skills of measuring volume, mass, and temperature.

High school lesson: In Mystery Solution Identification, students learn about solubility rules and use this knowledge to identify unknown solutions.

You can use the following form to e-mail us edited versions of the lesson plans:

[contact-form 2 “ChemNow]

“Ways you promote college preparedness and career readiness skills in your science classroom.” is the topic for this blog….while we always have those items that we “must” teach in the classroom which are based on curricular decisions or standards, there are always those things that are among the “hidden curriculum” that make their way into the classroom as well.  Admit it, we ALL have that one area that we love to include when possible – whether it be the history and nature of science and particular stories associated with scientists or how the topic impacts society today or even a favorite read that can be integrated into science.  These are often the parts that make science real to students….
One of the additional aspects of teaching today often involves answering the time honored question posed by students “but why do we need to know this?”  While not every aspect of science may seem relevant to students and their future pursuits, the strategies and skills that they employ in DOING the science are applicable to their future. 
The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Preparing Students for College and Careers identifies several cross curricular skills that have a natural home in the sciences.

• Critical-Thinking Skills
• Ability to Write Clearly and Persuasively
• Ability to Work Independently
• Ability to Work in Teams
• Knowledge of Other Nations, Cultures, and International Issues
• Knowledge and Ability in Higher-Level Science
• Knowledge and Ability in Higher-Level Mathematics

One of my favorite “additional” parts of the curriculum has always been to try and incorporate writing -whether it be informative or persuasive.  While teaching high school earth and space science during my career, I would often incorporate writing assignments into my course work.  Examples of assignments would include:  Creating a field observation notebook and incorporating information similar to researchers; being creative in their writing by creating an obituary to describe the properties of a particular mineral; or being shown excerpts of video clips and allowing the students to explain their understanding as it connects to the content in class. Regardless of the product that the student produced, I attempted to show them that writing served a different purpose in science class –that of clearly and accurately communicating information to others. –>which is exactly the skill that is needed whether the student enters the work force or continues on their educational journey to college….
So how do you incorporate these skills into your classroom???

But you only work 9 months a year! How many times do teachers hear that? Those who make that comment obviously have never been a teacher or a family member or friend of a teacher. (And I’m not sure where the 3 months off idea comes from. My classes did not end until the middle of June, I spent a few days getting the lab in order before the building was locked up, and then we started up again the week before Labor Day—but that’s another topic).
So what do teachers do in the summer? Even on a family va-cation (Did you ever forget yourself and call them field trips?), we’re always on the prowl for ideas and resources for our classrooms. You can tell who the teachers are at amusements parks (figuring out the physics principles at work), on the beach (identifying shells and other critters), and on the hiking trails at state and national parks (with binoculars and guidebooks). We take our families and friends to museums, science centers, zoos, nature centers, botanical gardens, and arboretums. In our beach bags or backpacks, we might pack a mystery or romance novel, but we’re very likely to also include science-related nonfiction and professional books and journals. Even at historical sites, we can find applications of science to share with our students (for example, while my husband and I were exploring the history of the Gettysburg Battlefield, I was also photographing the lichens on the monuments). We stop the car to photograph interesting rock outcrops or fantastic cloud formations. Our souvenirs include rocks, sand samples, fossils, pressed wildflowers, maps, brochures, books, and thoughts and reflections about improving what we teach.  [SciLinks: Amusement Park Physics, U.S. National Parks, Identifying Trees, Identifying Rocks and Minerals, Clouds.]

For teachers, a stay-cation often involves teaching summer school, working on curriculum updates, graduate classes, workshops, webinars, using social media to form professional learning communities, and independent study. As NSTA members, we can access all of the journals, so summer is a good time to catch up on what’s happening at other grade levels. NSTA’s Science Objects are self-study units related to content, and they’re free to anyone. The summer editions of NSTA journals usually have suggestions for reading. Summer Reading –Its Element-ary in the July 2011 Science Scope has annotated suggestions based on the alchemist’s elements of earth, wind, fire, and water. This issue also has reading suggestions on Current Research, with abstracts of studies relevant to science teaching. Summer Reading Dawn to Dusk in July 2011 issue of The Science Teacher also has book reviews on science-related topics. (See NSTA Recommends for even more suggestions). Too many books, too little time!
Edutopia has a challenge for the summer: recommendations for 80 Online Tools, References, and Resources How many are you familiar with? I’ve noted quite a few that I’d like to investigate. These are general information and utility sites. What science ones would you add?
It would be interesting for us to collectively document the time, topics, and expenses we spend during the summer on upgrading our knowledge, skills, and classroom resources. We could show the public that most educators spend a great deal of our summers on edu-cation.
 
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kbrookes/4960877754/

In a sea of green vegetation, you’ll find reds, yellows, oranges, blues, and purples—a beautiful range of colors that pop out, saying to insects and other pollinators, “visit me, visit me, no, not that one…. me!” Flower colors have evolved to attract  certain kinds of insects and birds, which ensures they can propagate the next generation of pinks, daisies, and other vegetative offspring.

How do they do it? With such pigments as porphyrins, carotenoids, anthocyanins and betalains. In addition to making flowers attractive to specific pollinators, these compounds also help plants sustain photosynthesis by gathering wavelengths of light not readily absorbed by chlorophyll.

We have reached the 14th week of the weekly, online, video series “Chemistry Now,” and chemistry returns to nature as a source of interesting video and lessons. As we’ve written before, please view the video, try the lessons, and let us know what you think.

Photo: T. Brown

Through the Chemistry Now series, NSTA and NBC Learn have teamed up with the National Science Foundation (NSF) to create lessons related to common, physical objects in our world and the changes they undergo every day. The series also looks at the lives and work of scientists on the frontiers of 21st century chemistry.

Video: Roses are red; violets are…well, violet – but why? “The Chemistry of Flower Color” explains how pigment molecules – carotenoids and anthocyanins – give flowers the colors we see. Also in this collection: news stories from the archives of NBC News and Scientific American on desert wild flowers, pollination, the cut-flower industry, and why flowers have scents.

Middle school lesson: In What Color Is Your Flower? (middle school), students separate the pigments in red flower petals and determine if all red flowers contain the same pigments.

High school lesson: Students go a step further in What Color Is Your Flower? (high school) and determine which of the pigments they separate out exhibit acid–base indicator properties.

For another great pollination activity, see “Please Pass the Pollen,”  through which your students learn the sorts of pollinators that visit plants around your school and which flowers are most often visited, and then they return to the classroom and report their findings.

You can use the following form to e-mail us edited versions of the lesson plans:

[contact-form 2 “ChemNow]