One of the conference sessions on engineering I attended at NAEYC quoted children in the title: “Don’t Call Us Kinders, We’re Engineers!”  To introduce an engineering design process to children in kindergarten up to second grade, Emily Poster and Jessica Holm from the Science Museum of Minnesota thoughtfully revise storylines used with older children by placing stories in more familiar settings and keeping them to a developmentally appropriate length. The revised stories still have a challenge, and include a character who is a professional engineer and how they use science, math, and creative thinking to design a technology. They recommend adding visual symbols to the words in graphic representations of engineering design processes, and encouraging children to “imagine” using their hands.

We were able to handle the materials for four different kinds of engineering design challenges, and engaged in an engineering challenge ourselves. The challenge was based on meeting a real life need that children in their region would be aware of—to design and build a model fire tower, a structure once essential for detecting and locating fires in areas that were the responsibility of the United States Forest Service, and still in use in some parts of the country. (See other lookouts at: http://www.nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/dry-soda-lookout/ )

Working together with people at our table we designed and built a tower with the goals of a structure taller than the model tree (so the look outs could see over the forest to watch for fires), able to support 1 person (doll), and able to withstand the force of the wind (a fan) blowing on it. The materials were inexpensive, and easily found: paper cups in two sizes two sizes of cardboard pieces, two figures to stand on the tower to test its balance and sturdiness, and a model tree and the fan, used by the instructors. Emily and Jessica came around with the model tree cut-out to help us measure our towers and provide support for redesigning structures that were not successful. Our discussion included our redesign processes, what we might bring from our experience in the session to our own setting, and what supports we need to implement engineering lessons with K–2 students.

How did this session reflect the new understanding of what children know and how they learn as described in Taking Science to School:Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K–8 and the principles, declarations, and recommendations of the NSTA Position statement on early childhood science education? The program promotes learning by actively engaging in the experience and exploring the materials, the challenge recognizes that children already have substantial knowledge of the natural world, and that adults play a central and important role in helping young children learn science (National Research Council 2007 pgs 2–3). 

The museum program Emily and Jessica described recognizes that “Young children develop science skills and knowledge in both formal and informal settings,” and they “emphasize the learning of science and engineering practices, including asking questions and defining problems; developing and using models; planning and carrying out investigations; analyzing and interpreting data; using mathematics and computational thinking; constructing explanations and designing solutions; engaging in argument from evidence; and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information (NSTA Position Statement: Early Childhood Science Education).

And their conference session provided early childhood educators with “professional development experiences that [engaged us] in learning science [and engineering] principles in an interactive, hands-on approach, enabling [us] to teach about science principles [and engineering design] appropriately and knowledgeably” (NSTA Position Statement: Early Childhood Science Education). 

Poster sessions at NAEYC are an excellent way to have small group or individual conversations with presenters and learn more about their research and teaching practices. “Drive full STEAM ahead! Realistic and developmentally appropriate ways to teach science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) to infants and toddlers during daily routines and experiences” presented by Angela Searcy, gave specific examples of how to invite exploration. Photos of children at work clearly illustrated how infants and toddlers are not too young to engage in the offered opportunities for exploration, and how teacher-support is essential for children’s learning.

Educators may plan engineering activities related to children’s literature, such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears or The Three Little Pigs. These are familiar stories for many children and they present problems that can be the basis of an engineering challenge. We can also look for those problems that young children identify themselves in their daily life, such as creating a sun shade on a hot day, carrying a baby doll hands-free, digging a deep hole in the sand box without it collapsing, and keeping a tall block tower upright. 

Other NAEYC conference sessions addressed engineering. If you attended or presented one of these sessions, comment below to share what you learned or where to find resources to support engineering in early childhood programs.

• Ramps and Pathways: A fun integration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
• The “E” in STEM: Demystifying engineering
• Garden tools, ramps, and wind socks: Promoting engineering in preschool for all learners
• Contraptions and confidence: Transforming science learning with engineering design
• Young engineers in the woods: Bringing engineering design challenge to the outdoor classroom
• STEM curriculum (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics): Stories and experiences of a new teacher merged with a seasoned administrator’s perspective!
• Drive full STEAM ahead! Realistic and developmentally appropriate ways to teach science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) to infants and toddlers during daily routines and experiences
• Turning STEAM into STREAM: Integrating reading/literacy in science, technology, engineering, art, and math education for preschoolers

My partner and I are thinking of moving to rural North Dakota to teach. I teach high school science while my partner teaches middle school. We would both like to teach in the same district. Do you have any advice on how we should proceed?
—A., Missouri

Unpacking your question, I actually see several facets that can be touched upon: teaching in a rural setting; living in the country; finding jobs together.

A rural school can be quite different from one in the city. Some schools are small and teachers often teach many subjects, including ones outside their expertise. Classes may be smaller, perhaps even multi-grade. Teachers frequently know every student, possibly having them in class many times over several years. However, many rural schools, particularly high schools, may be large and bus in students from many communities. There may also be greater parent and community involvement. In northern states, many students will miss classes during snow storms. You will have to be flexible and adapt lessons accordingly.

Don’t overlook the change in lifestyle. Living in the country usually means commuting and sometimes being far away from many of the shopping, entertainment, and dining options you may be used to, although local diners can be great places to meet new neighbors. If you purchase a home you will probably develop some good do-it-yourself skills and become a snow clearing expert. Property taxes tend to be lower in rural areas and you will have access to farm-fresh products. I was amazed just how quickly news spread around the community, so privacy did not seem to be as great as in the city!

Finding a job with your partner in the same district can be more challenging as there are usually more opportunities in an urban district than a rural one. Contact the local teachers’ association for advice on job prospects and how best to approach the district. My guess is that rural districts like having couples and families in their employment —they are more likely to settle down for the long haul and get involved in the community.

Good luck!

Hope this helps!

Photo Credit: WinterforceMedia

Wisconsin recently adopted new K–12 science education standards. Learn more about the standards in this Q&A with Kevin Anderson, Science Education Consultant for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

When were your science standards adopted and can you tell us a bit about them?

The standards were officially adopted on November 16, 2017.

With local control in Wisconsin, districts have been using the Framework for K–12 Science Education (Framework) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for a long time.  Data from an informal survey revealed that over 80% of districts were already using the NGSS to some extent before we officially adopted new standards. Therefore, when we brought together our writing committee, they supported the idea of staying true to those documents.

Are the standards based on the Framework and the NGSS?

Our Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction template for standards emphasizes K–2, 3–5, 6–8 and 9–12 grade bands. Our writing committee struggled with how to represent the three-dimensional nature of our standards (mirroring the NGSS) in this template. In the end, we decided to build from NGSS Appendices E, F, and G. We built from those grade-banded guides and encourage our educators to go to the Framework and NGSS for further depth in understanding these elements.

One change our committee made to the standards is to de-emphasize the Performance Expectations (PEs). We found that many districts around the state (and country) have been using them to determine curriculum and guide instruction. The committee wanted to help educators understand that while it’s essential that the three dimensions be integrated, they can be combined in various ways; a PE is only an example of one way to do it. We include the PEs in our document, but clearly label them as “examples” of three-dimensional performance indicators (“indicators” is a Wisconsin term). To emphasize the connection among our separated sections for each dimension, we added the following statement at the top of each part of the standards: “Students use science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts to make sense of phenomena and solve problems.” Each specific segment of our standards document about practices, core ideas, and crosscutting concepts only becomes a “standard” when it’s put into that statement as the practice, core idea, and/or crosscutting concept of focus.

Another change is the addition of a third Engineering, Technology, and the Applications of Science section, ETS-3. The committee titled it, “The Nature of Science and Engineering” because they felt that these ideas got lost in the NGSS and they were not sure if they were practices, crosscutting concepts, or an afterthought. The goal was to ensure these ideas receive a higher level of importance.

Did you have involvement from Wisconsin science teachers?

Yes. We had 26 committee members that included administrators, scientists, engineers, and higher education representatives, and K-12 teachers. Eric Brunsell, Associate Professor at UW-Oshkosh, and Christine Pratt, Science Coordinator at Kenosha Area School District, chaired our writing committee.

What excites you most about the standards?

As seen by the work already happening across Wisconsin, the standards provide an opportunity to revitalize science programs and more fully engage all students in making sense of relevant phenomena and solving meaningful problems. One tool that we’re excited about is Appendix A, which includes specific Wisconsin contexts and engineering connections linked to the core ideas of the standards.

What has been the response from science teachers in your state?

Teachers are glad the wait is over! Many feel justified to continue their use of the NGSS. Some districts have been waiting to move forward until they saw what the state would do, and now these teachers are grateful to join the same path of other districts. I’ve heard several comments that professional development around the science standards is increasing, particularly at the elementary level. Students will be the real beneficiaries.

What are your plans for implementation?

Telling stories and sharing our work will be critical. With so many district already years into this work, we need to learn from each other. I’ll continue to work with the Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers, our regional Cooperative Education Service Agencies, and local districts to support the learning of teachers and build/shared implementation resources. It’s wonderful that so many groups around the country are sharing ideas and resources already from which we can build.

Kevin Anderson

Visit the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction to view the science standards.

A former middle school science teacher and education researcher, Kevin J. B. Anderson, PhD, NBCT, is the Science Education Consultant at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Visit NSTA’s NGSS@NSTA Hub for hundreds of vetted classroom resources, professional learning opportunities, publications, ebooks and more; connect with your teacher colleagues on the NGSS listservs (members can sign up here); and join us for discussions around NGSS at an upcoming conference.

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

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• Atlanta: March 15–18, 2018

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Are you updating your approach to modeling? Aligning lessons between 5E and NGSS? Incorporating digital resources? Regardless of the grade level you teach, this month’s journals have ideas that can be used or adapted.

Science Scope – Modeling

From the Editor’s Desk: No Glue Required “Models can include diagrams, drawings, physical replicas, mathematical representations, analogies, and computer simulations (NSTA 2014). Regardless of the model used, the key is to engage students in making explanations and predictions—vastly different activities from one in which students merely submit a Styrofoam ball that has been converted into a replica of a cell.”

Articles in this issue that describe lessons include a helpful sidebar (“At a Glance”) documenting the big idea, essential pre-knowledge, time, and cost; many follow a 5E format. The lessons also include connections with the NGSS, and many include examples of student work and classroom materials.

• The series of lessons in Deep Thinking Over Geologic Time: Understanding Fossils and Relative Dating helps students identify relationships between rock layers and learn how scientists use fossils and rock layers to understand the history of the Earth.
• Not all models are three-dimensional. Using Imagery Support Strategies to Develop Powerful Imagistic Models discusses and has an example of how mental models (aka imagery, visualization, spatial thinking) can support learning content and scientific thinking.
• Modeling Mendel: Using a Puzzle-Solving Activity to Develop Ideas About Genetics goes beyond directions for Punnett square to presenting Mendelian genetics as puzzles to be solved.
• Revive your lesson on cellular structures and functions by Engaging All Students in Science Practices Through a Cell Modeling Lesson and creating explanatory models rather than replicas.
• Constructing Scientific Models Through Kinulations shows how students can take on actives roles and cooperatively act out concepts and phenemona (Kinesthetic + simulation).
• Classic Lessons 2.0: Explaining Patterns in Our Solar System and the Role of Gravity in Space includes activities that use modeling to explain patterns in the Solar System.
• Teachers’s Toolkit: Science Can Be a Piece of Cake! has a description of using analogies to explain concepts and phenomena (with examples of students’ work).
• With the resources in Citizen Science: Did You Feel It?, students learn more about earthquakes in real time, use data to predict and model where earthquakes may occur, and create and text earthquake models.
• The 5E lesson in Disequilibrium: Wildfires, the Fire Triangle, and CO2 Extinguishers models a fire extinguisher to help students understand what is necessary for a fire to burn and how to extinguish or mitigate a fire.
• The author of Teacher To Teacher: Creating Conceptual Storylines discusses a narrative approach to learning that can include models and developing investigations.

These monthly columns continue to provide background knowledge and classroom ideas:

• Listserv Roundup: Technology Tools for Paperless Homework
• Science for All: Using Formative Assessments to Differentiate Instruction
• Scope on the Skies: Star Chart

For more on the content that provides a context for projects and strategies described in this issue, see the SciLinks topics Analemma, Buoyancy, Carbon Dating, Cell Structures, Cellular Respiration, Chemical Reactions, Circulatory System, Density, Earthquakes, Fire Extinguisher. Fire Triangle, Fossils, Grand Canyon, Half-Life of Radioactive Isotopes, Identifying Rocks and Minerals, Law of Superposition, Mendelian Genetics, Organelle, Photosynthesis, Relative Dating, Rocks, Solar System, Sound, Spectrum, Stars, Systems.

Science & Children – Using the 5E in Alignment with the NGSS

Editor’s Note: Developing Coherent Lessons With the NGSS and 5E: ” In combination, the research-based NGSS and 5E provide us with opportunities for creating lessons containing learning progressions, a teaching sequence, coherence in instruction, and assurance of integration—the key components of science learning and assessment of student performance… Using the 5E as the structure and the NGSS for guidance in selecting the concepts and skills provides a strategy for developing lessons that can be used with confidence.”

The lessons described in the articles have a chart showing connections with the NGSS and many include classroom materials and illustrations of student work.

• The charts in Generating Clean Water illustrate the connections between 5E and Engineering Design cycles. The authors include an example of a lesson in which students use their understanding of the water cycle to create a water filtration tool. Engineering Encounters: What’s The Buzz on Bees? also integrates engineering design with science inquiry, in the context of a real-life study of bees and pollination.
• Let’s Get Charged Up adds a sixth E to the model (Express), incorporating a formative assessment probe to check on student understanding. The 6E lesson focuses on designing and creating electric circuits. (also see Formative Assessment Probes: Embedding Formative Assessment Into the 5E Instructional Model)
• Kindergarten students explore forces and engineering design with the activities in Oh No, Henrietta Got Out!, including one with a mini-robot.
• Save Beady Kid From the Sun guides students through an investigation of light energy transfer from the sun and an understanding of experimental design.
• When Is Melting Not Really Melting? describes a lesson in which students explore physical properties of matter using Silly Putty culminating in evidence-based explanations.
• Explore and investigate weather phenomena with the lesson ideas in The Early Years: Using the 5Es to Teach Seasonal Changes.
• Teaching Through Trade Books: Codes and Communication has two lessons in which students consider communications using simple code systems and modern communications.
• Are lessons simply a collection of activities? Methods and Strategies: What’s the Story? explains structural and conceptual coherence and how to build storylines around disciplinary core ideas.

These monthly columns continue to provide background knowledge and classroom ideas:

• Science 101: Why Do You Add Salt When Making Homemade Ice Cream?
• Science 102: Ghostly Visions
• The Poetry of Science: Learning About Trees With the 5Es
• Teaching Teachers: Assessing Students as Scientists

For more on the content that provides a context for projects and strategies described in this issue, see the SciLinks topics Electric Current, Forces, Forces and Motion, Honeybees, Identifying Trees, Light, Morse Code, Parts of a Plant, Physical Properties of Matter, Pollination, Radiation from the Sun, Seasons, States of Matter, Ultraviolet Radiation, Water Cycle, Water Quality.

The Science Teacher – Using Digital Resources

Editor’s Corner: Smartphones: Challenge or Opportunity? “Smartphones are here to stay, and they will only become smarter. What is far less certain is whether we can reimagine our classrooms and instructional practices to take advantage of this powerful new tool.”

The lessons described in the articles include connections with the NGSS and many include classroom resources and illustrations of student work.

• Creating Science Websites can be an engaging way for students to share their learning and ideas. The authors suggest tools, techniques and rubrics.
• The 5E lesson in Making Waves incorporates data from a classroom seismograph (or an online station).
• Connecting Science and Technology shows how to create and use historical short studies as case studies to investigate the history and nature of science.
• The series of lessons in Learning Lichens guide students in a study of these organisms in the lab, in the field, and as air quality monitors.
• For each of the NGSS science and engineering practices, the authors of Idea Bank: Using Apps That Support Scientific Practices describe several apps.
• Using art to communicate is the basis for Idea Bank: The Art of Chemistry.

These monthly columns continue to provide background knowledge and classroom ideas:

• Science 2.0: Choosing a 3-D Printer
• Focus on Physics: Radiant Energy and Global Warming
• Career of the Month: Social Media Manager
• Right to the Source: How the Telegraph Changed the World

For more on the content that provides a context for projects and strategies described in this issue, see the SciLinks topics Acids and Bases, Biodiversity, Chemical Reactions, Earthquakes, Earthquake Measurement, Electromagnetic Waves, Global Warming, Greenhouse Effect, History and Nature of Science, Lichens, Plate Tectonics, Renewable Sources of Energy, Ring of Fire, Sustainability, Symbiosis.

This week in education news, one California school district is leading the way on new science standards; a study looks to find the best tactics for flipped instruction; Virginia adopts computer science standards for K-12; new study suggests schools could help uncover the next generation of inventors; a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine on undergraduate STEM education; Taos, NM, students wowed Jimmy Fallon with their science invention; NSTA releases best 2018 STEM books; it’s not how long you spend in PD, it’s how much you grow; and narrowing the achievement gap in K12 is not enough.

How One California School District is Leading the Way on New Science Standards

As schools nationwide take on the most comprehensive overhaul of science standards in 20 years, a school district in a quiet suburb of Los Angeles has become a pace-setter.  Without relying on outside funding, or major grant money, Torrance Unified has trained more than 500 teachers and has unveiled the new standards to all 24,000 students in the district. By devoting thousands of hours to teacher training, the district has shown teachers from kindergarten through 12^th grade how to explain scientific phenomenon in a new way to their students — by letting the students discover the answers on their own, instead of memorizing facts from a textbook. Read the story featured in Ed News.

Does Flipped Instruction Work? New Study Looks to Find the Best Tactics  

More and more teachers are “flipping” their instruction—but what does that really mean? And does it work? A University of Missouri team of researchers has received $450,000 from the National Science Foundation to study these questions over a three-year period. They’re going to be observing 40 Missouri algebra classrooms—20 that will be using some sort of flipped instructional tactic more than 50 percent of the time, and 20 that will be using the traditional classroom format. Read the blog featured in Education Week.

Virginia Adopts Computer Science Standards for K-12

The Virginia Board of Education voted last month to become the first state to adopt mandatory computer science standards for all students. The computer science Standards of Learning were unanimously approved after lengthy discussion on Nov. 16. They laid out the four key fundamentals that must be taught: computer literacy, educational technology, digital citizenship and information technology. Each of these concepts is interwoven into other content areas in most cases. Computer literacy means just that: making sure a student knows how to use computers and programs and can demonstrate that by creating a digital presentation. Read about it in this story in the Daily Press.

Can Schools Help Uncover ‘Lost Einsteins’ in Next Generation of Inventors?

At nearly 326,000, the number of new U.S. patents has more than doubled from 2005 to 2015. But in every year since 2008, the patents granted to foreign inventors have outpaced those of U.S. inventors, and a new study suggests the nation could be overlooking thousands of potential young inventors. Read the blog featured in this Education Week.

Monitoring Undergraduate STEM Education

Quality instruction goes a long way toward keeping students — especially underrepresented minorities and women — in the sciences, technology, math and engineering. But measuring educational quality isn’t easy. A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, “Indicators for Monitoring Undergraduate STEM Education,” says that assessing quality and impact in STEM at the national level will require the collection of new data on changing student demographics, instructors’ use of evidence-based teaching approaches, student transfer patterns and more. Read the article featured in Inside Higher Ed.

Young Taos scientists take fireproof fabric invention nationwide

When The Tonight Show’s host, Jimmy Fallon, praises your product, you might have something there. Three Taos, NM, students wowed Fallon — and the nation — Nov. 29 when they showed off their invention called NanoForm, a breathable, antibacterial, fireproof fabric coating, on a segment of the NBC show. Taos High School students Daniel Córdova, Indigo Acosta and Cameron Gonzáles rolled out their newest version of the material several months ago and took it to the national eCYBERMISSION competition in Washington, D.C., over the summer. The trio were then invited by NBC to be featured guests on The Tonight Show with their invention, which has taken several turns in design. Read the article featured in the Santa Fe New Mexican.

STEM at Its Best

 I have found that science teachers often do not use the textbook they’ve been given. Many make up their own lessons. In recent years, the National Science Teachers Association has been looking for ways to integrate nonfiction literature into science courses. To this end they have created a new list of Best STEM Books. They recently released their second list amidst much excitement. Read more in an article featured in the Huffington Post.

It’s Not How Long You Spend in PD, It’s How Much You Grow

The research is clear: The “sit ‘n’ get” model of professional development doesn’t work. Yet the majority of states continue to base the requirements for maintaining a teaching license on clock hours or seat time. And very often that looks like teachers heading en masse to one-off conferences and seminars, disconnected from their everyday classroom work. But 14 states, including Georgia most recently, are now trying something different. They’re asking teachers to craft personalized plans for improving their instruction, and they’re measuring success with proof of teacher advancement. “How long” teachers spend in PD is no longer the central question; instead, it’s, “How much did they grow?” Read the article featured in Teacher Magazine.

Narrowing the Achievement Gap in K12 is Not Enough

Districts are increasingly tasked with providing options for at-risk and underserved student populations to address persistent achievement gaps. While nationwide gains in closing achievement gaps have been made, research shows that underserved student populations still achieve at lower rates than their peers in many areas. Read the article featured in District Administration Magazine.

Stay tuned for next week’s top education news stories.

The Communication, Legislative & Public Affairs (CLPA) team strives to keep NSTA members, teachers, science education leaders, and the general public informed about NSTA programs, products, and services and key science education issues and legislation. In the association’s role as the national voice for science education, its CLPA team actively promotes NSTA’s positions on science education issues and communicates key NSTA messages to essential audiences.

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

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Professional development—learning that will develop our professionalism, make us better teachers, and expand our content knowledge—aims to be delivered at just the right moment with an insight that changes you forever. Attending PD sessions builds up our store of such learning that we can draw on in challenging moments, those times when we wish a more knowledgeable colleague would step in and show us how. The reality in early childhood is that often PD is fit in during nap time, on half of teacher work days, in a burst at the beginning of the school year, or online alone after work. If we can’t have that knowledgeable mentor to work with on a weekly basis, consider attending a conference to broaden your professional development. Being immersed in thinking and talking about early childhood science education with others in the profession for an entire day, or several, is a transformative experience. Conferences provide those immersive experiences where keynote speakers inspire us to fully participate in our work—at the conference and back at school, and colleagues with more experience share their research, knowledge, and situation or lesson specific tips. The statistics about who attends such conferences helps the profession see who is interested and financially able to attend conferences. 

The acronyms STEM and STEAM, and sometimes STREAMS, are part of many conference session titles. We should expect these sessions to connect the S-T-E-and-M in ways that represent what is known about how children learn, and how adults learn. In Taking Science to School:Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K–8  (National Research Council 2007 pgs 2–3) the authors describe what were new understandings of what children know and how they learn: 

• Children entering school already have substantial knowledge of the natural world, much of which is implicit.
• What children are capable of at a particular age is the result of a complex interplay among maturation, experience, and instruction. What is developmentally appropriate is not a simple function of age or grade, but rather is largely contingent on their prior opportunities to learn.
• Students’ knowledge and experience play a critical role in their science learning, influencing all four strands of science understanding.
• Race and ethnicity, language, culture, gender, and socioeconomic status are among the factors that influence the knowledge and experience children bring to the classroom.
• Students learn science by actively engaging in the practices of science.
• A range of instructional approaches is necessary as part of a full development of science proficiency.

Conference sessions reflect these understandings when they teach participants how to actively engage students in using the practices of science, rather than only being observers of demonstrations or the science work of others.

ECE session to deepen your appreciation of play.

At the 2017 national conference of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) a session on play was my first choice, “The play experience: Fulfilling the promise of play.”  

It was a way to remind myself why I was there: to learn to teach those experts at play (children). Through hands-on first solo, and then cooperative, play experiences using a variety of open-ended materials, followed by journaling and discussion, we talked about how play helped focus our minds, and opened opportunities for problem solving. We discussed ways to use play to stimulate creativity and imagination as part of teaching mathematics, science, literacy, art, and social studies, and helping children develop social emotional skills. When one 20 minute play period ended several participants remarked on how they didn’t want to stop exploring and using the materials to create through building, designing, trying first one way and then another. Others noted that children feel this way when they must transition to a different activity before they have finished playing.

Solo play exploring materials.

Presenter Dr. Drew documenting the play for later discussion.

As we played I saw people exploring the concepts of shape, balance, symmetry, and trajectory; testing materials for the properties of flexibility, weight, and texture; and creating pleasing patterns.

Where does play lead you?

Extended play with pipe cleaners led to exploring balance.

Cooperative play followed the silent solo play leading to talking about our programs and playing games.

Cooperative play.

After the session on play, there were so many STEM, science, and engineering sessions that I had to make difficult choices. I don’t regret attending the sessions I chose but I’d like to learn a little about those I had to pass on. Presenters can upload handouts to the Precis Abstract Management system but unfortunately few do, making it even more important to choose sessions wisely (for content in addition to how far they are from the last session). 

The discussions among educators who work in different areas of the early childhood education profession, and different areas of the country, help me clarify my thinking about teaching science. Presenting with other educators is another way to get the most out of a conference. In preparing for our session on supporting children’s use of the NGSS science and engineering practices, the experiences and views of colleagues Cindy Hoisington and Sandy Chilton informed my understanding. In the session participants sorted through a

group of photos of preK-grade 2 children at work and identified which science and engineering practices children were using in their investigations. In my NSTA Press book, Science Learning in the Early Years, I support using the NGSS because integrating the three dimensions—science and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas—provides a learning environment that encourages children to ask questions, plan investigations, and record and discuss findings as they build understanding of science concepts.

I’m looking forward to the next conference I’ll be attending, the NSTA 2018 national conference, March 15-18, in Atlanta, GA. And later in the year, the NAEYC annual conference will be held in Washington, DC, close enough to drive! Post about calls for proposals for conferences near you on the NSTA Learning Center Early Childhood forum and the NAEYC forum, Hello.

And I’m feeling wistful about having to pass up several opportunities for effective conference learning including the Early Childhood Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (ECSTEM) Conference, February 2-3, 2018, in Anaheim, CA.

 Meanwhile I’m finding time each week to participate in the NSTA Learning Center conversations and NAEYC forums, and enjoying making time to talk with colleagues locally about the engineering design happening in their Kindergarten class, and the tools their preschool students use to shape cardboard. 

National Research Council. 2007. Taking Science to School: Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K-8. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. 

Artist’s rendition of Sirius A and B

I have one student whose knowledge of Earth and space exceeds the other students in class. I feel like I just keep giving him more work, more extension activities, and I think he is getting frustrated. Do you have any suggestions for how to deal with this? How do I grade this kind of assignment?
—S., Virginia

Assigning more work to an extremely bright student is not the answer, so kudos for looking for something else! Run this by your principal for approval: Ask the student to propose a project— either long- or short-term —related to the class. The possibilities are almost limitless: videos, a lesson, models, public displays, reviews, and more. Can you find a geologist, astronomer, or other professional that could act as a mentor or be interviewed? Negotiate a grading scheme with benchmarks and expectations for the final “product” or assessment.

Options to reach a fair grade:

• Have the child complete all the work the rest of the class is handing in and use the project as extra credit.
• Replace the regular work with this project—this puts the onus on the student to follow through. Align the project with your curriculum and create a rubric to share with the student and his family. If a mentor is involved, you should have a direct communication with him or her about expectations and share the assessment piece. Set the bar high, but make sure he isn’t penalized for pushing himself. If the project doesn’t meet all your expectations, ask yourself, “What grade would I record if any other student handed me this work?”

Hope this helps!

Photo Credit: By NASA, ESA and G. Bacon (STScI)