Science teachers, put our national conference on your 2014 calendar now. The National Science Teachers Association will be coming to Boston April 3–6, 2014 to put on the premiere event for science education. Top-notch professional learning opportunities, fresh ideas for your classroom teaching, chances to learn about what really works (or doesn’t) from your peers, an awesome exhibit hall where you can see the newest products and technology and pick up some swag, and more await you next Spring.
Browse conference sessions and register today. Save the most if you register by the earlybird deadline: February 7, 2014.
What Awaits You in Boston

• A wide range of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and Common Core sessions
• 2,000 sessions, workshops, field trips, and short courses for K–16 educators
• Content development and ready-to-use teaching techniques
• Exhibit Hall featuring new products and giveaways from more than 400 exhibitors
• NSTA Science Store with 100s of professional development books; attendees receive a 20% discount
• And much more!

I’ve noticed my students don’t seem to have a lot of motivation in science class. They are sometimes afraid they’ll make mistakes, and they’re often reluctant to try something new. What can I do to encourage more student engagement in learning?
—Donna, Wilmington, Delaware
At an inservice workshop I attended, teachers were discussing how their students didn’t want to learn. When the presenter asked what evidence teachers had for this statement, they responded, “Students don’t do homework” and “Students don’t do their work or pay attention in class.” The presenter posed the question, “Does a lack of compliance with your directions or a lack of interest in the activity mean that they have no motivation to learn science? These are the kids who have mastered video games and cell phones. They are certainly capable of learning, perhaps not what you want them to learn or in the way you require them to.”
Several archived Ms. Mentor posts addressed questions related to motivation and engagement:

• Motivation. It seems like it’s getting harder to motivate students. What can we do?
• Why do we have to learn this?  Whenever I start a new unit, some students consistently ask, “Why do we have to learn this?” How should I respond?
• Improving student skills. My ninth-grade students are struggling with lab activities. For example, they don’t seem to know how to formulate a hypothesis or write a conclusion. When I asked them to graph the data, I saw lots of blank looks on their faces. What can I do?
• Perseverance and failure. With all of the curricular demands and a focus on preparing for state exams, I am concerned that we do not create situations for students to persevere if they don’t succeed in their first attempts at experiments in science. How do we communicate the value of curiosity and perseverance to high school science students and the notion that repeated “failure” is common on the road to major breakthroughs?
• Stretching the comfort zone. At our inservice last month, we learned several strategies for writing in science classes.  But when I tried one in my classroom, it went over like a lead balloon. What was I doing wrong?

At a workshop I facilitated, I asked teams of teachers to draw a picture of an engaged student. During the subsequent gallery walk, the results were interesting. Some had pictures of students carrying books, wearing a watch, or sitting at a desk. These “engaged” students were prepared for class, on time, and attentive. Other pictures showed students actively working with others, asking questions, or writing and drawing. What would your drawing look like?
We then discussed: Is it possible to be busy at a task but not really engaged in it? Is it possible to be engaged in something without being visibly busy? Hmmm.
 
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cutiepiecompany/2592666953/sizes/m/in/photostream/

The holidays are upon us, but you don’t get a break from teaching quite yet. You need science education resources that you can use in your classroom tomorrow, and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) has them for you! Written by educators, these grade-level journals are targeted to your teaching level. NSTA’s December journals are live online (with select articles being free for all, and full content being free to all NSTA members). Browse these issues for classroom-tested ideas, activities you can use tomorrow, and commentary from experts in the field.

Science and Children

To help students build their own conceptual understanding, it is important to engage them in learning in a way that translates the core ideas into understandable experiences. This issue offers resources and strategies for tapping into students’ interests to stimulate engaging science instruction.
Featured articles (please note, only those marked “free” are available to nonmembers):

• Can We Be Garbage Free?
• Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia Seed Science
• Free – Editor’s Note: Student Interests: Tapping Into Passion
• Exploring the Wild World of Wiggly Worms!
• Making Connections Between the Digital and Physical World
• Free – The eBook Hook
• Full Table of Contents

Science Scope

Our Earth is covered with impact craters, fault lines, and storm damage from natural hazards that have plagued our planet in the past. Learn more about the fascinating forces of nature with the activities found in this issue of Science Scope so you can better understand the next disaster that comes our way.
Featured articles (please note, only those marked “free” are available to nonmembers):

• 99.99%—Antibacterial Products and Natural Selection
• Free – Authentic Landscapes Indoors: Using Erosion Models to Connect Science and Engineering Practices
• Bringing Earthquake Engineering to Your Hometown
• Cookie Tectonics: An Introduction to Earth Hazards and Tectonic Fundamentals
• Free – Editor’s Roundtable: Could You Live Here?
• Exploring Earthquakes and Tsunamis: Integrating Science, Social Studies, and Technology
• Simulating Earthquake Early Warning Systems in the Classroom
• Special Education in the Science Classroom: A Co-Teaching Scenario
• Using Web GIS to Enhance Tectonics Learning and Geospatial Thinking
• Full Table of Contents

The Science Teacher

This issue of The Science Teacher focuses on one of the seven crosscutting concepts—”patterns”—found in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Crosscutting concepts have been prominent in education reform documents for over two decades. What’s new is that the NGSS elevates crosscutting concepts by weaving them into the student performance expectations for all students, so that they will become an explicit part of science instruction beginning in the earliest years of schooling. This issue presents several articles that will help you bring the crosscutting concept of Patterns into your classroom, including a history of science piece on the classification of species—a practical and important application of pattern recognition.
Featured articles (please note, only those marked “free” are available to nonmembers):

• Free – Career of the Month: An Interview With Ecosystem Scientist Stan Wullschleger
• Classification
• Free – Editor’s Corner: Crosscutting Patterns
• Science Challenge Day
• Science Immersion
• What Makes Us Tick…Tock?
• Free – Where’s That Dolphin?
• Full Table of Contents

Learn about science + literacy  from experts in the field (your peers!) at NSTA’s Conference on Science Education in Denver, CO, December 12–14.  We’ll be offering content sessions developed for all levels and a featured presentation on Friday, December 13, 9:30–10:30 a.m. (“Play and Science Running Together”) by Kenneth Wesson (Educational Consultant, Neuroscience: San Jose, CA). A sampling of sessions highlighting science + literacy is below:
Science + Literacy = Student Achievement
Thursday, December 12 8:00–9:00 AM
Colorado Convention Center, MHB-4F
Learn some literacy and vocabulary strategies to strengthen your students’ literacy skills while doing learning or any content area.
Story Time from Space—Integrating STEM and Literacy
Thursday, December 12 8:00–9:00 AM
Colorado Convention Center, MHB-4B
Astronaut Alvin Drew will share his experience reading story books to children of Earth from space. Learn how to use these readings and curriculum support materials.
“FOSStering” the Common Core State Standards, ELA: Science-Centered Language Development
Thursday, December 12 8:00–9:15 AM
Colorado Convention Center, 303
Discover the ways language is used to help elementary students make sense of their active learning FOSS experiences. We will model a FOSS investigation using listening and speaking, reading and writing, and language-development strategies to further content knowledge, scientific practices, and academic literacy.
33 Strategies for Integrating Disciplinary Literacy
Thursday, December 12 8:00–9:15 AM
Colorado Convention Center, 401
Discover how to increase reading comprehension, disciplinary literacy skills, and science knowledge simultaneously for ALL students. Take away 33 ready-to-use strategies for incorporating science trade books into your classroom. Learn integration strategies that provide a better way to teach both science and literacy. Free classroom materials!

Science, the Literacy Connection, and the Common Core State Standards, ELA
Thursday, December 12 10:00–11:15 AM
Colorado Convention Center, 302
Learn how your students can experience the enjoyment of learning science using Delta Science Modules and make the literacy connection to the CCSS ELA with Delta Science literacy resources. Receive a workshop packet containing CCSS strategy templates and other related Delta literacy materials.
Get Results with Science and Literacy Integration: Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading®
Thursday, December 12 10:00–11:15 AM
Colorado Convention Center, 401
Investigate Models of Matter with the Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading® unit!  Experience next generation science practices, using content-rich science books, scientific discourse, and writing activities. Together these provide rich and varied opportunities to learn core science ideas and vocabulary. Effectiveness data will be shared as well as free samples.
Collaborative Structures to Support Scientific Literacy
Thursday, December 12 12:30–1:30 PM
Colorado Convention Center, MHB-4F
Take home simple collaborative structures that can enhance scientific literacy and inquiry in your classroom tomorrow!
Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN): Instructional Resources for Science Educators
Thursday, December 12 12:30–1:30 PM
Colorado Convention Center, MHB-4E
The CLEAN collection includes lessons and other educational resources developed by a wide variety of authors that have been vetted by teachers and scientists.
Unleashing Your Students’ Inner Inventor—Robots, Video Games, and DIY!
Thursday, December 12 12:30–1:45 PM
Colorado Convention Center, 406
In this workshop, we’ll use the wildly popular Arduino computer platform to explore creative project-based learning though programming and 21st-century digital literacy. This workshop assumes no previous experience.
33 Strategies for Integrating Disciplinary Literacy
Thursday, December 12 12:30–1:45 PM
Colorado Convention Center, 401
Discover how to increase reading comprehension, disciplinary literacy skills, and science knowledge simultaneously for ALL students. Take away 33 ready-to-use strategies for incorporating science trade books into your classroom. Learn integration strategies that provide a better way to teach both science and literacy. Free classroom materials!
Content + Literacy = Common Core Success
Thursday, December 12 2:00–3:00 PM
Colorado Convention Center, MHB-1C
Appropriate-leveled excerpts from life, Earth, and physical science books will be used to demonstrate how to teach the Common Core State Standards, ELA while teaching science.
Using Literacy to Promote the Understanding of Mathematics for PreK–8 Learners
Thursday, December 12 2:00–3:00 PM
Colorado Convention Center, MHB-2A
For centuries, there has been a perceived connection between science and the arts, including literature. This connection is now being introduced to children as part of an effective curriculum that includes subject integration. Over the past two decades, educators have turned more attention toward integrated curricula, particularly the introduction of literature into science instruction.
A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words: Teaching Scientific Visual Literacy
Thursday, December 12 2:00–3:00 PM
Colorado Convention Center, 108/110
Is a picture really worth a thousand words? Find out as you construct 3-D graphic organizers to help your “eye generation” students become visually literate.
Unleashing Your Students’ Inner Inventor—Robots, Video Games, and DIY!
Thursday, December 12 2:15–3:30 PM
Colorado Convention Center, 406
In this workshop, we’ll use the wildly popular Arduino computer platform to explore creative project-based learning though programming and 21st-century digital literacy. This workshop assumes no previous experience.
The Best of Both Worlds: How to Engage Students in NGSS Practices Through Science and Life
Thursday, December 12 2:15–3:30 PM
Colorado Convention Center, 401
Explore an instructional approach that capitalizes on the synergies between science and literacy. The integrated units from Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading® are designed to help students learn and express essential science concepts while developing a set of cognitive skills that are generative and transferable across disciplines.
Science as a Playground for Literacy!
Thursday, December 12 3:30–4:30 PM
Colorado Convention Center, 108/110
Science as a playground for literacy—it’s an idea that runs through my work. I believe it is why the Common Core State Standards cite some of my books as exemplary nonfiction. So, my presentation will focus on science as an exciting playground for literate learners.
Incorporating the Common Core State Standards, ELA for Reading and Writing into Introductory Chemistry
Thursday, December 12 3:30–4:30 PM
Colorado Convention Center, MHB-1B
Key science-related components of the CCSS will be discussed and participants will see how literacy skills can be incorporated into existing activities within the chemistry curriculum.
Nuestra Tierra Dinámica
Thursday, December 12 5:00–6:00 PM
Colorado Convention Center, MHB-4B
CLACE (Centro LatinoAmericano Para Las Artes, Ciencia y Edución) is a Latin-American Center for Arts, Science, and Education. In 2011 with NASA funding and resources, CLACE/OpEPA founded Nuestra Tierra Dinámica (NTD), focusing on K–12 Latino youth. We raise global climate change/Earth system literacy through culturally relevant, inquiry-based, hands-on activities and digital storytelling. Our aim is to provide high-quality STEM education as well as to build bilingual literacy skills.
Cutting Across the Curriculum: Examining Lessons That Integrate Science, Literacy, and Mathematics
Thursday, December 12 5:00–6:00 PM
Colorado Convention Center, MHB-3B
Join us as we model lessons that integrate literacy strategies, mathematical concepts, and science concepts as well as provide an overview of research and connections to Common Core State Standards.
Develop Your Own STEM Center in Your Elementary Classroom
Thursday, December 12 5:00–6:00 PM
Colorado Convention Center, MHB-3C
Learn how you can transform your classroom into a STEM learning center in which students become excited to learn. You will gain insights on how this model is used to support a literacy-based STEAM program (LSTEAM).
Let the iPad Tell a Science (Digital) Story!
Friday, December 13 8:00–9:00 AM
Colorado Convention Center, MHB-4D
Find out how to use the iPad for crafting science digital stories with popular video-editing apps while promoting science writing and visual literacy skills. Samples, live demonstration, and resources provided.
Bringing Science to Life! Using Invertebrates to Enhance Classroom Teaching
Friday, December 13 8:00–9:00 AM
Colorado Convention Center, MHB-3B
Bring your curriculum to life with the Butterfly Pavilion as we discover how to use classroom animals as a teaching tool! Enhance life science, literacy, inquiry, and 21st-century skills in your classroom.
Experience the Power of a Digital Middle School Program
Friday, December 13 8:00–9:15 AM
Colorado Convention Center, 402
Experience the power of digital with differentiated levels of rich content from National Geographic. eScience3000 is tightly aligned to CCSS, NGSS, and STEM initiatives. See how science, literacy, and real-life experiences come together in this engaging middle school resource.
Unleashing Your Students’ Inner Inventor—Robots, Video Games, and DIY!
Friday, December 13 8:00–9:15 AM
Colorado Convention Center, 406
In this workshop, we’ll use the wildly popular Arduino micro-controller platform to explore creative project-based learning though programming and 21st-century digital literacy. This workshop assumes no previous experience.
Ocean Classrooms—Inspiring New Depths
Friday, December 13 8:00–9:15 AM
Colorado Convention Center, 109
Ocean Classrooms is a movement into the future—where education, fascination, and conservation all happen in one interconnected experience. Our core belief is in immersive educational experiences that promote ocean literacy and awareness. We will highlight our online courses and innovative research technologies, including our LIVE underwater video cameras.
Max Goes to Space: Science Adventures Read from Orbit
Friday, December 13 9:30–10:30 AM
Colorado Convention Center, MHB-2B
This winter, author Jeffrey Bennett’s books for children will be read from the International Space Station. Learn how to integrate this program into your class.
Unleashing Your Students’ Inner Inventor—Robots, Video Games, and DIY!
Friday, December 13 10:00–11:15 AM
Colorado Convention Center, 406
In this workshop, we’ll use the wildly popular Arduino micro-controller platform to explore creative project-based learning though programming and 21st-century digital literacy. This workshop assumes no previous experience.
Make-and-Take: Science, Literacy, and Math
Friday, December 13 11:00 AM–12:00 PM
Colorado Convention Center, MHB-3B
Foster new ideas to engage learners with integrated science activities that you make on-site and then take back to the classroom. Resources and standards and literacy/math connections provided with materials.
Powerful Strategies to Accelerate the Acquisition and Retention of Science Vocabulary
Friday, December 13 11:00 AM–12:00 PM
Colorado Convention Center, MHB-4D
Encounter new research-based techniques that can turn mundane vocabulary assignments into a multisensory experience, in which students hear, see, and use new vocabulary words. Tap into the power of music, technology, and imagery to enhance science literacy.
Integrating Science and Literacy
Friday, December 13 11:00 AM–12:00 PM
Colorado Convention Center, 108/110
Join me and watch video of Denver Public School elementary students integrating science and literacy using CER (Claims, Evidence, Reasoning) pedagogy developed by McNeill and Krajcik.
Using Reading and Writing as a Tool in Science Instruction
Friday, December 13 12:30–1:30 PM
Colorado Convention Center, MHB-1C
This strategy-filled presentation will arm participants with many applications for teaching science and literacy simultaneously. Receive materials, handouts, and ideas to take home for immediate classroom implementation.
Science Plus Literacy—Blended and Seamless
Friday, December 13 2:00–3:00 PM
Colorado Convention Center, 108/110
Inspire middle school literacy! Blended lessons to engage students in science topics while supporting CCSS ELA are free at pbslearningmedia.org. Raffle!
Engaging Students, Developing Science Knowledge and Conceptual Understanding, and Teaching Science Literacy Skills with Quality Nonfiction Science Books
Friday, December 13 2:00–3:00 PM
Colorado Convention Center, MHB-1F
Discover the advantages of using science trade books to build science knowledge, to teach science literacy skills, and to provide a platform for investigations. Emphasis will be placed on literacy strategies that help students read science text and communicate what they have learned. Outstanding science trade books will be showcased. Handouts!
Metadisciplinarity, Science Literacy, and General Education
Friday, December 13 2:00–3:00 PM
Colorado Convention Center, MHB-4C
This short course extends our workshop provided at AACU’s STEM Conference in 2012 and focuses on designing, implementing, and assessing science literacy in general education curricula.
NSTA Press® Session: Uncovering Elementary Students Ideas in Science
Friday, December 13 2:00–3:00 PM
Colorado Convention Center, 505
Discover how formative assessment probes and techniques uncover K–5 students’ ideas while fostering language literacy.
Literacy in Science Grades 6–8: Integrating Science Reading Strategies with the Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards
Friday, December 13 3:30–4:30 PM
Colorado Convention Center, MHB-3B
Come learn how to effectively implement reading strategies that strengthen content knowledge and model research-based best practices to improve literacy among middle school students.
Making the Interdisciplinary Connection Between Science, Literacy, and Math
Saturday, December 14 8:00–9:00 AM
Colorado Convention Center, MHB-4D
Participants will have a common understanding of literacy development and its importance in students’ ability to demonstrate proficiency using hands-on activities and technology.
Using Pollen Analysis to Address the NGSS and Literacy
Saturday, December 14 9:30–10:30 AM
Colorado Convention Center, MHB-4D
Increase student interest in math, science, literacy, and technology…and address the NGSS. Discover how pollen solves crimes and can be collected, stored, stained, examined, and photographed. Free resources!
Engaging Children in Scientific Explanation: Connecting Science and Literacy Using a “Question-Claim-Evidence-Reason” Framework
Saturday, December 14 11:00 AM–12:00 PM
Colorado Convention Center, MHB-3B
Enliven your classroom with lessons conducted with children using the “Question-Claim-Evidence-Reason” framework to explain visual representations data during the exploration and inquiry learning cycle.
Using Stories to Teach Science
Saturday, December 14 11:30 AM–12:00 PM
Colorado Convention Center, MHB-1B
The Common Core State Standards recommend teaching literacy across the curriculum. For science teachers, developing scientific literacy and enhancing basic literacy can be accomplished by integrating science stories into instructions, which can stimulate students’ interest in the science behind everyday life and increase their scientific knowledge. ChemMatters, a magazine for high schoolers by the American Chemical Society, provides many free resources to support scientific literacy and promote inquiry.
Want more? Check out more than 400 sessions and other events with the Denver Session Browser/Personal Scheduler at http://www.nsta.org/conferences/area3.aspx.

Recently, NSTA and the Children’s Book Council (CBC) announced the winners for the annual list of Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K–12 (books published in 2013).  Previous year’s lists and winners also include books that are still in print and add an opportunity to create a rich reading experience for your students.
So this month’s Continue the Conversation asks the question “what is your favorite children’s or chapter trade book that you have students read or that you share with your class?” and I will go one step further in asking what aspects about the book you like and how do you use it?
In considering all of the year’s winners from the OSTB list as well as other books that I have utilized, I’m not sure I can choose just one, so will share a few of my favorites with you.
A book I just shared with the fifth grade class at our laboratory school on campus was Meredith Hooper’s The Drop in My Drink which tells the story about water on our planet.  The students had just finished a unit on the water cycle and watersheds taught by one of our biology faculty members and I had been asked to add a literature connection to this in the form of a guest read aloud.  This book was also featured in a previous month’s Science and Children’s Teaching Through Trade Books column titled Water Wherever and provides an activity for grades 4-6 on the water cycle.
Another recent book that I have read is a recent OSTB winner as well – Deadly –How Do You Catch an Invisible Killer.  The book is reviewed in the NSTA Recommends section of the website. This chapter book for older students focuses on the process by which a young lady who secures a job as an assistant to a Department of Health inspector helps to track down the outbreak of Typhoid.  Great for examining the process of science, importance of research, and the content associated with diseases.
Biographical books that I am absolutely enamored with include:  Odd Boy Out, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, Snowflake Bentley, Lives of Scientists, and Come See the Earth Turn.
Regardless of whether the book is read for content or pleasure, there are many opportunities to incorporate science into reading selections.  Often the manner in which the excitement of the content is shared is through a good book – so as the winter month’s approach and the opportunity to curl up with a good book presents itself —what would you recommend?  What is your favorite children’s book or young adult chapter book and how do you connect it to science?

I had such a good time at the NAEYC 2013 annual conference—personally enjoyable and professionally productive! The handouts at the Early Childhood Science Interest Forum table at the IF Café were picked up by conference goers eager to connect to resources. The ECSIF is a dedicated—and open—group. There was good discussion and sharing of resources at the ECSIF annual meeting, including the wonderful news that NSTA is in the process of developing a position statement on science teaching in early childhood! Early childhood researchers and practioners were involved in writing the draft and the NSTA Early Childhood Science Position Paper will be available on the NSTA website for review within the next couple of weeks.

NSTA was at the conference supporting early science learning with a display of resources and free copies of the elementary (and preK) journal, Science and Children. Editor Linda Froschauer is an active member of the ECSIF and presented two sessions on science in early childhood:

• “Defining science learning and teaching” with Ingrid Chalufour, Cindy Hoisington and Karen Worth.
• “Science inquiry and practices: Fun experiences with hands-on materials to awaken the scientist in children” with me!

The handouts for these sessions are up loaded on the NAEYC conference schedule. (Go to the NAEYC Annual Conference and Expo page, and click on “Search session” to go to the Precis Abstract Management searchable conference program. Search for the session you attended (or missed), then click on the title of the session. A new window will open with a full description of the session, and attached files, if any, listed at the very bottom. Click on the title of the handout file to download it.)

 My conference experience began with a session on the topic of play, and I saw many possibilities for how the open-ended exploration of materials in play might extend into a science investigation into the properties of matter or understanding balance. And many opportunities for imaginative play, developing mathematical concepts, and rich use of language. Seeing possibilities for integrating the curriculum was not the best part of this session. The most powerful part was the experience of playing with a set of materials for an uninterrupted 15 minutes or so, and reflecting on it, showing us teachers what children get out of this kind of activity—to learn about self and the world through self-created experiences.
As the presenters said, “It is in the doing that we understand.”

Read about recess in the Play, Policy, & Practice Interest Forum’s Fall, 2013 newsletter CONNECTIONS online.
Read an excerpt of the book From Play to Practice: Connecting Teachers’ Play to Children’s Learning by Marcia L. Nell and Walter F. Drew, with Deborah E. Bush.  Read more about developmental outcomes directly associated with quality play experiences in authors’ responses to questions about play.
And read about play in the NAEYC position statement on Developmentally Appropriate Practice: “Play is an important vehicle for developing self-regulation as well as promoting language, cognition, and social competence (pg 14).
The session “How a Head Start coaching community of practice created a professional development system using CLASS and the Project Approach” provided beautiful examples of Mid-America Head Start  teachers and their directors and coaches creating a positive climate with regard for student perspectives. Developing the projects—“Bugs on Our Playground,” “Our Elevator,” and “Things in Our Homes”—and using the CLassroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS), created a culture of learning and change. Educators involved in this community of practice noted that “We are seeing children in a different light—noticing their competence and accomplishments as thinkers.”
“A constructivist approach to integrating STEM education” presented by Susan Wood and Kheng Ly-Hoang of the Children’s Center at CalTech showed many ways teachers can promote scientific ways of thinking so children are able to make connections, think critically, problem solve, observe, estimate, test their ideas and collect data. The slides of children and teachers at work gave me new ideas for science learning.

There were many enticing sessions that I missed due to so many choices:

• “Sharing the BIG IDEAS of physical science with pre-K children: Properties of matter, force/motion, and measurement” presented by Robert Williams, Mary Hobbs and the teachers in the BLOCKS project.
• “Ramps and Pathways: A fun integration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics” presented by Betty Zan and Beth Van Meeteren of the University of Northern Iowa.
• “Playing and learning with nature’s play materials” presented by Mary Rivkin, Jan White, and Beth Grant.
• “Science at the center: Promoting inquiry and process skills throughout the day” presented by Rosemary Geiken, Mary Myron and Cathy Landy of East Tennesee State University.
  
   

These are just a few that were on my itinerary “wish list.” Please comment to add information about sessions you found valuable.
My last stop at the conference was the closing general session, “Monsters and superheros,” by Trisha Lee about (and demonstrating) the storytelling and story acting techniques of Vivian Gussin Paley. Much fun and meaning, learning how to listen to children as they tell their stories.

Each month, the NSTA journals have many ideas for helping students become producers of knowledge, through science investigations and engineering problems. This issue, however, looks at how students can become informed consumers of science and engineering. As the editor notes, “To be critical consumers…students need more than just exposure to core science content; they also need to locate, read, and understand information and to use their knowledge about the nature of science to judge the validity and quality of that information and how it was gathered or constructed.” Regardless of the grade level you teach, you can find articles here with suggestions to enhance student skills in information location, evaluation, interpretation, and use.
“Where will you get your information about new science after you take your last science class?” is a question asked by the author of Building Science Literacy by Reading Science News. He describes an ongoing project in which students look at science news: what’s reported, how it’s reported, and the source. After modeling how to “dissect” a news story (with guiding questions), the students spend one day a month on science news presentations. The guidelines are included with the article.
The NGSS documents include a cross-walk between science and literacy standards. Saturn, Science, and Cross-Curricular Literacy Standards shows “how the questions students ask during science lessons can be thoughtfully integrated with strategies for literacy instruction and science practices such as engaging in argument from evidence and the crosscutting concept of patterns. The authors describe an organizer called a “comprehension window,” using a file folder and sticky notes for claims. The graphics in the article illustrate how this was used to investigate the temperatures on planets. [SciLinks: Planets, Solar System]
Part of understanding science information is becoming familiar with the vocabulary—the technical vocabulary as well as words that have different meanings in science contexts (such as theory or energy). Increasing Science Vocabulary Using PowerPoint Flash Cards shows two strategies: a mnemonic keyword strategy and using PowerPoint to create “flash cards.”  Technology also plays a role in the study described in Human Impact on Water Quality: Conducting Inquiry with Cyber Databases and ICTs (information and communications technologies). The authors share credible online sources of real-world data and ideas for how students can use this wealth of data to create information. [SciLinks: Water Quality]
Sometimes we need to make quick decisions and other times we need more reflective and purposeful thought. Evaluating Scientific Arguments with Slow Thinking describes these two forms of systems thinking and  has examples of the shortcomings of “fast” thinking and suggestions for promoting more in-depth thinking and argumentation with a claim-evidence-reasoning framework.
One of my favorite resources is the Natural Inquirer (a free research journal written in student-friendly language).  The author of Engaging Middle School Students in the Analysis and Interpretation of Real-World Data describes how she guides students through reading and analyzing an article on how much time kids spend outdoors. The main focus here was on interpreting the data represented by the graphs. The students then replicated the study using their own survey data and compared the results to the published study.
We teachers want to help students learn. But sometimes the best way is not to give students a correct answer but to provide ways they can use a variety of sources to evaluate their response. Student-to-Student Collaboration and Coming to Consensus has two examples of what this looks like in a middle school classroom. The teacher provides a focus for reading and a prompt for student responses. Pairs of students shared their responses and then read information on the topic. They then discuss their responses in the context of the reading and try to reach a consensus. The second example is a Think-Ink-Pair-Share activity. Most of us have used TPS, but this variation has students write a response before refining it through pairing and sharing. When the teacher demonstrates the concept, the students evaluate their responses. [SciLinks: The Moon, Rotational Motion]
When reading research from the fields of medicine or psychology, it’s important to consider just who the subjects are. Classroom Zoo* has suggestions for helping students learn how to conduct research with live specimens in an ethical and responsible manner. The author includes a timeline and student handouts for a research project.
When assigning videos in the classroom or online, teachers should also be aware of Safety in Videos. Ken Roy has suggestions on what to consider when creating or choosing online media.
* Many of these articles have resources to share, so check out the Connections for this issue (November 2013). Even if the article does not quite fit with your lesson agenda, there are ideas for handouts, background information sheets, data sheets, rubrics, and other resources.

Yesterday I appeared before the DC State Board of Education and urged them to adopt the Next Generation Science Standards (see my testimony below).
I spoke about how the NGSS would bring positive changes to District classrooms with its new approach to teaching science that ties lessons into a few “big ideas” of science, incorporates engineering as a key science component, and emphasizes the practices used by scientists and engineers.
Probably the biggest change is that the new standards will engage students to pose (not just answer) questions and understand the process they go through to get to the answers, allowing for a deeper understanding of content and how to apply it.
These skills are key to ensuring that all students are science literate and critically savvy science consumers of the future.
I emphasized to the Board that NGSS implementation will require time and top level commitment and financial support. Teachers and school leaders will need to restructure classroom lessons and courses, and we need to make sure that teachers are trained to teach to the new standards.
NSTA has a number of resources focused on NGSS and the Framework for K–12 Science Education, including a series of interactive web seminars, articles from peer-reviewed journals, NSTA Press books by NGSS writers, online short courses and face-to-face conference lectures and workshops, all designed to build an understanding of the standards and provide a pathway for putting the best practices of the standards into action in the classroom.
In addition to the resources, NSTA released a new position statement, which expresses NSTA’s strong support of NGSS and provides a series of recommendations to ensure successful implementation.
The Board asked me to comment on the difficulty involved in implementation. I explained that implementation would be a generational process, but that student benefits will accrue almost immediately. The Board also asked for comments on reports that DC science standards have been rated “A” and are viewed as superior to NGSS. Speakers from Achieve and the National Research Council and I all emphasized that NGSS is based on the best research on how students learn; that they are for ALL students, not just the elite; and that much better preparation for career and college comes from richer in-depth understanding of fewer topics, than the shallow but broad approach reflected in current standards.
Principals from three DC Reward schools were also on the agenda and it was exciting to hear about one school’s science program called “Think Tank.” From their website: “Think Tank is an inquiry-based learning class at Maury Elementary that is based in Habits of Mind and Multiple Intelligence theory.” Science provides an exciting focal point for many Maury’s activities. Unfortunately, the Maury principal had to give the assistant principal position to fund her science teacher. She expressed no regret of the choice, however.
I was delighted to see teachers in the room, as these are the people who will ultimately implement the changes that will come and who have the biggest stake in hearing about these new standards. DCSTA was also well represented with one of their members also testifying.
I urge all teachers of science, and that includes elementary teachers, to read the NSTA position paper, use it as a resource, and share it with policy makers, principals, administrators and parents. Join us and become part of this national movement to transform K–12 science education.

Testimony to DC State Board of Education
Next Generation Science Standards
November 20, 2013
Presented by David Evans Ph.D.
Executive Director, National Science Teachers Association

On behalf of the National Science Teachers Association, I want to thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony in support of the Next Generation Science Standards.  My name is David Evans, and I am executive director of the NSTA. NSTA is the largest science teacher organization in the world with more than 55,000 members from every state and from numerous countries.  We have 212 members in the District of Columbia, and we work closely with our local chapter, the DC Science Teachers Association.  It is an honor to be here tonight with my distinguished colleagues who I am sure join me in strongly encouraging the District of Columbia to adopt the Next Generation Science Standards.
Simply put, the NSTA believes that the Next Generation Science Standards will be a game changer in the way science is taught, and learned, in classrooms nationwide.  It calls for a new approach to teaching science that ties lessons into a few “big ideas” of science, incorporates engineering as a key science component and emphasizes the practices used by scientists and engineers. In our position statement on NGSS, which is included in our written testimony, we strongly endorse adoption of the new standards and outline the steps needed to ensure that all students have the skills and knowledge required for college and STEM careers and to be well-informed citizens.
First, some background on how these standards were developed. Education experts from 26 states and a cadre of teachers, administrators, curriculum developers, scientists, and other stakeholders worked for two years to develop the Next Generation Science Standards.  The NGSS is based on the publication titled A Framework for K–2 Science Education, which was written and released in 2011 by a respected panel of National Research Council scientists. The Framework for K–12 Science Education describes the major practices, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas that all students should be familiar with by the end of high school. The Framework also spells out how these practices, concepts, and ideas should be developed across the grade levels.
To date eight states—Washington, California, Rhode Island, Maryland, Vermont, Kansas, Kentucky, and Delaware– have already adopted the standards.  This is important to note, because these standards were written by states, for states, with no federal involvement.
Public support is also very high for new science standards; in a recent poll, Achieve found that 87% of those polled support new science standards. In an NSTA online survey, 83% of science educators indicated strong support for common standards in science.
So what positive changes can District parents and teachers expect with the Next Generation Science Standards?
NGSS introduces engineering and key technology principles into the classroom, starting at the early grades.
Research shows that the best way to gain a deep understanding of science is to engage in scientific and engineering practices. NGSS effectively integrates these practices with rigorous science content.
The standards emphasize the process of science and how science is conducted in the real world. It engages students in not only finding answers to questions, but also understanding the process they go through to get to the answer, allowing for a deeper understanding of content and how to apply it.
Next Generation Science Standards also foster whole systems thinking, and will help students to develop critical and contextual thinking skills in order to prepare them for college or a 21st century career. Most importantly, these critical skills are key to ensuring that all students are science literate and critically savvy science consumers of the future.
These positive changes are encouraging, but will require time and top level commitment and financial support. Teachers, school leaders, and parents will need to restructure classroom lessons and courses, develop new methods of teaching and support systems. Most importantly, we need to make sure that teachers are trained to teach to the new standards.
When the District of Columbia adopts the Next Generation Science Standards, NSTA will be ready to help parents, school leaders, and teachers to implement them.
NSTA already offers a number of quality resources, including web seminars, online short courses, face-to-face workshops and conferences, and books by NGSS writers—all designed to build an understanding of the standards and provide a pathway for putting the standards into classroom instruction.
In addition, we are working to develop an online web resource that will allow District teachers to learn and understand the standards, identify and share targeted resources, interact and collaborate with colleagues, and locate tools to plan instruction.
In summary, the National Science Teachers Association strongly encourages the DC State Board of Education to adopt and implement the Next Generation Science Standards.  The Next Generation Science Standards represent a significant shift in how we want students to learn science and what we want them to learn.   Improving the quality of science education for DC students is also an economic issue.  It is no secret that employers are demanding workers who are proficient in science, technology, and engineering knowledge and skills. To fill this demand, and better compete in the global marketplace, students in the District of Columbia must be provided with a world class education in the sciences and STEM that prepares them for college or a career. Adoption and implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards is the path forward to achieving these goals.
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to answering any questions you may have.

The RSC’s (Royal Society of Chemistry) Chemistry Week is a themed week of events that is held every two years to promote a positive image of chemistry and increase the public understanding of the importance of chemical science in our everyday lives. This year’s theme is “Health.”
Using simple household equipment, students test how much vitamin C is in various fruits and vegetables. They then share and compare results with students around the world to see the global picture. For example, do fruits and vegetables from different parts of the world differ in their vitamin C content? Does boiling vegetables affect the amount of vitamin C? Does oxygen affect the vitamin C content?
Find out how this project works with the RSC’s ‘How-to’ video.  The project website  also has lesson suggestions for the classroom and a world map showing the location of participants. The results can be uploaded and analyzed in real time. It looks like a school can submit more than one set of data, too. Follow on Twitter at #globalexperiment

The amount of dissolved oxygen (DO) in water is a critical component in the aquatic ecosystem. While measuring the level of DO is a common practice in water quality studies, the sensors often used to capture the data were far from the instantaneous measurements we have grown to love about many other probes.

Popular sensors designed to measure dissolved oxygen in real-time usually required a preparation sequence slightly less complex than the launch of a spacecraft to Mars. initiating the launch of  a DO sensor could include a 10-minute warm-up period with the probe tip submerged in distilled water. After that several sequenced, time-consuming and precise steps must be followed to accurately calibrate the probe. To make matters worse,it is recommended that the probe be recalibrated every few hours of use making for an even longer day in the field, or  loss of precious class time. Traditional DO probes used a Clark-type polarography electrode to detect the concentration of oxygen in the solution under investigation. In addition to complex preparation of the probe before use, it was also rather needy and demanded special care and feeding to keep it healthy during storage.

But what if dissolved oxygen could be measured as easily as we measure temperature complete with auto-detection of the sensor and no calibration necessary? Not only would we take more DO measurements in more places, but we would also greatly expand our field of study both figuratively and literally!
Now just such a probe is now available! Vernier Technology has an Optical Dissolved Oxygen sensor that uses a luminescence-based optical oxygen sensor that makes taking DO measurements so easy that students can venture into previously uncharted territory to collect data.

As a test of the new probe, I headed out to a nearby waterway not generally  considered conducive to school-age scientific exploration. Even thought the channel is just a stone’s throw from a university, it’s somewhat agressive nature is broadcast conspicuously through large “Danger” signs sprinkled around the area.

The Optical Dissolved Oxygen sensor, or what I call an ODO, has a few other tricks up its sleeve. First, the probe is located at the end of a meter and a half of waterproof cable. Next, the entire business-side that end of the cable is  submergible. That means you can lower the probe from a height down to the water, or control the probe’s decent down through several thermoclines.
Additionally an optional 125 gram stainless steel guard can be added to the end of the probe to protect the actual sensor as well as weigh down the instrument to help control the variables of depth and current, and in my case wind. The steel guard gently screws onto the probe’s plastic midsection in the same way and place as the translucent housing designed to keep the probe safe and moist during storage.
In one of my tests, I took advantage of the probe’s 1.6m cable to lower it into a water channel immediately upstream from a diversion culvert. Although two meters above the water, the added length of my arm was enough to submerge the probe in the stream.

For combined measurements in the current, I held the probe in the water along with a Vernier Flow Rate sensor to capture both DO and current speed. Because of the somewhat tricky area I was testing, and that I was using a LabQuest2 interface and an iPad Mini, I collected samples from several different locations in one data run with the intent to sort it out later. Managing both sensors at the same time was so easy, I could do it one-handed and take pictures with the other hand, all with a LQ2 in the mix as well.


For best results, it is recommended that the ODO probe remains submerged in the medium under exploration for at least a minute.  And as I discovered, it is possible to get DO readings over 100% if the probe bounces around in a strong current. Given that in one of my tests the plastic tube of the flow rate sensor bowed downstream as the sensor’s propeller looked less like a boat motor and more like an airplane trying to take flight, so yes, strong currents were present.