Come join us at the 6^th Annual STEM Forum & Expo. It is the event where early childhood and lower elementary teachers need to be. It is a unique event where you will find a great deal of focused ideas on how to engage, nurture, and teach what our little ones are already so curious about. Science, technology, engineering, and math is all around our students and they have a natural love for figuring out how things work and why. The STEM Forum is a wonderful opportunity for educators in the early years to find resources that will help build your knowledge on integrating STEM into your lessons as well as give you some great fun ideas you can take immediately back to the classroom and use the next day. 

As early childhood and lower elementary teachers we tend to focus on making sure our students are first learning and practicing their foundational skills like, the alphabet, numbers, reading, and writing and perhaps forget the importance of STEM to our students’ futures. We need to teach them how to be those innovative thinkers, problem solvers, and creators of the future and it all starts with us! With a strong understanding of STEM and how to go about presenting it to young learners that is exactly what you as a teacher can do for your students. Attending the conference will give you many opportunities to find ideas that you can use in planning your literacy blocks, but also effectively integrating science or engineering into some of those already great lessons. There are so many books that lend themselves to science and engineering. Some of the sessions at this year’s STEM Forum will focus on how to use science and engineering with literature as well as give you some activities to try with your own students.  Presenters are educators, like myself, that have come to share what has effectively worked for them. They bring along great resources and knowledge that they have used or found helpful in developing their lessons that they are more than happy to share with other educators.

Our young students deserve to explore and allow their natural curiosity to guide their learning. As early childhood and lower elementary teachers our job is to focus that natural curiosity and assist them in making important connections about the world and their place in it. So please, come and join us at the 6^th Annual STEM Forum & Expo. You will not believe how many excellent and focused sessions for young learners you will find that will assist you in becoming a well-rounded STEM educator. We hope to see you there! 

Adriana Guerra began her teaching career at E.P. Foster STEM Academy 12 years ago.  She was a presenter at the 5^th Annual STEM Forum & Expo in Denver, CO and is currently on the steering committee as the early childhood/lower elementary strand leader for the 6^th Annual STEM Forum & Expo.  She received my bachelor’s degree from University of Southern California, her Master’s degree from Bradley University and her teaching credentials from California Lutheran University.

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

Future NSTA Conferences

2017 STEM Forum & Expo
Kissimmee/Orlando, July 12–14

2017 Area Conferences

Baltimore, October 5–7
Milwaukee, November 9–11
New Orleans, Nov. 30–Dec. 2

First up—guidance you do not want to miss: Last week, the U.S. Department of Education issued a seven page memo detailing possible uses of federal funding through ESSA to support STEM education. The must-see document has helpful examples of how states, schools and districts can leverage ESEA, IDEA, and Perkins Funds for STEM education. The letter can be found here.

Congress and the FY2017 Budget

The budget grabbed all the attention last week, as the Continuing Resolution (CR) for FY2017 programs official ran out on April 28 amid the ensuring drama over whether to shut down the federal government, actually fund FY2017 programs (we are now halfway through FY2017), extend the CR for another week, fund the wall, and finish a health care bill (Congress choose to extend the existing CR for another week).

Late Sunday night (April 30) POLITICO reported that a funding agreement was in place through the end of September.  It appears that funding for Student Support and Academic Enrichment (SSAE) Title IV block grant program for fiscal year 2017, authorized by the Every Student Succeeds Act, will be at $400 million this year, a fraction of the ESSA authorization level of $1.65 billion. With the low funding level, Congress changed the distribution for this program: money will go directly to the states and will be a competitive grant program lead by the states (this year only), instead of a formula program to all schools. More on the Title IV program here.

The Trump <skinny> budget for FY2018 proposes $59 billion for the Department of Education, a $9.2 billion cut to the Education Department’s $68 billion budget, which would cut agency spending by 13 percent below the 2017 CR level. Read more here.

Update on Every Student Succeeds Act

Several states have submitted their plans to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act, and more are working to meet the September deadline for ESSA plans. Right now 10 states have plans out in some form. The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has 120 days to review the plans; if it makes no comment during that period, the plans are considered approved.

What’s not in the state plans? Expanded school choice programs, reports U.S. News & World Report. Many states are proposing to track student scores with new methods beyond just test scores, reports PBS.

In an interview last week Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told Fox News that the Every Student Succeeds Act does away with the whole argument about Common Core and “it leaves up to the states” to make decisions about which standards to choose. “There really isn’t any Common Core anymore,” stated DeVos. President Trump and his advisors have repeatedly said the Administration would repeal Common Core.

Spotlight on School Vouchers

There has been a lot of press attention on school vouchers lately. Many advocates believe that the national school voucher program President Trump has called for could be fashioned after the tax credit scholarship program in Florida—created by former Governor Jeb Bush—that  now pays  private school tuition for almost 100,000 low income students so that they can attend private, mostly religious schools.

A national tax credit based on the Florida model to expand school vouchers nationwide could be inserted into a tax reform package and could be passed through a simple majority in the Senate. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and Rep. Todd Rokita (R-Ind.) have proposed legislation that would create a program similar to the Florida tax credit scholarship at the federal level. Read more here.

In addition to Florida, currently about 17 states also offer some type of tax credit scholarships. These programs provide tax credits to individuals or corporations that donate to a state-approved organization, which then awards funds to working class families for private school tuition.

In anticipation of school voucher legislation, a group of Senate Democrats has requested that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) conduct a study to investigate the structure and accountability of tax credit scholarship programs in the states and determine whether state voucher programs have resulted in mismanagement of public funds.

Education Dept. Needs to Improve Oversight of 21st Century Program

A GAO report last week found that the Department of Education oversight of afterschool programs funded via the 21^st Century Program was lacking.  

From the report: “Relevant research we reviewed that compared program participants to those of non-participants suggests that the 21st Century program is effective in improving students’ behavioral outcomes, such as school-day attendance and reduced disciplinary incidents, more often than their academic outcomes. However, because Education’s current 21st Century performance measures primarily focus on students’ reading and math scores on state tests, Education lacks useful data about whether the program is achieving its objectives to improve students’ behavioral outcomes such as attendance and discipline—the areas where the program most frequently has a positive effect. Education officials have not substantially revised the program’s performance measures since 1998, in part because its authorization lapsed from fiscal years 2008 through 2016. Leading practices in performance measurement call for federal agencies to align performance measures with program objectives.”

President Trump proposed zeroing out this program in the FY2018 budget, after OMB Director Mick Mulvaney told reporters of “no demonstrable evidence” that after-school programs help students. The GAO is considered the watchdog of government.

Executive Order to Rid Schools of “Federal Overreach”

And, finally, President Trump last Wednesday  signed an executive order that directs Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to determine where the “federal government has unlawfully overstepped state and local control.”

Administration officials told USA Today that “In recent years too many in Washington have advanced top-down mandates that take away autonomy and limit the options available to educators, administrators, and parents,” and the executive order puts an end to this overreach, yet admitted to reporter Greg Toppo that DeVos already was empowered to do this. Read more.

Stay tuned, and watch for more updates in future issues of NSTA Express.

Jodi Peterson is the Assistant Executive Director of Communication, Legislative & Public Affairs for the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and Chair of the STEM Education Coalition. Reach her via e-mail at jpeterson@nsta.org or via Twitter at @stemedadvocate.

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

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Recently, there was a question about what to do when students were off-task. I conduct many professional development programs, and I could use some ideas to keep adult participants on-task! —T., Virginia

As a presenter, it’s frustrating to see participants grading papers, texting, or reading the news. But in all fairness to our colleagues, their inattention may stem from experiences with compulsory professional development (PD) sessions that were “sit ‘n’ git,” conducted by drop-in presenters who were not familiar with the school’s culture, had no teacher input into the content, or held afterschool when everyone was tired.

I shared your question with a colleague with whom I have held many PD sessions. We agreed that in addition to well-planned content, it is important to engage the participants with effective strategies they can apply in their classrooms:

• Greet participants as they come in, making a personal connection. Share a summary of your own classroom experiences during the introduction to establish rapport.
• Describe the purpose and goals of the session. Ask what the participants what they would like to get from the session. Record their responses and debrief the list at the end.
• Avoid trivial ice-breakers, especially if the teachers already know each other. Instead, use bell-ringers, such as responding to a focus question or a brief reading. Refer to their responses during the session.
• Provide an agenda, indicating when there will be breaks to check e-mails or texts. Start and end the session on time.
• Move around and make eye contact.
• Use gallery walks or turn-and-talk for sharing ideas.

Relax and realize, as an administrator told me, some people aren’t happy unless there’s something to complain about. One of our workshops was rated low by a participant because “I don’t like tomato on my sandwich” that was in a provided lunch.

This week in education news, Bill Nye thinks Pruitt and DeVos are the least qualified people for their agencies; science advocates double down on their outreach attempts; some teachers may be misleading students about climate change; Trump signs executive order reviewing federal role in education; Alabama is changing how it teaches science; and researchers debate how educators and policymakers can better understand what influences teacher shortages from state to state.

What The Latest Assaults On Science Education Look Like

Each year, anti-science education legislation is introduced in state legislatures around the country — and, in a few cases, has been passed. So what is an anti-science education bill — and how many have been introduced in 2017? Click here to read the article featured in the Washington Post.

Bill Nye: Pruitt, DeVos ‘The Least Qualified People On The Planet’ For Their Agencies

Bill Nye the “Science Guy” is taking aim at President Trump’s Cabinet picks, singling out Environmental Protection Agency Administrator (EPA) Scott Pruitt and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos as “the least qualified people on the planet” to head their agencies. Click here to read the article featured in The Hill.

After The March: Science Advocates Prepare For A ‘Marathon’

The March for Science brought tens of thousands of science supporters into the streets of Washington, D.C., and to around 500 satellite marches around the world on Saturday (April 22). Now, supporters say, the challenge is to turn the energy in the streets into sustained science advocacy. After the march, science organizations and universities are doubling down on their outreach attempts. Click here to read the article featured on Live Science.

Climate Denial In Schools

Senate Bill 393 in Oklahoma permits teachers to paint established science on both evolution and climate change as “controversial.” The “controversy,” however, doesn’t really exist — more than 97 percent of actively publishing, accredited climate scientists agree that global warming trends over the past century are directly attributable to human activity. And some teachers might already be misleading students. Click here to read the article featured in VICE News.

Betsy DeVos Said, ‘There Isn’t Really Any Common Core Any More.’ Um, Yes, There Is.

Recently, DeVos told Michigan radio station host Frank Beckmann that the Every Student Succeeds Act effectively does away “with the notion of the Common Core,” Education Week reported. The ESSA, the successor law to No Child Left Behind, left it to states to decide on their standards, but, then again, the states had that right before. And many states are still using them. Then on Monday, DeVos told Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer that the ESSA “essentially does away with the whole argument about Common Core.” Click here to read the article featured in the Washington Post.

In Elementary School Science, What’s At Stake When We Call An ‘Argument’ An ‘Opinion’?

As more teachers are using both the Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards, they will increasingly be confronted with a challenge: The standards in literacy and science—and the research literature in the two fields—disagree about when and how students learn to form arguments. Click here to read the article featured in Education Week.

Trump Signs Executive Order Reviewing Federal Role In Education

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday aimed at decreasing the role of the federal government in education while giving states and local school districts more power over decision-making. Trump called the called order, which directs Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to study federal overreach in education, “another critical step to restoring local control, which is so important.” Click here to read the article featured on NBCNews.com.

Alabama’s In The Mainstream With A New Way To Teach Science

Science teaching is changing across America, and Alabama is changing how it teaches science, too. But will the changes be enough or too much? Dr. Bruce Alberts, a biochemist who headed the National Academy of Sciences and edited “Science” magazine, recently discussed the new way at Huntsville’s HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology. Afterward, Dr. Neil Lamb, the institute’s vice president for educational outreach, talked about Alabama’s approach. Click here to read the article featured on Al.com.

AERA: What Do We Mean When We Talk About Teacher Shortages?

Debates over perceived teacher shortages often conflate different problems and make it more difficult to find sustainable ways to get every student a good teacher. That was the consensus at one of the opening symposiums of the American Educational Research Association’s annual conference on Thursday. Linda Darling-Hammond, founder of the Learning Policy Institute, at Stanford University think tank, led researchers debating how educators and policymakers can better understand what influences teacher shortages from state to state. Click here to read the article featured in Education Week.

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.

Follow NSTA

It has been said that science began “whenever and wherever [people] tried to solve the innumerable problems of life” (Sarton 1952). The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States 2013) call for the pursuit of scientific literacy for all through science instruction. This includes acknowledging the contributions to science of those whose communities have been historically marginalized.

The contributions of non-Europeans

Unfortunately, science educators often fail to acknowledge the contributions of non-Europeans. We also fail to convey the complex, messy, culturally contextualized aspects of scientific progress not found in most textbooks.

Consider, for example, the story of the smallpox vaccination. English scientist Edward Jenner has been credited with developing a cure for the deadly disease, a cure that ultimately lead to the acceptance of immunology in the 1800s (Johnson and Raven 2006). However, records indicate that long before Jenner was born, Africans practiced a form of inoculation by scratching the arm of a healthy individual with a tool infected with the offending virus, eventually protecting the person from the illness.

During a smallpox outbreak in the American colonies in the early 1700s, a slave named Onesimus explained the African practice to a puritan minister, Cotton Mather, who in turn persuaded a local doctor, Zabdiel Boylston, to use it (Herbert 1975). Their willingness to accept African knowledge saved lives during the outbreak. Unfortunately, few textbooks addressing the origins of vaccinations mention the African practice or the story of Onesimus.

Although there is little empirical evidence to support the seemingly intuitive practice of incorporating the history of science to improve students’ understanding of the nature of science (Abd-El-Khalick and Lederman 2000), many science educators acknowledge the potential of such instruction to augment student understanding of science.

Finding fresh resources

If teachers are to engage their diverse students in more meaningful discussions about the history and nature of science, we have to go beyond the sterile stories propagated by textbooks and research other resources to support our efforts. Good choices include the books Acid Tongues and Tranquil Dreamers (White 2001), A Short History of Nearly Everything (Bryson 2003), Blacks and Science, Volume Three (Walker 2013), and Hidden Figures (Shetterly 2016), the book on which the Academy Award–nominated film was based.

Students need to see connections between science learning and their experiences and cultures (Gay 2002; Ladson-Billings 1992). Becoming more inclusive in our representations of science in the classroom is important to developing an understanding of who does science, how science is done, and how science progresses. This will benefit students, teachers, and society.

Karen Rose (kr04@fsu.edu) is a clinical science education instructor in the FSU-Teach program at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.

References
Abd-El-Khalick, F., and N.G. Lederman. 2000. The influence of history of science courses on students’ views of nature of science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 37 (10): 1057–1095.
Bryson, B. 2003. A short history of nearly everything. New York: Broadway Books.
Gay, G. 2002. Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education 53 (2): 106–116.
Herbert, E. 1975. Smallpox inoculation in Africa. Journal of African History 16 (4): 539–559.
Johnson, G., and P. Raven. 2006. Biology. Austin, TX: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
Ladson-Billings, G. 1992. Culturally relevant teaching: The key to making multicultural education work. In Research and multicultural education: From the margins to the mainstream, ed. C. Grant, 102–118. Bristol, PA: The Falmer Press.
NGSS Lead States. 2013. Next Generation Science Standards: For states, by states. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Sarton, G. 1952. A history of science: Ancient science through the golden age of Greece. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Press.
Shetterly, M. 2016. Hidden Figures. New York: HarperCollins.
Walker, R. 2013. Blacks and science, volume three: African-American contributions to science and technology. London: Recklaw Education.
White, M. 2001. Acid tongues and tranquil dreamers: Tales of bitter rivalries that fueled the advancement of sciences and technology. New York: HarperCollins.

Editor’s Note

This article was originally published in the April/May 2017 issue of The
Science Teacher journal from the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA).

Get Involved With NSTA!

Join NSTA today and receive The Science Teacher,
the peer-reviewed journal just for high school teachers; to write for the journal, see our Author Guidelines, Call for Papers, and annotated sample manuscript; connect on the high school level science teaching list (members can sign up on the list server); or consider joining your peers at future NSTA conferences.

Two articles of interest to all K-12 teachers:

• Commentary: The Importance of Cultivating Empathy in STEM from Science Scope, discusses how students can understand how STEM-related issues can affect people and society.
• Eclipses Across the Curriculum in S&C has ideas for integrated lessons pertaining to the August 2017 event.

Science & Children – Matter and Its Interactions

Feature articles in this issue focus on how to introduce young students to the characteristics and properties of matter and Small Pieces of Matter. The lessons described in the articles include connections with the NGSS.

• The activities described in Clean It Up! introduce students to “properties” of matter and how properties can be used to design procedures to separate mixtures.
• Using color and pigments as a context, Colorful Chemistry describes how students investigate how mixing materials can result in a chemical reaction. Artwork is part of the assessment!
• Are Clouds a Solid, Liquid, or Gas? addresses misconceptions students may have about the composition of clouds and the water cycle.
• If the Shoe Fits, Sort It! incorporates a tradition “sorting” activity of students’ shoes into a more robust study of organization, patterns, and characteristics. Can the shoes get back to their original owners?
• Describing Matter has a 5E lesson incorporating and app and hands-on experiences to extend student’s understanding of the properties of matter.
• Rethink the baking soda-vinegar “volcano” into a more accurate study of matter and mixtures with the lesson in The Early Years: Mixing Materials.
• Poetry of Science: What’s the Matter? includes a poem that reinforces the states of matter.
• Teaching Through Trade Books: Matter All Around Us provides developmentally appropriate 5E lessons for K-2 and 3-5 that focus on observable properties of matter.
• Methods and Strategies: Much Ado About Nothing describes the ideas and experiences young students have about the small-particle model of matter.

For more on the content that provides a context for projects and strategies described in this issue, see the SciLinks topics Chemical Reactions, Classification, Clouds, Matter, Mixtures, pH Scale, States of Matter, Water Cycle

Continue for Science Scope and The Science Teacher.

Science Scope – Math and Science

“Why are we doing math in science class?” my students would ask. But they soon realized that math could be applied to other subject areas such as science, especially in terms of measurement, graphing, and data analysis. As the Editor notes, two of the NGSS science and engineering practices are related to math. The featured articles this month encourage this relationship.

Articles in this issue that describe lessons include a helpful sidebar (“At a Glance”) documenting the big idea, essential pre-knowledge, time, and cost. The lessons also include connections with the NGSS.

• Beat the Heat! An Investigation Into Heat Transfer, Cooling Capacities, and Dilution has suggested activities and graphing examples for comparing ice and rocks as cooling agents.
• With the investigation in Beluga Whales: Hyphothesis Generation and Evaluation students use mathematics and data to support claims in the context of studying whale vocalizations.
• The 5E lesson in Go, Turtle, Go: Measuring Motion to Build Proficiency in Science guide students to an understanding of motion, forces, and displacement. The article includes example of students’ graphs.
• A data collection is most useful when it is shared and accessible. Using Google Forms to Collect and Analyze Data describes a lesson in which students use technology to share and analyze data.
• The 5E lesson Using Math to Support Claims About Wind-Dispersed Seeds goes beyond observing and describing seeds to designing, testing, and analyzing plant adaptations for spreading seeds.
• Data collection and statistical analysis are math applications with relevance to science investigations. An Inquiry-Based Activity to Show the Importance of Sample Size and Random Sampling provides this first-hand experience.
• It All Adds Up: Wildcam Gorongosa Citizen Science describes an effort to construct a database of organisms in the park by analyzing images from wildlife cams. There are additional resources to use in the classroom.
• Students explore the concept of density and use measuring practices in Disequilibrium: Layered Liquids, a 5E lesson.
• Teachers share ideas Ways to Increase Math Confidence in Science Class in this summary from the NSTA listservs.
• The author of Analyzing Data With Mean Absolute Deviation provides an example of an investigation that emphasizes the importance of multiple trials in an investigation and how to analyze the data in a student-friendly manner.

For more on the content that provides a context for projects and strategies described in this issue, see the SciLinks topics Animal Behavior, Biodiversity, Density, Forces and Motion, Heat Transfer, Law of Conservation of Energy, Math and Science, Seeds, Temperature and Heat, Velocity, Whales

The Science Teacher – Science for All

TST’s Editor this month quotes NSTA’s position on multicultural science education and notes “In our diverse classrooms, we must champion ideals of inclusion and allow all people to feel valued and safe.” This month’s issue has featured articles with ideas to deal with the differences in ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, physical disabilities, learning differences, and various levels of English proficiency in our classrooms.

The lessons described in the articles include connections with the NGSS.

• Students who use a combination of Spanish and English have challenges in the classroom learning vocabulary and communicating. No Puedo has background information on “Spanglish” and describes a process to support them.
• More students with Autism Spectrum Disorders are in our classrooms. The authors of Supporting Students With Autism share strategies for capitalizing on their strengths (e.g., peer support, schedules, visual supports) and include ways to adapt lesson plans with accommodations.
• Many of the resources for teaching and learning science are highly visual. Seeing Science has ideas (including assistive technologies and other accommodations) to help students with visual impairments conduct investigations.
• The Science Standards and Students of Color shows how four classroom strategies (described in the NGSS) can help students: culturally relevant pedagogy, community involvement, multimodal experiences, and mentoring.
• What better way to involve students than to have them teach others? High school Students as Environmental Educators share their interest and enthusiasm with preschool students
• Commentary: Going Beyond the Textbook includes a discussion and references to help students make connections between science learning and their own experiences and cultures. 
• Giving students choices of media to communicate what they learn is a way to accommodate students who have various interests. Science 2.0: Communicating Science Creatively describes some options. 
• Animals and plants don’t understand or recognize political borders. The Green Room: How Border Walls Affect Wildlife discusses some activities for students.

For more on the content that provides a context for projects and strategies described in this issue, see the SciLinks topics Biodiversity, Biomolecules, Conservation of Matter, Invasive Species, Matter and Energy, Nutrition, Water Pollution, Watersheds, Worms

Knowing that content material is most engaging when students can relate to it, I always begin my year with a student survey. The questions are designed to help me design lessons to be as student-focused as possible. Knowing my students’ interests and history also helps me identify phenomena and storylines that will be the most engaging for them. The phenomenon is the hook to capture students’ interest and inspire their curiosity; storylines provide links between performance expectations. The combinations of phenomena and Performance Expectations are virtually endless.

I write my units using my own template which is a hybrid of Understanding by Design and Universal Design for Learning. Click here to view and download my template

Pre-planning: I recommend you bundle Performance Expectations into a logical storyline and include driving questions to guide students toward conceptual leaps. For example, when learning the fact that all cells come from existing cells, I expect a student to ask about the origin of the first cell. I use these questions to devise investigations that will help students find answers and develop their own questions. Asking probing questions during these activities is critical. I recommend you plan ahead and make your questioning targeted and intentional so that it causes students to think deeply and make sense for themselves.

Two tools I have found that are helpful include a Talk Activities Flowchart developed by STEM Teaching Tools and Goals for Productive Discussions and Nine Talk Moves published by TERC.

Let me share the stages I go through when I begin planning my science instruction.

Stage 1: Determine “All, Most, Few.” In this first stage, I differentiate the concepts and skills that all students need to achieve, the higher concepts and skills most will reach, and the extension activities I can provide to students who have advanced skills and interests. I then write two-to-four essential questions that make intentional reference to Crosscutting Concepts, scaffold my unit from lower- to higher-order thinking using Disciplinary Core Ideas, and determine which Science and Engineering Practices will be addressed and what skills I will target.

Stage 2: Looking for Evidence. Daily formative assessments inform instruction and guide my lesson planning. Formative assessments range from observations and discussions to tracked response assignments like Plickers, Quizzizz, Kahoot, EdPuzzle and Quizlet. Summative assessments are more time-intensive and require students to demonstrate their learning independently. These assessments differ between students and include poster presentations, informational website development, TED-style talks, and student-created lessons to teach younger students. To ensure I am encouraging 21st century and literacy skills, I also include a variety of digital and research components, time for modeling and reflection, and include elements of publishing or presentation for both formative and summative assessments.

Stage 3: The Blueprint. This final stage involves drafting a rough learning plan that includes critical input and inquiry lessons. I provide notes and other introductory presentations that help guide students and provide essential knowledge for the unit. Most of the lessons are student-centered and inquiry-based.

Taking it into the classroom:

Because I teach in a science lab with immovable lab benches, I’ve added a variety of seating options to facilitate collaboration and peer review among students and allow me to split the class into stations. The set-up includes two large round tables with chairs and a set of modular sofa sections.

I love to teach in stations! Students can be break into groups which facilitates differentiation and makes it possible for me to support the “all, most, few” idea presented in Stage 1.

My favorite resource when I first started planning 3-dimensional units includes the NSTA Press® book, Translating the NGSS for Classroom Instruction by Rodger Bybee. Click here to view a sample chapter. 

My favorite resource for three-dimensional planning support comes from the American Museum of Natural History. Click here to view and download it.

Bonnie Nieves

Bonnie Nieves is the Science Department Chair at Millbury Memorial Jr./Sr. High School in Millbury, Massachusetts. She began her career in education as a paraprofessional specializing in science instruction for special needs students. This experience gave her a deep understanding of the importance of differentiation and its impact on student success. She is currently focused on developing ways to increase student engagement with phenomena-based instruction and supporting colleagues as they learn about and implement three-dimensions teaching.

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.

Future NSTA Conferences

STEM Forum & Expo

• Kissimmee/Orlando: July 12–14, 2017

2017 Fall Conferences

• Baltimore: Oct. 5–7, 2017

• Milwaukee: Nov. 9–11, 2017

• New Orleans: Nov. 30–Dec. 2, 2017

National Conference

• Atlanta: March 15–18, 2018

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This month’s Digging Deeper column for the Next Gen Navigator focuses on the practice of constructing explanations and designing solutions, and specifically the design process that addresses the engineering component of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Its inclusion is relatively new in science education, and for teachers who haven’t had the opportunity to develop understanding of the engineering design process through workshops or teacher preparation coursework, it’s often viewed with trepidation. 

The Framework for K–12 Science Education, the foundation of the NGSS, defines engineering as any “engagement in a systematic practice of design to achieve solutions to particular human problems.” The inclusion of the design process enables students to engage in the practical application of science knowledge to solve problems. It makes science relevant and meaningful to students. This relevancy makes learning engaging, and we know students learn when they are engaged and having fun! I think this is what makes the NGSS, and its inclusion of designing solutions, so powerful.

My journey into the engineering design process began almost 10 years ago when I was awarded a grant to purchase LEGO Mindstorms for my gifted and talented students. I had the wherewithal then to align the program to standards, guide my students to create their own challenge, and identify criteria for success. At the time, however, the science standards consisted only of the scientific and technological design processes. The technological design standard was simply stated as design, modify, and apply technology to effectively and efficiently solve problems.  While the students no doubt were following this iterative process, they lacked an understanding of engineering design to facilitate their learning.

In addition, no standards addressed forces and interactions, and the crosscutting concepts of cause and effect, structure and function, and systems and systems models. I can only imagine how much more effective the students would have been with the iterative process if they had these key core ideas and crosscutting concepts to inform their design choices. (This actually emphasizes how the three dimensions work together to support learning, but that is a discussion for another blog post.)

learning the physical properties of magnets

While I still work directly with students, much of my time is now spent on professional development and coaching teachers. As a part of this work and as an NGSS@NSTA Curator, I have developed and field-tested a unit titled “What’s the Attraction?” Students begin this unit by engaging in the phenomenon of a “Magic Jar” in which a clip appears to be hovering in midair. Students are given the opportunity to ask questions based on the phenomenon observed, and because they’re always smarter than we give them credit for, one will invariably ask, “Is there a magnet in the cover of the jar?” Students then conduct a series of investigations to learn the physical properties of magnets, as well as the cause- and-effect relationships of magnetic interactions between two objects not in contact with one another (3-PS2-3).

Students are then presented with a performance task to define and solve a very real problem where we live and to apply their understanding of magnetic interactions. They are asked to design a device that can retrieve a set of keys that have fallen from a pier into the ocean (3-PS2-4). Using NASA’s Best Engineering Design Process, students ask questions to define a simple design problem based on criteria and constraints, generate and compare multiple solutions, and conduct fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered (3-5-ETS1-3). Here you see students designing their prototypes, standing on the “pier” to test their design solutions and a close-up of a prototype.

designing prototypes

standing on a “pier”

You can see the application of magnetic properties and reasoning for their design choices in this prototype: Ring magnets were the strongest among the magnet types available to them, and stacking them increased their ability to attract the keys without contacting them. The ring magnets were also small enough to maneuver easily between the rocks. The students were so engaged by this challenge that they begged their teacher to reiterate their designs a third time. With classroom instructional time for science at a premium, the teacher of this class set up a center where students could continue to improve and test their devices in their spare time.

This unit was also presented at the NGSS@NSTA Share-a-Thon held during the 2016 NSTA National Conference in Nashville, and generated suggestions to include scenarios of keys lost in a farm field or dropped through a subway grate.

Designing solutions with students is a teaching joy, and student-driven investigations are now easily accomplished, but my NGSS journey is far from over. What I still have to work on is facilitating students in the actual planning of their investigations. Even as a coach and a professional developer, I am still an NGSS learner. 

I hope my journey will encourage you to continue on yours. Furthermore, I hope the unit I shared provided a concrete glimpse of what NGSS implementation looks like, and that it might spark ideas about how you could do it in your own classroom. They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, so go ahead: You can do it.

Karen Umeda

Karen Umeda is a STEM Coordinator at Momilani Elementary School in Pearl City, Hawaii, and an NGSS@NSTA Curator.  She is also a Project Coordinator for the Mauna Kea Scholars Program and works with a team of teachers to deliver professional development on the “Wonders of Science and STEM,” a state-supported initiative.

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.

Future NSTA Conferences

STEM Forum & Expo

• Kissimmee/Orlando: July 12–14, 2017

2017 Fall Conferences

• Baltimore: Oct. 5–7, 2017

• Milwaukee: Nov. 9–11, 2017

• New Orleans: Nov. 30–Dec. 2, 2017

National Conference

• Atlanta: March 15–18, 2018

Follow NSTA

When I first started teaching science, I taught the facts. I taught the nine planets (before Pluto got demoted; sorry, Pluto!), the steps of mitosis, and the workings of plate tectonics, for example. I was proud that I had students who could learn the facts and recite them to me. It was always wonderful to have my students perform well on their tests, and it made me smile to know they could identify things like the various Moon phases.

More recently, however, I noticed I was becoming more worried about my students’ ability to “do science,” not just learn about it. I became more intent on helping my students learn about the process, the nature of science. I was very encouraged when I heard new science standards were being developed that recommended exactly what I was trying to accomplish. I thought, “Hey, I do this already.” Then I began exploring the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and thought, “Oh, good grief. What is this? I don’t do this at all.” So it was back to the drawing board again.

As I prepared to teach the NGSS, I felt like a first-year teacher once again. I read the Framework for K–12 Science Education, looked through the NGSS Appendices, and asked questions, lots of questions! To be honest, I was initially most comfortable with the Disciplinary Core Ideas. The other two dimensions, Science and Engineering Practices and the Crosscutting Concepts, were not as easily understood. I was able to really comprehend the practices when I started to accept the idea that they were the process.

The Crosscutting Concepts have been the most challenging, for sure. They have not been easy to grasp and implement in my classroom. This is where I feel the most challenged. It has been a real struggle to integrate them in a meaningful way and to have my students work with them without my feeling like they were an “add-on.” I will not say I have mastered them–far from it–but I do feel better somewhat more comfortable with discussing and teaching patterns, systems, and energy flow. Maybe in a few more years I will be able to say, “I get it!”

Two actions that have helped me understand and wrap my brain around the three- dimensional aspect of the NGSS were helping to design and lead professional development opportunities for my district’s middle school science teachers and participating in the #NGSSchat on multiple occasions.

Designing professional development for our district was a test. You can’t stand before a group of teachers and fake it. Our group had to know our stuff—not perfectly—but enough to discuss it intelligently with our peers. We also had to be able to disseminate our work to give teachers examples of what works and what doesn’t. That was a learning experience.

Participating in the #NGSSchats has been exciting. So many insightful, passionate people with many fantastic ideas take part in them, sharing with one another about our craft and helping one another. For example, a significant piece of information I received from the #NGSSchat has been the recommendation to be intentional with Crosscutting Concepts. I regularly get great ideas like this from the chat that I try out in my class or contact one of my peers from the chat to discuss further. These discussions are invaluable in helping me grow as a professional. If you don’t have a Twitter account, sign up now! It will be the best decision you can make to help you increase your knowledge of and skills in teaching the standards.

Patrick Goff

Patrick Goff is an 8^th-grade science teacher in Lexington, Kentucky, and has taught for 18 years. He is a National Board Certified teacher with a master’s degree in Administration. He has presented at multiple conferences locally and internationally, and is a co-founder of @ngss_tweeps.

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.

Future NSTA Conferences

STEM Forum & Expo

• Kissimmee/Orlando: July 12–14, 2017

2017 Fall Conferences

• Baltimore: Oct. 5–7, 2017
• Milwaukee: Nov. 9–11, 2017
• New Orleans: Nov. 30–Dec. 2, 2017

National Conference

• Atlanta: March 15–18, 2018

Follow NSTA