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NSTA’s K-College July 2015 Science Education Journals Online

By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director

Posted on 2015-07-05

Collage of NSTA journal covers from the summer 2015 issues 

Varied ways to use instructional sequences that support valid learning, making science accessible to all students, big data, and identifying textbooks or other reading materials that are written at the appropriate reading grade levels—these are the themes of the Summer 2015 journal articles from the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). Browse through the thought-provoking selections below and learn more about families learning together, integrated STEM units, harvesting data, peer-led team learning, and other important topics in K–College science education.

Science and Children

Summer 2015 cover of Science and ChildrenHow much easier it would be, how much more learning would occur, and how much time we would save if all students brought the same background knowledge and skills to what they are learning? This issue of Science and Children employs the Next Generation of Science Standards (NGSS) to show the variety of ways in which you can use an instructional sequence that supports valid learning.

Featured articles (please note, only those marked “free” are available to nonmembers without a fee):

Science Scope

Science Scope Summer 2015 coverMaking science accessible to all students should be the goal of every classroom science teacher. In this issue we share a variety of lessons you can use to overcome various socioeconomic, physical, and language barriers facing today’s students. We hope you can use these activities to help all of your students reach the stars.

Featured articles (please note, only those marked “free” are available to nonmembers without a fee):

The Science Teacher

TST Summer 2015 cover imageEver-increasing volumes of information from sensors, satellites, cell phones, telescopes, global information systems, and social media provide unprecedented opportunities for scientists, citizens, and students to investigate complex systems. Scientific progress doesn’t result from simply accumulating data. But there’s no doubt that big data is revolutionizing fields as diverse as astronomy, marketing, genomics, climate science, oceanography, social science, and health care. Big data has the potential to transform science teaching and learning as well. Our students can engage in the higher-order thinking involved in analyzing and interpreting large science data sets and designing their own inquiries to discover patterns and meaning in mountains of accessible data, as authors in this issue of The Science Teacher illustrate.

YouTube fans, watch high school science teacher and TST Field Editor, Steve Metz, introduce this month’s issue.

Featured articles (please note, only those marked “free” are available to nonmembers without a fee):

Journal of College Science Teaching

JCST summer 2015 cover imageHow do you handle the challenge of identifying textbooks or other reading materials that are written at the appropriate reading grade level yet still offer the desired content? See “Assessing the Readability of Geoscience Textbooks” to learn how one author assessed the readability of various materials to ensure that the text was not too challenging for students to comprehend. The Case Study article offers a detailed, step-by-step guide to helping students (and instructors) write case studies that are creative, well researched, and useful for teaching a topic to others. And don’t miss the Research and Teaching article that explores the effectiveness of incorporating 3D tactile images critical for learning STEM into entry-level lab courses for both sighted and vision-impaired students.

Featured articles (please note, only those marked “free” are available to nonmembers without a fee):

Get these journals in your mailbox as well as your inbox—become an NSTA member!

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Collage of NSTA journal covers from the summer 2015 issues 

 

Our Most Popular NSTA Press Book Quotes

By Carole Hayward

Posted on 2015-07-02

For nearly two years, NSTA Press has been pinning quotes from its books to Pinterest. Our followers often repin these interesting, informative, and often inspirational quotes. These are the books that have garnered the most attention. Are you following us on Pinterest?

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sciencestoriespin chemicalreactions
pillbug headstart
spencer uncovering
frontpage forensicspin
sciargumentation pictureperfect
gourmetlabspin adibiology
itsdebatable goodscience
newscienceteacher responsive

 

 

 

 

For nearly two years, NSTA Press has been pinning quotes from its books to Pinterest. Our followers often repin these interesting, informative, and often inspirational quotes. These are the books that have garnered the most attention. Are you following us on Pinterest?

 

Three major features of “doing” science

By Robert Yager

Posted on 2015-07-02

NSTA has identified three major features of students who actually “Do” science.  The first of these is Human explorations of the natural world. The second includes Explanations of the objects and events encountered.  And the third requires Evidence to support the explanations proposed. These features should be incorporated in science teaching for all students to ensure that students experience the actual “Doing of Science!”

We want students (and teachers) around the world to experience science in every K-16 science classroom. If we’re doing it right, students will “question”, “think creatively”, and “gather evidence” continually to support the explanations. It is especially important that the validity of the explanations proposed be established. Such experiences with “science” are not typically taught to students by science teachers. All (both students and teachers) should share explanations and interpretations about objects and events which they themselves have encountered.

The use of textbooks, laboratory manuals, teacher lectures, and other quick fixes for teacher actions are all opposite examples of “doing” science. Evaluating what students merely remember and repeat individually and/or collectively does not result in real science learning. Students must formulate their own ideas, including minds-on experiences, to really understand all aspects of “doing” science.

G. G. Simpson explained the “doing of science” looks like this:

  1. Asking questions about the objects and events encountered;
  2. Formulating possible answers/explanations;
  3. Collecting evidence in nature to determine the validity of the explanations offered;
  4. Checking on other attempts made by other experts; and
  5. Sharing the solution(s) with others.

“Science” is not like art and drama where teachers admire and/or criticize the performances of their best students. “Science” starts with unknowns and then seeking answers to explain them!

 Robert E. Yager

Professor of Science Education

University of Iowa

NSTA has identified three major features of students who actually “Do” science.  The first of these is Human explorations of the natural world. The second includes Explanations of the objects and events encountered.  And the third requires Evidence to support the explanations proposed. These features should be incorporated in science teaching for all students to ensure that students experience the actual “Doing of Science!”

 

Exploring the properties of clay

By Peggy Ashbrook

Posted on 2015-07-01

Pottery shard found in Torrence County, New Mexico.Finding bits of clay pottery made and discarded by people hundreds of years ago reminds me of how this useful material can be a valuable addition to a preschooler’s experience. Of the earth but not commonly found on playgrounds, clay could be regularly provided in a bin for sensory experiences or building material. It can be made into almost anything! I wrote about the process we used to introduce clay work in the Summer 2015 issue of Science and Children.

Children tentatively begin working with potters' clay.When children first encountered the clay indoors at a table, they were immediately drawn to this new material. After working with the clay, children realized that it stuck to their hands, and some began to purposefully coat their hands in a way they could never do with playdough. This same property made other children avoid the clay. Having a system to rinse off hands in a tub of water after clay work, and before washing them, helped children feel comfortable with the “stickiness” of clay, and saved the excess clay so it didn’t get washed into the drains. Because the children were so used to the feel and texture of playdough, it took some time for them to capably shape it into balls, snakes and castles.

We made sticks available and the children incorporated the two materials. It was interesting that the class of older twos and the class of fours both approached the materials in the same way–sticks stuck into a base of clay. In the fall I will introduce the clay on the playground and see what the children do with it as they have even more time to learn its many uses. It can be used to model 3D forms, draw on its surface, and paint with in a watered down form. Will they incorporate sticks and leaves, decorate it with pinecones or knead in sand to create a new building material?

Pottery shard found in Torrence County, New Mexico.Finding bits of clay pottery made and discarded by people hundreds of years ago reminds me of how this useful material can be a valuable addition to a preschooler’s experience. Of the earth but not commonly found on playgrounds, clay could be regularly provided in a bin for sensory experiences or building material.

A Framework for K-12 Science Education and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) describe a new vision for science learning and teaching that is catalyzing improvements in science classrooms across the United States. Achieving this new vision will require time, resources, and ongoing commitment from state, district, and school leaders, as well as classroom teachers. Successful implementation of the NGSS will ensure that all K-12 students have high-quality opportunities to learn science.
A Framework for K-12 Science Education and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) describe a new vision for science learning and teaching that is catalyzing improvements in science classrooms across the United States. Achieving this new vision will require time, resources, and ongoing commitment from state, district, and school leaders, as well as classroom teachers. Successful implementation of the NGSS will ensure that all K-12 students have high-quality opportunities to learn science.
 

Legislative Update

ESEA (No Child Left Behind) Reauthorization Bill Scheduled for Senate Action July 7

By Jodi Peterson

Posted on 2015-06-29

text-based graphic reading: In order for the comprehensive STEM initiative in this legislation to move forward, and provide federal funding for STEM programs to the states, it is critical that Senators hear messages of support for STEM education from constituents.

The Senate debate on the reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act (known as No Child Left Behind) could start on July 7. According to Education Week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has officially scheduled the bill—the Every Child Achieves Act (S. 1177)—for floor action following the July 4 recess.

This action comes days after 10 major education groups—including the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, the Council of Chief State School Officers, the American Association of School Administrators, National PTA, and the National Association of State Boards of Education, sent a letter to Senators urging immediate action on the bill.

As reported in the April 17 NSTA Legislative Update, thanks to the leadership of Senator Al Franken (D-MN), Mark Kirk (R-IL), and Patty Murray (D-WA), an amendment to include a dedicated STEM K-12 program in the Every Child Achieves Act was adopted (by a vote of 12-10) when the bill was considered by the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. This will ensure that states would continue to receive dedicated support for STEM activities from the U.S. Department of Education. The language stipulates that each state would receive formula-based funding to support partnerships between local schools, businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations to improve student learning in the critical STEM subjects. Each state would choose how to spend and prioritize these funds, which can support a wide range of STEM activities from in-depth teacher training, to engineering design competitions, to improving the diversity of the STEM workforce.

The Every Child Achieves Act also retains the current federal testing requirement—students would continue to be tested in English and math in third through eighth grades as well as once in high school, and science tests would also be administered three times between third and 12th grade—but the language does away with the current NCLB accountability provisions and allows states to develop their own accountability systems.

Read the April 10 NSTA Legislative Update on the Every Child Achieves Act.

In order for the comprehensive STEM initiative in this legislation to move forward, and provide federal funding for STEM programs to the states, it is critical that Senators hear messages of support for STEM education from constituents.

We have set up a sample letter, which you can personalize and send directly to your Senators, on the STEM Education Coalition website to help you do this. Please take a moment to contact your Senators now

In the House, National Journal is reporting that House leaders will also be bringing their bill to reauthorize No Child Left Behind (the Student Success Act) back for floor debate, and will allow new amendments that would allow schools to keep federal money but opt out of the federal regulations that come with it, and a possible amendment to create a voucher system. The bill was on the House floor earlier this spring, but was pulled from consideration by House leaders before a vote on final passage.

Senate Appropriations Sub-Committee Advances Education Funding Bill: Both the House and Senate Appropriations LHHS/Education subcommittees have passed their FY 16 spending bills, and once again House funding for the Math and Science Partnership program at the U.S. Department of Education was eliminated. Report language on the House LHHS Education bill follows:

Mathematics and Science Partnerships. “The Committee recommends no funding for Mathematics and Science Partnerships, which is $152,717,000 below the fiscal year 2015 enacted level and $202,717,000 below the budget request. This program provides professional development for math and science teachers; these activities can be carried out under other authorities funded in this bill and through other federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation.”

The Senate education funding bill did provide continued support for the Math and Science Partnership program at the Department of Education, at $149 million. We are watching this activity and will stress that the final funding agreement include the Senate funding level.

Stay tuned and look for upcoming issues of NSTA Express for the latest information on developments in Washington, D.C.

Jodi Peterson is Assistant Executive Director of Legislative Affairs for the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and Chair of the STEM Education Coalition. e-mail Jodi at jpeterson@nsta.org; follow her on Twitter at @stemedadvocate.

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

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text-based graphic reading: In order for the comprehensive STEM initiative in this legislation to move forward, and provide federal funding for STEM programs to the states, it is critical that Senators hear messages of support for STEM education from constituents.

 

Drifters Take Students on Scientific Ocean Journeys

By Lynn Petrinjak

Posted on 2015-06-29

The Charger, a 5-foot-long drift boat, has been launched from larger vessels several times throughout its journey across the Atlantic Ocean. Photo courtesy of the crew of the Philadelphia Express

For three years, sophomores at Swampscott High School in Swampscott, Massachusetts, have been releasing drifters—devices that float along and track ocean currents—as part of Chris Ratley’s College Placement II Geometry class.

To a casual observer, geometry class “might not seem the right place for it, but there is so much math you might not think of,” Ratley explains. “These are not honor students; they are sophomores with lots on the ball, but not showing it in the classroom.”
Ratley says the drifter program, which requires students to build, test, launch, and track the devices via the global positioning system, motivates students because they know “their data is being used in an actual science [research program].” Ratley and Brandy Wilbur, the school’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) coordinator, learned how to build drifters from Jim Manning, an oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Manning, who studies currents around fishing grounds, has been deploying drifters since the early 1990s. “For the last 10 years, I’ve been getting schools involved in building them,” he says. “We wanted to expand the [U.S.] Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS).” He says IOOS, which is an umbrella organization of groups making observations of the ocean, was modeled on the National Weather Service.

“Like the National Weather Service puts up weather balloons, we put out drifters,” Manning continues. “Ideally we will have schools preparing drifters, putting them out every year, every couple [of] months.”

Manning has presented workshops and attended meetings of marine education organizations to connect with educators and other groups. He also seeks out grants, such as one from NOAA’s Marine Debris Program, to fund the drifter program. “The Marine Debris Grant will get us 32 drifters. We can just send out equipment to schools, and the schools don’t have to come up with a couple hundred dollars for a transmitter.”

Manning estimates he has worked with nearly 80 different schools. Although students from preK through graduate school have participated in the program, he suggests, “It is best suited for juniors or seniors in high school. They can work with tools to build drifters themselves and be exposed to what oceanography really is. We are trying to recruit more physical oceanographers. Drifters validate the numerical computer models of ocean [currents]. We don’t have many students at the graduate or undergraduate levels who know about this field.

“We want students to be able to download [data supplied by the drifters] and code. We are teaching them basic Python code…The second half of the drifter project is everything from calculating speed given latitude and longitude to dispersion [of the drifters]. It goes from simple addition to complex mathematics. You can compare the observed track to the estimated track. You can do it simply or more complicated. At the higher levels, we’re teaching how to download wind data, river data. As they get further along…students can download model output and try to predict where their drifter will go.”

At Swampscott High School, students build the drifters according to standardized specifications from Manning, but also have the opportunity to modify parts of the design using various materials from home improvement stores. The basic design is composed of a mast with four crossed poles that hold submerged sails, weights, and a GPS unit. “The whole thing is about 4’ tall and 3’ wide. It doesn’t look like a modern scientific device,” says Ratley.

“The research is to make the designs more environmentally friendly [while keeping the] device sturdy enough to stay together,” says Wilbur. “This is a way to bring oceanography into math class. Students are super-engaged because it’s a real research project. They provide meaningful data [for NOAA]…It provides [students] with a different way to learn, an authentic project that means something [while] they’re learning content.

“These devices are deployed close to shore; they provide real-time data and help researchers verify the mathematical models of the ocean current” used to predict such things as the current’s impact on commercial fishing species and where the current might take a person who fell overboard, says Wilbur. “A drifter provides real-time information about how surface waters are really moving.”

Ratley’s geometry students learn how to make and interpret measurements, use hand tools, test buoyancy, and discuss wind speeds. While developing their math skills, his students are “getting into navigation, figuring out distance, current, wind directions. I’m learning from it too…One of the hardest things when building something is how to manage building and instrumentation while making sure all students are involved,” Ratley notes.

Cassie Stymiest, a program manager with the Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal and Ocean Observing Systems (NERACOOS), has been working with Manning on the drifter program, conducting workshops for educators and compiling resources that she has posted online at http://neracoos.org/drifters. The site includes a map displaying the locations of drifters currently in the water, instructions for building surface drifters, and more. Stymiest says, “All the drifter data are used to validate our circulation models, which is essential to improving search-and-rescue operations, understanding red tides, and studying other oceanographic phenomena. There’s so much you can do with it.”

Crossing the Atlantic

While surface drifters like those launched by Swampscott students are moved by water currents, others are designed to use wind power as well. Barbara Nidzgorski, Young Scholars program coordinator at John Winthrop Middle School in Deep River, Connecticut, purchased a drifter boat from Educational Passages in 2012. Winthrop seventh and eighth graders decorated the 5’ boat and included information about their school and a flash drive with a recording of a performance by the school’s band and chorus in the Charger’s watertight chamber. The boat was launched in May of that year off the coast of South Carolina. After being driven back to shore by storms, the boat was relaunched by a SCUBA company. Since then, the Charger has traveled north to Newfoundland and across the Atlantic Ocean to Wales. It was launched once more by a ship out of England’s London Thamesport before traveling to Portugal and then to Guyana in South America.

Nidzgorski says the boat has been used in numerous classes, from science to math to art. “Every single area of education can be included [in a drifter program]: marine science, ocean science, math,…We had kids predicting where it was going to be. In the beginning, it was pinging six times a day; later, twice a day. There’s a lot of vocabulary; kids have written about it. The biggie is latitude and longitude.”

The program also has forged connections across the school, community, and the world. Local companies donated services and marine paint to help the Winthrop students prepare the boat for launch. A message on the boat instructing anyone finding it to take the vessel to a school has led to exchanges with students in Wales and Portugal. As the boat was refurbished before being released on its journey once again, students in those countries met with the adults who repaired the boat.

Nidzgorski is now working to get the Charger either shipped back to Connecticut or relaunched from Guyana. If relaunched, she hopes the boat will be able to complete a circuit of the Atlantic Ocean by arriving in Florida. “It’s 80% of the way around,” she proclaims proudly. Regulations in Guyana have prevented its relaunch so far, but Nidzgorski says the school has asked state officials to help find a way to get the boat headed home or back out to sea.

“So many cool things happen, every [boat’s adventure] is different. It’s pretty amazing…The investment you put in, you get so much more back,” she says. “This is the way our ancestors traveled: the current and the wind. That’s the way our initial explorers came across the ocean.”

Drifter Resources

For more information on drifters, educators can visit www.studentdrifters.orghttp://neracoos.org/drifters, and  www.educationalpassages.com, or e-mail Jim Manning at james.manning@noaa.gov.

This article originally appeared in the Summer 2015 issue of NSTA Reports, the member newspaper of the National Science Teachers Association. Each month, NSTA members receive NSTA Reports featuring news on science education, the association, and more. Not a member? Learn how NSTA can help you become the best science teacher you can be.

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

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The Charger, a 5-foot-long drift boat, has been launched from larger vessels several times throughout its journey across the Atlantic Ocean.

 

Get Lost in the Magic of Learning with the Celestron Flipview Digital Microscope

By Martin Horejsi

Posted on 2015-06-26

One of the wonderful things about the amazing science education technology available to teachers today is that the tech can disappear—in a good way. The Celestron Flipview digital microscope is one of them.

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Celestron, as a company can trace its roots back to 1955, but the magic of of optics goes back to the 15th century. Both the telescope and the microscope came into their own in the 1600s but not for lack of need. Curiosity has been driving science for thousands of years, and still drives students of all ages today.
mugshot
 
Celestron makes nine optical microscope in addition to a robust line of telescopes. Celestron also offers twice as many digital microscope options. Of the 18 different designs, the Celestron Flipview stands  out as an excellent tool which which to explore the small whether animal, vegetable or mineral.
 
And what makes the Celestron Flipview is that it does so much so fast that students can get immersed in the learning with the technology melting into the background. In order to blend into the learning ecosystem the device must be natural to hold, intuitive to operate, and provide instant and high quality feedback.
 
overall
 
In the case of the Celestron Flipview, the shape of the scope, the position of the buttons, and the scrolling and focus adjustments make the Flipview more effective at viewing and capturing closeup and microscopic images than traditional means. The digital zoom works from 10x-120x meaning that the Flipview can inspect the small way beyond what is possible with traditional cameras on macro settings, magnifying glasses, and stereo microscopes.

 
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The layout of the Celestron Flipview is a lightly “J” shaped frame with can be operated one-handed, but works well with two. A roller pillar controls the focus and small dial varies the amount of light coming from an octet of LEDs surrounding the lens. At five megapixels, the resolution and thus image quality provides pictures that are both sharp enough and huge enough for serious work.
 
ports
 
The top of the Celestron Flipview contains a zooming toggle switch and a shutter button. While the zooming is digital not optical, there is a loss of image quality as the ones and zeros are amplified. But with over five million pixels, the image will hold together well enough for most digital uses. The five element IR Cut glass lens provides sharp images that are well within expectation given the amazing cellphone cameras students carry in their pockets. It’s not an understatement to expect early-mid 21st century students to expect perfection. Well, maybe not perfection, but at least a resolution better than the human eye.
 
shutter
 
In addition to still images, the Celestron Flipview scores well in the video arena. When the video option is selected, the camera records moving images with the same dexterity as still ones. Filming a honey bee on a dandelion (an Apis mellifera on a Taraxacum officinale) was easy with the Flipview as you can see in this YouTube snippet. At 30 frames a second, the Flipview video capture provides crisp images that are highly effective for study and documentation.
 
[youtube]https://youtu.be/5mcTqR2cXzE[/youtube]
 
The mobile aspects of the Celestron Flipview are increased by using an inexpensive replaceable lithium-ion (cell phone) battery and a micro-SD slot that will archive more pictures and video than can be taken by a student during any normal project. And since both 3.7 volt battery and card are replaceable, there is no measurable upper limit to operating the Celestron Flipview in the field. Micro-SD cards and the BL-5C (Nokia cell phone) battery are both inexpensive and for easily accessible. Charging the battery is in-camera is done the included AC adapter. USB charging would be a welcome addition to allow fulling the battery with a external or backup cell phone/tablet battery. Heck, even a solar panel for that matter.
 
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Using the Celestron Flipview is easy whether holding it in hand and focusing by raising or lowering it in relation to the subject, using the flip-out kickstand to set if flush with the workpiece, or mounting it to any standard tripod screw or using the included tripod stand.
 
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Handheld mode is very effective with moving subjects like insects. The Celestron Flipview can quickly be moved to keep the bug in focus and in view. I found that by focusing out a ways from close-up, it was much easier to follow the subjects, and then use a computer to crop in tighter on the subject images.
 
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Digital and optical microscopes are are different birds, but both necessary in educating today’s students. The traditional optical machines are essential for gaining an intimate knowledge of the tiny universe just beyond the resolution of our rods and cones. Digital microscopes, on the other hand and such as the Celestron Flipview are excellent at interacting with the subject thorough the ability to meet the subject on its terms rather than forcing the subject into a laboratory environment. With a hand-sized form factor along with battery power and a large-feeling three-inch LCD screen, the Flipview opens worlds inside and especially outside the classroom.
 
[youtube]https://youtu.be/5T1leJCEt08[/youtube]
 
Output from the Celestron Flipview is trifold. The video display show a image plenty bright and sharp for work from real-time imagery alone on its 270 degree rotating TFT LCD (thin film transistor liquid crystal display) screen.. Or, as noted before, the pictures and video can be captured on a micro-SD card. Finally, the Celestron Flipview can output the image signal to an external source through the included AV cable allowing connectivity to comparable monitors, TV screens and projectors.
 
bee-flower
 
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Using the Celestron Flipview outdoors is a pleasure, even in trying environments such as a large hill of angry red ants. The Flipview was overrun by Pogonomyrmex barbatus, but as long as the image capture button was free of pincer obstruction, when ants wandered into the field of view, taking pictures was easy. Using the Flipview both stand-alone and with the included tripod mount, a little practice and pre-focus allowed the capture of even the fastest moving ants. What this also means is that the  Celestron Flipview makes an excellent teaching camera for use in classroom settings. When tripod-mounted, the  Flipview 
 
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Camera-specific software called Celestron Micro Capture Pro software for both Mac and PC is included and allows both image editing and camera shutter operation through the mouse or trackpad. If a CD drive is not present, your you prefer an internet download, the platform-specific application can be downloaded from the Celestron support site. Once an image is captured, it can be inspected further with the software allowing measurement of circles, angles, distance, and scale along with the ability to annotate the image.
 
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For 21st century learners, their expectations are high. It’s nice that the science technology available to them meets their expectations, and in the case of the Celestron Flipview, exceeds it.
 

One of the wonderful things about the amazing science education technology available to teachers today is that the tech can disappear—in a good way. The Celestron Flipview digital microscope is one of them.

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What science teachers are reading June 2015

Here are the most-read books, e-books, and children’s trade books on NSTA’s website this month. Click over to the NSTA Science Store and catch up on what’s hot this June on science teachers’ reading tables and tablets.

 

Name Your Resource

By Christine Royce

Posted on 2015-06-24

Just about four years ago, A Framework for K-12 Science Education appeared on the scene, and just over two years ago the Next General Science Standards were published and released.  Since that time, there has been much effort put into and collective cognitive focus on the best way to educate all stakeholders about the standards, as well as implement the standards with fidelity into the K-12 classroom environment.

In the past two years, a variety of different strategies and resources have emerged on the scene that are designed to assist educators.  Some examples of these approaches, tools, and resources include:

  • An Interactive Online Version of the NGSS which assists the user in searching for particular areas.
  • The EQuIP NGSS Rubric is a tool for educators and education leaders to use in identifying high quality, NGSS-aligned instructional materials through a criterion-based, peer-review process. 
  • State Science Education Standards Comparison Tool which supports administrators in comparing the differences, both in purpose and structure, between different sets of standards.
  • Classroom Sample Tasks: (Introduction and Overview) (View and Download Tasks Here) The Classroom Sample Tasks blend content, practices, and concepts from both the NGSS and the Common Core State Standards. Teachers across the disciplines have collaborated to write sample tasks, which are the result of a vision of integrating science, engineering, and mathematics for classroom use.
  • Evidence Statements provide detail on what students should know and be able to do in order to satisfy each performance expectation (PE) at the end of instruction.
  • NGSS Teaching Channel Videos are intended to help educators become familiar with the three dimensions of the NGSS and how they will benefit students.
  • The Discover the NGSS eBook is a new an interactive eBook that helps teachers dive into the NGSS.

As an author who regularly publishes in Science and Children there has even been a concerted effort to present information related to the NGSS in featured articles and regular columns in a consistent format to assist educators in seeing how the standards can be implemented. These tables explicitly show the performance expectations, crosscutting concepts and scientific and engineering practices that are met in an activity or investigation and specifically how they are met. Having to go through the process of discussing and considering statements, evidence, process and approach has allowed me to better understand what is meant and what that looks like in the classroom. Utilizing some of the above resources has assisted greatly in that process.

Even educators in states who have not adopted the NGSS can learn from the resources provided above as they are based on solid presentation of content and understanding of the interaction between concepts, practices and ideas.

How have you utilized one of the above resources or even describe a different resource that you have found helpful in integrating and utilizing the NGSS in your classroom?

Just about four years ago, A Framework for K-12 Science Education appeared on the scene, and just over two years ago the Next General Science Standards were published and released.  Since that time, there has been much effort put into and collective cognitive focus on the best way to educate all stakeholders about the standards, as well as implement the standards with fidelity into the K-12 classroom environment.

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