By Howard Wahlberg
Posted on 2010-06-17
Scheduled for July 21–24 in Las Vegas, Nevada, this national conversation on science education provides an opportunity for chapters and associated groups, the NSTA Council, the NSTA Board of Directors, and NSTA staff to collaboratively address issues and work toward strategies that will support our mission, “to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.”
If you have had the opportunity to be a Congress participant, you know that this unique leadership experience supports the professional growth of each individual participant. Workshops include parliamentary procedures, sharathons, media training, fiscal responsibilities, a briefing on NSTA resources, on-line tools for CAGs, membership recruitment and retention, and more.
This is an event that initiates the conversation, engages the participants, and takes action on issues that affect all who are interested in quality science education. We have waived the registration fee this year in hopes to have all of NSTA’s CAGs attend. Click here for more information.
The success of this blog is dependent on your participation! And remember, I’m only a few keystrokes away at aodonnell@nsta.org.
Scheduled for July 21–24 in Las Vegas, Nevada, this national conversation on science education provides an opportunity for chapters and associated groups, the NSTA Council, the NSTA Board of Directors, and NSTA staff to collaboratively address issues and work toward strategies that will support our mission, “to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.”
By Peggy Ashbrook
Posted on 2010-06-16
Yes, I will do this again next spring! We had caterpillars crawling out of the net housing, more caterpillars appearing than expected, wasps pupating next to their caterpillar host, a few deaths due to neglect, and beautiful (is there any other kind?) butterflies emerging from their chrysalids. My plan to introduce the butterfly life cycle to the preschool classes I work with using only locally-found butterfly eggs and caterpillars worked fairly well (see post of May 7, 2010). While not as certain as ordering caterpillars from a biological supply company, I was able to get caterpillars into every classroom. There were fewer caterpillars for each classroom but most children got to see the life cycle beginning with the eggs before the caterpillars hatched. I only use the Cabbage White and Black Swallowtail butterflies because they are not endangered, and locally abundant.
Lessons learned:
Most of the 15 classrooms had butterflies to release at the end of six to ten weeks. Teachers sent me text messages, took pictures and gushed about the excitement the children expressed at seeing the butterfly fly away. “It went up and up and up!” was one child’s description.
I still don’t have any Monarch butterfly larvae on the milkweed plants and think at this late date that the migrating adults have passed my yard by and gone north. Perhaps the next generation of Monarch butterflies will decide to lay eggs here. The flowers of the milkweed have been very popular with many species of bees, wasps, and this Tiger Swallowtail butterfly.
What kinds of lifecycles do you talk about and observe in your classroom?
I have much to learn about raising butterflies from eggs. What suggestions do you have?
Peggy
By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2010-06-14
Last month we shared some resources on the Gulf oil spill and the situation is even more critical now. The Encyclopedia of Life has added an entry on the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill 2010 that describes the diversity of life in the Gulf and has links to news articles about the spill. Unfortunately, the list of articles keeps getting longer.
The Deepwater Horizon Response website is a “Unified Command” clearinghouse of information provided by government agencies (such as the U.S. Coast Guard, EPA, NOAA, USGS, the National Park Service, OSHA, and the Departments of State, Interior, and Homeland Security) and BP. There are daily updates, maps, and articles related to the spill. UPDATED link: http://www.restorethegulf.gov/
With the oceans getting a lot of attention, you may want to check out the Ocean Portal from the Smithsonian Institution and 20 other organizations. According to the press release, users have many options to explore, including
I spent an evening looking at these resources and barely scratched the surface! The photos and other graphics are spectacular, the feature stories are compelling, and many of the features have sidebars with suggestions for the classroom. Unfortunately, the Gulf oil spill is center stage on the portal.
But on another note—I read that Jacques Cousteau’s Calypso has been renovated and will embark on a tour this year to celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth. Captain Cousteau was one of my heros. I wonder what his thoughts would be about the current situation.
Last month we shared some resources on the Gulf oil spill and the situation is even more critical now.
By Howard Wahlberg
Posted on 2010-06-11
The Maine Science Teachers Association has announced that the date of their annual conference has been changed to Friday, November 12. Held at the Gardiner Area High School, the theme is Change for Sustainability featuring former Governor Angus King as keynote speaker. Sessions will be held on Change for Sustainability, Earth and Space, Life and Physical Sciences.
If you are interested in presenting at the conference, please contact Robin Kennedy at rkennedy57@gmail.com. To learn more about this event, please visit the MSTA website.
Please keep me posted on what your group is doing—the success of this blog is dependent on your participation! And remember, I’m only a few keystrokes away at aodonnell@nsta.org.
The Maine Science Teachers Association has announced that the date of their annual conference has been changed to Friday, November 12. Held at the Gardiner Area High School, the theme is Change for Sustainability featuring former Governor Angus King as keynote speaker. Sessions will be held on Change for Sustainability, Earth and Space, Life and Physical Sciences.
By Peggy Ashbrook
Posted on 2010-06-09
What can you suggest to your students and their families for summer science explorations? Indoor museum and library visits, and outdoor trips to the local park and to a novel environment—prairie, riverside, city parking lot, mountain, desert or beach—may entice you and your students to seek new experiences and knowledge that can be built on when you return to school.
For a list of fiction and non-fiction books, look at the Science NetLinks list for summer reading, just one part of the Summer Science Fun. The list of resources includes books, online games, and hands-on activities for children. Check out the lists and make one to send home with your students.
Expand the list with activities from commercial websites. Send home information about one of the activities on the Home Science Tools Summer Science Projects page. Include prompts for families, such as, “Ask your children what they wonder about and talk with them about the questions the activity might answer before doing the activity”. Some activities on the Steve Spangler “Science Experiments” page are as simple as discovering what you can do with a drinking straw to explore how sound can be changed.
As a fundraiser for the National Wildlife Federation, and an awareness-raiser about nature, go camping in your backyard on June 26th as part of the National Wildlife Federation’s Great American Backyard Campout®. Funds raised will be used to establish and maintain programs to make outdoor time a priority to protect children’s health and ensure their readiness to learn. Memories made will be used to build understanding about nature.
If you’d rather go camping in a park, check out the U.S. National Park Service listings. The Grand Canyon’s 20th annual Star Party is going on right now until June 12, 2010.
Children and their families can do a science exploration right outside their door by following the model suggested by Donald Silver and Patricia Wynne’s book, One Small Square: Backyard. Their book series includes Pond, Woods, Seashore, Tundra, Swamp, and Desert, with illustrations to guide the suggested explorations.
Here’s what else is in my backyard,
Peggy
By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2010-06-08
Connecting scientific principles to student interests is a way of showing students how science relates to “real life.” Earlier this year, the Winter Olympics provided a context for studying the physics of winter sports. And with the 2010 World Cup taking place in June, soccer (or “football” as it’s called in many parts of the world) will be in the spotlight.
Lift, force, drag, friction, Newton’s Laws—many concepts in physics are applicable in soccer (whether a player is an amateur or can bend it like Beckham). Here are some SciLinks sites that show students how physics relates to this sport: Physics of Football, Science Puts Extra Spin on Soccer, If You Can’t Bend It, Model It, Soccer (includes a video from PBS Kids). And read about Carnegie Mellon University’s Soccer Playing Robots.
For additional website on science and sports, check out SciLinks for Energy and Sports for 5–8 and 9–12 (there is a lot of overlap). For example, Sport Science from the Exploratorium Museum has sections on baseball, skateboarding, surfboarding, hockey, and cycling. And if you’re ready for some beach activity, check out the Science of Surfing.
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremywilburn/2859958331/
Connecting scientific principles to student interests is a way of showing students how science relates to “real life.” Earlier this year, the Winter Olympics provided a context for studying the physics of winter sports. And with the 2010 World Cup taking place in June, soccer (or “football” as it’s called in many parts of the world) will be in the spotlight.
By Mary Bigelow
Posted on 2010-06-07
I would like to have a science club in our middle school. How should I get started? What types of competitions we can enter? What else should I consider? I have taught Life Science and Physical Science for 15 years.
—Liz, Billings, Montana
Working with students in a club setting is a wonderful opportunity to get to know them better and encourage them to develop lifelong interests beyond the classroom. Much of what you can do depends on the size of the club and the logistics of your meetings:
Participating in formal competitions could provide a focus. These programs have established guidelines and activities and culminate in a project or contest. They do require a high level of commitment, so look at their websites to determine the time and financial issues. You could do an informal trial for a year before committing to an actual competition. See the list at the end for some competitions appropriate for middle schoolers. This is by no means a complete list, but I’ve heard good things about these. Check out the article “Competing to Learn” in NSTA Reports, which describes how some teachers are using competitions to help motivate students and has some suggestions on how to get started with competitions.
Another possibility is involving your club in “Citizen Science” projects. In these regional and nation-wide projects, participants record observations in their own communities and upload data to a project database. Students get to see “their” data used as part of a larger project and are encouraged to pose their own research questions. The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology has several ongoing projects, including BirdSleuth, which I have worked on. The article Using Citizen Scientists to Measure the Effects of Ozone Damage on Native Wildflowers in the April 2010 issue of Science Scope describes an air quality monitoring project. And in Project BudBurst participants chart their observations of plant growth. These are just a few examples of this type of authentic science investigation.
Here are some suggestions for some “home-grown” activities:
However you develop your club, keep it low-key and enjoy yourself. I still reminisce with former students about tracking animals in the snow, determining the water quality at the local reservoir, and testing paper airplane designs.
Competitions
Science Olympiad
Odyssey of the Mind
JETS – Junior Engineering Technical Society
U.S. Department of Energy Science Quiz Bowl
Toshiba/NSTA Exploravision
National Engineers Week Future City Competition
Envirothon (for high school, but you may get some ideas)
Junior Solar Sprint Car Competitions
First Lego League
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lowercolumbiacollege/4438634434/
I would like to have a science club in our middle school. How should I get started? What types of competitions we can enter? What else should I consider? I have taught Life Science and Physical Science for 15 years.
—Liz, Billings, Montana