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Taking the train

By Lynn Petrinjak

Posted on 2010-03-17

It’s time to head for the train station and get on my way to the 2010 National Conference on Science Education in Philadelphia. I’ve created a schedule for myself using the online Personal Scheduler (with a couple promising sessions/workshops selected for most time slots—just in case) and printed a hard copy (also just in case). My rolling bag is packed (comfortable shoes, notebook, pens, camera, etc.) and it’s time to head to the train station. I hope I’m not forgetting anything—I forgot to pack socks when we were in Boston two years ago. How does a person forget socks?
In addition to checking out the exhibit hall and sessions and talking to as many science eduation pros as possible, I have a personal goal for myself—get a Phillly cheesesteak South Jersey style !

It’s time to head for the train station and get on my way to the 2010 National Conference on Science Education in Philadelphia. I’ve created a schedule for myself using the online Personal Scheduler (with a couple promising sessions/workshops selected for most time slots—just in case) and printed a hard copy (also just in case). My rolling bag is packed (comfortable shoes, notebook, pens, camera, etc.) and it’s time to head to the train station. I hope I’m not forgetting anything—I forgot to pack socks when we were in Boston two years ago.

 

Take a musical break

By Mary Bigelow

Posted on 2010-03-17

Catty-corner from the Mariott Hotel in Philadelphia is a national musical treasure: the Wanamaker organ (yes, the store is a Macy’s now). This is the largest operational pipe organ in the world. At the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ website, you can read about its history and specifications as well as listen to a sound clip. The photo (from the Friends’ site) shows the organ in the 7-story court in the store. The concerts are free. Revive your soul and spirit:

  • Monday-Saturday 12pm
  • Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday 5:30pm
  • Wednesday, Friday 7pm

My fondest childhood memories include riding the train to Philadelphia to hear the organ. I’ll relive those memories this week!

Catty-corner from the Mariott Hotel in Philadelphia is a national musical treasure: the Wanamaker organ (yes, the store is a Macy’s now). This is the largest operational pipe organ in the world. At the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ website, you can read about its history and specifications as well as listen to a sound clip.

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day

By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director

Posted on 2010-03-16

What’s a good Irish Science Teacher to do in Philly on St. Patrick’s Day? Judging by the amount of green I’m seeing around town today, there’s plenty! Start your day off with a smile by taking a virtual field trip to Dublin’s new National Leprechaun Museum. Or if you’re looking for a bit of Ireland right here in Philly, go to Fado’s Irish Pub across from City Hall for free pancakes before 11:00 a.m. You’ll need to walk them off of course, so try heading to the Morris Arboretum. Rumor has it there are shamrocks tucked in among its 92 acres, complete with babbling brooks. If you don’t find them, you can still have a green adventure—visit the wetlands, stroll through the meadow gardens, or “soar into the trees on a spectacular 40-foot high walkway on Out on a Limb—a Tree Adventure exhibit.”
If you prefer the fauna to the flora, go green at the Philadelphia Zoo. Today is “Walmart Wednesday,” and admission and parking are discounted by 60%. See the animals, learn about conservation, or take a ride on my personal favorite—the Amazon Rainforest Carousel.
If you’re stuck inside and love a parade, you can watch an encore of the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade. It will air on the local CBS3 station from 9:00 a.m. to noon and again on CW Philly 57, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. This is the 240th year it’s been held!
And finally, if you’ve always heard that “Guinness is good for you,” you may want to find out for yourself. Apparently the Irish Times–Philadelphia, in the heart of Queen Village, was voted one of the Best Pints of Guinness in the city.

What’s a good Irish Science Teacher to do in Philly on St. Patrick’s Day? Judging by the amount of green I’m seeing around town today, there’s plenty! Start your day off with a smile by taking a virtual field trip to Dublin’s new National Leprechaun Museum. Or if you’re looking for a bit of Ireland right here in Philly, go to Fado’s Irish Pub across from City Hall for free pancakes before 11:00 a.m. You’ll need to walk them off of course, so try heading to the Morris Arboretum.

 

Three Creative, Committed, and Caring NSTA Teacher Awardees

By Debra Shapiro

Posted on 2010-03-16

Sometimes during the publishing process, we find we must trim some of our Reports stories to fit the alloted space in print. This was the case for “NSTA Awardees: Creative, Committed, and Caring” from our March 2010 issue. The good news is our online outlets allow us to share everything with you—no trimming necessary!
With that in mind, meet three 2010 NSTA Teacher Awardees whose work we had wanted to highlight in the March piece. (And learn more about NSTA’s Teacher Awards here. You too could be in print or online in 2011!)

Robert H. Carleton Award

Arthur Eisenkraft, Distinguished Professor of Science Education
University of Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts
2000–2001 NSTA President Arthur Eisenkraft co-created three NSTA recognition programs: the Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Awards, the Duracell Scholarship Competition, and the Toyota TAPESTRY Grants for Teachers. Not only have these programs “benefitted thousands of teachers and students,” but they also “brought recognition and financial gain to NSTA,” observes 2001–2002 NSTA President and nominator Harold Pratt.
Eisenkraft’s service to the profession includes helping to develop the National Science Education Standards, creating the Active Physics and Active Chemistry curricula, and working on the committee to develop the National Assessment of Educational Progress for the years 2009–2019.

Shell Science Teaching Award

Tamica Stubbs, Biology and Research Teacher
E.E. Waddell High School, Charlotte, North Carolina
One of Stubbs’s students says, “She has taught me biology, AP biology, nanotechnology, biotechnology, and biomolecular modeling via proteins—but more than that, she has taught me what it means to have a teacher [who] believes in her students and will do anything in her power to help them succeed.”
Stubbs has established science clubs and mentored students in projects that led to her school entering district, state, and county competitions. Her grant writing skills and community networking activities have brought a range of new equipment to her classroom, inspiring even students disinterested in science to become researchers and investigators.

Bio-Rad Biotechnology Explorer Award

(New Award for 2010)
Jennifer Hand, Science Teacher
Cairo High School, Cairo, Georgia
With funds from a local grant, Hand incorporated biotechnology into her classroom using Bio-Rad’s Crime Scene Investigator kits and DNA fingerprinting equipment. She enlisted the help of a molecular geneticist to train her and her colleagues in using the equipment and doing the fingerprinting. As a result, she says, more of her students at all levels are passing the science portion of the high school graduation exam, and they look forward to their science classes “instead of dreading the doldrums of yet another worksheet.”
One of her students remarked, “I see this kind of stuff on television, so to be able to do this in my 10th-grade biology class was awesome.”
Read about the other 2010 awardees.

Sometimes during the publishing process, we find we must trim some of our Reports stories to fit the alloted space in print. This was the case for “NSTA Awardees: Creative, Committed, and Caring” from our March 2010 issue. The good news is our online outlets allow us to share everything with you—no trimming necessary!

 

Science learning in six domains

By Lynn Petrinjak

Posted on 2010-03-16

In the March issue of NSTA Reports,  Dr. Robert Yager shares his perspective on the six domains for teaching and assessing science learning in the Educated Opinions column.
“A View of the Importance of Six Domains for Teaching and Assessing Science Learning”
By Robert Yager
Four years ago, the National Science Education Standards (NSES) resulted from the collective brainpower of thousands of concerned science educators from around the world at a cost of $7 million. Sadly, little has changed since then. Alan McCormack, 2010–2011 NSTA President, and I have proposed six “domains” as a way to get the attention of teachers and students and to encourage them to experiment with school science programs as they try to move to the “more emphasis” conditions central to the NSES. These “domains” can be used to explain how the eight facets of science content (as defined by the standards) affect people’s everyday lives. Teachers, schools, and state departments of education rarely focus on all eight when considering the science curriculum and how it should look and what teachers need to do for the reforms to succeed. It is rare to find state standards that even mention these major changes. It is important for all science educators to identify the specific features that indicate real changes central to current reform efforts.  Read the full article here.
What do you think: Can the six domains improve science learning in your classroom/school/district? Why or why not?

In the March issue of NSTA Reports,  Dr. Robert Yager shares his perspective on the six domains for teaching and assessing science learning in the Educated Opinions column.
“A View of the Importance of Six Domains for Teaching and Assessing Science Learning”
By Robert Yager

 

STEM: Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics

By Mary Bigelow

Posted on 2010-03-16

S&C cover March 2010I wonder how teachers include the “E” in this acronym when designing or selecting class activities. And yet, the play that children do can be the foundation for future interest in engineering. This issue has several articles that describe how to capitalize on children’s curiosity and problem-solving abilities with engaging and purposeful activities, from race cars (Gravity Racers) to sand castles (Building with Sand) to learning about rocks (Science Rocks—in SciLinks, use the keyword “rock” for your grade level for more information on types of rocks, identifying rocks, and the rock cycle) and other Imaginative Inventions (which has suggestions for an egg-drop design activity in addition to suggested trade books on the topic).
Elementary Design Challenges focuses on airplanes and flight and has a list of suggestions for other projects. The author uses the resources of NASA’s Engineering Design Challenges website. SciLinks has additional suggestions for websites that have explanations for engineering and design principles in projects such as bridge structures and roller coasters, and for learning from paper airplanes. (Some students may be skeptical when we tell them it’s ok to fly them in class!)

The article Potato Problem Solving illustrates how students used the 5E process to study the thermal insulation properties of materials. Engineering for All is an engaging narrative that describes a windmill design activity that took place in an inclusive classroom. The activity is based on a design process: ask, imagine, plan, create, improve (SciLinks websites have more information on wind energy). As you’re reading the article, be sure to check out articles in the March edition of The Science Teacher, Science for All. Although the articles have a focus on secondary students, the theme is similar and you’ll get some additional insights and ideas for inclusive classrooms.
Children are never too young to explore design solutions. The photographs of the children’s problem-solving strategies with inclined planes in Science and Literacy Centers are priceless! I liked the questions in the “Teacher talk to support inquiry” graphic. And the classes in the article Insect Keepers went beyond the usual activities of an insect unit to incorporate the design process. The author includes checklists to assess student learning, too.
I was traveling through central Texas earlier this month and in the highway rest stops, the buildings were designed with storm shelters for tornadoes.  The students in Hurricane Proof This were looking at the design of buildings to withstand severe conditions  (these students may also be interested in the article Skyscrapers or other design sites such as the Leaning Tower of Pasta).
Check out the list of Connections for this issue. 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.
I hope that our secondary colleagues will take a look at the amazing things that younger students are learning about and doing. (These activities could certainly be kicked up a notch or two for the upper grades!).

S&C cover March 2010I wonder how teachers include the “E” in this acronym when designing or selecting class activities. And yet, the play that children do can be the foundation for future interest in engineering.

 

Gardening begins, inch by inch

By Peggy Ashbrook

Posted on 2010-03-15

Children construct a sprouting bean plant on a felt board.

A sprouting bean plant constructed on a felt board.


Teacher of two-year-olds Sue Hewitt reports that she has already planted with one group—“lettuce last week and will do radish planting this week. I like to do something that can mature and be harvested and eaten by the kids. We usually have a salad bar one day—pick and wash and spin lettuce and have kids each bring in one thing to be in the salad. Then set up a row like a real salad bar and they choose. Of course the croutons are often the most popular!” I think the children could make croutons with whole wheat bread and herbed olive oil.

Watering pea seeds.
Some of my students have planted sugar snap peas. The package says they will be ready to harvest in 62 days! While we wait we can sing a song by David Mallet, Inch by Inch, Row by Row. You can learn it from his children’s book of the same name, from a video his website, or from Pete Seegar.
See Pete Seegar’s rendition on YouTube to learn it, a good choice for young children too because the arrangement is simple–single performer, single instrument (banjo) and the audience participates.
Garden Song by David Mallett
CHORUS:
Inch by inch, row by row
Gonna make this garden grow
All it takes is a rake and hoe
And a piece of fertile ground.
Inch by inch, row by row
Someone bless these seeds I sow
Someone warm them from below
‘Till the rains come tumbling down.
(In the folksong tradition, another singer has added this verse.)
Inch by inch, row by row
Gonna make this garden grow
Gonna mulch it deep and low
Gonna make it fertile ground
Pullin’ weeds and pickin’ stones
We are made of dreams and bones
Feel the need to grow my own
‘Cause the time is close at hand.
Grain for grain, sun and rain
Find my way in nature’s chain
Tune my body and my brain
To the music from the land.
CHORUS
Plant your rows straight and long
Temper them with prayer and song
Mother Earth will make you strong
If you give her loving care
Pea seeds sprouting in a clear jar.CHORUS
Old crow watching hungrily
From a perch in yonder a tree
In my garden I’m as free
As that feathered thief up there
CHORUS
© Cherry Lane Music Co (ASCAP)
To closely observe pea seed sprouting, “plant” them in a clear container, right next to the wall of the container with damp paper towels inside. You can see that these sprouts have not been near a window—see how pale green they are!
—Peggy

Children construct a sprouting bean plant on a felt board.

A sprouting bean plant constructed on a felt board.

 

Tweets, treats, and the tricks of Web 2.0

By Debra Shapiro

Posted on 2010-03-15

photo of sign saying "Trick or treat! Welcome"

Flickr photo from www.flickr.com/photos/rattler97


“Birds do it, bees do it, even conference attendees do it. You can do it—with Web 2.0.” (My apologies to the late Cole Porter!)
Welcome to Philadelphia, where lots of folks will be doing all kinds of Web 2.0. If you’re asking yourself  “to Tweet or not to Tweet?” or wondering how to face Facebook, treat yourself to these sessions on Friday, March 19:

  • 9:30–10:30 AM—Supporting Student Teachers to Utilize Web 2.0 for Teaching Science in Urban Classrooms. Let two presenters from the University of Pennsylvania show you how.
  • 11:00 AM–12:00 PM—Elementary Science Learning Through Social Networking. “How-to” handouts available.
  • 3:30–4:30 PM—I’m Too Busy for Social Networking—Why Bother? Because it can enrich your environmental science teaching, that’s why.
  • 5:00–6:00 PM—Can Social Networking Sites Improve Your Class? Find out what college students said in a survey.

Click here to see where they’ll be held. See you in Philly!

photo of sign saying "Trick or treat! Welcome"

Flickr photo from www.flickr.com/photos/rattler97

 

Recent activity on NSTA's various online outposts

By Howard Wahlberg

Posted on 2010-03-15

Tweet-up in Philadelphia! Join your fellow Listserv users, Facebookers, Tweeters, and LinkedIn’ers, and online Community users on Wednesday evening at the Brew Pub adjacent to Reading Terminal, 1150 Filbert St., for a (at your own expense) face-to-face gathering of your fellow science education colleagues! NO RSVP required! Ask for Howard Wahlberg or Daryl Taylor.
On our listservs, the subject of parents advocating for creationism in the science classroom has generated a spirited discussion, and rube goldberg contraptions are being discussed in Physical Science and DNA Fingerprinting is being talked about in Biology. Sorry to disappoint the moldy cat and poop fans out there; maybe next week.
In NSTA’s online professional learning communities, make sure to check out all the new presentation resources for our Philadelphia Conference.
On our “core site” (www.nsta.org): everyone’s gearing up for our National Conference on Science Education this March 17–21 in Philadelphia. Write your own declaration of independence and join your fellow educators this March in Philadelphia!
On Facebook, lots of folks have been discussing plans for the National Conference.
On LinkedIn, you can now find a jobs subgroup, that re-posts all of the listings on the NSTA Career Center.
And of course, on our Twitter stream, science educators are tweeting and re-tweeting about our upcoming national conference in Philadelphia!

Tweet-up in Philadelphia! Join your fellow Listserv users, Facebookers, Tweeters, and LinkedIn’ers, and online Community users on Wednesday evening at the Brew Pub adjacent to Reading Terminal, 1150 Filbert St., for a (at your own expense) face-to-face gathering of your fellow science education colleagues! NO RSVP required! Ask for Howard Wahlberg or Daryl Taylor.

Brain-Powered Science: Teaching and Learning With Discrepant Events

• How can a long metal needle pass through a balloon without popping it?
• How can water flow at very different rates through two identical funnels?
• How can a stick, placed on a table under several sheets of newspaper and extended over the edge of a table, snap when quickly struck—without lifting or tearing the paper?
• How can a long metal needle pass through a balloon without popping it?
• How can water flow at very different rates through two identical funnels?
• How can a stick, placed on a table under several sheets of newspaper and extended over the edge of a table, snap when quickly struck—without lifting or tearing the paper?
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