#NGSSchat is coming to Nashville, as part of the NSTA National Conference on Science Education! Join us Thursday, March 31, at the Omni Nashville in the Legends C room at 8 Central Time, or virtually via Twitter. It’s going to be a vibrant, collaborative night. I’m so thrilled to be one of the people spearheading this event, and can’t believe how my experience with this community has grown in just 2 short years. It speaks volumes to what science teachers can do when they put their heads together.

Where It All Started

When I attended #NSTA14 Boston, I first discovered the power of Twitter and Professional Learning Networks (PLNs). I started exploring the world of Twitter chats and quickly realized how sharing my work and exchanging ideas with others would help me grow professionally. I stumbled on #NGSSchat, where I found my tweeps—people who share similar struggles and triumphs from around the country on the adoption and implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). A few weeks before #NSTA15 in Chicago, I started thinking to myself: I can’t wait to finally meet some of these great people I have been exchanging ideas with online! But how? I exchanged messages with Fred Ende and Trish Shelton (the brains behind #NGSSchat) and we brainstormed around gathering a group live for #NGSSchat the Thursday we were at #NSTA15. Mind you, this all happened a month before the conference where rooms are booked years in advance and there was no space to be found. We managed to persuade a hotel to give us a space for free (we are teachers after all) with WiFi so we could make it happen. The invitation was issued during the chat prior to the conference and then waited wondering will anyone show up?

As the organizers, Adam Taylor and Trisha Shelton, set up laptops and piped in Fred Ende via a Google hangout, they all started to arrive. The room was humble, with only a few tables and a projected image of the chat on the wall. There was an audible buzz and energy that comes when you gather science educators together. There were pockets of learning groups around the room; some teachers wanted help and support in how to engage in a chat, others were introducing themselves to each other and sharing their excitement over sessions they had attended that day. When the chat began we all broke out devices and it was wonderful to see people jumping in to help those new to chats be successful as they tested the waters. Ted Willard, Phillip Bell, Joe Kracijk, and Stephen Pruitt showed up and the group was excited that people from NSTA, higher education, and Achieve were joining our conversation. It is validating for us as educators when those at a higher altitude see the work we do as inspiring and important. After the chat ended the group stayed for a while to mingle, discuss, and connect.

The connections made on that day have continued to grow the #NGSSchat community and have spawned new efforts like the #Sci4AllSs book study, the leveled chats (#elNGSSchat, #msNGSSchat, #hsNGSSchat) as well as @NGSStweeps to continue the learning throughout the year in a variety of ways. I learn something new and have new questions to explore each time I am able to join #NGSSchat or meet up with my “NGSStweeps” when they are nearby. As educators, we strive to leave students with powerful questions to answer and find meaning collaboratively and independently. Shouldn’t you do the same for yourself as an educator?

Where We’re Headed

If you are attending #NSTA16 in Nashville I encourage you to join us on Thursday, March 31, at the Omni Nashville in the Legends C room at 8 Central Time to meet and exchange ideas. Introduce yourself to another educator and connect, each of us has something to share. For those who are not coming to conference, join us online by following #NGSSchat on Twitter at 8CT (9ET). I promise you will leave with new colleagues in your PLN, new questions to ponder, and an excitement to continue the work you do each day.

And yes… there is some truth to the rumors that FLAT FRED will be making an appearance. Follow me @Jaclyn Austin to find out what else we have in store for Nashville’s #NGSSchat!

Jaclyn Austin is a resource teacher for secondary science with Howard County Public Schools, Maryland, and a board member of the Maryland Association of Science Teachers.

Register to attend #NSTA16 Nashville 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

2016 National Conference

• Nashville, March 31–April 3

2016 STEM Forum & Expo

• Denver, July 27–30

2016 Area Conferences

• Minneapolis, Oct. 27-29
• Portland, Nov. 10-12
• Columbus, Dec. 1-3

Follow NSTA

Elementary science teachers will find an impressive array of Elementary programming at NSTA’s National Conference on Science Education, taking place in Nashville, March 31–April 3! Dive in on day one and learn more about engineering in the elementary classroom with Christine Cunningham’s Mary C. McCurdy Lecture: Integrate to Innovate: How Classroom Engineering Develops “Habits of Mind” That Empower Student Performance. Feeling even more adventurous? Put your cape, cowl, or utility belt on and become superhero in the Science and Superheroes: Integrating Science and Literacy Learning with Active Role Play and Comic Books session, which combines science and literacy for a fun time of learning for students. Check out the events below to get a sense of what we’ve got in store, and browse all the sessions here (more than 1000 of them!) to see what you can do in the elementary science classroom. 

Teaching to Learn: An Elementary/Postsecondary Collaboration to Improve K–16 Science Teaching and Learning

• Explore a toolkit developed to engage liberal arts undergraduates in K–7 science co-teaching, improving science outcomes for K–7 teachers and students, college undergraduates, and faculty.

The Living Classroom: Turning Your Curriculum into an Outdoor Adventure Through Learning Gardens

• What we can teach in the elementary classroom can be more meaningful when seen in the context of an outdoor environment. Discover how to turn your current curriculum into learning opportunities in an outdoor laboratory.

Mary C. McCurdy Lecture: Integrate to Innovate: How Classroom Engineering Develops “Habits of Mind” That Empower Student Performance

• State and national science standards increasingly emphasize engineering concepts and skills as part of K–12 STEM instruction. But how do you fit engineering into an already crowded school day? And what engineering activities are right for elementary students? Christine will share a striking collection of candid short videos shot in classrooms around the country to show what engineering looks like at the elementary level, and how classroom engineering develops positive “habits of mind” that can support young students’ academic success in other subjects. You’ll also learn some concise pedagogical strategies to support robust engineering experiences for children, and hear the evidence for classroom engineering as a way to support science learning.

Using Creative Nonfiction to Integrate Writing and Science into the Elementary Classroom

• Lead students in researching and writing a creative nonfiction story using a science trade book as a launching point. Lesson plan, model, and materials provided.

Science and Superheroes: Integrating Science and Literacy Learning with Active Role Play and Comic Books

• Experience how first-graders learned the science behind a series of gadgets they used to defeat villains in game play, and how fifth-graders role-played as news reporters in these game play scenes to gather ideas for writing their own comic books. Capes optional.

Elementary Extravaganza

• This Extravaganza is not to be missed! Join elementary groups of professionals for an exceptional opportunity. Gather resources for use in your classroom immediately. Engaging hands-on activities, strategies to excite and encourage your students, a preview of the best trade books available, information about award opportunities, contacts with elementary science organizations, sharing with colleagues, door prizes, and much more will be available to participants. Walk away with a head full of ideas and arms filled with materials. 

Organizations participating in the Elementary Extravaganza include:

• Association of Presidential Awardees in Science Teaching
• Council for Elementary Science International
• NSTA Preschool Elementary Committee
• Science & Children authors and reviewers
• Society of Elementary Presidential Awardees

Elementary Teacher Survival Kit

• This hand-on workshop—chock full of easy-to-do science inquiry lessons—enables new and veteran teachers to expand their bag of tricks. Using discrepant events, these activities give students a sense of mystery and awe. Topics include energy, air pressure, scientific method, data collection, and graphing. Door prizes and giveaways!

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

2016 National Conference

• Nashville, March 31–April 3

2016 STEM Forum & Expo

• Denver, July 27–30

2016 Area Conferences

• Minneapolis, Oct. 27-29
• Portland, Nov. 10-12
• Columbus, Dec. 1-3

Follow NSTA

The maker movement will be strong at #NSTA16 this spring. At NSTA’s National Conference on Science Education, taking place in Nashville, March 31–April 3, DIY science teachers will be showing off their best strategies for getting students into building and learning from models, robots, and more. Get ready to roll up your sleeves and dig in (no sitting around in these action-packed sessions). You’ll be  building inexpensive structures to better understand DNA structure and replication and get to tinker with motors to learn to help your students better understand the fundamental concepts of magnetic and electromagnetic fields. No matter if you’re just starting out in the Maker movement or you’re a seasoned pro, you’ll find the resources and tools that you need. Check out the seven sessions below to get a sense of what we’ve got in store, and browse all the sessions here (more than 1000 of them!) to see who’s showing you how to turn your education space into an interactive Maker Space.

Featured Speaker Presentation: The Tinker.Make.Innovate. Program 

• Join Jean Kaneko for the Thinker.Make.Innovate. Program featured session during NSTA Nashville. The Tinker.Make.Innovate. Program brings together design thinking, systems thinking, making, and standards to create Project-Based Learning opportunities for students—preschool to high school. Join the Exploratory’s founder and “Chief Tinkerer” as she shares case stories from the Los Angeles schools’ THE STEAM program, as well as Genius Hour/20% Time programs, which provide connected learning that is challenging, engaging, and inspiring.

Build, Program, and Control with K’NEX Education’s New Robotics Building System

• This dynamic hands-on building system teaches students how to apply programming skills to operate various built models. You’ll be the student in this workshop, as you write your own computer program to control a vehicle model built out of K’NEX! Space limited: 24 working, 20 observing. Arrive early!

Use Robots to Engage Elementary/Middle School Students with Hands-On Project Based Learning

• Working in small groups, you’ll learn how to guide students in building and programming a LEGO® EV3 robot, research and solve a real-world problem, develop core values, and practice collaboration and presentation skills. Explore the FIRST® LEGO® League Program and learn how to bridge classroom learning into after-school enrichment.

Building an Electric Motor the STEM Way with CPO’s Link™ Learning Module

• CPO’s new Link Electric Motor learning module is a STEM- and NGSS-based learning approach to electromagnets, permanent magnets, commutators, and induction in a real-time tablet-based learning environment using hands-on equipment. The engineering cycle, observation, measurement, and experimentation are used to design and build electric motors with student-based activities.

Challenge Your Students to Make Motors

• Attract your students’ interest by exploring fundamental concepts of magnetic and electromagnetic fields. Students will build eight different classroom motors. Take home teaching unit with step-by-step instructions, explanations of each motor’s operation, and hands-on experience building them.

Apply the Science of Energy, Motion, and Friction

• Students will design and build cutting-edge vehicles to investigate stored energy from sources such as a rubber bands or mousetraps. The kit components—wood chassis, mousetraps, braking systems, and several types of wheels and gears—allow students to develop a greater number of solutions and apply real-world problem solving skills to create innovative designs.

Lift Weight and Produce Electricity with the Power of Wind

• With this STEM-based project kit, students are able to build a wind-powered lift or a more advanced turbine. Students will design their own blades to generate and measure power while investigating blade configuration, shape, and material to create ideal power levels. Our kit meets the NGSS and includes components for up to eight students—wood bases, motors/motor supports, hubs/alligator clips, blade shafts/skewers, and wooden support structures.

Using Models and Motion for Teaching DNA and Protein Synthesis

• Engage in kinesthetic activities and build inexpensive models to help students learn DNA structure, DNA replication, and protein synthesis while using a 5E (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate) approach.

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

2016 National Conference

• Nashville, March 31–April 3

2016 STEM Forum & Expo

• Denver, July 27–30

2016 Area Conferences

• Minneapolis, Oct. 27-29
• Portland, Nov. 10-12
• Columbus, Dec. 1-3

Follow NSTA

Implementing a quality STEM education program requires creative approaches. But you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. At NSTA’s National Conference on Science Education, taking place in Nashville, March 31–April 3, you can find and take home some great STEM Ed tools for use in your classroom and schools. Challenge your students to become CSIs and find fingerprints and blood spatters using STEM techniques or have Hollywood come to you in the Body of Evidence: A Forensic Science Mystery session. Teach your students physical science concepts using K’NEX or CO₂ cars. No matter where you are in your STEM program, you’ll find colleagues in Nashville who are successfully using tools and can share solutions that will take your program to a new level. Check out the 10 sessions below to get a sense of what we’ve got in store, and browse all the sessions here (more than 1000 of them!) to see who’s offering the tools you need to succeed!

Teaching STEM Using Agarose Gel Electrophoresis

• On Thursday March, 31 at 8:00 AM, join Danielle Snowflack, Maria Dayton, and Tom Cynkar from Edvotek Inc. for a STEM session exploring four hot topics in biotechnology. Use DNA fingerprinting, paternity testing, medical diagnostics, and GM organisms to foster critical thinking and STEM learning techniques. Bring CSI and other techniques from your favorite crime shows to the classroom with this great STEM session.

STEM Infographic Use, Analysis, and Production for Higher Scientific Literacy in the Classroom

• Learn how to incorporate STEM infographics in the science classroom as a way of increasing science literacy. Rob Lamb from Pattonville High School will discuss with session attendees several lessons and give them resources that they can use back home in the classroom.

Build, Program, and Control with K’NEX Education’s New Robotics Building System

• Remember the building toys, K’Nex, from your childhood? It’s time to dust off those building skills for this STEM session focused on teaching students how to apply their programming skills to operate various models. In this workshop you will write your own computer program to control a vehicle model made out of K’NEX. Space will limited so make sure you get there early!

Body of Evidence: A Forensic Science Mystery!

• What can we learn from decomposing corpses? A lot! Join us for a hands-on lesson developed by Texas Instruments and the National Academy of Sciences with help from forensic anthropologist Dr. Diane France. This lesson combines science, Hollywood, and STEM careers into one easy-to-follow lesson and is part of the STEM Behind Hollywood program—free at stemhollywood.com.

NMEA Session: Starting a STEM Program in Your School on Next to Nothing

• Teacher-led STEM programs can offer students a wide range of learning experiences without a huge influx of cash. Find out how one program lets student fly, build underwater rovers, and create GIS projects, with grants, donations, and ingenuity.

Engineer Excitement in Your Classroom with a Carolina STEM Challenge®

• Build, spin, and race into hands-on activities that engage your middle school and high school students. Apply creative problem solving skills and engineering practices to environmental and physical science challenges. Experience how Carolina makes it easy to incorporate STEM into your classroom.

Science of Speed: The Fusion of Competition, Creativity, and STEM Learning

• Participate in this session to teach your students STEM education in a unique way. Students can learn physical science and engineering skills at lighting speed by designing, building, testing, and racing CO2 cars.

Solving the Mystery of STEM Using Forensic Science

• Conduct a number of STEM-focused forensic activities that LINK scientific investigations with analysis and investigative skills to solve multifaceted “cases” involving fingerprint, blood spatter, and document analysis. Apply basic mathematic principles and integrate reading and writing strategies.

Teach STEM Content and Spark Science Career Interest with Free Online Games

• Have your students translate their Sonic the Hedgehog and Minecraft skills to these science career simulations by solving real-world science problems using authentic tools and practices of scientists.

Flinn Scientific’s STEM Design Challenge™ “Build-It-Yourself” Lab Project

• Integrate STEM scientific inquiry and engineering design principles into your science curriculum. Join Flinn Scientific in a “build-it-yourself” lab project that will actively engage your students and increase their understanding of concepts that cut across scientific disciplines. Interactive demonstrations highlight science and engineering practices such as reasoning based on the evidence. Handouts for all activities!

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

2016 National Conference

• Nashville, March 31–April 3

2016 STEM Forum & Expo

• Denver, July 27–30

2016 Area Conferences

• Minneapolis, Oct. 27-29
• Portland, Nov. 10-12
• Columbus, Dec. 1-3

Follow NSTA

I teach middle school, and I’m looking for ways to interest girls in science. I seem to get a lot of “It’s too hard” and “I don’t like science.” What strategies could I use to overcome these attitudes? —C., Texas

It’s hard to believe we’re still having this conversation in 2016! And yet the NSTA discussion forums have ongoing threads such as Getting girls involved in science, Minority women in STEM, Encouraging girls into love of science, STEM for girls, and What a person in a STEM career needs.

Apparently this is still a relevant topic, as is encouraging minority students to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. Our colleagues offer many suggestions in these threads.

A female math colleague and I had an interesting conversation on this. We are about the same age and grew up in a time when women were actively discouraged from studying advanced science and math. We compared our backgrounds to figure out how and why we managed to beat the odds. Our parents encouraged our interests. We both attended large state universities (she majored in math and minored in science; I majored in chemistry and took many math courses.) We both attended Catholic high schools…and then we had an “aha” moment. In both schools, all of our math and science teachers were women! And they were from the same order. These sisters encouraged all students to learn, but girls were not allowed to be spectators while the boys did the lab work. The girls were expected to achieve at high levels and be proud of their accomplishments. As my geometry teacher would say, “No cream puffs in this class!”

It seems for my colleague and me, having successful and intelligent women as role models was important, in addition to encouragement from our families. Students can find female role models and their contributions among your school’s graduates, in the media, and in the community.

But while having role models is important, it may not be enough to overcome stereotypes (males in lab coats, “mad” scientists) and misconceptions (math is too hard, women may study biology but not engineering or the physical sciences). Here are some popular suggestions from the discussion forums, with the idea that it’s never too early to start helping students discover and develop their interests:

• Choose activities that encourage exploration and creativity with support for students who are apprehensive about getting a “correct” answer.
• Avoid gender stereotypes and assign group roles randomly, ensuring girls get equitable opportunities to lead.
• Use a variety of activities, including hands-on and technology-based. Allow students to chose activities or require all students to participate in everything, rather than assigning activities by gender (e.g., blocks to boys, coloring to girls).
• Call on girls equitably in class.
• Assume all students will be successful and build confidence with positive and constructive feedback.
• Be aware of specific student interests and show how those topics relate to the real world.
• Use photographs or graphics in class materials that include female scientists and engineers.

Having mentors can be helpful, too. A few years ago, a female student in my school wanted to take calculus, but her father tried to talk her out of it, saying it was “too hard” for girls. She asked me what to do. I didn’t want to disrespect her father, but I knew that she was totally capable. I mentioned I had taken quite a few calculus courses in high school and college, as had the other female math and science teachers, and we managed to survive! I said if she decided to take the course, my colleagues and I would help her if she needed it. She took the course, never needed our tutoring offer, and aced the course. She now works in the financial department of an international business.

Teachers can benefit from female role models and mentors, too. I facilitated a professional development course in environmental science in which the instructor was a female entomologist. She shared her passion and her current research on endangered butterfly species. It was interesting to watch the mostly female teachers in the class hang on her every word, and by the end of the course they were eager to incorporate the study of insects into their classes.

On the next page, two women share their reflections on what or who encouraged their interests.

From Chevin Stone, middle school science teacher

My motivation to pursue a career in science came from my parents, my father in particular, who saw the nature freak in me and how I was always asking “why” about the world around me. Throughout school, I had several math and science teachers (some male, some female) who encouraged my interest in science and supported my interests [through] science fairs and other projects. My chemistry teacher sent me over the edge! A weird man (aren’t all science teachers weird?), he recognized that the two girls in his third period class of 28, were the ones that would take it all seriously. I minored in chemistry because of him.

For me, being female and black, it has been an interesting career. I started out in industrial hygiene, filling a quota (I killed two demographic birds with one stone), and it was assumed I would not have an impact. Because I do care about the world, people, and science, and because I had the best mentor (female, of course), I soon [became] good at what I did and even found ways to innovate the processes in our office. I took that knowledge to other jobs, eventually becoming a manager of an occupational safety and health team. The men disrespected me, the women questioned me…and I was fabulous, just the same.

I eventually chose (as many women do) to set the fast track aside to raise my children, which eventually led me to education. I came to education knowing the practical things that are not taught (and are hazardous in the workplace) and have made it my mission to create scientifically literate members of society.

I make it clear on the first day of school that science literacy is our goal and that all students can and will be literate by the end of the school year. I try not to show favoritism during lessons, allowing the girls to express themselves as well as the boys. As you know, most eighth grade girls would rather start “dumbing down” than [let] their lights shine. I encourage even the ones that expressly state they don’t like science to be scientists…and they love it.  

I’m one of the building rebels. I don’t care about standardized test data; we’re here to learn about our world and how it works, to become aware of our impact (positive and negative) on the planet, and how we, even if we don’t pursue careers in science, can change the world scientifically.  

From Jane Webster, park naturalist:

In seventh grade I was exposed to the wonderful world of biology. We did labs with lots of hands-on activities that I enjoyed. Frequent short quizzes rewarded my curiosity with good grades. We used an answer key to grade them ourselves. This evidence of [my teacher’s] trust gave me some confidence in myself.

My earth science teacher’s enthusiasm for the subject was contagious. To this day, my mother exclaims, “Strata!” when we drive through a road cut. She remembers how I always wanted to stop and check out any interesting bit of exposed geology. Still do.
High school chemistry was fun because of the labs. We were trusted to work with flame and chemicals that could be dangerous if we handled them improperly but did cool things if we [safely] followed instructions. So, what do these teachers have in common that sparked my interest in science?  They were kind, enthusiastic, smart, and they trusted us. A big part of their classes involved hands-on experiences, which I think empowered us. They let us to learn by doing and seeing for ourselves.

In addition, my parents valued learning and education and were supportive of all my interests, not just the ones that were gender-typical. In the late 1960s and early 70s, an expression of individuality was valued. “Do your own thing” was a frequently heard phrase, which I took to mean that if I was a girl who was interested in science, that was fine!

I believe that girls are not always given an even playing field. The simple fact that there is a term like “tomboy” is evidence of the difference in treatment and expectations. Although they may have access to the same opportunities as boys, they may be judged by a higher standard when they fail. The judgment may be subtle, often felt rather than understood. It can lead to a lack of confidence, which may result in more failure, loss of interest, or giving up.

As a park naturalist, I deal with the squishy sciences. In hands-on activities with students, there is occasionally some squealing. It is almost always a girl, and it can be contagious. But if I approach the students calmly, reassure them and redirect their energy, at the end of the day I find that the ones who squealed the loudest are often among the ones with the highest interest and keenest understanding.