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Making Sense of the Deepwater Oil Spill Disaster
The Science Teacher—Fall 2023 (Volume 90, Issue 7)
By Joy Barnes-Johnson and Mridula Bajaj
Authenticity in learning is becoming increasingly important as today’s students are not “buying into” school just because it’s there! Today’s high school students have learned firsthand (thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic) that science is not static and knowledge is not reserved in a single place or preserved by a single group of people. Students have survived and observed how uncertainty works and understand that truly scientific methodologies are data-informed, not data-driven. They understand that most trustworthy scientists acknowledge these constraints. Data help paint a picture of problems that are emergent and must be revisited over time. Tragic moments in human history are perfect contexts for sensemaking in the classroom. Thinking about the difference between events that are human-made, natural, or some combination of both allows us to think more deeply about how and why designed solutions are necessary. Authentic learning can be achieved best through problem-based learning. Presenting students with a problem-based task at the beginning of a unit of study builds a felt-need in students to learn the desired curriculum content. In our experience, teachers have offered students culminating projects to complete after they’ve taught specific content. Instead, we propose a need to present students with well-constructed problem-based tasks up front. Using oil spills as a scenario and defining context for problem-based tasks and inquiry, we developed focal questions that allowed students to expand their thinking about chemistry, Earth resources, and historical contexts that tie science standards (HS-PS1-4; HS-PS3-2; HS-ESS3-1, HS-ESS3-2; HS-ETS1-1; HS-ETS1-3) to other content areas.
Authenticity in learning is becoming increasingly important as today’s students are not “buying into” school just because it’s there! Today’s high school students have learned firsthand (thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic) that science is not static and knowledge is not reserved in a single place or preserved by a single group of people. Students have survived and observed how uncertainty works and understand that truly scientific methodologies are data-informed, not data-driven. They understand that most trustworthy scientists acknowledge these constraints.
Authenticity in learning is becoming increasingly important as today’s students are not “buying into” school just because it’s there! Today’s high school students have learned firsthand (thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic) that science is not static and knowledge is not reserved in a single place or preserved by a single group of people. Students have survived and observed how uncertainty works and understand that truly scientific methodologies are data-informed, not data-driven. They understand that most trustworthy scientists acknowledge these constraints.
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Rooftop Garden Ecosystem
The Science Teacher—Fall 2023 (Volume 90, Issue 7)
By Andrew Jones, Joel Hockin,and Max Longhurst
As long as there have been roofs overhead, there have been gardens above them. Since the Ziggurats and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, man has cultivated plants for his enjoyment and nourishment. Fast forward 4,000 years to our increasingly urban world, and our rooftop gardens have undergone a renaissance. They are mainstays of large cities and hugely important in the urban planning of cities. They offer many positive environmental impacts for cities, including lowering the thermal footprint of buildings and reducing rain runoff. They also provide a space for small-scale urban agriculture and food production. It is with these thoughts in mind that we sought to have biology students design a rooftop garden ecosystem prototype in our Rocky Mountain location.
As long as there have been roofs overhead, there have been gardens above them. Since the Ziggurats and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, man has cultivated plants for his enjoyment and nourishment. Fast forward 4,000 years to our increasingly urban world, and our rooftop gardens have undergone a renaissance. They are mainstays of large cities and hugely important in the urban planning of cities. They offer many positive environmental impacts for cities, including lowering the thermal footprint of buildings and reducing rain runoff.
As long as there have been roofs overhead, there have been gardens above them. Since the Ziggurats and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, man has cultivated plants for his enjoyment and nourishment. Fast forward 4,000 years to our increasingly urban world, and our rooftop gardens have undergone a renaissance. They are mainstays of large cities and hugely important in the urban planning of cities. They offer many positive environmental impacts for cities, including lowering the thermal footprint of buildings and reducing rain runoff.
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Stealing the Sun
Folklore and Art Meet Ecology and Evolution in an AP Biology class
The Science Teacher—Fall 2023 (Volume 90, Issue 7)
By Kimberly Ideus and Miles Engell
For as long as people have had stories to tell, folklore and tall tales have been a part of social gatherings. Storytelling helps us convey our history and learn our languages (Bowman and Carpenter 2004; Mzimela 2016). In addition, many of these tales have embedded within them valuable lessons relating to right and wrong, integrity, sharing, and other character-building themes. They often use figurative language like hyperbole, metaphors, and similes. English and history courses often include units on mythology in which students may learn Greek myths such as Icarus flying too close to the Sun, or African folklore, such as the spider Anansi learning lessons the hard way.
For as long as people have had stories to tell, folklore and tall tales have been a part of social gatherings. Storytelling helps us convey our history and learn our languages (Bowman and Carpenter 2004; Mzimela 2016). In addition, many of these tales have embedded within them valuable lessons relating to right and wrong, integrity, sharing, and other character-building themes. They often use figurative language like hyperbole, metaphors, and similes.
For as long as people have had stories to tell, folklore and tall tales have been a part of social gatherings. Storytelling helps us convey our history and learn our languages (Bowman and Carpenter 2004; Mzimela 2016). In addition, many of these tales have embedded within them valuable lessons relating to right and wrong, integrity, sharing, and other character-building themes. They often use figurative language like hyperbole, metaphors, and similes.
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Bringing the Outside In
Using community mapping and tours to create community in science classrooms
The Science Teacher—Fall 2023 (Volume 90, Issue 7)
By Jonathan McCausland and Kathryn M. Bateman
Classroom communities are more than just teachers and students. Administrators, other teachers and students, teacher aides, all school staff, families, friends, community leaders, and more influence a classroom community in different ways. Places and events in the surrounding community also impact a classroom community. The COVID-19 pandemic is a perfect example of how events and people outside the classroom impact classroom communities. Consequently, when creating a scientific classroom community, we must consider the people and places outside our immediate classrooms.
Classroom communities are more than just teachers and students. Administrators, other teachers and students, teacher aides, all school staff, families, friends, community leaders, and more influence a classroom community in different ways. Places and events in the surrounding community also impact a classroom community. The COVID-19 pandemic is a perfect example of how events and people outside the classroom impact classroom communities. Consequently, when creating a scientific classroom community, we must consider the people and places outside our immediate classrooms.
Classroom communities are more than just teachers and students. Administrators, other teachers and students, teacher aides, all school staff, families, friends, community leaders, and more influence a classroom community in different ways. Places and events in the surrounding community also impact a classroom community. The COVID-19 pandemic is a perfect example of how events and people outside the classroom impact classroom communities. Consequently, when creating a scientific classroom community, we must consider the people and places outside our immediate classrooms.
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Performance Assessment as Part of Efficient, Effective, and Equitable Instructional Practice
The Science Teacher—Fall 2023 (Volume 90, Issue 7)
By Lauren Stoll and Jill Wertheim
Since the release of the NGSS, science classrooms across the United States have shifted science learning away from a focus on decontextualized facts and concepts and toward engaging students in making sense of the world around them. Many educators have looked to assessments to provide feedback about students’ progress in meeting this new vision of science teaching and learning, but few assessments sufficiently reflect NGSS goals (Wertheim et al. 2016). The National Research Council (NRC) identified performance assessments as an essential tool for guiding shifts toward three-dimensional (3D) learning (NRC 2014), though many questions remain about how to design assessments that provide the information that teachers need to guide their work.
Since the release of the NGSS, science classrooms across the United States have shifted science learning away from a focus on decontextualized facts and concepts and toward engaging students in making sense of the world around them. Many educators have looked to assessments to provide feedback about students’ progress in meeting this new vision of science teaching and learning, but few assessments sufficiently reflect NGSS goals (Wertheim et al. 2016).
Since the release of the NGSS, science classrooms across the United States have shifted science learning away from a focus on decontextualized facts and concepts and toward engaging students in making sense of the world around them. Many educators have looked to assessments to provide feedback about students’ progress in meeting this new vision of science teaching and learning, but few assessments sufficiently reflect NGSS goals (Wertheim et al. 2016).
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The Use of Storytelling to Model NGSS Science and Engineering Practices
The Science Teacher—Fall 2023 (Volume 90, Issue 7)
By Adrienne Larocque and Anna Babarinde
An important strand of three-dimensional learning in the Next Generation Science Standards is science and engineering practices (SEPs; NGSS Lead States 2013). The SEPs also are one of four critical attributes of sensemaking (NSTA, n.d.). These practices replace the oversimplified “scientific method” often presented in science textbooks that bears little resemblance to actual scientific research (Windschitl et al. 2008). To effectively communicate SEPs to students, teachers must describe what they know about science (science content) in the context of how we know it (science practices). Few elementary or secondary teachers have engaged in scientific research, so this presents an obvious challenge. In their study based on surveys of science teachers, Kite and colleagues (2021) observed that educators generally lack a nuanced comprehension of how science is done, and underscored the importance of teaching the teachers how to effectively integrate science practices into classroom lessons.
An important strand of three-dimensional learning in the Next Generation Science Standards is science and engineering practices (SEPs; NGSS Lead States 2013). The SEPs also are one of four critical attributes of sensemaking (NSTA, n.d.). These practices replace the oversimplified “scientific method” often presented in science textbooks that bears little resemblance to actual scientific research (Windschitl et al. 2008). To effectively communicate SEPs to students, teachers must describe what they know about science (science content) in the context of how we know it (science practices).
An important strand of three-dimensional learning in the Next Generation Science Standards is science and engineering practices (SEPs; NGSS Lead States 2013). The SEPs also are one of four critical attributes of sensemaking (NSTA, n.d.). These practices replace the oversimplified “scientific method” often presented in science textbooks that bears little resemblance to actual scientific research (Windschitl et al. 2008). To effectively communicate SEPs to students, teachers must describe what they know about science (science content) in the context of how we know it (science practices).
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On Teaching Electricity Through History
The Science Teacher—Fall 2023 (Volume 90, Issue 7)
By Christine Guy Schnittka
Electricity is a fascinating phenomenon and one of the most important driving forces in the natural world, and our understanding of it all began with a fossilized lump of tree resin and a mystical rock from ancient Turkey. For the many years that I taught my students about electricity, I took them through a journey of 2,000 years of discovery instead of using the standard lab activities in their textbook. In this article, I describe the activities we did in class to re-create the discoveries in history, and primary sources are cited in Table 1 (see Online Connections) so that science teachers can access these documents and students can read the words of the long-ago scientists for themselves. These activities are safe and accessible for high school students and are described here so that science teachers can teach electricity concepts throughout history to their students. Each investigation takes about 45 minutes of class time.
Electricity is a fascinating phenomenon and one of the most important driving forces in the natural world, and our understanding of it all began with a fossilized lump of tree resin and a mystical rock from ancient Turkey. For the many years that I taught my students about electricity, I took them through a journey of 2,000 years of discovery instead of using the standard lab activities in their textbook.
Electricity is a fascinating phenomenon and one of the most important driving forces in the natural world, and our understanding of it all began with a fossilized lump of tree resin and a mystical rock from ancient Turkey. For the many years that I taught my students about electricity, I took them through a journey of 2,000 years of discovery instead of using the standard lab activities in their textbook.
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Sounds in Sunlight
Blind Students Hear Solar Eclipse
The Science Teacher—Fall 2023 (Volume 90, Issue 7)
By Sóley Hyman, Wilson González-Espada, Allyson Bieryla, and Wanda Díaz-Merced
Solar eclipses are excellent platforms for engaging students with astronomy and for teaching concepts like the Sun-Earth-Moon relationship through rare natural events. Traditional STEM instruction, however, highly depends on diagrammatic and visual modes of learning, which is disadvantageous for students with disabilities, especially those who are blind or have visual impairments (BVI) (Beck-Winchatz and Riccobono 2008; Childers et al. 2015; Falk 2018).
Solar eclipses are excellent platforms for engaging students with astronomy and for teaching concepts like the Sun-Earth-Moon relationship through rare natural events. Traditional STEM instruction, however, highly depends on diagrammatic and visual modes of learning, which is disadvantageous for students with disabilities, especially those who are blind or have visual impairments (BVI) (Beck-Winchatz and Riccobono 2008; Childers et al. 2015; Falk 2018).
Solar eclipses are excellent platforms for engaging students with astronomy and for teaching concepts like the Sun-Earth-Moon relationship through rare natural events. Traditional STEM instruction, however, highly depends on diagrammatic and visual modes of learning, which is disadvantageous for students with disabilities, especially those who are blind or have visual impairments (BVI) (Beck-Winchatz and Riccobono 2008; Childers et al. 2015; Falk 2018).
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Making the Most of the Upcoming Solar Eclipse Double-Header
October 14, 2023, and April 8, 2024
The Science Teacher—Fall 2023 (Volume 90, Issue 7)
By Andrew Fraknoi and Dennis Schatz
Eclipses of the Sun, where the Moon gets in front of the Sun and blocks its light, are among the most spectacular of natural events. The total eclipse visible in the United States in 2017 fascinated and involved millions of people all across the country. The good news is that against all odds, two dramatic solar eclipses—an eclipse double-header—will occur during the coming school year.
Eclipses of the Sun, where the Moon gets in front of the Sun and blocks its light, are among the most spectacular of natural events. The total eclipse visible in the United States in 2017 fascinated and involved millions of people all across the country. The good news is that against all odds, two dramatic solar eclipses—an eclipse double-header—will occur during the coming school year.
Eclipses of the Sun, where the Moon gets in front of the Sun and blocks its light, are among the most spectacular of natural events. The total eclipse visible in the United States in 2017 fascinated and involved millions of people all across the country. The good news is that against all odds, two dramatic solar eclipses—an eclipse double-header—will occur during the coming school year.
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The 2023 and 2024 Solar Eclipse Double-Header
The Perfect Opportunity to Highlight Three-Dimensional Science Learning
The Science Teacher—Fall 2023 (Volume 90, Issue 7)
By Dennis Schatz and Andrew Fraknoi
