My side of the street is shaded for hours longer than the opposite side which gets full sun for more than 6 hours a day, even in winter. The differences in sunlight affect the plant growth in these “microclimates.”  On the “sunny side of the street the flowering bulbs that are planted in the fall bloom in spring a full week ahead of those on the shady side so the block as a whole has an extended display of spring flowers. In the fall the difference in cumulative sunshine shows—the same kinds plants on the sunny side are taller and more robust than those on the shady side.

A science exploration and lesson plans written for one area may need to be adapted to use in your region because the plants and animals that live nearby have different needs and life cycle timing from those of the lesson plans. Children become familiar with the plants and weather right outside the door through daily or weekly experiences. When children explore the nature that is nearby, and observe changes that happen over time, they can connect the classroom discussions of weather and life cycles with the nature they experience at their home. There may be microclimates within the area your children can explore. They will build their understandings of the relationships between the local weather and the seasons, and the changes in local plants and the seasons, over time. Over time children learn where to dig for worms, what plant parts appear for a short time (such as flowers), and what happens if it doesn’t rain and no one waters the school garden. 

Once children have experience making observations about the local environment and weather they have a foundation for comparing and  beginning to understand what happens in other areas. A hurricane can be described as “winds much, much, much stronger than that rainstorm last week” and an ice storm can be described as “so cold the rain froze hard like ice cubes from the freezer.” Through books and other media children may develop an appreciation for the features of different environments and learn about animals that live elsewhere, on a grassland or tundra, in an ocean or river, down the street or even on different continents. After reading a book about zebras a child who is familiar with cows might say, “Zebras eat grass like cows do.” A child who has climbed a hill might be able to picture  a mountain, so big it would take several days to climb it. Experiences in our local nature prepare us for understanding and appreciating living organisms in distant environments.

This week in education news, finding jobs post-graduation is becoming more challenging for international STEM students; Arizona science teachers speak out against proposed state science standards; ACT to design a “creative thinking assessment” for worldwide use in 2021; 44 states have implemented at least one K-12 computer science policy; Missouri house bill aims to increase STEM awareness; and AAAS announces new center to communicate scientific evidence on public issues.

It’s Getting Harder For International STEM Students To Find Work After Graduation

Today, more than 300 schools participate in the #YouAreWelcomeHere campaign. But as students return to campus for the fall semester, shifting immigration policies have put that message in doubt. Some of those policy changes have affected the F-1 visa, which allows international students to stay after graduation to pursue additional training. Students who participate in a federally designated university program in STEM can remain for up to three years, for what’s officially known as “optional practical training.” In order to qualify, they have to line up jobs before graduating, then submit training plans for approval by their schools. Read the article featured in The Atlantic.

Science Educators Need To Talk About The Identity Of Scientists

It’s been painful to watch the fall of Brian Wansink, a Cornell University marketing professor whose work on the psychology of food consumption has had an outsize impact on academics, policymakers, the general public — and me. In the wake of the Wansink scandal, there have been renewed calls for reforming the methods and culture of scientific inquiry: But there is an equally important change that needs to happen far earlier, when students are learning about scientific inquiry in middle and high school. Read the article featured in The Washington Post.

‘Science Not Fairy Tales:’ Teachers Speak Out Against Proposed Science Standards

Parents and teachers on Monday rallied outside an Arizona Board of Education meeting, and then took turns during the meeting blasting a proposal to remove references to evolution and climate change from state science standards. Read the article featured in The Arizona Republic.

A Test To Assess Creativity? It’s In The Works

When teenagers all over the world take the PISA exam in 2021, they could face a new kind of test: one that aims to measure their creativity. And the maker of a major U.S. college-admissions exam—ACT—will build it. Read the article featured in Education Week.

Report: 44 States Have Implemented At Least One K-12 Computer Science Policy

Since 2013, the number of states with at least one policy related to computer science education in K-12 schools has increased from 14 to 44, according to a State of Computer Science Education report released Thursday from the Code.org Advocacy Coalition and the Computer Science Teachers Association. Read the brief featured in Education DIVE.

Missouri House Bill Aims to Increase STEM Awareness

The Missouri state Legislature passed House Bill 3 to create new policies to promote STEM education. But according to the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, the state does not have enough people to fill STEM jobs. The first part of the House Bill 3 creates the “STEM Career Awareness Program” for middle schoolers. The bill also would allow high schoolers to substitute a computer science course for a core math, science or practical arts credit with a parent’s permission. Read or listen to the article featured on KBIA radio.

AAAS Announces New Center to Communicate Scientific Evidence on Public Issues

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) announced the launch of the Center for Scientific Evidence in Public Issues, which will bring clearly and strategically communicated information to decision-makers–from policymakers to parents–and to others who influence them, when they need it most. The new Center will address important policy issues that are at the forefront of public conversation and involve a broad range of audiences. Read the press release from AAAS.

Stay tuned for next week’s top education news stories.

The Communication, Legislative & Public Affairs (CLPA) team strives to keep NSTA members, teachers, science education leaders, and the general public informed about NSTA programs, products, and services and key science education issues and legislation. In the association’s role as the national voice for science education, its CLPA team actively promotes NSTA’s positions on science education issues and communicates key NSTA messages to essential audiences.

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

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After a number of years working in the science industry I have now become a teacher. Do you have suggestions for maintaining my skills in both education and science?
– B., Arizona

I like your plan to stay current and active in your former work! Here are a few suggestions:

Watch for professional development (PD) opportunities offered by industry.
Many industries and related organizations encourage teachers to keep current and offer workshops, field trips and other PD. They will often provide high-quality resources. I was fortunate to have attended PD in forestry, hydro electricity, atomic energy, medical imaging, agriculture, GIS, mining, and more! The information to attend these sessions is usually sent to local schools and distributed to staff. These industry-led workshops tend to fill quickly so enroll early.

Attend conferences.
Industries hold workshops at local and state conferences as well as NSTA area and national conferences which can be real boosts to your teaching.

Volunteer.
Many organizations look for teachers and summers can be an optimum time. I have served as an education specialist on various boards, learning a tremendous amount along the way. Consider volunteering at zoos, museums, university faculties, to help with their outreach programs, or other opportunities. You don’t have to be a tour guide—volunteer to do something totally unrelated to teaching. I once collected insects for a local nature center.

Become more active in teacher and science organizations.
Participating in local, state, and national professional organizations creates opportunities for you to expand your network and learn cutting-edge ideas. You can simultaneously hone your skills and help your professional communities by joining committees or taking on leadership roles.

Help organize science fairs.
You will work with many industry partners who will become resources and connections. Also, the bright, amazing minds of the fair attendees will astound you – further motivating you to keep current!

Hope this helps!

When Rebecca Olien set out to write Sound All Around, The Amazing Light Show, an NSTA Enhanced EBook⁺, she knew a thing (or 20) about elementary schoolchildren, the book’s target audience.

Olien was a classroom teacher for 20 years and understood that science education, for younger children, works best when it’s taught through fun and engaging storytelling. Her book follows Liz and Sam, who put on a magic light show to investigate what happens when light encounters different objects and surfaces.

In the first “act” of her book, Olien invites readers to question, observe and investigate the phenomenon of how some materials allow light to pass through it while others block it completely. Elementary school-aged students must use mathematical reasoning (scale and production) to analyze and interpret how both the size as well as the shape of shadows changes depending on the direction and distance from a light source.

In act 2, students investigate another phenomenon, reflection, as they study the effects of light bouncing from smooth, shiny surfaces. They are required to build explanations and create solutions as they assist the characters in the story, including a cat, to solve reflection puzzles by using mirrors to redirect the light beam.

“I kept asking myself how I could ‘show’ what happens when light interacts with different surfaces and objects,” Olien said. “How can I help the kids explore through inquiry? That’s very tricky because regular print books do not allow for that. Most are straight non-fiction and are very information-driven.”

Olien is no stranger to the publishing world. She’s a prolific author of science education books. One of the first things that she wrote was an article for NSTA’s magazine, Science and Children, about an inquiry-based lesson that she taught. Olien remembers her classroom as being “filled with so much laughing and so much fun.”

“My goal as a teacher was always to help my students to see science all around them–to be constantly seeing new things, learning and exploring,” she said.

“Science education has been a driving force in my professional life,” she added. “I just see sparks ignite in children when they learn something new. And as adults who teach them, we get to learn/see/rediscover it all over again through our students’ perspectives.”

Olien’s decision to become an NSTA Enhanced Ebooks⁺ author was exciting because the format aligns with how she would teach. The opportunity to write, “in a totally different way” was very interesting to her. “I got to be so creative in my approach to the subject matter. That made it necessary for me to think way outside of the box. The challenge was fun!”

Students who use Enhanced Ebooks⁺ like Sound All Around, The Amazing Light Show, are given the concept that they need to know/come away understanding. but teachers “cannot give them the information,” Olien said. “The students have to explore to find it themselves. They know the concept that they are expected to learn; however, the students have to explore the digital book to find the answers themselves.”  

Olien raved about the book’s 3D aspects.

“There is so much interactivity and manipulation that the students themselves control. “Students can enter into the environment with the characters. They become part of the book and that’s very engaging.”

Olien emphasized the benefits of each Enhanced Ebook⁺ being accompanied by “a really great teacher guide!” that takes educators through all parts of the NGSS standard that is being utilized as well as fun classroom activities. Students can seamlessly transition from independent online learning to hands-on group projects that the teacher can lead the students through, thus bringing the Enhanced EBook⁺’s learnings to life.

Never one to let grass grow underneath her feet, Olien said that she is already at work finalizing another Enhanced Ebook⁺.

“And two more are on the way!”

Learn more about NSTA’s Enhanced Ebooks⁺.

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Anyone who teaches middle school students knows they have a lot of energy, and a lot of hot air. Why not put it to use? In this activity, students will be challenged to modify a simple plastic balloon racer to travel farther and faster. Students begin by asking questions and making observations to understand how the racers work. Racers can be found here.  Find and print my student form here.

During the activity, students make three separate modifications to improve distance and speed. Once they’ve completed the activity, students will debate the possibility of wind-powered cars and wind turbines as a local energy source.

Introducing students to the engineering design process early in the year is exciting and engaging. This activity is much more than a simple design challenge, which often doesn’t give students the opportunity to make revisions. In this learning experience, students are encouraged to explore many of the science and engineering practices to grow their understanding of force and motion and engineering content. Their learning is enhanced by providing opportunities for them to argue with evidence as they debate the pros and cons of using wind-powered cars and wind turbines as a local, renewable energy source.

This learning experience is very relevant, as the conversation about using wind power is actually occurring in their community.

This is just one way of engaging students in the practice of asking questions early in the year. After each modification, I challenge students to ask themselves at least two questions about their work: What went well? What is something else you could try? What suggestion would you like with the class? How does this process of modifying an original design apply to the real world? In what types of careers might this process be used regularly?

Shannon Hudson is a science teacher at Crawfordsville Middle School in Crawfordsville, IN. She currently teaches four levels of science classes, including sixth- and seventh-grade advanced science, sixth-grade inclusion co-teaching, and seventh-grade regular science. The school’s adopted curriculum allows for integrated, modified problem based learning (PBL) instruction.

Hudson has a Bachelor’s degree from Purdue University, with a concentration in elementary education, junior high science, and gifted and talented education, and a Master’s degree in Education from Indiana Wesleyan University. Hudson has taken many courses throughout the years at a variety of universities to further her studies in science education. 

This article was featured in the September issue of Next Gen Navigator, a monthly e-newsletter from NSTA delivering information, insights, resources, and professional learning opportunities for science educators by science educators on the Next Generation Science Standards and three-dimensional instruction.  Click here to sign up to receive the Navigator every month.

Visit NSTA’s NGSS@NSTA Hub for hundreds of vetted classroom resources, professional learning opportunities, publications, ebooks and more; connect with your teacher colleagues on the NGSS listservs (members can sign up here); and join us for discussions around NGSS at an upcoming conference.

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

Future NSTA Conferences

2018 Area Conferences

• Reno, October 11–13
• National Harbor (MD), November 15–17
• Charlotte, Nov. 29-Dec. 1

2019 National Conference

• St. Louis, April 11-14, 2019

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First graders love when fall comes to Kansas. It’s a magical time when lots of events are occurring in their environment, and I take full advantage of their natural curiosity. We begin the school year with a mini science unit featuring corn and agriculture. Every year in May, my class plants a few corn kernels near our flower garden. By the time school starts in the fall, the corn stalks stand out among the flowers.

As we water the garden, students start asking questions. How did the corn get here? Is it ready to pick? How high it will grow? Do we get to pick it? That is all I need to get the unit rolling!

I try to bring authentic items into our classroom whenever possible. These items become part of the phenomenon that I use to start lessons and to pique interest in a subject. With this particular unit, we first watered our plants, and the next day, I brought in 6 giant cornstalks donated by a local farmer. These cornstalks had the root balls attached and were in seed sacks. 

I put them and a few flower plants in our activity area and didn’t mention them. The kids had plenty to say and were excited as they attempted to make sense of what we would do with both of these plants. As they observed, I wrote down the questions they asked. The next day, we used those questions as the springboard to our discussion about their experiences with corn and flowers. Then we donned our lab coats and safety goggles and formed small groups to pull apart the cornstalks and flowers to compare and contrast their parts.

I always encourage my young scientists to ask questions like “I wonder why…?” “I wonder if….?” “I wonder what…?” When students are encouraged to begin their questions with “I wonder,” it adds to the subject’s relevance. I believe that by asking questions about their world, children become more engaged in defining problems and seeking answers.

After we shared all of our findings, we recorded our thoughts and wonders in our journals. The big questions of the day were what the names of all of the parts were and what they were used for. Students defined their own problems, and that led to some class labeling and deep discussions about why corn had all these parts and where could we find more information.

We used books like Corn by Gail Gibbons, Corn Is Maize by Aliki, From Kernel to Corn by Robin Nelson, and Corn (All About Food Crops) by Cecelia H. Brannon. We also used https://kscorn.com and http://ksagclassroom.org as resources. I find that by introducing vocabulary after we explore the phenomenon, these words are more easily understood and applied, as they have more meaning at this point. Our first-grade curriculum asks us to examine how plants use their parts to survive, grow, and meet their needs.  My first graders asked those same kinds of questions and were able to determine the answers in various ways.

It was now time to put our newfound corn knowledge to use. My students realized that even though we have cornfields all around us, they didn’t really know that much about corn. To solve that problem, we wrote a class book titled Coconut Loves Corn in which a little monkey has tired of eating bananas and wants to move to Kansas to learn about and eat different kinds of corn. The book is amazing, and we published it on large paper and mounted it on signboards that will be placed around our outdoor school’s walking trail.

We hope to encourage all Bentwood Elementary students to read our story and learn interesting corn facts while they walk the trail. To promote our book, we created a brief description that will be read during morning announcements. Of course our blurb begins with the question, “Have you ever wondered why so much corn is grown in Kansas?”

Do you incorporate agriculture in your science lessons? If so, I’d love to hear your ideas. I love sharing and getting new lessons for my classroom. Comment below, and let’s be “amaizing” together!

Next Gen Science Standards

Nancy Smith is a first-grade teacher at Bentwood Elementary School in the Olathe Public Schools district in Overland Park, Kansas. Her enthusiasm for science is evidenced by the many engaging activities she plans for her students, from building chicken playground equipment to hosting mini science expos to starting a flower tire garden. Smith is a National Board Certified–teacher who received the 2016 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. She is passionate about using the environment as a springboard to learning.

This article was featured in the September issue of Next Gen Navigator, a monthly e-newsletter from NSTA delivering information, insights, resources, and professional learning opportunities for science educators by science educators on the Next Generation Science Standards and three-dimensional instruction.  Click here to sign up to receive the Navigator every month.

Visit NSTA’s NGSS@NSTA Hub for hundreds of vetted classroom resources, professional learning opportunities, publications, ebooks and more; connect with your teacher colleagues on the NGSS listservs (members can sign up here); and join us for discussions around NGSS at an upcoming conference.

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

Future NSTA Conferences

2018 Area Conferences

• Reno, October 11–13
• National Harbor (MD), November 15–17
• Charlotte, Nov. 29-Dec. 1

2019 National Conference

• St. Louis, April 11-14, 2019

Follow NSTA

With the adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), teachers are wondering how to teach their students to do the science and engineering practices (SEPs). Some SEPs, such as carrying out investigations and analyzing data, are a natural flow from the old science standards. Many, however, are new for both students and teachers. For example, the practice of asking questions and defining problems is something we have not required our students to do before: the questions or problems were already asked or defined for the students to answer. How can we move both our own practice, as well as our students’ thinking, from the canned version of questions and problems to asking their own thoughtful questions about a phenomenon, and defining problems based on a scenario?

As teachers, many of us may believe we need students to be proficient at this skill immediately! But realistically, we need to move slowly when teaching them these new skills so that students can move toward proficiency over time. NGSS implementation will not happen overnight, nor will teachers and students excel at these new skills without ongoing learning and practice. So how do we give students the practice that they need?  And what can we do to help them learn these new skills effectively? 

Initially, teachers will need to learn the skills required by the SEPs, if they have no experience with them. Training to help teachers learn about the pedagogical shifts required with NGSS implementation is available from NSTA and state science teacher organizations. Once teachers have some experience with these new skills, they can start teaching them to their students. Teachers can leverage their own experiences in practicing and learning the new SEP skills, using similar practices with students that they experienced as learners.

In my classroom, I have used several different methods to help students acquire the skill of asking questions and defining problems. One method I use with my first-year biology students is to scaffold the process for them and provide tools to help them develop their skills. Some scaffolds I have used include modeling the practice, using sentence frames, and asking them guiding questions to lead them to developing their own questions.

For example, at the start of the year, I ask many questions about a phenomenon, modelling good questioning practices. After a while, I start asking the students questions like these: What do you wonder about this? What questions do you still have? What could you do to find out more about this? These questions help focus students on what they still need to answer to solve the problem and help them begin asking their own questions.

Sentence frames—providing students with a few sentence stems to help them begin to generate their own questions—are often helpful. You can generate some stems of your own for each SEP, or use some questions that focus on a given crosscutting concept (CCC). For example, in biology, we are studying ecosystems, so I can prompt with these questions: What are the system’s boundaries? Or how might energy and/or matter flow within this system?

These prompts can help students formulate additional questions to further explore the phenomenon they’re investigating. What other methods might you use to help students become proficient with the SEPs and CCCs?

Heather A. Wygant has been teaching secondary science for 21 years, primarily in high school.  She has taught biology, geology, physics, chemistry, oceanography, and AP Environmental Science. She also served as a Teacher on Special Assignment for science and math and helped her district implement the NGSS over the past three years. Now back in the classroom, she is continuing NGSS implementation. Wygant holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geosciences and a second master’s degree in science education.She is currently pursuing a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction STEM, with a research focus on NGSS implementation.

This article was featured in the September issue of Next Gen Navigator, a monthly e-newsletter from NSTA delivering information, insights, resources, and professional learning opportunities for science educators by science educators on the Next Generation Science Standards and three-dimensional instruction.  Click here to sign up to receive the Navigator every month.

Visit NSTA’s NGSS@NSTA Hub for hundreds of vetted classroom resources, professional learning opportunities, publications, ebooks and more; connect with your teacher colleagues on the NGSS listservs (members can sign up here); and join us for discussions around NGSS at an upcoming conference.

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

Future NSTA Conferences

2018 Area Conferences

• Reno, October 11–13
• National Harbor (MD), November 15–17
• Charlotte, Nov. 29-Dec. 1

2019 National Conference

• St. Louis, April 11-14, 2019

Follow NSTA