Safety Blog
By Kenneth Roy
Posted on 2016-06-13
As NSTA’s chief science safety compliance adviser, I look forward to sharing the latest safety compliance information, while helping teachers solve safety-related problems and issues in the classroom, lab, and maker space. I’m also looking forward to interacting with colleagues to help improve science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education in the trenches.
Specifically, NSTA has initiated this new safety blog to:
Students learn STEM best by doing, not just reading. Make it a memorable hands-on experience by incorporating safety! Encourage your friends and colleagues to subscribe to the NSTA Blog and share their experiences and knowledge about safer science education experiences.
Have a safer day!
Dr. Ken Roy
Submit questions regarding safety in K–12 to Ken Roy at safesci@sbcglobal.net. Follow him on Twitter: @drroysafersci.
The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.
NSTA resources and safety issue papers
Safety in the Science Classroom
Join NSTA
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As NSTA’s chief science safety compliance adviser, I look forward to sharing the latest safety compliance information, while helping teachers solve safety-related problems and issues in the classroom, lab, and maker space. I’m also looking forward to interacting with colleagues to help improve science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education in the trenches.
Specifically, NSTA has initiated this new safety blog to:
By Carole Hayward
Posted on 2016-06-08
There’s a lot of talk about using data to drive teaching and learning, but what data and how should these numbers be used?
Are you confused? So were the authors of NSTA Press’ new book, The Feedback Loop: Using Formative Assessment Data for Science Teaching and Learning. Erin Marie Furtak, Howard Glasser, and Zora Wolfe, explain how the onslaught of data drove them to develop the book.
“We had difficulty figuring out how to select and use the information available to investigate our practice. We wanted to become better teachers but were overwhelmed with other tasks and uncertain of how to begin examining these areas,” the authors state in the book’s introduction.
The Feedback Loop offers practical advice from people who get it. The authors break down how to set learning goals, analyze data, and make inferences about student learning to understand better what students know and where they need help. By creating a loop, teachers can see where students have problems and respond accordingly.
“The Feedback Loop is intended to go beyond thinking about pieces of data in isolation to reorienting them as a part of a larger system that you, the teacher, can design and act on,” the authors say.
Designed for middle and high school science teachers, the book provides step-by-step guidance for designing your own formative assessments. You will also practice unpacking the Next Generation Science Standards to make sure that your students are achieving them. The best part of The Feedback Loop is the anecdotes from teachers who share their own assessments and results. You can learn from educators who use these tools every day.
Read the sample chapter on Collecting Data.
Check out The Feedback Loop. This book is also available as an e-book.
By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2016-06-07
I recently read an article about having students “reflect” on their work. I’m not sure what the value would be. What would this look like in a science class? –G., Ohio
At a professional development workshop several years ago, I heard a teacher say “I do lots of activities. My students are so busy, they don’t have time to think!” This statement haunts me to this day. I wondered what students learned by following someone else’s busy, fast-paced agenda of activities. It sounded exhausting, for both the teacher and the students.
Another time, I visited a classroom in a school that had 90-minute class periods. The teacher presented a series of activities, changing topics about every 15 minutes—lecture, worksheet, small group discussion, writing, hands-on activities, pop quizzes—but there was no common theme or unifying concept. These students were also “busy,” but I wondered what they were actually learning from this series of disconnected events.
From a Twitter recommendation, I recently read the article “You Really Can ‘Work Smarter, Not Harder’” describing a study on the value of reflection. (Note: the working paper Learning by Thinking: How Reflection Aids Performance from the Harvard Business School is downloadable here.
The study shows that learning is more effective if a lesson or experience is deliberately coupled with time spent thinking about what was just presented.
For teachers who already use reflective processes, it’s nice to have validation from more formal studies. Although, as with any study, there are problems generalizing to other populations, subject areas, and learning tasks, it seems that doing hands-on activities or investigations is only part of the learning process. Giving students time to process and think about what they are learning pays off.
Reflection doesn’t necessarily mean students staring into space (although that’s what I do when I’m thinking). Reflection is a process that involves articulating or summarizing what was learned, making personal connections to what was already learned, and formulating questions for future learning. Science teachers often use notebooking, exit activities, KWL organizers, creating graphics, or talking into a smartphone or app for these reflections.
I suspect most of our students need some examples of reflective thinking, along with a rationale as to why it is important to learning. Your modeling and guidance is important. Show students how you would reflect on your own learning:
It also helps if each activity includes an explicit reference to the learning goals to form a basis for reflection. For example: In this lab, we will investigate the relationship between…. As you use this online simulation, pay attention to…. The purpose of this word game is to check your understanding of the key vocabulary for this unit.
For projects, give each student a copy of the rubric when the assignment is given. Ask them to fill it out and submit it with the project, along with their reflections in the form of personal feedback. At first, I asked students generically about the quality of their projects. The usual responses were I learned a lot, I had fun, I worked hard, I spent a lot of time on this. This was not enough to be helpful.
So I found that giving students some guidance in the form of “story starters” helped them to reflect more on their work:
This could be an interesting action research project for your classroom!
I recently read an article about having students “reflect” on their work. I’m not sure what the value would be. What would this look like in a science class? –G., Ohio
By Peggy Ashbrook
Posted on 2016-06-07
If you have not yet packed up for the summer break, consider picking out two or three lessons to begin the next school year. Choose the resources that will guide you, scan or read them, and pack them up along with the materials students will need so the school year can begin with a developmentally appropriate and seasonally appropriate inquiry. Choose a scientific concept that will fully engage children, thus helping them adjust to the expectations and culture of their new class. Choose activities that can be child directed so you can have individual conversations with children while the class explores the materials. And choose materials that are easy to clean up because the beginning of the year has many additional tasks requiring your time throughout the day.
Here are just two suggestions of activities to begin the year, that can be extended over months or revisited later.
Observing one of the small species of local wildlife, such as isopods (roly-polies, pill bugs) or crickets, is relatively simple because there are usually a few children who are comfortable with, and competent at, handling small “critters” to help put them in multiple containers so all children have an animal to observe. Watching these small animals introduces children to observation, a practice of science that is the basis for understanding the needs of living organisms. Children will have a reason to learn to use magnifiers and to collect data–their drawings of, and writing about, the animals. The excitement of sharing observations encourages children’s use of oral language as they seek to describe the body parts and actions of the isopods. In observing and recording their observations and questions using technology such as drawing, writing (or dictation), photography, and audio recording, children form beginning understandings about the way the structure of the animal’s body determines its functions (NGSS LS1.A) and that animals obtain food they need from plants or other animals (NGSS LS1.C).
Resources from NSTA for this kind of lesson includes:
Another activity for beginning the year is exploring small amounts of water using droppers (pipettes) to move water from small cups and dropping it on surfaces. Close observation of the shape of water drops on various surfaces, such as wax paper, tree leaves and bark, cloth, paper, or aluminum foil, will reveal differences. Children’s use of magnifiers improves with practice. They can observe the way water “sticks” to other materials (adheres), “beads up” on some surfaces, and flows. This introduces the idea that the properties of materials effect how other materials interact with their surfaces. They may notice that some materials absorb water as the drop penetrates the tiny holes in cloth or wood. The first time I introduced this activity to preschoolers I was amazed at how long they were engaged. They made drops, pushed them around on some surfaces, soaked a piece of cloth and wrung it out to start again. Through this work they are building a foundation for later understanding of the concepts in the Next Generation Science Standards PS1.A Structure of matter: “Matter exists as different substances that have observable different properties. Different properties are suited to different purposes. Objects can be built up from smaller parts.”
Resources to use include:
Any investigation may extend over a month or two, or you may find that your new class is not interested in settling into your chosen topic. Your observations of them will help you choose a topic to match their interests.
By Korei Martin
Posted on 2016-05-31
At the 5th Annual STEM Forum & Expo, taking place on July 27-29 in Denver Colorado, high school educators can expect to learn more about environments that best facilitate effective STEM integration (both across STEM and non-STEM subject areas) and STEM Career Awareness. Through hands-on experiences and real-world connections high school educators will be able to establish a solid STEM education for students in grades 9-12. Check out the ten sessions below to get a sense of what we’ve got in store, and browse all of the high school sessions here.
How Skyline STEM Academy Stays Current in an Evolving STEM District (Thursday, July 28 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM)
NCTM Session: NCTM Principles to Action Toolkit: Resources for Supporting the Effective Mathematics Teaching Practices in High School (Thursday, July 28 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM)
A Unique Ice Core Investigation That Integrates the Three Dimensions of NGSS and STEM (Thursday, July 28 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM)
Explore Building Mousetrap Vehicles to Integrate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) (Thursday, July 28 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM)
Survive the Zombie Apocalypse (Thursday, July 28 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)
STEM Literacy: An Innovative Way to Collaborate with Language Arts (Friday, July 29 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM)
Building Teachers’ STEM Practices (Friday, July 29 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM)
Corrosion: Chemistry Made Simple, Relevant, and Fun (Friday, July 29 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)
STEM Garden (Friday, July 29 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)
Hooking Students on STEM Learning by Using Practical Case Studies (Friday, July 29 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)
Register to attend here—and don’t forget, NSTA members get a substantial discount!
The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.
Future NSTA Conferences
Follow NSTA
By Korei Martin
Posted on 2016-05-31
At the 5th Annual STEM Forum & Expo, taking place on July 27-29 in Denver Colorado, administrators can expect to learn more about how they can incorporate STEM into their schools. From roundtable discussions to learning more about the benefits of professional development, the Expo will have everything an administrator will need or want. Check out the ten sessions below to get a sense of what we’ve got in store, and browse all of the administrator sessions here.
If They Make It, They Will Learn: The Maker Movement and K–12 STEM (Wednesday, July 27 0:00 AM – 0:00 AM)
STEM Innovation in Independent and Charter Schools Roundtable Discussion (Thursday, July 28 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM)
Engaging School Principals in Professional Development (Thursday, July 28 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM)
Green STEM in Guam: A Districtwide Initiative That Works (Thursday, July 28 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM)
ITEEA Session: Integrative STEM Education—Intentional Teaching through Engineering Design (Thursday, July 28 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM)
Integrative STEM for Middle School/High School Administrators and Educators (Thursday, July 28 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM)
ITEEA Session: Integrative STEM FocalPoints—Connecting the I-STEM Dots (Thursday, July 28 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM)
Ballistic Missile Defense = Math + Science + You (Thursday, July 28 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM)
STEMification! How Do You Do That? (Thursday, July 28 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)
Planning a STEAM Night for Your School and Community (Thursday, July 28 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)
Register to attend here—and don’t forget, NSTA members get a substantial discount!
The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.
Future NSTA Conferences
Follow NSTA
By Korei Martin
Posted on 2016-05-31
At the 5th Annual STEM Forum & Expo hosted by NSTA, taking place July 27-29 in Denver, Colorado, middle level educators will find more than 80 sessions specific to their area. A successful middle school STEM program allows students to create, innovate, communicate, and collaborate on projects that are driven by their own interests. Check out the 10 sessions below to get a sense of what we’ve got in store, and browse all of the sessions here.
Engineering Soil: It’s Not Dirt (Thursday, July 28 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM)
Games for Engineering Code: Learning by Design (Thursday, July 28 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM)
Reverse Engineering for Middle School (Thursday, July 28 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM)
Planning and Designing Safe, Sustainable, and Sustainable Facilities for STEM-Based Science (Science Facilities 101) (Thursday, July 28 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM)
Integrating the STEM Disciplines Through Everyday Engineering (Thursday, July 28 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)
Tinkering with STEM (Thursday, July 28 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)
3-D Modeling with Middle School Girls (Thursday, July 28 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)
Yes! You Can Teach Computer Science with Scalable Game Design! (Friday, July 29 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM)
Beat Masters: The Energy of Sound Waves and Audio Engineering (Friday, July 29 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM)
Engineering Deeper Understanding of Science (Friday, July 29 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)
Register to attend here—and don’t forget, NSTA members get a substantial discount!
The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.
Future NSTA Conferences
Follow NSTA
By Korei Martin
Posted on 2016-05-31
At the 5th Annual STEM Forum & Expo hosted by NSTA, taking place July 27-29 in Denver Colorado, lower elementary/early childhood educators will find more than 25 sessions catered to their area. The foundational skills learned and mastered through the integration of STEM during the early years, if done right, will help these students be critical thinkers and makers that can innovate the future they will be a part of. Check out the 10 sessions below to get a sense of what we’ve got in store, and browse all of the lower elementary/early childhood sessions here.
Creating Scientific and Mathematical Thinkers Through Hands-On Experiences and Open-Ended Questioning (Thursday, July 28 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM)
Engineers in the Block Area: How Building with Blocks Fosters the Growth of a Child’s Scientific Mind (Thursday, July 28 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM)
Teacher and Child—Co-Explorers, Co-Learners (Thursday, July 28 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM)
Engineers Play, Too! (Thursday, July 28 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM)
Simple Machines Made Simpler Through Mechanical Puppets and Masks (Thursday, July 28 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)
Engaging Young Scientists in the Engineering Design Process to Create a PBL That Explores the Properties and Behavior of Matter (Friday, July 29 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM)
STEMming Away from Stereotypes: Broadening Student Views on STEM Careers (Friday, July 29 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM)
Teaching Engineering, Motion, and Energy Through Rube Goldberg (Friday, July 29 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM)
Exploring Children’s (PreK–2) Physical Science Knowledge and Understanding (Friday, July 29 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)
STEM in the Primary Classroom (Friday, July 29 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)
Register to attend here—and don’t forget, NSTA members get a substantial discount!
The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.
Future NSTA Conferences
Follow NSTA
By Korei Martin
Posted on 2016-05-31
At the 5th Annual STEM Forum & Expo hosted by NSTA, taking place July 27-29 in Denver, Colorado, attendees will learn how important it is to leverage partnerships. As the Nation recognizes the importance of STEM education to our economic future, collaborations in STEM education between PK–16 and business and cultural communities are becoming increasingly prevalent. Check out the 10 sessions below to get a sense of what we’ve got in store, and browse all of the sessions here.
The High Tide Lifts All Boats: Value of PreK–20 Partnerships for Teaching and Learning (Thursday, July 28 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM)
Kids Code: A University/K–12/Community Partnership to Engage Underrepresented Youth in Computer Science and Technology (Thursday, July 28 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM)
12 for Life: A Model Partnership Between Schools and Business (Thursday, July 28 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM)
Gains in Engineering, Mathematics, and Science—What GEMS Can Do for You! (Thursday, July 28 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM)
Building a Regional Culture of STEM (Thursday, July 28 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)
Bridges to Education: A Partnership Model for Municipalities to Engage Students Through Real-World Problems (Thursday, July 28 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)
High School Students Become Environmental Educators (Friday, July 29 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM)
Bridging the Attraction Gap: An Event-Based STEM Partnership That Gets Results (Friday, July 29 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM)
Successful STEM-Rich Making Practices That Benefit Underserved Students (Friday, July 29 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM)
Equity in STEM Education Roundtable (Friday, July 29 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)
Register to attend here—and don’t forget, NSTA members get a substantial discount!
The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.
Future NSTA Conferences
Follow NSTA
By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
Posted on 2016-05-31