JoinConnecting science lessons to real life
By Claire Reinburg
Posted on 2012-02-13
Rather than rolling your eyes at the common student query, “Why do I need to know this?”, use it to your advantage! Yale astrophysicist Priya Natarajan wrote in the Washington Post, “if we want more Americans to pursue careers in STEM professions, we have to intervene much earlier than we imagined” to help them see connections between classroom learning and the real world. Natarajan notes that early explorations “help students understand that science and math aren’t just abstract equations, but tools we use to understand our world.” The February 2012 issue of NSTA’s Book Beat highlights resources that can help you convey to students how science literacy is relevant to understanding and solving real-world challenges facing our society.
In Front Page Science: Engaging Teens in Science Literacy, Wendy Saul and coauthors show teachers how to use science journalism techniques to help students become better consumers of, and contributors to, a scientifically literate community. The authors ask, “What might we teach students now that will help them make sense of their world 15 years after graduation?” Because students will encounter scientific, medical, and technological issues throughout their lives, they will require the skill to continually seek out and assess new information. The book offers concrete advice on how to help students recognize that science is and will continue to be everywhere—even if they don’t pursue science or engineering careers. Students then become engaged in reporting on a science current event—learning research, interview, and writing strategies along the way. February Book Beat includes links to the free chapter “Setting the Stage by Modeling” for a helpful illustration of how one teacher introduces a potential research topic to her class and models her own questioning about a recent news article. Elementary and middle school teachers might also be interested in the other free chapters linked in the issue: “Keeping Science Current” and “Extra, Extra, Learn All About It” from Science the “Write” Way, in which students find and write about a science topic in the news or create a science-based newspaper. Encouraging students to explore and write about science that’s relevant to them will not only engage them in the lesson today but will also foster an interest in staying scientifically informed for life.
Rather than rolling your eyes at the common student query, “Why do I need to know this?”, use it to your advantage!
When early childhood activities integrate math, science and engineering
By Peggy Ashbrook
Posted on 2012-02-12
Sometimes activities engage children in overlappings mathematics, science, and engineering learning. Check out Kassia Wedekind’s discussion of how she uses math centers in her kindergarten classroom.
The discussions she holds with students are central to her planning. I had some questions and maybe you will too.
Peggy
Sometimes activities engage children in overlappings mathematics, science, and engineering learning.
Science and engineering
By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2012-02-11
Table of Contents
When looking at the cover and theme of this issue, I can imagine some of our colleagues thinking “So now I have to teach engineering, too? When do I find the time and resources?” As the editor notes, the inquiry and problem solving processes are the same, whether students are investigating natural phenomenon (science) or applying their knowledge to design products or processes to solve a problem or need (engineering). As the teacher/authors of these articles show, incorporating engineering principles into our instruction is possible.
It’s one thing for students to do well on tests and lab investigations. But the real proof of understanding is being able to apply the knowledge to new situations. The authors of Engineering, Modeling, and Computational Thinking describe several online tools for creating models to test engineering designs, including the West Point Bridge Builder (with an online competition component), Floorplanner (maybe your students could redesign your lab!), and Try Engineering. The article has many other suggestions for design and collaboration tools. [SciLinks: Building Bridges]
Have you ever thought about having your students participate in competitions such as Toyota’s ExploraVision?
In the article A Winning Competition, the authors describe their experiences with guiding students through the research and design processes. They show how the experiences aligned with their state standards and provide examples of the rubrics, timelines, and other strategies to support their students. I was glad to see how the project took advantage of the special skills and resources that a media specialist/librarian can provide!
Many of my 8th-graders were social butterflies. Their peers were very important to them, so I was intrigued by The Friendship Detector, an activity in which students applied their knowledge of series and parallel circuits. They designed a tool in which users flipped a switch to indicate an either/or choice in response to a prompt about likes and dislikes. The author includes circuit diagrams, a rubric, and a photo of the finished tool. The students noted that they appreciated the opportunity to actually build circuits, rather than just reading about them or drawing them. [SciLinks: Electrical Circuits]
OK—You’re teaching biology. How can engineering concepts be applicable? In Mendel’s Modern Legacy, there is a discussion of “synthetic biology, ” a field integrates biology and engineering concepts. The authors describe how their students used the BioBuilder program with their students. [SciLinks: Mendelian Genetics]
Designing Design Challenges has a helpful sidebar image that summarizes three levels of inquiry, relative to the responsibilities and roles of the teacher and students in the activity. The authors discuss ways to engage and support students in the design process, using examples of paper airplanes or model cars that meet particular challenges. I was reminded of the saying: Sometimes it’s OK to reinvent the wheel, not because we need more wheels, but because we need more inventors.
Intersections, Molecules, and Homeless Shelters – what could they possibly have in common? The author tells the story of how she engaged students with designing solutions to real-life problems drawn from their communities.
This month’s Safer Science column has a good summary of how to select the appropriate eye protection for your laboratory classes.
Table of Contents
Spring fever?
By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2012-02-08
I’m looking out at a snowy scene today, but I’m thinking ahead to spring (although I hope I can get a few snowshoe walks in before then). What started my thoughts was Peggy’s blog on the Great Backyard Bird Count later in February. This is a great classroom activity and the dates include a weekend so that the observations can continue at home, in a park, or anywhere. You don’t need to set up birdfeeders for this project. According to the GBBC newsletter, dots will be displayed on the map as counts are submitted. Student can find your school’s location on the map and watch it light up.
I had a recent update on the Journey North Project:
A network of students and other citizen scientists at 40,000 sites are tracking spring with Journey North, a non-profit science education and outreach project. Members of the public are welcome to participate in this spring’s 19th annual global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change. Contribute your backyard observations to a long-term database and monitor signs of the seasons. Help track migration patterns of monarch butterflies, hummingbirds, robin, and other backyard birds; the blooming of plants; changing sunlight, temperatures, and other signs of spring. Thanks to Annenberg Learner, participation in Journey North is free.
Spring is a good time to try new projects–to channel student enthusiasm in being outdoors and as a way to help students connect concepts they’ve studied to the “real world.”
NASA’s Students’ Cloud Observations On-Line (S’COOL) project can be used as an ongoing classroom research project. The project uses online resources and engages students in real-time data collection and analysis that is shared with NASA. In Project BudBurst, Hummingbird.net, and MonarchWatch participants chart their observations and share with a community of researchers.
Spring is also a good time to clear out the cobwebs and try something different. A recent Edutopia blog (and if you don’t subscribe or follow them on Facebook/Twitter, you should consider it!) has 10 Websites for Science Teachers Many of these have components that have been included in SciLinks, but an overview of the complete resources are worth a look. If you don’t have time, give them to a few students to preview!
Photo: MLB
I’m looking out at a snowy scene today, but I’m thinking ahead to spring (although I hope I can get a few snowshoe walks in before then).
Looking at and counting birds, Friday–Monday, Feb 17–20, 2012
By Peggy Ashbrook
Posted on 2012-02-06
Please join in the 15th annual count!
What birds do your children notice as they arrive and leave your site? Taking a walking fieldtrip is another way to have a bird-viewing session with your students. Casual observations of birds can be the beginning of understanding that living things react to their environment. Do birds hang out in the playing field in the morning and fly away when the children come out? Are they sitting in trees on a sunny afternoon but nowhere to be seen on a rainy day? Scientists and beginning bird watchers count birds to understand where birds are.
Your students can take part in The Great Backyard Bird Count, an annual four-day event to count birds. But you don’t have to count on all four days to participate! By reporting on the website what you see in nature, you contribute to a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. The site offers regional checklists so you know what birds you are likely to see.Read about participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count at Growing with Science, entomologist Roberta Gibson’s blog. Turns out she likes observing birds as well as insects!
Many children can recognize crows.
These days my students are observing a lot of crows and imitating their calls. If we had internet access I might show them some archived video of a crow on a nest (note that this video site has advertisements). Does anyone know of a currently active webcam on crows?
Peggy
Please join in the 15th annual count!
Student self-evaluation: How am I doing?
By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2012-02-05
My middle school students frequently ask me “Is this right?” or “What should I do now?” How can I help them become more self-reliant?
Jocelyn, Georgia
I observed a seventh grade teacher at the beginning of a unit as he displayed the learning goals and asked the students to write them in their notebooks. He then asked students to add to the list, with prompts such as “I’d like to know more about…” or “I want to learn how to…” He displayed a separate list of these personal goals and referred to them throughout the unit. “Did we address your goal yet?” “Did you change your goal? Add a goal?” “What else do we need to do?” He encouraged them to self-assess and reflect on their learning of the class goals as well as their personal ones. These self-assessment and reflective activities gave students ownership in the unit, and he provided extra time in class to pursue their personal goals.
Self-assessment is more than students correcting their own papers. When students engage in self-assessment, they reflect on the results of their efforts and their progress toward meeting the learning goals. They look at their own work for evidence of quality, using established criteria on the rubrics.
Students don’t necessarily come to class with this skill, especially if their previous experiences have been environments in which the teacher did all of the assessment. They may initially think that an assignment (such as a lab report or project) is good simply because they spent a lot of time on it, they enjoyed it, or they worked very hard on it.
Students may need to learn strategies for self-assessment through examples and modeling.
Guide students through the process of comparing a piece of (unnamed) student work to the rubric. You may have to do this several times before students feel comfortable critiquing their own work.
There are many types of activities that can be used as self-assessment strategies. Some double as formative assessment strategies, but in this case, students are using them to monitor their own progress:
- At the beginning of the unit, give each student a copy of the learning goals and a list of ways they can demonstrate their learning of each. Show students how to monitor their progress by checking off goals as they are met.
- Using thumbs up/down and exit tickets students can express the status of their learning and indicate topics on which they are still confused.
- Student reflections are often included in science notebooks. Your modeling and guidance is important. Show students how you would reflect on your own learning.
- I learned that…
- I learned how to…
- I need to learn more about…
- For projects, give each student a copy of the rubric when the assignment is given. Ask them to fill it out and submit it with the project. There could also be a place on the rubric for students to reflect on their projects with prompts such as
- This is a quality project because…
- From doing this project I learned…
- To make this project better, I could…
- Our study team could have improved our work by…
Honest self-assessment and reflection are difficult processes, even for adults. But they are valuable tools for developing lifelong learners.
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rongyos/2686415336/
My middle school students frequently ask me “Is this right?” or “What should I do now?” How can I help them become more self-reliant?
Jocelyn, Georgia
Involving families in early childhood science education
By Peggy Ashbrook
Posted on 2012-02-04
An elementary school PTA veteran observed to me, “If you want families to come to school, serve food or have their child take part in a performance.” This advice goes for preschool too! Serving food makes it easier for families to participate together and seeing their child in action gives families what might be a rare look at what happens at school. Some families can come in at lunchtime—ask them to spend another 15 minutes with their child in the classroom observing the class pet, reading a book aloud, or at a science station.
A “Science Night” or “Science Saturday” opens a different time slot for the same purpose—to connect families to their child’s education. These social gatherings can be relatively simple, with stations such as leaf rubbings, making a seed sprouting bag to take home, spinning and comparing tops, and building castles on a piece of cardboard that won’t fall over when the “ground” shakes. Follow up the action with a pizza and fruit dinner or just an ice cream social. The Foundation for Family Science and Engineering has two publications with very detailed lists of how to prepare for a more elaborate Family Science (and/or) Engineering Night, with instructions for activities to challenge older children too. Take a look at Family Science and Family Engineering: An Activity & Event Planning Guide.
Technology allows teachers to share science learning outside of school hours with any family with access to a computer. PreK teacher Gail Laubenthal built a wiki (a website database), titled Using the Latest Technology to Support Young Children in Science and Math for teachers to share their’ work in using technology in the classroom and to connect to families. Explore the wiki, beginning with the “Agenda” on the right side, to learn about technologies that you can use. Other teachers use school websites or blogs to connect families to school learning, such as Deborah J. Stewart’s Teach Preschool blog.
Are you a teacher who sends home a science activity for the student to do with family members? The data collected by each student can be put together back in the classroom to see if there are any patterns, such as, “How did family members describe the cornstarch and water mixture in the bag—as a liquid or solid?” or “What happens to light when it falls on a mirrored surface?” Read about an example activity in The Early Years column in the February 2012 Science and Children.
Or explore this list of other resources to find a take-home science activity for your class:
Exploratorium, museum of science, art and human perception, The Science Explorer excerpts
http://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/secret_bells.html
National Science Teachers Association. April 2009. Parent Involvement in Science Learning.
http://www.familyscience.org/pdfs/PositionStatement_ParentInvolvement.pdf
Questacon. Science Play: Play-based science activities for early learners. Australian Government, Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.
http://scienceplay.questacon.edu.au/assets/scienceplay_booklet.pdf
Scientific American. Bring Science Home activities for families
http://www.scientificamerican.com/section.cfm?id=bring-science-home
WGBH Educational Foundation, Family Science and Math letters in English and Spanish
http://www.peepandthebigwideworld.com/guide/pdf/peep-family-letters.pdf
http://www.peepandthebigwideworld.com/guide/pdf/peep-family-letters_es.pdf
WGBH Educational Foundation, Neighborhood Safari
http://www.peepandthebigwideworld.com/printables/pdf/Peep_safari_parentsguide.pdf
WGBH Educational Foundation, Peep in the Big Wide World Explorer’s Guide
http://www.peepandthebigwideworld.com/guide/
Other articles in the February 2012 issue of Science and Children are great resources for developing a connection with families:
Science Sacks by Kimberlee Freudenberg and Lab With Dad by Brenda Havers and Karen Delmotte.
I send an email to the families of my students once a week to touch on the work their children did and invite their participation. Send a photograph or two, if you can, to entice the families to open up and read the email!
Peggy
An elementary school PTA veteran observed to me, “If you want families to come to school, serve food or have their child take part in a performance.” This advice goes for preschool too! Serving food makes it easier for families to participate together and seeing their child in action gives families what might be a rare look at what happens at school.
The digital textbooks have landed!
By Martin Horejsi
Posted on 2012-02-02
The launch of a formal, deliberate, across the board attempt to produce digital textbooks has arrived. Not just digital version of paper texts. Not just .pdf pages mimicking textbooks. Not just webpages trying to walk like a textbook. No, this is a sincere attempt to redefine the concept and use of a textbook firmly planted in the spirit of the digital. This means the strengths of a digital text are maximized while the weaknesses of such a thing are minimized.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6HeyTldraw[/youtube]
The digital textbook has been around for as long as our digital imagination, which for me has been several decades. The list of challenges to making functional digital texts is lengthy, and by no means have all the items on the list been crossed out. But today we are closer than ever especially now that some serious weight, money and most importantly commitment has been thrown behind the effort.
On January 19th, Apple launched several products designed to make digital textbooks not only a physical reality, but also a reality across multiple dimensions. First, there is iBooks 2, the primary vehicle for serving up the content to student eyeballs and ears. Second, there is iBooks Author, a free Mac desktop computer application for designing digital texts. Third, the bookstore in iTunes has a dedicated virtual shelf for digital textbooks. And finally, a formidable trio of major textbook publishers has jumped into the Apple digital textbook ecosystem with both feet.
While the iBookstore textbook shelves are pretty thin right now, the content that is available is promising, and will no doubt cause a conceptual redefinition of what a textbook actually is, as well as the expectations student will hold when they arrive to class. A Volume Purchase Program is also in the works so some of the current paradigms of buying digital content will shift as well.
One free digital textbook example that is available is E. O. Wilson’s Life on Earth. At the moment only the first few chapters have been created, but within those pages exist a magical expression of what textbooks could become, well, maybe are in this case. Life on Earth on an iPad held in the portrait position (vertical) produces more of a book-like presentation with 2/3 of the screen in text-heavy scrolling. Simply rotating the device 90 degrees to landscape completely changes the relationship between the words and visuals. Instantly graphics, pictures, videos, and JavaScript or HTML widgets take precedence with the text wrapping around the objects. Using a two-finger pinch-out gesture fills the screen with the imagery. A simple two-finger pinch-in shrinks the visual back to a conventional size. Landscape view also makes the movement through content in a page-turning simulation rather than the scrolling of portrait.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr076C_ty_M[/youtube]
The free application program used to make digital books that play well in iBooks is called simply iBook Author. It has the look of a word processor and the buttons of a website building tool. Taking the software for a spin around the block, I couldn’t help but wonder how long it will take before schools, districts, or even organizations like NSTA collaborate on a grand scale to produce a textbook in a fraction of the time normally afforded to such tasks. Imagine 10 or 50 or 500 teachers each contributing a small but stunningly high quality slice of a digital text. Almost over night, a book perfect for the task goes from a floating light bulb above someone’s head to a complete and completely downloadable textbook. And should an error be found in the book, it can be fixed with an update just like we do almost daily with our other software.
As with many tech-driven changes in the educational ecosystem, digital textbooks will likely have as many unintended outcomes as intended ones. The entry of real digital (oxymoron?) textbooks will be a fun transition to watch, and as a teacher, even more fun to be a participant.
The launch of a formal, deliberate, across the board attempt to produce digital textbooks has arrived. Not just digital version of paper texts. Not just .pdf pages mimicking textbooks. Not just webpages trying to walk like a textbook. No, this is a sincere attempt to redefine the concept and use of a textbook firmly planted in the spirit of the digital. This means the strengths of a digital text are maximized while the weaknesses of such a thing are minimized.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6HeyTldraw[/youtube]
Chapters and Associated Groups: Know your corporate status!
By Teshia Birts, CAE
Posted on 2012-02-01
I want to remind chapter and associated group leaders about the importance of a corporate status. This may be a no-brainer to some, but many organization leaders confuse this with the tax-exempt status (i.e., 501(c)3, 501(c)6, etc.) There is really no connection between these two.
The process for becoming a formal non-profit, professional or trade organization typically involves obtaining an Employee Identification Number (EIN) which eventually becomes the organization’s Tax Identification Number (TIN) (once granted tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service).
During that same time, most leaders/staff also work on having the organization become a recognized business entity in their state (or in another state with the help of a registered agent, but that’s a different blog post). This process typically involves (1) completing an application for incorporation and (2) paying a registration fee when the application is filed.
Information regarding the forms, where to submit them and filing fees can ordinarily be found on the state’s Secretary of State or Corporate Commission website.
This part of the process is relatively easy and painless. In fact, most states have gone completely electronic with this procedure. The problem that I come across working with many smaller organizations is submitting the follow-up reports AFTER they have been incorporated. You see, in order to maintain that corporate status, you must file regular reports letting the state know your organization continues to function as a business. This is the opportunity for them to collect updated information on your organization as well (e.g., officer, business address, etc.) Many states also collect a fee each time the report is filed (which may be annually, biennially, etc.)
Submitting these annual reports is important – if you don’t, your organization runs the risk of having its corporate status suspended or removed.
Why is all of this important anyway? Because having that “corporate covering” is the first line of defense for lawsuits brought against your officers, members and staff. Many underwriters for directors and officers’ insurance, general liability insurance or event cancellation insurance won’t issue policies to unincorporated entities. Some vendors like hotels and resorts will not conduct business with them either.
Many states do very well in sending reminders several weeks before annual reports are due, but if your association contact changes frequently or if you just aren’t sure, do some research on your state’s Secretary of State or Corporate Commissions website. Better to be safe than sorry!
I want to remind chapter and associated group leaders about the importance of a corporate status. This may be a no-brainer to some, but many organization leaders confuse this with the tax-exempt status (i.e., 501(c)3, 501(c)6, etc.) There is really no connection between these two.
The process for becoming a formal non-profit, professional or trade organization typically involves obtaining an Employee Identification Number (EIN) which eventually becomes the organization’s Tax Identification Number (TIN) (once granted tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service).