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Classic Lessons 2.0

STEMonstrations aboard the International Space Station

Newton’s Second Law

Science Scope—February 2020 (Volume 43, Issue 6)

By Becky Kamas

 

Interdisciplinary Ideas

Data literacy 101

What can we actually claim from our data?

Science Scope—February 2020 (Volume 43, Issue 6)

By Kristin Hunter-Thomson

 

Feature

Just Say No!

Teaching Students to Resist Scientific Misinformation

The Science Teacher—January 2020 (Volume 87, Issue 5)

By Andrew Zucker, Pendred Noyce, and Andrew McCullough

Just Say No!

 

Idea Bank

Picture This

Everyday photos help explain complex ideas and concepts

The Science Teacher—January 2020 (Volume 87, Issue 5)

By Carrie Weber

Picture This

 

Teacher Spotlight

Teacher Spotlight: Wendy Frazier

Santa Fe High School, Santa Fe, Texas

The Science Teacher—January 2020 (Volume 87, Issue 5)

Teacher Spotlight: Wendy Frazier

 

Citizen Science

A Coat of Many Colors

Explore Evolution in Action With Squirrel Mapper Citizen Science

The Science Teacher—January 2020 (Volume 87, Issue 5)

By Jill Nugent

A Coat of Many Colors

 

Current Science Classroom

Best Science Books of 2019

The Science Teacher—January 2020 (Volume 87, Issue 5)

By Chris Anderson

Best Science Books of 2019

 

FOCUS ON PHYSICS

Emphasizing Physics Concepts With Cartoons, Part II

The Science Teacher—January 2020 (Volume 87, Issue 5)

By PAUL G. HEWITT

 

NSTA Reports

Learning STEM by Building Airplanes

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By author

Learning STEM by Building Airplanes

 

NSTA Press

Stimulate Science Learning with Student Debates

By Carole Hayward

Posted on 2020-03-10

It's Still Debatable cover

The new NSTA Press book It’s Still Debatable! Using Socioscientific Issues to Develop Scientific Literacy by Sami Kahn gives students plenty to discuss. For educators looking to develop their students’ thinking skills, help them dive into scientific content, and provide ways for them to explore real-world issues, this book is the perfect resource.

It’s Still Debatable! presents the Socioscientific Issues Framework, which uses debatable, science-related societal questions to address science content and teach students how learn to apply the content as they become informed citizens.

“SSI is a research-based, interdisciplinary approach that enlists higher-order problem solving, argumentation, and research skills to analyze challenging, contextualized scientific concepts and issues,” Kahn explains in the book’s introduction.

The framework incorporates activities designed to improve students’ discourse and social skills, build their character, and help them to make connections to other academic subjects and disciplines. It gives students practice in the research, analysis, and argumentation necessary to grapple with difficult questions with roots in the life, physical, Earth, and environmental sciences.

“Through SSI, teachers help students acquire flexibility, open-mindedness, and perspective-taking abilities so that they can integrate content knowledge with real-world deliberation,” Kahn explains. “In short, SSI prepares students for science-related decision making in an ever-changing global society.”

The book supports the Next Generation Science Standards and links to the Common Core State Standards, National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies, and C3 Framework through 14 thoughtful lesson plans.

In the lesson “Leave It to Beavers,” students must consider whether to relocate a beaver dam by examining the manner in which beavers change their environment to survive by building dams and lodges.

First, students will do an engineering design challenge, working together as a beaver family to build and test a dam. Then, with their newly-acquired knowledge about beaver anatomy, behavior, and survival needs, students will debate whether a beaver dam that is causing flooding in a town should be left alone or moved.

The lesson includes background information and resources, guiding questions, connections to standards, a suggested schedule and sequence, and ideas for going deeper using real-life experiences in the local community.

In “Monkey Business” students question whether or not we need zoos. First, they will take virtual tours of zoos and wild spaces, and then learn about animal behaviors and relationships between parents and their young.

They will investigate arguments both for and against zoos, and develop their own position posters. As animals are often a favorite topic for elementary age youth, this will prove to be an exciting and engaging project that encourages students to think critically about the role of zoos in our society.

Get more stimulating lessons like these and watch students come alive in the classroom through healthy and spirited debates about the world around them.

Read the free sample chapter Unit 1: Introduction: It’s Debatable! for the Next Generation.

It's Still Debatable cover

The new NSTA Press book

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