As we take a nature walk on the paths through a large garden area tended by church members, the children always want to “go to the pond.” This body of water is an 8’ by 10’ pool with pump-circulated water flowing from a raised area. We watch the flow, bubbles and talk about the fine netting covering the entire water surface. I remind the children frequently to keep their feet on the grass as they creep closer to the rocks bordering the water. I’m sure they would wade in if it were their pond. I hope all of them get to wade in some body of flowing water with close adult supervision. I share their interest—in my childhood I had free access to “the creek” at the border of our property next to the airport. We waded, built dams with loose rocks and slid down the larger algae-covered rocks.

The children speculate on the reasons for the netting over the water, describe it as looking like spider webs, talk about the leaves that have fallen onto the net, and reach towards it as they talk. On a day when we didn’t go outside I decided to follow up on this strong interest in the water and net, guided by the emphasis of emergent curriculum* on focusing on the diverse strengths of children, and building on their strengths and interests. I provided two small tubs of water, netting from bags of oranges and tree leaves from the garden. I was sure the children would be engaged with these materials for a long time, and was concerned that two tubs would not be enough.

As a small group of children entered the room, I told them about the water and a painting exploration, also set up. They did go immediately to the water, and bunched up the nets, added leaves and swished their hands joyfully in the water. Over two days, there were 6 small groups—two each of 2’s, 3’s and 4’s—and each group of children repeated these actions. I asked the children if the set-up reminded them of the pond, wondering if they would begin to use the net as a leaf-catcher, and with another group I initiated a game of pretending to be a tree and dropping leaves on the net covering the water. A few children played for a few minutes but this model of the pond was obviously not engaging. And I was so proud of myself for following up on something that was so meaningful to the children! I was sure they would be interested in exploring ways to use the netting as a tool. Why do you think this small scale pond with netting did not engage them?

Many more children were interested in the painting exploration where they could paint on different surfaces—wax paper, felt, aluminum foil and pumpkins. I’ll follow up on this interest by providing larger pieces of the materials and setting out two kinds of paint, liquid watercolors and the thicker tempera paint. 

*The goal of emergent curriculum is to respond to every child’s interests. Its practice is open-ended and self-directed. It depends on teacher initiative and intrinsic motivation, and it lends itself to a play-based environment. Emergent curriculum emerges from the children, but not only from the children. Curriculum emerges from the play of children and the play of teachers. It is coconstructed by the children and the adults and the environment itself. To develop curriculum in depth, adults must notice children’s questions and invent ways to extend them, document what happens, and invent more questions. The process is naturally individualized.   

Elizabeth Jones. 2012. Our Proud Heritage: The Emergence of Emergent Curriculum. Young Children. 67(2): 66-68

Some additional resources for learning about emergent curriculum:

Jones, Elizabeth, & J. Nimmo. 1994. Emergent Curriculum. Washington, DC: NAEYC.

Stacey, S. 2009. Emergent Curriculum in Early Childhood Settings: From Theory to Practice. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf.

Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority. Queensland kindergarten learning guideline: Understanding emergent curriculum in practice. July 2014. 

A big shout out and congratulations to 25 NSTA members who recently renewed their membership for two years and won FREE registration to the NSTA National Conference on Science Education in Chicago, March 12-15, 2015. The winners will also receive a $100 voucher for travel to the conference compliments of Southwest Airlines.

Over 280 NSTA members took advantage of the membership campaign, held earlier this month, and all were entered into a drawing for the free Chicago registration/travel voucher combination package. The winners were randomly selected and will be traveling to the Windy City next March for the largest conference ever of professionals dedicated to science teaching and learning.

Congratulations to:

James Bader – Lakewood, OH
Carol Baker – Oak Lawn, IL
Lisa Balazs – Hoover, AL
Teresa Bixby – Romeoville, IL
Susan Boxler – Oskaloosa, IA
Ernest DiMicco – Coventry, RI
Mary Fields – Coos Bay, OR
Scott Grumelot – Fayetteville, NC
Holly Heiple – Cleveland Heights, OH
Cynthia Holcomb – Cedar Park, TX
Karen Howell – Easton, CT
Sheryl Johnson – Oklahoma City, OK
Ute Kaden – Fairbanks, AK
Samantha Levine – Blauvelt, NY
Helen Patten – Sonoma, CA
Randi Peskin – Parkland, FL
Annie Prud’homme-Genereux – Squamish, BC
Christine Purkiss – San Angelo, TX
M. Quinones – Loveland, OH
Diane Simmons – Littleton, CO
Benjamin Spicer – Sewickley, PA
David Thomas – Ardmore, PA
Warren Wessel – Regina, SK
Lisa Woodruff – Hampton Falls, NH
Wynne Youngblood – Salisbury, NC

These members will continue to take advantage of outstanding NSTA member benefits – including an NSTA journal of choice, access to our listservs and substantial discounts to NSTA products and services – for two more years. For more information about NSTA’s member benefits, visit the NSTA Membership webpage.

Watch for more opportunities over the coming weeks and months to save money on NSTA membership and learn how membership can enhance your professional development. (And we can give you a hint about our next campaign which begins pretty soon – it’s after Black Friday, but before Giving Tuesday, when online shopping rules the day!)

One of the perks of being an NSTA member is having access to all of the journals online. Regardless of the grade level you teach, the journals have ideas for authentic activities and investigations that can be used, adapted, or extended for different levels of student interest and experience. The articles in NSTA’s November K-12 journals focus on the crosscutting concept of Cause and Effect, Engineering Projects, and the practice of Analyzing and Interpreting Data.

Science & Children: Cause and Effect

This issue continues a series that addresses each of the crosscutting concepts with “snapshots” of activities that include the concepts. Here are some SciLinks that provide additional content information and suggestions for additional activities and investigations related to this month’s articles:

• Teaching Through Trade Books–What Goes Up Must Come Down! [Gravity, Newton’s Laws] 
• The Early Years—Cause and Effect: Where’s the Evidence? [Newton’s Laws]
• Formative Assessment Probes—Seeds in a Bag [Seed Germination]
• The Wonderful World of Worms [Worms] 
• Real-World Units in the Conceptual Age [Forces and Motion, Force and Friction]
• What Is a Foot Under Your Feet? [Soil]
• STEM in a Hair Accessory [Cancer]
• Engineering Encounters—Blasting Off With Engineering [Rockets]

Note: Last month’s Science Scope also addressed Cause and Effect!

Science Scope: Engineering Solutions

This issue describes a number of STEM-based activities that will help turn students into the problem solvers of tomorrow. Two other organizations have excellent resources for engineering projects and lessons: TeachEngineering and TryEngineering. Both of these have ideas for lessons that focus on authentic problem-solving.

This month’s Teacher’s Toolkit article Exploring the science Framework and NGSS: Computational thinking in the science classroom is a must-read for all science teachers. It’s a good description of the similarities and differences between mathematical and computational thinking (hint: they’re not the same!).

Here are some SciLinks that provide additional content information and suggestions for additional activities and investigations related to this month’s featured articles:

• Engineering Design and Effects [Water Cycle, Solvation of Solids in Water, Water Quality, Watersheds and Pollution]   
• Saving Pelicans (could be modified for any migratory bird) [Bird Adaptations, Migration of Birds, Biodiversity, Food Webs]  
• Redesiging the Water Rocket [Rockets, Projectile Motion, Force and Motion]
• Designing Earthquake Resistant Structures [Earthquakes, Earthquakes and Society] 

The Science Teacher: Analyzing and Interpreting Data

As students become more adept at accessing, storing, and sharing data, they need to develop the skills and habits of mind necessary to analyze and interpret this data to produce useful information. The Next Generation Science Standards recognize Analyzing and Interpreting Data as one of the eight essential practices of science and engineering. This issue offers ideas for including this important practice in the classroom.

Here are some SciLinks that provide additional content information and suggestions for additional activities and investigations related to this month’s featured articles:

• In Praise of Messy Data [Life on Other Planets]
• The Graph Choice Chart [Graphing Data, Presenting Scientific Data] 
• Reflecting on Data [Reflection, Mirrors] 
• Demystifying Data [Climate Change, Measurements and Data] 
• Thinking with Data [Statistics in Science]

Being a member of NSTA immerses you in a community of educators interested in pushing themselves and their colleagues toward better science education. NSTA has 20 awards for educators and teachers who demonstrate their passion for science education every day.

Recognition not only moves science education forward, but also brings affirmation to hard-working educators. NSTA will recognize hundreds of science teachers at the 2016 National Conference on Science Education in Nashville this March. You could be one of them.

In just 15 minutes, you can browse these awards to see which one is right for you—or for a teacher you know is going above and beyond. Most 2015 award deadlines are fast approaching, so here are some highlights:

• NSTA Fellow Award

Have you been an NSTA member for more than 10 years? This award recognizes NSTA members who have made extraordinary contributions to science education through personal commitment to education and significant contributions to the profession that reflect dedication to NSTA as well the entire educational community.

Deadline: November 30

• Robert H. Carleton Award

Sponsored by Dow Chemical Company, the Robert H. Carleton Award is NSTA’s highest honor. The award recognizes one individual who has made outstanding contributions to, and provided leadership in, science education at the national level and to NSTA in particular.

Deadline: November 30

• Maitland P. Simmons Memorial Award for New Teachers

This award provides selected K–12 teachers (up to 25) in their first five years of teaching with funds to attend the annual NSTA National Conference on Science Education. Award recipients will be mentored, tracked, and provided with continuing opportunities for meaningful involvement with NSTA and its activities.

Deadline: November 30

• Robert E. Yager Foundation Excellence in Teaching Award

This award recognizes six full-time K–12 teachers of science who successfully use innovation and excellence in their classroom.

Deadline: November 30

Are you passionate about science education? Do not miss your chance to share what you’ve done with NSTA and share your success with the wider science education community.

More Time?

If you haven’t already, make sure to keep the monthly NSTA Reports Grab Bag, which features Freebies for Science Teachers. Learn about national competitions and awards from across the nation and around the globe.

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.

Cause and effect, solutions to problems, analyzing and interpreting data, and quantitative reasoning… these are the subjects science teachers are writing about in this month’s K-College journals from NSTA. The November issues are online, in members’ mailboxes, and ready to inspire teachers!

Science and Children

No matter the age at which you introduce cause and effect, it must be consciously developed and repeated frequently. The resources in this issue of S&C will help your students extend their understanding of this essential crosscutting concept.

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

• Free – Editor’s Note: Cause and Effect
• Real-World Units in the Conceptual Age
• STEM in a Hair Accessory
• Free – The Wonderful World of Worms
• What Is a Foot Under Your Feet?
• Full Table of Contents

Science Scope

Science and engineering can offer solutions to many of today’s most challenging problems. In this issue, we explore a number of STEM-based activities that will help turn your students into the problem solvers of tomorrow.

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

• Construct, Critique, and Connect: Engineering as a Vehicle to Learn Science
• Designing Earthquake-Resistant Structures: Integrating Science and Engineering Practices
• Free – Editor’s Roundtable: EQuIP—A Tool to Help Keep the NGSS on Course
• Free – Engineering Design and EFFECTs: A Water Filtration Example
• Redesigning the Water Rocket: An Engineering-Design Cycle for Integrating Science and Engineering Practices and Nature of Science Learning
• Saving Pelicans: A STEM Integration Unit
• The Justin Time Challenge
• Full Table of Contents

The Science Teacher

Our world is awash in a sea of data. We encounter more data on a daily basis than ever before, conveying information about weather, health, politics, finance, and science. Data arrives via sensors, social media, digital photos, weather stations, and many other sources. As our ability to store and share data increases exponentially, our students must develop the skills and habits of mind necessary to analyze and interpret information. The Next Generation Science Standards recognize Analyzing and Interpreting Data as one of the eight essential practices of science and engineering. This issue offers ideas for including this important practice in your own teaching.

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

• Demystifying Data
• Free – Editor’s Corner: Analyzing and Interpreting Data
• Free – In Praise of Messy Data
• Reflecting on Data
• The Graph Choice Chart
• The Green Room: The Deadliest Infectious Diseases
• Thinking With Data
• Full Table of Contents

Journal of College Science Teaching

Read about a laboratory exercise (the calculation of an individual’s own carbon footprint) designed to teach quantitative reasoning in the context of authentic problems that are relevant to students’ lives. Find out how one group of authors made their undergraduate atmospheric science classes more student centered and collaborative through the implementation of high-altitude balloon research. Don’t miss the article about an ecology course in which textbooks were eliminated and students were allowed to learn science using their cell phones in place of textbooks. Find all this and more in this month’s issue of JCST.

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

• Active Learning in the Atmospheric Science Classroom and Beyond Through High-Altitude Ballooning
• Eliminating the Textbook: Learning Science With Cell Phones
• Point of View: Why Students Should Listen
• Research and Teaching: Midterm and First-Exam Grades Predict Final Grades in Biology Courses
• Research and Teaching: Statistics Across the Curriculum Using an Iterative, Interactive Approach in an Inquiry-Based Lab Sequence
• Research and Teaching: Undergraduate Science Learners Show Comparable Outcomes Whether Taught by Undergraduate or Graduate Teaching Assistants
• Free – Teaching Quantitative Reasoning for Nonscience Majors Through Carbon Footprint Analysis
• Too Long to Read: Assessing the Motivation Behind Graduate Student Attendance in Reading Groups
• Using Collaboration Between English and Biology to Teach Scientific Writing and Communication
• Full Table of Contents

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

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

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A gallery walk gives students an opportunity to discuss claims and evidence

In his popular workshops at last week’s NSTA conference in Orlando, Victor Sampson presented tips and strategies for engaging students in scientific argumentation, a key practice of science that helps students master content while they write about and discuss claims and evidence. This month’s Book Beat features classroom activities designed to foster students’ ability to analyze data, construct arguments, and learn to support claims with evidence.

Discussion and Argumentation in the Science Classroom

The goals of science education today include helping students not only understand important concepts but also learn to do science. The Next Generation Science Standards emphasize that students need to understand disciplinary core ideas, be aware of seven crosscutting concepts that span the disciplines of science, and learn how to participate in eight key scientific practices to be proficient in science. One increasingly popular way to knit all these elements together is argument-driven inquiry, an innovative approach to lab instruction and the focus of a growing series of books by Victor Sampson and his colleagues. The just-published Argument-Driven Inquiry in Chemistry: Lab Investigations for Grades 9–12 is an engaging approach to lab instruction that brings together content, crosscutting concepts, and scientific practices to make labs more authentic and educative for students.The authors place emphasis throughout the book on argumentation—the process of proposing, supporting, evaluating, and refining claims—which the National Research Council advocates using more in today’s science classes. Download the free lab “Characteristics of Acids and Bases: How Can the Chemical Properties of an Aqueous Solution Be Used to Identify It as an Acid or a Base?”, which gives students an opportunity to devise, test, and refine a method that can be used to classify an aqueous solution as being an acid or a base using the physical or chemical properties of the solution. Students will also learn about the difference between observations and inferences in science and the different methods used in scientific investigations.

        The biology-centered books that use this method include Scientific Argumentation in Biology: 30 Classroom Activities, by Victor Sampson and Sharon Schleigh, and Argument-Driven Inquiry in Biology: Lab Investigations for Grades 9–12, by Victor Sampson et al. Click the book title links above to visit these books’ pages in the Science Store, where you can download sample labs from each of these books. Browse the Fall 2014 NSTA Recommends digital catalog to see the array of books available from NSTA Press across grade levels and science disciplines. Also visit the NGSS@NSTA Hub on the NSTA website for a wealth of additional resources related to NGSS.