The NSTA conference was featured in blogs from Edutopia:

• Jeff Goldstein’s keynote
• Some thoughts trends in science education (also from Edutopia)

NSTA Emeritus Executive Director Gerry Wheeler shared his thoughts on the challenges facing science education in the coming decade in the Robert H. Karplus Lecture. He noted that although students’ lives outside the classroom are changing dramatically, but their lives inside the classroom have not kept pace. Wheeler said future visions of education are being held hostage to the “tyranny of tradition.”
Wheeler called for more emphasis on student-centered activities, movement away from isolated learning, formative assessment, and more. He said “disruptive innovations” would be needed to really change education, although he expects those innovations to first gain traction outside the mainstream education setting.
At the start of the his talk, Wheeler shared some of his memories of Robert Karplus, theorectical physicist and education leader. As he wrapped up, he said, “What we neeed night now is a Bob Karplus,” someone to lead the next wave of disruptive innnovation in education.

Featured speaker Larry Lowery’s lively presentation at the San Francisco NSTA conference highlighted research findings about how children learn to inspire teachers to incorporate new practices in their classrooms. Lowery encouraged teachers to further expand students’ opportunities to learn and explore using their various senses.  He showed a functional MRI image to illustrate the lit-up areas of the human brain that can follow from the simple sensory experience of touching an animal’s fur.  When a student holds a classroom pet, examines a leaf through a hand lens, or hears a bird call, multiple areas and receptors in the brain are activated, providing a rich network of connections that deepen the learning experience. In an engaging illustration, Lowery suggested that viewing a single image of a single leaf doesn’t teach us anything.  However, viewing two different leaves side-by-side invites comparisons that capitalize on our brain’s tendency to learn through examining differences and contrasts. Students who look closely enough at two different leaves to see varying edges and vein patterns may never again walk in the woods without noticing and appreciating nature’s wonderful array of leaves and trees. As Lowery said, “the beauty of the world is enhanced when you see the world the way a scientist sees.”  Lowery is professor emeritus at the Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California at Berkeley, and is principal investigator for the Full-Option Science System (FOSS), the widely used K-8 science program funded by the National Science Foundation and developed at the university.  Early in his distinguished career, Lowery studied with Richard Stebbins and was part of the team at Berkeley that developed the Animal Coloration program, a classic resource for activities on the evolution of concealment that NSTA Press published in an updated and revised edition. Lowery also edited the popular NSTA Pathways to the Standards Elementary Edition, which provides a wealth of inspiring classroom vignettes and tips for teachers who work with our youngest scientists.

One thing about attending a NSTA conference, you get to try local cuisine, as well as an occasional unusual treat. I just spoke to this teacher from Pittsburgh who told me he sampled a scorpion in the exhibit hall. The chef didn’t recommend any sauces so as not overwhelm the scorpion’s natural flavor. It also sounds like the big ones can be juicy. But that was just one part of his NSTA experience!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnXJQNstDIg[/youtube]


In addition to science educators, you also run into some interesting characters…

Some attendees have more than two legs

Johannes Kepler -- Up close and personal