JoinMotivating and engaging students
By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2011-09-16
Click here for the Table of Contents
“The most engaging tool of all is an enthusiastic teacher who provides high, clear expectations and connects with students on a personal level. Good teaching is good teaching, even today.” This quote from the Editor’s Corner sums up what has always been true, regardless of the current distractions and free-time options that students have. Who remembers the discussions in the mid-20th century about the (negative) effects of television on learning? Or had parents who couldn’t understand how kids could do homework with music playing on the radio or (gasp!) record player? So the 2011 student on the cover with a laptop and smart phone has technology that’s been kicked up quite a few notches, but there have always been perceived distractions.
I’ve found that motivation comes from within an individual. As a teacher I could threaten, reward, or plead with students for compliance, but the ultimate decision to participate was up to the student. The article What Students Really Want in Science Class describes a study in which students “want” the following: hands-on activities, active and interactive learning, being treated as people, and “stories” (narratives that connect content and show its relevance). This article dovetails with Teaching and Assessing the Nature of Science—these would make interesting reading at a department meeting or inservice event. (And I’d second the suggestion for the Understanding Science website for more on the nature of science.)
In a focus group that I conducted with high school students, they said the worst thing they did in class is copy notes from the board. They felt they learned best from class discussions, working together, and projects that allowed them to use their problem-solving skills and creativity. One student noted “We might moan about doing a project or having a discussion, but don’t take us seriously…we like them.” I also asked if they ever thought a topic in science was going to be boring, only to find that it was really interesting. The all said yes, and I asked what changed their minds. Virtually every student said it was something the teacher did that made the topic or the activity compelling for them.
The students also noted that they liked to work together. They may need some modeling and guidance on how to do that, and technology described in Science 2.0: Science Teaching and “the Cloud” could facilitate collaboration across geography and time. Many of the Web 2.0 tools foster online collaboration—the article describes Drop Box and Google Docs for sharing files collaboratively. No need to paste and download versions in emails.
Students also like to show their creativity with interesting projects. Adopt-a-Dino capitalizes on the interest students have in these animals (the topic of paleontology is not must just for elementary students) with examples of student projects and presentations (the photos, handouts, and rubrics are very helpful). [SciLinks: Dinosaurs]
Rather than competing with popular culture, I’ll Bring the Popcorn has ideas for analyzing popular move clips for the science (or lack of science) in them. The author describes several movie scenes and offers suggestions for the appropriate use of these in class. I suspect that once students start looking at films through a science lens, they’ll be able to suggest additional examples. Avatar in the Science Classroom gets even more specific—designing a dream ecosystem. The authors include suggestions for this creative project as well as rubrics for assessing what students are learning. [SciLinks: Ecosystems]
Don’t forget to look at the Connections for this issue (September 2011). Even if the article does not quite fit with your lesson agenda, this resource has ideas for handouts, background information sheets, data sheets, rubrics, etc.
Click here for the Table of Contents
STEM classroom activities
By Claire Reinburg
Posted on 2011-09-15
The July 2011 release of the Framework for K-12 Science Education, from the National Academies, places new emphasis on the topic of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in the discussion of K–12 education priorities. The Framework recommends building science education in grades K–12 around three major dimensions: scientific and engineering practices; cross-cutting concepts that unify the study of science and engineering; and core ideas in four disciplinary areas (physical sciences; life sciences; Earth and space sciences; and engineering, technology, and the application of science). The September 2011 issue of NSTA’s Book Beat anticipates this growing emphasis on STEM education by highlighting lessons that can help science teachers demonstrate to students—in ways both fun and enlightening—the strong connections among science, technology, and engineering. Included in the issue are links to free lessons like “Imaginative Inventions” from More Picture-Perfect Science Lessons (grades K–4), which helps students explore the invention process and then test toys with both fun and safety in mind. Middle and high school students can delve into the intriguing study of science at the nanoscale through the free lesson “Nanomedicine” from Nanoscale Science: Activities for Grades 6-12, by Gail Jones and colleagues. Nanotechnology has opened the door for medical applications that work at the molecular level to diagnose, treat, and prevent disease. In the “Nanomedicine” activity, students investigate through the use of gelatin-based cell models how nanotechnology is being used to treat cancer without harming the surrounding tissue. There’s also a free e-book offer and a preview chapter of the new NSTA Press book STEM Student Research Handbook. Read this month’s issue of NSTA’s Book Beat to download these STEM-related resources and more.
The July 2011 release of the Framework for K-12 Science Education, from the National Academies, places new emphasis on the topic of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in the discussion of K–12 educ
Chemistry of soap and detergents
By admin
Posted on 2011-09-14
Slippery, slathery, sparkly soap. We squirt a dollop on our hands, rub it in timed to the birthday song, rinse off, and our hands are squeaky clean. But what is soap, and why does it work?
Soaps first appeared in recorded history several thousand years ago, and undoubtedly, the substance was around for some time before that. These early soaps were rendered from ashes and animal fats, and creating soap was a household chore. Eventually, in the seventh century in Europe, artisans took on the task of producing it, and later still in the 18th century, the industrial production of soap began.
When used for cleaning, soap acts as a surfactant in conjunction with water. Soap cleans thanks to micelles, tiny spheres coated on the outside with polar hydrophilic (water loving) groups, which create a lipophilic (fat loving) pocket around the grease particles, which disperses the grease in the water. The lipophilic portion is made up of the long hydrocarbon chain from the fatty acid. Though normally oil and water do not mix, the addition of soap allows oils to disperse in water and be rinsed away. Synthetic detergents operate by similar mechanisms to soap.
The fall release of the weekly, online, video series “Chemistry Now” is under way, and we’re starting with surfactants (soap, detergent) as a source of interesting video and lessons. As we’ve written before, please view the video, try the lessons, and let us know what you think.
Photo: Katie Weilbacher
Through the Chemistry Now series, NSTA and NBC Learn have teamed up with the National Science Foundation (NSF) to create lessons related to common, physical objects in our world and the changes they undergo every day. The series also looks at the lives and work of scientists on the frontiers of 21st century chemistry.
Video: The video “It’s a Wash: The Chemistry of Soap” explains how soap and detergents — surfactants — affect the surface tension of H2O to break up dirt, especially greasy dirt. We also profile 21st Century Chemist Facundo Fernandez at Georgia Tech, who uses chemistry to detect dangerous or ineffective fake pharmaceutical drugs and medicines.
Middle school lesson: In Mixing the Immiscible, students observe the interaction of immiscible liquids by designing an experiment to test the action of surfactants. They compare the results of adding various surfactants to a mixture of immiscible liquids, use their data and observations to discuss why some liquids are immiscible in other liquids, and come to understand how surfactants work.
High school lesson: In Getting Clean, students observe the interaction of immiscible liquids, compare the results of adding various surfactants to a mixture of immiscible liquids, and explore how soaps clean.
You can use the following form to e-mail us edited versions of the lesson plans:
[contact-form 2 “ChemNow]
Slippery, slathery, sparkly soap. We squirt a dollop on our hands, rub it in timed to the birthday song, rinse off, and our hands are squeaky clean. But what is soap, and why does it work?
The American Jobs Act and science labs
By Francis Eberle
Posted on 2011-09-12
NSTA Executive Director Francis Eberle
Last week President Obama introduced his new American Jobs Act, which included provisions that will impact schools, teachers and, specifically, science labs.
A press release on the American Jobs Act claims that “as many as 280,000 education jobs are on the chopping block in the upcoming school year. These cuts could have a significant impact on children’s education, through the reduction of school days, increased class size, and the elimination of key classes and services. The president’s plan will support state and local efforts to retain, rehire and hire early childhood, elementary and secondary educators (including teachers, guidance counselors, classroom assistants, after-school personnel, tutors, and literacy and math coaches). These efforts will help ensure that schools are able to keep teachers in the classroom, preserve or extend the regular school day and school year, and continue to support important after-school activities.”
The President proposes to spend $30 billion to prevent layoffs of up to 280,000 teachers and $25 billion for school infrastructure, which includes modernization and/or development of science labs. We all know it is economically tough time right now, and these are pretty big numbers. The President’s proposals are meant to address both short and a long term strategies. While no one wants to see teachers out of work, I think including education in a jobs bill can be confusing to many. Here’s why.
The President often speaks about his long-term goal to invest in our country’s future by putting money into the education infrastructure that prepares the U.S. future workforce Most agree that science, technology, engineering and mathematics education drives a major part of U.S. economic development.
In the short term the proposed funding from this plan will help some teachers keep their positions because the tax dollars and tax revenues used to support teacher salaries have been low for a third year in a row. Many school systems are operating at a 2008 budget level.
Yet In recent months Congress has been vigorously debating the vision for the country, a debate that largely centers on whose taxes can be cut or what program or budget reductions can be made. The irony of this approach is that it can lead to even less tax revenues and there will be more layoffs. (I know I am being political, but it is hard not to being here in D.C.)
I am curious, do you know of any science and technology teachers who are being or have been laid off recently? And what shape are your labs in, are labs something we should be investing in now? Let me hear your stories about whether we need to modernize science labs and classroom internet capabilities? What stories do you have from schools or individuals that would help to justify the President’s proposal?
NSTA Executive Director Francis Eberle
After the lab…
By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2011-09-12
Click here for the Table of Contents
I once heard a teacher say “My students are so busy, they don’t have time to think.” It’s easy to get caught up in the procedure of an activity, but as the articles in this issue suggest, the real value of an inquiry investigation goes beyond the procedure to the processes of analyzing, questioning, reflecting, and communicating. Students at the middle level probably need guidance and modeling in order to develop these processes, and the articles in this month’s issue have helpful ideas.
Our students may see many examples of arguing, but the articles Fostering Argumentation Skills: Doing What Scientists Really Do and The Multiple Faces of Argument in School Science describe how to introduce students to the concepts and strategies used in supporting their claims with evidence. [For related articles on argumentation see the article Generate an Argument: An Instructional Model from the July 2010 Science Teacher and the Argumentation in Science issue of Science & Children.
Science has many terms that can be confusing and understanding the nuances of terminology is important. The article Data Versus Evidence: Investigating the Difference uses a “murder mystery” to help students understand that “All evidence requires data, but not all data need to be used as evidence.” [SciLinks: Forensic Science]
The authors of After the Lab: Learning Begins When Cleanup Starts show how the “gallery walks” that are often part of professional development sessions can be used by students to share their results with their peers. There are checklists and suggestions for this “walking and talking” style of communication.
Generating Discourse with Cookie and Doughnut Investigations uses cookies and pastries in a lesson on questioning and consumer claims, with a caveat about eating in labs. This month’s Scope on Safety column, Food For Thought, But Not For Eating, also makes the point that science labs are not proper places for investigations with foods (in cases where students will eat the foods), for using food as treats or rewards, or even in situations where students are expected to eat lunch in classrooms. [SciLinks: Laboratory Safety]
Developing Intuitive Reasoning with Graphs to Support Science Arguments is a long title for a good article on the value of graphs as tools for analysis and communication. But this is another area in which middle level students might need some guidance and support (as described in the article). A resource for graphing is Create-a-graph from National Center for Educational Statistics, which guides students through the process of choosing an appropriate type of graph and organizing the data for it.
Other columns and articles in this issue refer to content topics that the SciLinks database supports with websites that would support the content or include additional activities:
Teaching the Combined Gas Law
[SciLinks: Gas Laws (5-8), Gas Behavior/Gas Laws, Gas Laws (9-12), Robert Boyle]
A Breath of Fresh Air: Addressing Indoor Air Quality
[SciLinks: Radon, Indoor Air Pollution, Carbon Monoxide, Lead Poisoning]
Scope on the Skies: In the Middle
[SciLinks: Reasons for the Seasons, Seasons]
Click here for the Table of Contents
Science of natural disasters, for young children
By Peggy Ashbrook
Posted on 2011-09-11
With ten-plus inches of rain, even fenceposts sprout with fungus.
An earthquake (my first ever experienced), the edge of hurricane Irene’s winds, and unending rain (over 10 inches in the last two weeks) brought flooding, downed trees, and rampant fungus growth—is this an auspicious beginning to fall? One nearby county has already had an “excessive precipitation” day (not due to snow, the roads were flooded). The teachers I work with here in the Washington, D.C. area, like teachers everywhere, are nothing if not resourceful—when a failed sump pump allowed rainwater to seep into the classroom, a preschool teacher took her students to their designated shelter-in-place location, the church building next door. While doing the back-to-school review of emergency plans (what to do in case of tornado, shelter-in-place scenario, and fire) another school realized they now have to add “earthquake plan” to the list.
Never fear, Science and Children is here, with a Teaching Through Tradebooks column on “Earthquake!” a lesson plan pairing a book to read aloud with a science activity. And the NSTA Recommends service, which reviews trade books, came up with over 30 titles when I searched for “disaster.” Jump into Science: Earthquakes by Ellen J. Prager with illustrations by Susan Greenstein (2007, National Geographic Children’s Books) and Earthquakes by Seymour Simon (2006, HarperCollins) are not not on the list but they are written for young children. (Not every good book can be reviewed for NSTA Recommends.) Can you recommend a book about earthquakes for children ages 4-8? Will children be unnecessarily frightened by books with illustrations showing major earthquake damage? In a National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) brochure on helping children cope with natural disasters or violent experiences, Jane M. Farish offers the advice that “More than any other action, avoiding media coverage will protect children from confusing and disturbing images.”
Diversity in people can be seen in the visitors at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.
Peggy
With ten-plus inches of rain, even fenceposts sprout with fungus.
Models, and maps, and spatial understanding
By Peggy Ashbrook
Posted on 2011-09-09
Teaching spatial awareness is part of most early childhood standards, such as the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework (Understands directionality, order, and position of objects, such as up, down, in front, behind.), and it is part of national standards for K-12 curriculum such as the National Research Council’s A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas . Joining in a traditional fingerplay teachs positional vocabulary:
Up and down, round and round (draw circles in the air),
Put your fingers on the ground.
Over (hold hands above lap) under, (below legs) in between (hide in between your legs)
Now my fingers can’t be seen!
Hands in front, hands behind , now my hands I cannot find.
Here’s my left hand , here’s my right,
Hands and fingers back in sight! (wriggle fingers).
How else can preK-grade 2 teachers prepare their students to understand their position in their room, their building, their community, their world, their “place in space”? There are many resources on teaching using representations—models and maps—available through the National Science Teachers Association elementary school journal, Science and Children. 
The September 2011 issue has many “free” articles for teachers who want resources for teaching science but are not yet members. People who are members can send the link to colleagues to alert them to interesting articles such as the “Guest Editorial: Minds, Models, and Maps” by Kenneth Wesson who says, “The dynamic back-and-forth process of shifting images from the mind’s eye to paper and to tangible models is when children make their most creative and memorable connections.” He offers easy-to-implement strategies for incorporating illustrations, models, and maps. Another free article by NSTA 2001–2002 President and science education consultant Harold Pratt, describes the National Research Council’s new Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas in “Introducing A Framework for K–12 Science Education.” 
Children feel empowered and can see details when they make a really big model of a spider and her web. Join Marie Faust Evitt and her class as they hunt for spiders and make BIG connections in “A Web of Learning: Beyond “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” preschool students learn science content naturally”. And in The Early Years column I write about helping children build mental and visual maps of their area by taking walking fieldtrips and documenting their observations on a simple map. Even if your walking fieldtrip is just around the school building, children can look for traffic signs, interesting plants, and signs of animal life. This year the other teachers and I will take walking fieldtrips with the 3-year-olds too!
Peggy
Teaching spatial awareness is part of most early childhood standards, such as the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework (Understands directionality, order, and position of objects, such as up, down, in front, behind.), and it is part of national standards for K-12 curriculum such as the National Research Council’s A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscut
Feeling overwhelmed
By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2011-09-09
I just started my first teaching position (middle school Earth science) and already I feel overwhelmed. It seems like I need 36 hours in a day. What can I do to get everything done? Does it get any easier?
—Ted, Fargo, North Dakota
Congratulation on your new position! I’ll answer your last question first. Yes, things do get a little easier after your first year when you’ve established routines, developed your basic lesson plans, and organized your lab/classroom. But even veteran teachers wish for more time. After students are dismissed, the teacher’s job continues with planning and preparation, evaluating assessments, faculty or department meetings, and professional development programs. So take a deep breath, celebrate your successes, and permit yourself to make (and learn from) a few mistakes.
Transition time is important. Some teachers like to arrive very early. They use this quiet time to get materials ready for class, catch up on reading, enjoy a cup of coffee, chat with colleagues, and prepare mentally for the day. Other teachers stay late to organize the classroom, prepare for the following day’s activities, review student work, contact parents, answer emails, and reflect on the day’s lessons. I often found myself doing both—but I always left with a clean lab prepped for the following day.
In the frenzy to get everything done, don’t neglect your physical and mental health:
- Make time for exercise on your schedule and stick with it.
- Depending on the quality of your school’s cafeteria, you might consider packing your own lunch to include healthy foods. It might be tempting to eat at your desk, but eating in a lab is not advisable, and it’s important to socialize with other adults, even if only for a few minutes.
- During your first year, you might not be immune to the school’s “germs.” Overall good health will help, as will lots of hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, and boxes of tissues for you and the students. If you do get sick, stay home and recuperate (see a previous column on “Plans for a substitute“)
- Spend some time in the evenings or weekends with family and friends on non-school related activities. Get as much rest as you can.
- Keep up with your hobbies and interests for your own peace of mind: reading, sports, outdoor activities, arts and crafts, games, music, gardening, or community organizations and events.
As a science teacher, your most important focus is on instruction: lesson planning, implementing inquiry-based activities, designing or selecting appropriate assessments, and using technology appropriately. You’ll also have 100+ students to get to know. To accomplish this, prioritize your planning time with a focus on what enhances your instruction and interactions with students:
- You don’t need to spend a lot of time on elaborate bulletin boards. A previous column had some suggestions for “Displaying science on classroom bulletin boards.”
- You may be asked to take on an extracurricular activity or serve on a faculty committee. This can be an enjoyable opportunity to get to know the students and your colleagues. But if you’re feeling overwhelmed as a new teacher, you might offer to accept a role as a co-advisor or assistant. It’s also okay to respectfully decline requests: “No, thank you. I don’t think I’m ready to take on that additional responsibility just yet. I hope I can participate next year when I’ve had a little more experience.”
- Establish classroom routines for activities such as handing in assignments, accessing notebooks and other materials, cleaning up after a lab activity, and taking attendance while students do a bellringer activity to prepare for class. Don’t dismiss a class until the room is tidy and organized for the next class.
- Reviewing and grading student assignments can be overwhelming. The column “Struggling with paperwork” has suggestions for managing paperwork.
Above all, don’t be shy about asking your mentor, other science teachers, or your principal for advice and suggestions on time management and classroom organization. You’ll soon learn who the go-to people are in your school (including the school secretary and custodian). We all want you to learn and be successful!
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tnm-photography/5745534007/
I just started my first teaching position (middle school Earth science) and already I feel overwhelmed. It seems like I need 36 hours in a day. What can I do to get everything done? Does it get any easier?
—Ted, Fargo, North Dakota
How will you implement your professional development learning this year?
By Peggy Ashbrook
Posted on 2011-09-07
Professional development strengthens teaching skills and introduces the latest research about learning.
For early childhood teachers professional development can range from first aid to interactive reading to integrating science inquiry with literacy and mathematics learning. We hope we never have to use the first aid training but everything else is a boost to our teaching. This summer I got to participate in a training on science inquiry held at the University of Northern Iowa Regents’ Center. The development of this work by their Center for Early Education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (CEESTEM) is supported by the National Science Foundation and by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Research in early childhood education supports the practice of teachers engaging in science inquiry in preparation for teaching science to their students.
One very important tip (no, not the “one weird tip that really works” as so many web ads claim) that I learned was to make time for children to get deeply into the process of asking questions as they explore phenomena through direct exploration. Researchers found that when there are too many transitions, it interrupts children’s investigations and problem solving.
Documenting observations is one way to integrate literacy and mathematics with science.
This is tough to do if I set aside time “just for science” so I’m going to focus on integrating science inquiry with opportunities for early literacy and mathematics learning. After working with tools to move water with pushes and pulls, children used a tally chart to document which tool they liked the best.
Tell us about the professional development pointers you will be using this year in a comment below.
Peggy
Professional development strengthens teaching skills and introduces the latest research about learning.
Website Wednesday!
By Eric Brunsell
Posted on 2011-09-07
— The Scientific Process
Berkeley’s Understanding Science website is a great resource for learning more about the process of science. The resource goes much deeper than the standard “PHEOC” model of the scientific method by emphasizing peer review, the testing of ideas, a science flowchart, and “what is science?” checklist. http://undsci.berkeley.edu/
Understanding Science also provides a variety of teaching resources including case studies of scientific discoveries and lesson plans for every grade level. http://undsci.berkeley.edu/teaching/index.php
— From AAAS Science NetLinks
Science Netlinks provides hundreds of reviewed lessons and other resources keyed to science topics. Many of the lessons use engaging news stories about current science discoveries. This month’s Science NetLinks newsletter highlights resources for UNESCO’s International Literacy Day (9/8), United Nations’ Ozone Day (9/16), and the World Heart Federation’s World Heart Day (9/28). http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/news/news_sept2011.php
— Science Spotlight
“In an effort to help preserve endangered rhinos and primates, biologists have converted skin cells taken from the animals into pluripotent stem cells, which can grow into nearly anything, given the right conditions. They might even grow into egg and sperm cells, eventually, the researchers think, suggesting a cell biological route to conservation.” http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/09/06/stem-cells-from-skin-suggest-a-way-save-endangered-rhinos-and-primates/
— The Scientific Process
Berkeley’s Understanding Science website is a great resource for learning more about the process of science. The resource goes much deeper than the standard “PHEOC” model of the scientific method by emphasizing peer review, the testing of ideas, a science flowchart, and “what is science?” checklist. http://undsci.berkeley.edu/