Help! At my school, science is a special that my first graders go to once a week. I’m looking for integrated and engaging ideas for science that I could use during regular instruction. As most teachers know, time is precious, but I think it’s vital to pique students’ interests now while they are still curious and excited about science.   

—A., Texas

As I observe elementary classes and read the Science & Children journal, I’m excited to see how enthusiastic and energetic the students are when provided with challenging investigations with guidance and support from the teacher.

Actually, you and your students are fortunate that they have a dedicated science class each week. In many elementary schools, science (and social studies) in the lower grades is put on a back burner while instructional time is spent on math and reading (the tested subjects). And in some schools, science and social studies never even make it to the back burner until the spring testing season is over.

It’s easy to suggest that elementary teachers design interdisciplinary lessons that incorporate math, reading, and science. The fact is that in some schools, math and reading curricula are prescribed and teachers are expected to follow a script. So there’s not much wiggle room to bring in science and social studies concepts. Designing meaningful interdisciplinary lessons that go beyond superficial connections can be a daunting task. Collaborating with your peers on such lessons can be a powerful form of professional development. Could your school provide any time or resources for these collaborations?

Informally, you could consider these for your classroom:

• A collection of science-related books available for instruction, independent reading, or picture-looking.
• Learning centers with a science theme and objects for students to explore (such as bones, shells, or rocks), materials they can manipulate and build things with, or a classroom garden or aquarium.
• Incorporating science practices into math activities, including measuring and graphing.
• Read-alouds or book talks using science books or biographies of scientists.

But it sounds like you want to go beyond an informal approach to something more planned and purposeful. I realize that the special is probably your planning period for the day, but perhaps you could sit in on a class or two to get an idea of the kinds of things your students do in science.

I would definitely talk with the science specialist/teacher who meets with your students. Find out what topics are being studied (and when) so that you can reinforce or extend them in a timely manner. Ask about the activities your students do and whether they can continue them in the classroom. They probably come back from science all excited, and they’ll be equally excited to do more. For example, if the science topic is plant growth, then your some of your readings and activities could focus that topic (plants, gardens, farming, and so on). I suspect that the science teacher is also frustrated by the constraints of a once-per-week schedule, and I would hope that your colleague would be excited to have you supplement the science activities. He or she may also have suggestions for related interdisciplinary activities and resources to share with your classroom. This could be the start of a great opportunity for your students and a productive collaboration between you and the specialist.

Each month, NSTA’s Science & Children  has several features that you might find useful:

• Teaching with Trade Books explores a concept with recommended books and investigations. For example, the November 2014 topic is What Goes Up Must Come Down.  The article lists two books (K-2 and 3-5), connections with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and two lessons in 5E format related to the books.
• The Early Years features easy-to-use ideas for developing student interest and curiosity. The November 2014 theme is Cause and Effect: Where’s the Evidence?
• Featured articles related to the monthly theme include lesson plans, connections to NGSS, and related materials. NSTA members have access to both current and previous issues.

I applaud your desire to tap into students’ interests to help them build a foundation for further learning.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/benwerd/329570851/

I see it all the time, children wondering what will happen if I….push on this ball, let go of this ball, put this ball in water, or throw this ball? What will happen if I…touch the paper gently with the paintbrush, shake the paint brush, put the brush all the way into the paint or put the brush into a different color? And what will happen if I blow into my straw, if I crush a strawberry in my hand or if I mix my food together?

Causing something to happen is a goal of many early childhood investigations. An interesting environment provides many opportunities for children to wonder and act. As children investigate, we can support them. Follow along with blogger Denita Dinger on Play Counts! as she prepares the environment to invite exploration.

Following up on these open-ended investigations with conversations, discussions and revisiting the action can help children think more about what they did, what they thought would happen, what did happen and about any relationships involved.

The Thinking BIG Learning BIG Facebook page by the author of Thinking Big Learning Big, Marie Faust Evitt, is a great source of inspiration for activities where children explore “what if’s.” In the November 2014 issue of Science and Children I wrote about Cause and Effect, one of the Crosscutting Concepts that support the Next Generation Science Standards (K-12) (NGSS) and an activity involving slightly inclined tabletops and balls. Setting up a table (without the children seeing me) so one end is lower gave children a puzzling situation to discuss and look for answers—the balls that were simply placed on the table began to move “all by themselves,” without being pushed! The children proposed relationships between the event (ball rolling “by itself”) and its cause. As they wondered about the cause, they thought of trying the balls on different tables to see if the same relationship exists.

On the Peep and the Big Wide World website, a video clip taken in a family child care shows children investigating how different inclined plane (ramp) surfaces affect the movement of objects. Peep and the Big Wide World is an animated television series and a website with really good professional development resources for early childhood educators, guided by the Science Adviser, Karen Worth. The video clips on the topics of Science Talk, Learning Environments, Individualized Instruction, and Documentation and Reflection are my favorite part of the extensive library that includes curriculum on the topics of color, plants, ramps, shadows, sound, and water. A Self-Guided training handout and Facilitator’s Guide and PowerPoint slides generously show how to deepen one’s own and other’s understanding of the strategies in the curriculum units.

Using these kinds of resources helps me create effective learning environments that encourage science exploration.

Sandy Gady has been an NSTA member for over 22 years. Her first teaching jobs were in small towns with no colleges or universities nearby. Therefore, Gady says that access to quality professional learning was limited, which is why her NSTA membership really came in handy. “When I was in a small town with no access to professional learning, the NSTA journals saved me,” she says. Gady credits her NSTA membership with helping her achieve National Board Certification. “Being a part of NSTA helped me figure out what is a big idea, how you break it down, and how you teach science in a meaningful way,” she says.

And, even though Gady now lives and works in an area with greater professional learning opportunities, she says she uses her NSTA membership just as much, especially in her role as an NSTA online advisor.

Gady: So many teachers here in Washington State live in rural communities and there is no other way to get better professional learning. I find that the NSTA web seminars are better than almost any class offered at a college or university. For instance, the American Chemical Society (ACS) and NSTA hosted a web seminar on candy and chemistry in September. I couldn’t pull away from it, it was so engaging. And the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) seminars have been terrific. I would say having access to the web seminars and the journals has allowed me to understand the science behind what I teach.

NSTA is kind of my backbone. When you take part in the NSTA Community Forums, you have access to the most fantastic people in the world when you’re trying to figure out what you want to do next with your teaching to take it to another level. When you say, ‘I need help and I have this idea, does anybody know of anything else I can do?’ you get valuable feedback from fellow teachers within 24 hours.

I’ve had student teachers in the last three years who haven’t heard about NSTA. I’ve told them about the association and all of the resources available to them. NSTA offers Student, Preservice, and New Teacher memberships, and does everything it can to make learning accessible to teachers. Now, many of my student teachers are using the NSTA Learning Center as part of the classes they’re teaching.

How else does your NSTA membership help you?

Gady: The NSTA Conferences are amazing. When you are from a small town and you walk into a regional conference, you are just blown away with the wide variety of resources that you didn’t even know existed. Having the vendors all in one place and being able to see what’s possible is a terrific opportunity that without NSTA wouldn’t exist.

In addition, any book that is published by NSTA Press is a quality book. For me, it really all goes back to professional learning. When I first stepped into a science classroom, I had a half-credit of science in my K–8 endorsement. Science education wasn’t deemed important in our state at that time. Therefore, I relied heavily on NSTA books for support. I still live by Bill Robertson’s The Stop Faking It series and Page Keeley’s Uncovering Student Ideas in Science. I have three sets of both series. One set I keep at school, one I keep at home, and one I loan to the National Board candidates I facilitate.

I am also really impressed with NSTA’s virtual conferences. NSTA doesn’t get old; it never ages. NSTA has always had a vision ahead of where everyone else is. There is no price you can put on that.

(Note from NSTA: Not a member of NSTA? Learn more about how to join.)

Jennifer Henderson is our guest blogger for this series. Before launching her freelance career as a writer/editor, Jennifer was Managing Editor of The Science Teacher, NSTA’s peer-reviewed journal for high school science teachers.

Guidance for effective science and engineering teaching can be found in the NSTA position statement on Early Childhood Science Education. Materials for science and engineering science explorations, such as teacher resource books, can support teachers and administrators in implementing the principles and declarations of the position statement. Many books claim to be that inquiry-based, well-researched, aligned with standards and developmentally appropriate content that you are looking for—but what is the evidence? 

The NSTA journal, Science and Children, publishes an occasional column called “Early Childhood Resource Review.” Column editor Ingrid Chalufour selects resources for review from those suggested by readers. The primary criteria for books is how well the author poses practical ways of addressing the NSTA position statement on early childhood science. The reviewers help us understand the value of the resource and how to get the most from it. Two columns recommending tools of inquiry for the classroom will be in the February 2015 and 2016 journals. 

Do you have a favorite book or other resource to suggest for consideration? Authors, don’t be shy. See the Science and Children Call for Papers page and scroll down to learn how to submit. Let other early childhood educators benefit from the resources you find most helpful.

The Long Beach NSTA 2014 Area Conference on Science Education starts this week! We’ll be making ourselves at home at the Long Beach Convention Center in sunny California, December 4-6, 2014. In collaboration with the California Science Teachers Association (CSTA), we invite you to join us. Our conference theme is SCIENCE—Catch the Wave! Conference strands will focus on NGSS Implementation, Science: The Gateway to Common Core State Standards, and STEM Classrooms: Anytime/Anyplace/Anywhere.

We’ll kick things off on Thursday morning (December 4) with our keynote presentation (The Balancing Act of Environmental Education: Removing the Fear But Keeping Reality) by Julie Scardina at 9:15 am. Using a variety of animal ambassadors, Scardina will demonstrate that it takes a more sophisticated understanding of ecology, biology, and environmental science to save our planet’s biodiversity.

Programming-wise, we’ve hand-selected and vetted more than 500 unique sessions, workshops, and presentations resulting in a diverse range of programming with something for everyone—from classroom teachers to administrators and informal educators at all age levels and interests.  You can check out all the sessions online via the Session Browser or view the program (pdf).

We would also like to recognize and thank our outstanding Exhibitors who have lots of exciting hands-on activities in store for you.  We have more than 150 unique exhibits to visit and have put together nine pages of highlighted activities taking place in the Exhibit Hall over the course of the conference. You can also review all of the Exhibitors by taking a spin around the online floor plan, which includes a roster of exhibitors, a description of what they’ll be featuring, and where they’re located in the Exhibit Hall.

California teachers, be sure to drop by the CSTA booth, located in the Exhibit Hall B of the Convention Center (Booth 326). As the advocate for quality science education in California for more than 50 years, the California Science Teachers Association offers networking, professional development, and representation to assure state policies and legislation support you in inspiring your students. Stop by to meet them, get resources for implementing NGSS, and to join CSTA. They will have tickets available for purchase for the CSTA Night at the Aquarium of the Pacific, Thursday, 7:00–10:00 PM.

For the latest conference information, download the Long Beach Conference App. If you’re not already registered, there is still time to join us and you can register online 24/7.  We’re excited to see you this week!

For questions about the Long Beach exhibits, please contact Jason Sheldrake, Assistant Executive Director, National Science Teachers Association at jsheldrake@nsta.org; or contact Jeffrey LeGrand, NSTA Exhibits and Advertising Associate, at jlegrand@nsta.org.

2015 National Conference on Science Education

Chicago, IL – March 12-15

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

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As we prepare the turkey and brave the elements (some of us) for those last minute ingredients we forgot, this time of the year we give thanks for family and friends. NSTA is no different – we are very thankful for our members and here are just a few reasons why:

1. There’s work to be done and our members help us get things done. Our volunteer leaders are second to none. From our board of directors, council members and standing committees to our advisory boards, task forces and ad hoc workgroups, NSTA may have the hardest working, most engaged members of any professional organization. NSTA would not be the organization is it without the strong foundation we have in our leadership.
2. Our members are dedicated. They care about the future of science education and their profession. When it seems as though no one else cares about the content we create or the events and activities we plan, our members continue to be engaged. They are smart and they share that knowledge in our online communities, on listserves and as presenters during our conferences. Whatever it takes to move science education forward, NSTA members go the extra mile to deliver.
3. NSTA members really do believe in the mission “…to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.”  While it’s true that members join NSTA for different reasons and not all members join to give back to their profession, in the end they renew their membership and continue to do so because of what this organization represents and its value. And that is why we create content-rich, peer-reviewed journals, award-winning publications, five premier science education conferences, web seminars and a host of other products, benefits and services.

NSTA is grateful for our members every day!

On behalf of NSTA, I want to wish everyone a happy and joyous Thanksgiving.

As schools across the U.S. take a break this week for the Thanksgiving holiday, NSTA members will find themselves in cars, airplanes, and trains traveling to be with family and friends. Make holiday travel more entertaining, and even edifying, by subscribing to the NSTA-supported Lab Out Loud podcast, which features the best in science education news and commentary.

Wisconsin-based podcasting duo Dale Basler and Brian Bartel previously shared their top 12 favorite episodes of their award-winning podcast. For this Thanksgiving special, the hosts offer up a comprehensive list of science celebrities who have visited the podcast, including Kip Thorne, Executive Producer and Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics, Emeritus, at the California Institute of Technology, who recently discussed the science behind the movie blockbuster Interstellar.

Get inspired with one of these science celebrity episodes:

1. Teaching with @Interstellar: Our Conversation with Executive Producer Kip Thorne
2. Demos, Resources and Inspiration from Steve Spangler
3. Watching The History Inside You With Your Inner Fish (Neil Shubin)
4. BBC’s Bang Goes the Theory
5. The Sitcom Experiment (Bill Prady from The Big Bang Theory)
6. Science We Can Watch (Kari Byron from the Mythbusters)
7. Science We Can Listen To (They Might Be Giants)
8. Paleontologist Scott from Dinosaur Train
9. Mythbuster’s Adam Savage
10. Neil deGrasse Tyson on Science Education
11. Ed Begley Jr. on Science and the Environment
12. Bill Nye Talks About Energy And More

Brian and Dale work hard on each episode, and they have a hard time selecting from the catalog of favorites. But when it comes to favorite holiday foods, it is not quite the same.

“Pecan pie doesn’t need a reason to be someone’s favorite,” said Dale. “When you’re that delicious, no explanation is necessary.”

Brian goes for more of the savory flavors:

“Leftover turkey ranks right up there with leftover pizza,” said Brian. “But being a good boy from Wisconsin, I also can’t turn down cranberries.”

More Time?

Read the Lab Out Loud blog, where the hosts provide insight on episode guests, discuss themes, and provide linked resources from each podcast.

Dale and Brian actually started podcasting in 2006, for the Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers in a show called Periodicity. You can still find all 52 episodes. Check out the archive.

Not a member of NSTA? Learn more about how to join.

Laura Berry of Cogberry Creative is our guest blogger for this series. Laura is a communications professional for the education community.

Middle school science teacher and NSTA member Christine Marsh is a self-described “huge fan” of the NSTA Conferences on Science Education. When she found out that no money was available in her school’s budget to send her to the NSTA National Conference in Boston, she started researching ways to fund her trip. “Obviously, being a teacher, it’s not always easy to scrounge up that kind of money,” she says. “When my administration said that the budget wouldn’t allow me to attend, I started looking at how else I could possibly pay for it.” That’s when Marsh applied for, and received, the Maitland P. Simmons Memorial Award for New Teachers. The award consists of up to $1,000 to be used to attend the annual NSTA National Conference. “It alleviated my concerns about how I was going to pay for the conference,” says Marsh.

Marsh: One reason I really wanted to attend the conference this year is because while I was comfortable with content, classroom management, and knowing what I was going to teach and how I was going to teach it, I struggled with student intrinsic motivation. I wanted my students to not just sit there and learn the content, but instead be interested in coming to class and be excited about the next thing we were going to learn. I found a lot of helpful information on student motivation at the Boston conference.

For instance, Bio-Rad Laboratories and Texas Instruments held a workshop about zombies, understanding the latest trends in Hollywood, and how to bring that into the classroom. The workshop served as a springboard for me. My students always talk about the show “Walking Dead.” In fact, I started watching the show so I could understand what my students talk about. I was sitting in that workshop and thought about Walking Dead. After attending the conference, I decided to create a whole unit based around zombies. My students loved the zombie unit. They came to class every day wondering what more we were going to learn and what was going to happen next with the zombies. We were covering pH, so I developed a backstory on why pH is important because zombie blood is acidic.

In addition to the helpful tips on student motivation, I found the conference provided a lot of good ideas for incorporating Common Core standards in the classroom. Common Core was included in most of the conference sessions. I don’t teach English or Math, but I also need to take responsibility for incorporating those standards in my science classroom.

How else does your NSTA membership help you?

Marsh: I read NSTA Reports regularly, and especially read the Summer Programs section. As a teacher, I always want to learn new things and the summer is a great time to go off and explore. It was actually through the NSTA Career Center that I found out about a Research Experience for Teachers fellowship offered by Filament Games, which makes learning video games. I applied for the fellowship and got it last year. It was a terrific experience.

In addition, as an NSTA member, I definitely want to apply for other NSTA awards. I would like to apply for the Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy, which sounds like a great program.

(Note from NSTA: Learn more about NSTA awards, and see the “Making the Most of Your Membership” blog post: 20 Essential NSTA Awards You Can Learn About in 15 Minutes. Not a member of NSTA? Learn more about how to join.)

Jennifer Henderson is our guest blogger for this series. Before launching her freelance career as a writer/editor, Jennifer was Managing Editor of The Science Teacher, NSTA’s peer-reviewed journal for high school science teachers.

Teaching is my second career. I used to work for an environmental agency, but I’m having second thoughts about this switch. I took over for my cooperating teacher at the beginning of this marking period. I have a very diverse group of kids. Some are willing to cooperate, others very willing to test or disrespect me. I do not have a strong personality like my male co-op has. I’ve come to dread getting up and going into school. Is this typical during student teaching? I could use any input or advice you may have. –R. from California

Dealing with challenging students is not the exclusive domain of student teachers! Even after more than 25 years, I had students who were cooperative and those who “tested” me. My biggest aha as a beginning teacher came when I realized not to take it personally when students acted out or were disrespectful. It was eye-opening when I saw them try the same behaviors with experienced teachers. 

Without knowing your co-op and the students, it’s hard to say if they’re responding to you differently because of your gender. When you say you don’t have a strong personality, I suspect you mean that you’re not as loud or as physically imposing as your cooperating teacher. I’m female, short, and soft-spoken. At first, I had some students who only responded when I went on a wild-woman rampage (I think they found it very entertaining). So I had a talk with them about how I was taught to be polite to everyone and that was how I expected them to treat me and each other. It took a while for some students to adapt to that expectation. (At least you have the advantage of life experiences–I was 21 when I was student teaching and not much older than the students!)

You’re also the new kid on the block, and some students will want to find out which buttons to push. In my first year, I really struggled with one class in particular. I dreaded that class and was ready to quit in October! But my principal worked with me to develop some classroom management routines and procedures that set up expectations for student behavior and success. 

The cardinal rule in classroom management is “the best defense is a good offense.”

Most students find science activities interesting, but many incidents happen during down times in the classroom–those few minutes at the beginning and end of the class and when transitioning between activities during class. Establishing routines for these times lets the students know what kinds of behaviors are expected and acceptable. These routines may take some time and modeling until they become automatic, but it’s worth it. (See the links below for specific ideas).

You’re taking over the class after students have had time with your co-op and his style and routines. Like many adults, students don’t always respond well to change (at least at first). The best advice I had from my student teaching supervisor was the “fair, firm, flexible, and friendly” mantra:

• Fair–Listen to students, treat students equitably, communicate your high expectations, provide the guidance and learning activities to meet them, and celebrate when they do. 
• Firm–Some decisions are yours to make as the adult professional. Majority rule is not always appropriate for the classroom. Be honest with the students about your reasons. (e.g., I realize that goggles can be uncomfortable and look dorky. But I’m concerned about your safety and following the rules will help to keep you safe. I wear them myself.)
• Flexible–Be ready to change your mind if necessary or modify a routine that isn’t working. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Some issues are worth a followup but many are not. Snow days, pep rallies, fire drills–these all affect learning time, but we have to go with the flow as the saying goes. 
• Friendly–Students don’t need an adult friend. They do need an adult with a sense of humor who will guide them, treat them with respect, model appropriate behavior, share her passion for science, and listen to them. Offering a friendly hello at the door, saying “please” and “thank you,” and making positive comments during class will pay off eventually. (Some veterans say that you shouldn’t smile for the first semester. I could never be that way.) 

Teaching can be a rewarding career, so I hope you hang on. If you have specific issues, our colleagues on the NSTA e-mail lists and discussion forums are gold mines of suggestions and support. 

Here are some suggestions on routines from previous blogs:

• Chaos vs routines
• (Dis)organized students
• Bell-to-bell learning
• Activities get students focused

Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/3479000511/sizes/s/in/photostream/