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When it’s just not possible to take students out to explore the natural world, bring the natural world to the classroom. Clearly organized and easy to use, this helpful guide contains more than 50 science lessons in six units: Greening the School, Insects, Plants, Rocks and Soils, Water, and In the Sky. All lessons include objectives, materials lists, procedures, reproducible data sheets, ideas for adapting to different grade levels, discussion questions, and next steps.

When it’s just not possible to take students out to explore the natural world, bring the natural world to the classroom. Clearly organized and easy to use, this helpful guide contains more than 50 science lessons in six units: Greening the School, Insects, Plants, Rocks and Soils, Water, and In the Sky. All lessons include objectives, materials lists, procedures, reproducible data sheets, ideas for adapting to different grade levels, discussion questions, and next steps.

BOOK ONLY EVO Teachers Guide: Ten Questions Everyone Should Ask About Evolution

Draw on the wit and wisdom of brilliant scientists to inspire your students as you teach them about a challenging area of biology. This teacher’s guide, which accompanies the EVO DVD, is structured around 10 fundamental questions about biological evolution. The teachers guide explores the DVD’s commentary from some of the world’s most well-known biologists, who gathered on the Galápagos Islands during a World Summit on Evolution and were interviewed about everything from what evolution is to how it happens to why anyone should care.

Draw on the wit and wisdom of brilliant scientists to inspire your students as you teach them about a challenging area of biology. This teacher’s guide, which accompanies the EVO DVD, is structured around 10 fundamental questions about biological evolution. The teachers guide explores the DVD’s commentary from some of the world’s most well-known biologists, who gathered on the Galápagos Islands during a World Summit on Evolution and were interviewed about everything from what evolution is to how it happens to why anyone should care.

You Want Me to Teach What? Sure-Fire Methods for Teaching Physical Science and Math

Problem: You feel shaky about being assigned to teach upper-level science and math and need to get up to speed—fast. Solution: Follow this concise book’s tried-and-true methods, which you can integrate into your classroom and lesson plans starting from the first day of class.

Problem: You feel shaky about being assigned to teach upper-level science and math and need to get up to speed—fast. Solution: Follow this concise book’s tried-and-true methods, which you can integrate into your classroom and lesson plans starting from the first day of class.

DVD ONLY EVO: Ten Questions Everyone Should Ask About Evolution

Draw on the wit and wisdom of brilliant scientists to inspire your students as you teach them about a challenging area of biology. This teacher’s guide, which accompanies the EVO DVD, is structured around 10 fundamental questions about biological evolution. The teachers guide explores the DVD’s commentary from some of the world’s most well-known biologists, who gathered on the Galápagos Islands during a World Summit on Evolution and were interviewed about everything from what evolution is to how it happens to why anyone should care.
Draw on the wit and wisdom of brilliant scientists to inspire your students as you teach them about a challenging area of biology. This teacher’s guide, which accompanies the EVO DVD, is structured around 10 fundamental questions about biological evolution. The teachers guide explores the DVD’s commentary from some of the world’s most well-known biologists, who gathered on the Galápagos Islands during a World Summit on Evolution and were interviewed about everything from what evolution is to how it happens to why anyone should care.
 

Setting up lab activities

By Mary Bigelow

Posted on 2012-02-28

I’m a new teacher with six classes: four biology and two ecology. The teacher’s manual for my textbooks in these subjects have many interesting lab activities, but I am having difficulty selecting and organizing them. I feel like I live at school! Do you have any suggestions?
–Tony from Illinois
There’s no way around it—the first year is a challenge for new teachers. You’re dealing with content and curriculum, classroom management, lab management, assessments, technology, and developing your routines and your own style of teaching. But it does get better the second year and beyond.
In terms of choosing which activities to do, consult your school’s curriculum for the learning goals for a given topic. Some curriculum documents also include suggested activities. Then select activities that will help students meet the learning goals (and you’re not limited to the textbook—for example, NSTA’s SciLinks has teacher-oriented websites with activities on hundreds of topics.). Also look for activities that provide opportunities for enrichment and additional exploration.
Make sure the students can do the activity safely in your classroom/lab. I found it helpful to go through a new activity prior to class from a student’s perspective to identify any possible concerns. No matter how interesting it seems, you should not include any activity that cannot be done safely. For those, you could substitute a simulation or video.

In an ideal setting, your classes in each subject would meet back-to-back, with a planning period in between. But most of us who have taught multiple subjects rarely have an ideal setting. Rather than trying to take down and set up activities several times during the day, try to schedule your labs in each subject on different days.
On lab days, it’s helpful to establish routines for students to access and return needed materials. Plastic boxes, trays, or dish tubs can become your best friends for distributing and collecting materials. Have one for each lab group, label it (e.g., Group 1, Group 2), and require each team use the box with their label. Since you have two subjects, it would be helpful to have two sets, each a different color so it’s easy for you and your students to recognize which set is for which subject. Use these containers to organize the materials for an activity—thermometers, glass slides, calculators, handouts, rulers, markers, beakers. Prepare ahead of time so that one student from each group can get the box and they’re ready to go. I also included an index card “inventory” in each box so students knew what was to be returned. Save the cards to use the next time you do the lesson. I also put a summary of safety issues on the card as a reminder of what we discussed prior to the activity.
A few minutes before the end of the period, your routine should include the students referring to the card to organize the materials. Before dismissing the class, you can do a quick inspection to see that everything is in the box and determine if anything should be replenished. You may need to model these routines at first, but once students have internalized them, clean-up is much easier.
If the lab requires any equipment or materials that could be potentially dangerous if they were to leave the room, have the students return it to you in person. (My seventh-graders were very trustworthy, but I still collected any forceps, scissors, or scalpels myself.)
Take a photo of a box that is set up for class and save it with your lesson plan. Add a section at the beginning of your lesson plan in which you list the materials you need. Even if the lesson does not include a lab activity, knowing what you’ll need ahead of time is a timesaver. After the lesson, annotate your plan with any changes you would make.
Store any specialized materials for an activity in a labeled box or plastic bag, ready for the next time you do it. Be sure that any chemicals are returned to their designated places in the storeroom.
Even veteran teachers sometimes feel like they live at school, as they redesign lessons, try out new activities, or update their assessments. Science teachers already work hard; we also need to work smart with thoughtful planning, organization, and reflection.
 
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/40964293@N07/4018106328/

I’m a new teacher with six classes: four biology and two ecology. The teacher’s manual for my textbooks in these subjects have many interesting lab activities, but I am having difficulty selecting and organizing them. I feel like I live at school! Do you have any suggestions?
–Tony from Illinois

Available February 15, 2012
Available February 15, 2012

Connecting With Nature: A Naturalist's Perspective

One of my earliest memories is of a warm day, a field with many grasshoppers, a shallow creek with cold water, and the joy of a day in the hills with my parents. My dad had gone fishing and I was free to wander about nearby. It was summer in the Gray Pines foothills of the Sierra Nevada, near Chico, California, where I was born. Along the creek I found a turtle! I had hoped someday to have one as a pet. I ran with the wondrous creature cradled in my hands to show my mom.
One of my earliest memories is of a warm day, a field with many grasshoppers, a shallow creek with cold water, and the joy of a day in the hills with my parents. My dad had gone fishing and I was free to wander about nearby. It was summer in the Gray Pines foothills of the Sierra Nevada, near Chico, California, where I was born. Along the creek I found a turtle! I had hoped someday to have one as a pet. I ran with the wondrous creature cradled in my hands to show my mom.
 

Astronomy

By Mary Bigelow

Posted on 2012-02-22

Table of Contents


February 20, 1962 – Many of our NSTA members and colleagues weren’t even born then! But it was an unforgettable event as my friends and I watched John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. There was no Internet at the time and no live Tweets—just classrooms of students huddled around black and white television sets to watch this historic event in real time. The potential of space travel became more real, and many of us dreamed of becoming astronauts, astronomers, or engineers. (John Glenn made his second space flight in 1988 at age 77!)
In this issue of Science Scope, there are many ideas to build on students’ interest in the solar system and astronomy.
Some interdisciplinary activities I’ve seen appear superficial or contrived. But the authors of Exploring the Solar System: Let the Math Teachers Help (three of whom are math teachers) show that big ideas in math, science, and engineering can be addressed in a study of distance and scale in the solar system. There is a day-by-day schedule and examples of data sheets. [SciLinks: Solar System, Inner Planets, Outer Planets] The vast distances in space are hard for students to comprehend. Outward Bound to the Galaxies—One Step at a Time has suggestions and resources for activities that help students with this concept. [SciLinks: Galaxies, Telescopes]
The “reasons for the seasons” is one of the misconceptions that students (and many adults) have. Springing Into Inquiry–Using Student Ideas to Investigate Seasons describes how to use student ideas and curiosity to deal with misconceptions through inquiry. The authors describe the before-and-after thinking of students and note that “inquiry does not mean giving students an activity; rather it involves their mental immersion into the science curriculum.” [SciLinks: Seasons, Science Misconceptions] Reflecting on Students’ Misconceptions About Light also provides suggestions for dealing with student misunderstandings.  [SciLinks: Light, Light and Color]

The moon and its phases are another source of student misconceptions. The author of  A Sun-Earth-Moon Activity to Develop Student Understanding of Lunar Phases and Frames of Reference has suggestions for getting students up and moving to explore frames of reference and to clear up misunderstandings. [SciLinks: Moon Phases]
During a lunar eclipse a few years ago, I set up a telescope on the pavement in front of my house. Within a few minutes, there was an impromptu party as neighborhood kids (and adults) were intrigued by a close-up look. National Astronomy Day (This year on April 28, 2012) suggests 24 learning stations that focus on the sun, moon, and planets and are appropriate for students and their families. [SciLInks: Astronomy]
Science Teachers, We Have Digital Academic Liftoff! describes the many resources provided by NSTA Learning Center to improve teacher content knowledge and process skills. The article includes a description of the resources of NSTA Learning Center, NSTA publications, and a list of resources from NASA. Speaking of NSTA publications—check out the January edition of Science&Children and its articles related to Earth, Moon, Sun.  Many of the ideas in these articles could be adapted  for middle school.
In a recent email to the EarthScience Listserve, Bob Riddle, who writes the monthly Scope on the Skies column, gives us a heads-up about a citizen science project that integrates technology with sky watching:

Given the mild winter weather that we have been enjoying will make it even easier to participate as a citizen-scientist in the GLOBE at Night project to preserve dark skies. The GLOBE at Night project is a global effort to raise awareness of the impact of light pollution by inviting citizen-scientists to measure their night sky brightness by counting the visible stars within the constellation of either Orion the Hunter or Leo the Lion. The observation should be made during the evening hours and only during certain weeks including this week and two other weeks this winter and spring. The star count observation is then reported to the Globe at Night website from a computer or smart phone. Last year participants made more than 66,000 observations from 115 countries.

I encourage the readers to join others around the world by participating in the Globe at Night campaign this year. Not only will you contribute relevant data to this global investigation but you may also find that spending some time outside looking at our starry sky is a rather pleasant past time. For more information about the project or light pollution please visit the Globe at Night web site. 

Table of Contents

 

February's most-popular resources in the NSTA Science Store

By Claire Reinburg

Posted on 2012-02-22

Most Popular NSTA Press Books

  1. Science the “Write” Way
  2. Doing Good Science in Middle School: A Practical Guide to Inquiry-Based Instruction
  3. Picture-Perfect Science Lessons, Expanded 2nd Edition: Using Children’s Books to Guide Inquiry, 3-6
  4. STEM Student Research Handbook
  5. Science Stories: Using Case Studies to Teach Critical Thinking

Most Popular NSTA Press e-Books and e-Chapters

  1. The NSTA Reader’s Guide to A Framework for K–12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas (e-book)
  2. The Nature of Science and Science Inquiry (e-chapter)
  3. BSCS 5E Instructional Model (e-chapter)
  4. Why Read Pictures Books in Science Class? (e-book)
  5. The Virus Debate (e-chapter)

Most Popular NSTA Journal Articles

  1. A Sun-Earth-Moon Activity to Develop Student Understanding of Lunar Phases and Frames of Reference
  2. Bringing Antarctica Home
  3. Springing Into Inquiry: Using Student Ideas to Investigate Seasons
  4. Designing Design Challenges: Getting the Details Right
  5. Mendel’s Modern Legacy

Most Popular NSTA Press Books

 

Getting families involved

By Mary Bigelow

Posted on 2012-02-18

S&C February 2012


I get a little concerned about family science nights that are not much more than whiz-bang, dazzling “experiments” done by the teachers with the parents and students watching as an audience and little connection to what is happening in the classroom. After such an event, I wonder what the take-away idea is for parents who might not have a strong background in science?
Fortunately, this issue has some great ideas for teachers who want to get parents (and guardians, grandparents, older siblings, relatives, family friends, and caregivers–any important adults in a child’s life) actively involved in enjoyable explorations in science–at school events, at home, or in the community.
There are some great suggestions for a Weekend Science Project. The author created backpacks that students could check out to use at home on weekends. The backpacks included materials that students and their families could use to explore aquatic environments (a list of contents is included). The students had already used the materials in a class study, and they were encouraged to share what they learned with their families. (I do volunteer work at a nature center. I’m going to suggest something similar–Thanks!)  [SciLinks: Water Quality]

Science Sacks describes a similar program, in which teachers and parent volunteers created take-home kits on a variety of topics related to the curriculum. The parents were introduced to the sacks on Back to School Night and were informed of safety issues. Students record their activities in their class journal. It’s Tradition describes how a family science night has evolved into an event in many schools and takes advantage of community resources. Students and families have a variety of events and activities to choose from.
I wonder how these would work in a school that does not have a lot of resources or where the parents are not as able to volunteer or attend evening sessions, whose home language is not English, or who are struggling with economic or medical issues? Several articles have suggestions.
I know of a school where take-home kits in science (as well as reading, the arts, math, and social studies) are created and assembled by high school students. Send-Home Science has suggestions for starting small and offers suggestions for activities that do not require a lot of materials. There is also a good suggestion for including the directions in other languages.
Lab with Dad describes an evening event for students and their dads (or other adults). They paired up to complete activities derived from the Science Olympiad or activities in the field of forensics. [SciLinks: Forensic Science] If you teach older students, Never Too Cool for School has ideas for engaging them and their parents in afterschool or evening explorations. The author shares many ideas for topics and activities appropriate for these students.
What do launching rockets, building compressed-air cars, kite design and testing, solar energy, and electric motors have in common? They were all activities in the STEM Day in the Park. Perhaps this article could be shared with local parks and recreation personnel, who are often looking for family-day events? [SciLinks: Rockets]
Reinventing the Bridge uses teams of students and guests apply their engineering skills to fine-tune the design of a bridge. Usually the guest was a parent, but the authors note that older students, other teachers, or community members could also be involved. [Scilinks: The Science of Bridges]
I was in New Orleans for an NSTA conference, and one evening I noticed one of the buskers in Jackson Square had set up a telescope. For 25 cents, he would offer a close-up glimpse of the moon or a look at the moons of Jupiter or the rings of Saturn. People were lined up down the block! So an astronomy night (as described in Aligning the Stars] might get families lined up for your event. The authors provide suggestions for planning and hosting an event. [SciLinks: Stars]  Does the Moon Still Matter? encourages students to observe the phases of the moon (and I’ll never see Oreo cookies without thinking of the photograph with this article!). This could be a nice activity to model at a Science Night, too. [SciLinks: Phases of the Moon] Astronomy is a popular topic this year–Take a look at Earth, Moon, Sun (S&C, January 2012) and Astronomy (Science Scope, February 2012)
Bringing Antarctica Home  describes a virtual experience for students and their families, with guidelines for setting up similar ones. What about involving student and families in the many citizen science activities? [SciLinks: Polar Climates] The authors these afterschool events are a good supplement to the classroom (and sometimes there just isn’t enough time during the day). Other citizen science projects may be appropriate for students and their families, such as NASA’s Students’ Cloud Observations On-Line (S’COOL), Project BudBurst,  Journey North, Hummingbird.net,  MonarchWatch, Great Backyard Bird Count, and Project Feederwatch.
For more ideas on planning a family night, see NSTA Reports Making a Night of Science. And I wonder, has anyone used probes such as Seeing the Light as a take-home activity for children and parents/caregivers to explore?
As always, there are articles with background information on key topics: How does the human eye work? [SciLinks: Eye] and What’s the Matter [SciLinks: Matter]
And check out more Connections for this issue (February 2012). 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.
 

S&C February 2012

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