I’ve been approached by a university science department to “pilot” some instructional materials being developed.  I’ve never done this before. Do you have any questions I should ask to help me decide?
—Carol, Buffalo, New York
As part of outreach efforts, science-related agencies and institutions often develop programs of materials and activities for K–12 classrooms. This is an opportunity to share their resources and expertise with teachers and students. If the organization needs input from the K–12 learning environment, teachers are often asked to pilot or field-test the materials and strategies with their students, so the developers can determine how the program operates in a real classroom setting. Some grants recommend (or even require) this field testing.
From the developer’s perspective, feedback from teachers and students is essential in making the final product relevant and appropriate. From the teacher’s perspective, it’s a chance to access new materials and updated content. It’s also a way to establish professional relationships that may lead to future opportunities.
But this requires work by the teacher. You may have to alter your course outline to accommodate the developer’s timeline. You may have to participate in training or preliminary webinars and submit feedback documents. So I would ask a few questions:

• What content and skills are being addressed by the program? The program should be worth the time you spend field-testing it.  You should be able to align the concepts and skills with your state standards or the local science curriculum for your subject and grade level. If the program doesn’t complement or supplement your course or is inappropriate for your students, it’s wise to decline (or recommend another teacher or class).

• What is the scope of the program? Will you examine and use supplementary resources, or will you implement a complete unit of instruction, with learning goals, class activities, lab investigations, print materials, software or web-based applications, and assessments?

• What is the time frame? How much class time does the developer estimate will you need? Will you have any input or flexibility on when the field test will take place? Would you be able to incorporate it within an existing unit of your course or add it at the end of the course as a supplement?

• Does your school or district have guidelines or a policy about these collaborations? In some districts, teachers can sign-up for these collaborations without prior approval; in others, the administration screens all requests to determine which are appropriate. If the field test requires site visits by the developers, be sure to inform your principal of the purpose and dates. Your district may also want to feature your work in a newsletter or on the website.

• Is parental permission required? If the program materials and instruction are similar to what you ordinarily do in the classroom, parental permission might not be necessary (ask your principal). A university, however, may require a “human subjects” release form, signed by parents. If the developer produces any photographs or videos involving students, signed release forms should be on file. For students who do not have permission to participate, you will need alternative activities.

• Does the field test include lab investigations that require specific materials? What technology is needed? In some cases, the developer will provide appropriate lab equipment and technology, as a loan or as part of your compensation. Ask your principal, department head, or technology coordinator to assist.

• What is the role of the teacher? Are you expected to deliver and evaluate the instruction? Will there be any meetings or training prior to the field test to help you become familiar with the program? What type of feedback are you expected to provide (such as completing a rubric or participating in an interview)? After the field test and revisions, the developers often publish articles about their program. The program may be introduced at conferences. You could ask about being a co-author of an article or a conference co-presenter. These are appropriate additions to your professional vita.

• What student evidence is required? Some projects use pre- and posttests to determine student learning. Surveys or focus groups might also be used for student feedback. You may be asked for examples of student work.

You should expect some type of compensation for your efforts. Developers may offer a monetary stipend for teachers, especially if afterschool planning and reporting is required. If special training is involved, professional development hours or graduate credits might be awarded. Some developers “reward” the piloting schools with lab equipment or other technologies. Although you’ll appreciate these compensations, the real value will be in new opportunities for collaboration in teaching and learning. The connections you make can lead to other opportunities for you and your students, such as internships, borrowing specialized equipment, field trips, mentoring, and future projects.
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/photolibraries/4496317336/

Bubble blowing is a favorite activity of young children. Two-year-olds, who often have difficulty blowing a stream of air, may have more success by waving a bubble wand. The process is moderately difficult for 3 and 4 year olds and can be made more challenging for older children by providing a variety of bubble “wands” and tasks such as blow a bubble within a bubble, or blow the largest bubble. Yet children with experience blowing bubbles may not be able to recall the shape of, or say the name of, all free-floating bubbles—a sphere. 

Bubble blowing is a good time to talk about the difference between two dimensional “round” objects and three dimensional “round” objects and to have children practice careful observation. Use familiar classrooom objects such as, balls and marbles, cube blocks and boxes to compare to paper cut-outs of the 2-D shapes, a circle and a square. Read the October 2010 Early Years column about how repeated bubble observations can develop this understanding. The word “sphere” is difficult to pronounce. Maybe that is why it isn’t used very often in everyday speech. One class I work with surprised me by incorporating the word into their classroom conversations about marbles and balls. All it took was for one member of the class to begin to use the new vocabulary word frequently, and then it caught on with the rest of the children—and teachers! It isn’t just a new word for a familiar object; it is a way of recognizing the distinction between flat objects and 3-D objects and a beginning to think spatially.

Here are some resources about bubbles and shapes.

Books for children

Is It Rough? Is It Smooth? Is It Shiny? by Tana Hoban. 1984. New York: Greenwillow Books.

Cubes, Cones, Cylinders and Spheres by Tana Hoban. 2000. New York: Greenwillow Books.

Pop!: A Book About Bubbles by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley with photographs by Margaret Miller. 2001. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

Books for teachers

Soap Bubble Magic by Seymour Simon, illustrated by Stella Ormai. 1985. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard.

The Nature and Science of Bubbles by Jane Burton and Kim Taylor. 1998. Milwaukee, Wis.: Gareth Stevens Pub.

Bubble Festival  (grades K-6) Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS) guide on bubbles (and companion free online training video) available online http://www.lhsgems.org/GEM132.html

Bubble-ology  (grades 5-­8, or for early childhood teachers) GEMS available online http://www.lhsgems.org/GEM240.html

Non-messy bubble Discovery Bottles* can intrigue children and encourage them to expand on their ideas about bubbles. Make the bottles using clear plastic bottles with tight-fitting lids, vegetable oil, water, food coloring, corn syrup and a hot glue gun (for adult use) to seal the lids. I use mayo jars, bottles for corn syrup, and other relatively strong plastic bottles. * Also see Sandy Watson’s article, Discovery Bottles, in the July 2008 Science and Children.

1. For the first one, fill a small, clear plastic bottle almost to the top with vegetable oil, leaving space for about two tablespoons of colored water. (A few small objects may be added for interest.)
2. Add food coloring to a small cup of water.
3. Add this colored water to the bottle, filling it completely.
4. Carefully wipe the lip of the bottle with a paper towel.
5. Seal the bottle by putting a small amount of hot glue inside the lid before tightly screwing on the lid. Tape around the lid afterwards as a symbol to show that the lid should not be removed.
6. After the glue cools, turn the bottle upside down to watch the water bubble move. Some questions to ask the children include: Does the bubble move up or down? What shape is the bubble?

1. Make a second bottle by filling it with corn syrup, leaving a small space for a tablespoon of air at the top. (A few small objects may be added for interest.)
2. Carefully wipe the lip of the bottle with a paper towel.
3. Seal the bottle by putting a small amount of hot glue inside the lid before tightly screwing on the lid. Tape around the lid afterwards as a symbol to show that the lid should not be removed.
4. After the glue cools, turn the bottle upside down to watch the air bubble move. Some questions to ask the children include: Does the bubble move up or down? How fast does it move? What shape is the bubble?

What bubble experiences happen in your classrooms? How do your students record their observations? What kind of questions have they raised in discussions? Tell us all, Peggy

Students today encounter a flood of images and content from print and online sources. Increasingly, the ability to read, process, and derive meaning from those images and pictures will be central to student success.  Authors Jo Anne Vasquez, Michael Comer, and Frankie Troutman have assembled for teachers a thorough overview of this timely topic in their new NSTA Press book Developing Visual Literacy in Science, K–8. From coaching students in how to interpret scientific illustrations and graphs to helping them create their own visual representations of scientific information in posters or foldables, this book offers teachers numerous tips and strategies for helping students build their visual literacy skills.  Visit the Science Store page about Developing Visual Literacy in Science, K–8 to download your free chapter, “Visual Literacy in Life Science: Insect Metamorphosis” (just click next to “Read Inside”).

Click here for the Table of Contents

1. Create (and maintain) a course website with the syllabus, unit schedule, handouts or podcasts to download, problem solutions, important dates, and related websites (such as your favorites from SciLinks.
2. Try Webquests as a way to guide student explorations of a topic. Check out NSTA publications for examples of WebQuests.  SciLinks can help you identify relevant websites for WebQuests.
3. Include options for the use of digital media in student projects.
4. And be sure that your Facebook or other social media sites do not contain personal information or photos that you don’t want students or their parents to access.

Teachers are faced with two related learning curves: new research in content areas such as genetics and new developments in technologies. The Case for Cyberlearning describes how multimedia technologies (in this case, the cyberlearning platform GENIQUEST) can be used to help students learn the concepts of genomics, using a fictitious “dragon” population. The unit previews have three levels of activities. I liked the authors’ suggestions for helping students to get the most out of cyberlearning opportunities: prompt student discussions periodically, promote pair and small-group work, and encourage the use of data-based evidence. (SciLinks has more background on genomes, too.

Another online tool is described in Science Pipes: A World of Data at Your Fingertips. Science Pipes (from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology) is an interface that lets users explore world wide data sets to find patterns and trends of interest, in both guided and open-ended investigations. (I discovered that my login from Cornell’s Feederwatch program worked with Science Pipes!) The program accesses and processes real data—the keys are identifying a question and thinking of what data would be used to come up with summaries that can be used to answer the question (or lead to more questions).
One of my favorite sites is highlighted in Sims for Science. The authors describe the PhET site has dozens of interactive simulations on various topics in science (and for various grade levels). The authors describe how (and why) these simulations could be incorporated in science classes. These simulations are meant to supplement the curriculum, to reinforce, extend, and visualize concepts.  The article includes a summary of how a teacher used one in her inquiry-oriented class.
Another specific project is described in Teaching with Technology. Through a combination of videos, websites (such as those in the SciLinks topic Bacteria), and hands-on activities students learn about bacterial transformations. Students and teachers communicate through Google Docs. The article also has a rubric for the student video project.
Even though we can access simulations, data sets, and videos, sometimes the most appropriate “technology” is a roll-up-your-sleeves, put-on-your-goggles, hands-on investigation. Juan’s Dilemma is an updated version of the lemon battery, with photographs and examples of student data.  SciLinks has more ideas on batteries.
Whatever grade you teach, be sure to check in with TST for a new feature The Green Room. Each month the author will share suggestions for making your classroom more environmentally friendly. This month, she shares her ideas of “low-hanging fruit”—those practices that many of us already use, such as turning off lights, recycling paper, using both sides of papers, and turning in used printer cartridges for recycling and rebates.
Check out the Connections for this issue. Even if the related articles don’t quite fit with your lesson agenda, this resource has ideas for handouts, background information sheets, data sheets, rubrics, etc.