Oxygen is one of those very cool elements that can both save a life and kill whether in absence or abundance. Oxygen is necessary for life as we know it, but yet it oxidizes one of the most common elements in the universe. Oxygen, to most students, is both a red ball on a model and a common test question answer. But to fully appreciate oxygen, students need to measure it. And as an odorless, tasteless, colorless gas, oxygen is filled with surprises, and also science essentials.

The history of the discovery of oxygen has plenty of twists and turns stretching from the second century BCE to the present. The path to discovery and understanding of oxygen is truly a who’s-who of science and philosophy. Whether Philo of Byzantium or Leonardo da Vinci or Robert Boyle or Antoine Lavoisier, or even Charles Darwin, the road to oxygen is paved with greatness. And don’t forget that Robert Goddard, the father of modern rocketry was the first to use liquid rocket fuels and one of those was liquid oxygen.

The Extinction of Words

A notable causality of the progression towards the understanding of oxygen was the word dephlogisticated. Back about the time America was just starting its grand experiment, around 1776, the word dephlogisticated was used to describe the portion of air now known as oxygen. Unfortunately for the word dephlogisticated, however, as the pace of science increased so the need for the word dephlogisticated decreased. Dephlogisticated, by the way, means dephlogisticated or without phlogiston. Ok, so much help with that. So a better explanation might be that phlogiston is a chemical involved with combustion. So dephlogisticated is the lack that chemical.

Regardless, the use of the word dropped of off a cliff after 1800. Presumably the speed of “viral” back in the 19th century would be on the speed of decades. So Dephlogisticated died a quick death over a 25 year period. By 1825, the word was at risk. By 1875, the word was on the endangered species list. And at the beginning fo the 21st century, the word was only found in museums and zoos and historical footnotes like this blog.

Plug n’ Play? What’s That?

The measurement of oxygen is a staple in science education, and O2 sensing has never been easier. With Vernier’s new Go Direct Oxygen Gas Sensor, the ability for students to measure relative oxygen concentration has never been easier or faster. Using Vernier’s Graphical Analysis 4 App, with self-identifying sensors, plug-n-play truly is plug-n-play even though we have recently transcended plugs.

An interesting misconception surrounding the measurement of oxygen in the air is that while we refer to a lower amount of available O2 in the air as elevation increases, the concentration of oxygen as a percentage of overall air remains the same. However, since there is less overall air density, there is are fewer overall oxygen molecules for the breathing even though the percentage of (20.9ish%) oxygen is the same everywhere, up or down. In other words, the percentage of oxygen in the air is always about 20.9%,  even on the summit of Mt. Everest so instead we use an “effective oxygen percentage” that is used to make an understandable approximation that provides usable information when dealing with living organisms. For instance, at sea level, the O2 effective O2 is 20.9%. At 5000 feet or 1500 meters, the effective O2 concentration is 17.3%. Ten thousand feet or 3000 meters is 14.4%, and 20,000 feet (6000m) is 9.7% effective oxygen. The top of Mt. Everest at over 29000 feet (8800m) is 6.9% effective oxygen or exactly one-third of the effective oxygen at sea level.

Mt. Everest. Photo from Wikipedia.

I’ve thought about how to explain this to students and I think a reasonable model would be a set of marbles of different colors. For every 100 marbles, there will be 21 red ones (oxygen), 78 blue ones (nitrogen), and one mostly green one (mostly argon, a fraction of CO2, and a pile of other odds and ends in concentrations no more than a thousandth of a percent). So at any given altitude, the proportion of marbles of a certain color remains the same. Its just that the marbles are spread throughout a larger volume due to the lower atmospheric pressure. As atmospheric pressure drops, so too does the ability of the lungs to exchange the gas.

The Vernier Go Direct O2 wireless sensor in airline back seat pocket.

The Vernier Go Direct O2 Gas Sensor is one of two O2 sensors in the Vernier lineup. As a wireless probe the Vernier Go Direct O2 Gas Sensor provides all the necessary capabilities of an O2 sensor with none of the pesky cables that limit use, knock over experiments, and require an additional interface.

Of course, if you need to cable the Go Direct, you can using a basic micro-USB cable. So simple is the Vernier Go Direct O2 Gas Sensor that I handed it to a student while we were on a trip to a NASA facility for a week of STEM inspiration (as only NASA can). After take off, and upon reaching the 10,000 foot level where approved electronics can be used, she fired up the sensor and was shocked to see the O2 level drop from measured take-off level to a deliberate sub-16% effective O2 concentration, something in the effective range of about 7500 feet (2200m). That particular O2 concentration is at the high end of what is considered the medium altitude category. Any higher and it would cause discomfort for the average sea-level dweller.

And upon landing, at 10,000 feet the cabin O2 level rose as landing apporached.

Of course the usefulness of the Vernier Go Direct O2 Gas Sensor is not limited to those out-of-classroom experiences risking life-and-limb or other hyphenated landscapes. Classic science experimentations are the Vernier Go Direct O2 Gas Sensor’s forte’. Vernier suggest some popular experiments including testing for catalase under various conditions, measuring oxygen consumption at rest and after exercise, measuring the change in gas produced during photosynthesis, and comparing the rates of cell respiration in germinating and non-germinating peas.

Science by Candlelight

A kitchen-table experiment I ran with the Vernier Go Direct O2 Gas Sensor involved a cookie jar and a candle. Watching a candle burn out in a closed environment is a staple of science education, and of all the variants of that experiment, none have used the Vernier Go Direct O2 Gas Sensor until now. Watching the O2 level drop right next to the flame was insightful. It immediately raised the question of at what relative elevation did the candle go out? Turns out that’s equivalent to about 10,000 feet. So the next question is can you burn a candle at 10,000 feet? And from there the questions just piled up. Ahh, such is science.

https://youtu.be/OaXwkvx7j-I

One observation that a high school junior noticed when running the experiment a few times is that at the lower oxygen concentrations, the BIC lighter used to ignite the candle would not light until there was enough oxygen back into the container. In other words, the candle could not be relit until the O2 level inside the container rose to at least 17%.

To enhance the capabilities of the Vernier Go Direct O2 Gas Sensor, I made a stand to keep the Vernier Go Direct O2 Gas Sensor upright. With nothing more then the cut-off top and bottom of a water bottle, a conical stand for the sensor materialized. Just lop off the top of a plastic water bottle. Open the top just big enough for the sensor to fit through, and cut the bottom a few centimeters below the business end of the sensor. Then cut a few triangular openings into the base and you are good to go. Another option I drew upon was to repurpose a flashlight holder that allows the Vernier Go Direct O2 Gas Sensor to be used in various situations while supported, padded, hanging, and upright.

The easiest upright storage method, however, is to use the included 250 mL gas sampling bottle (Nalgene bottle with lid). 

Stand Upright

The nature of the Vernier Go Direct O2 Gas Sensor requires that it be stored upright to maintain its effectiveness. According to Vernier, “The cell contains a lead anode and a gold cathode immersed in an electrolyte. Oxygen molecules entering the cell are electrochemically reduced at the gold cathode. This electrochemical reaction generates a current that is proportional to the oxygen concentration between the electrodes. The sensor output is a conditioned voltage proportional to the reaction current.” Further, Vernier’s website states, “As your O₂ Gas Sensor ages, the readings will decrease. This is normal, as the chemicals in the electrochemical cell are depleted. It does not mean the sensor is no longer functional; rather, it simply requires that you perform a calibration and store it as described previously.”

I got my first Vernier O2 gas sensor last century. Its much like the cabled version still available from Vernier, but with harder edges, more primitive billboarding, and an aggressive calibration button. The latest cabled version has a smooth domed top, pleasant green O-ring dampeners, and a large “OXYGEN” statement declared around the core of the unit.

Regardless of the unit, the nature of an O2 sensor has some limitations with regard to storage orientation. Those suggestions are more like warnings if you want to stretch the maximum life out of your O2 sensor.

Think Outside the Analog

What I find interesting, as an aging science teacher, is that we are finally able to push the boundary of what we want to do beyond just what we can do. The Vernier Go Direct O2 Gas Sensor pushes the boundary of experimental measurement forcing a teaching evolution beyond the analog. We can now fulfill the dream as science teachers to where our students leave us behind as they accelerate past us. By standing on our shoulders and jumping towards the sky they begin to fly! 

Did you know that there is an August issue of Science and Children? Yes!!!! (fist pump, happy dance, big smile). Getting the next issue in August before planning the first month of school rather than during the first week will help me do what I had planned to do at the end of the school year—reflect on the past year of teaching. I wanted to go over what worked well, how eagerly the children engaged with some explorations, and the times when I messed up by forgetting materials or asking children for too prolonged attention. The fresh material in the August 2018 issue will give me new ideas but also inspire me to prepare for the coming school year using the bones of my previous year of teaching, kind of like a good chicken soup begins with the bones of the chicken we had last night. 

Beginning with the Editor’s note, the new Editor, Elizabeth Barrett-Zahn, reaffirms for me why writing, mentoring, and attending conferences makes me a better educator for children and adults: “We can learn from each other, whether down the hallway or across the globe. The journal serves as a way to widen our common collaboration pathways both vertically and horizontally.” This issue is rich in pathways for early childhood educators, including the few I discuss here.

Will your children be investigating their senses? Do you want to learn more about the 5E model for writing lesson plans? See “Waves Sound Great! First graders explore what makes sound through a 7E learning cycle.”

In “Using the Understanding By Design Model and NGSS in Concert to Plan and Instruct in Science,” written for educators who teach early elementary grades, we get support for “starting at the end rather than at the beginning of the planning process.” This “Understanding by Design (UBD)” planning process helps educators avoid the struggle of matching an activity to a specific standard because the process begins with knowing where you want your students’ understanding of science concepts or knowledge to conclude upon lesson or unit completion.

“We Are Engineers! Engineering design activities for preschoolers introduce practices and encourage scientific habits of mind” describes a series of building and engineering design projects that can be adapted for older children too. 

The “Guest Editorial: Addressing Common Questions About 21st-Century Science Teaching” by Cindy Hoisington addresses very important questions for early childhood educators to consider, beginning with “What are the practices, and do children need to practice them?” Hoisington notes, “[The] term practices is gradually replacing more familiar terms such as inquiry and science process skills and the term scientific method has essentially disappeared.” Does your program teach The Scientific Method? Read the Guest Editorial to learn why such a linear process is not a good fit for early childhood science. 

As I reflect on what I want to change for the upcoming school year I am cheered by Hoisington’s assurance that “Changing our own science-teaching practices takes time and lots of practice!” And given direction by her statement that “It requires us to evaluate our current approaches to teaching science and find the supports and resources we need to educate ourselves about current approaches—as required by the Framework and addressed in the NGSS.” 

August is a good time for me to look for supportive collaboration with nearby colleagues and those in print so I’ll be taking notes as I read the rest of the articles and columns in the August 2018 issue of Science and Children.

Camp has a culture that is different from school, partly due to the season and partly due to the temporary relationships as campers and teachers are together for shorter lengths of time. As the teacher of an “Art Lab” camp class for children in Kindergarten through 3rd grade I had the pleasure of introducing the children to art-making processes using a variety of media where interactions between the media take place. Having two adult assistant teachers made the preparation and clean up easy. I wanted children to have experiences involving exploring the properties of matter that will help them choose media to express themselves artistically. Paint with dirt? With soap? Freeze paint? Paint on foil? The children engaged with every combination of media without hesitation. But since we only had about 2.5 hours together each of 5 days, we didn’t explore deeply into the mechanisms of those interactions, an omission that my science teacher side regretfully accepts. At ages 5 to 8 these children are building a foundation of experiences that I hope will keep their curiosity sparked, prompting them to ask, “What is happening?” and trying to find out. Looking at and talking about what they saw in Tana Hoban’s wordless books gave them practice making and verbalizing their observations. 

Water color resist

We began with making name tags (all the children were new to me) and name place cards which helped me remember who made which creation and also allowed me to select seating when needed. While painting with liquid water color on top of white crayon drawings on white paper the children experienced the  phenomenon of resist. 

Salt and water color

Feeling salt crystals and observing their “disappearance” when water was added did not help children understand what was happening on their watercolor painting when they used the “salt technique.” But they saw a phenomenon they can investigate more fully in later years. After painting, they sprinkled table salt onto areas of the wet paper. Salt absorbed some of the  water color paint leaving small “stars” as the paint dried. If we had more time (and patience) we could have made close observations using a magnifier as the paint dried. Another way to observe the relationship between salt and water would be to add water drop-by-drop to a few pinches of salt in a cup. The children would have seen water filling in the spaces between the salt crystal grains, and, when enough water was added, the salt begin to dissolve. Children could taste the solution to affirm that the salt was still in the cup (all materials being clean) even when it has completely dissolved and is no longer visible. 

Invisible ink

Combining materials or applying heat produced changes to children’s “secret” messages, one painted with baking soda, and another with lemon juice they squeezed themselves. After allowing the messages to dry for a day we painted over the baking soda with grape juice, producing a grey color, slightly darker where baking soda was previously applied. The effect wasn’t dramatic and, if the painter vigorously brushed on the grape juice, all prior messages ended up well scrubbed and erased. We briefly talked about how trying a technique or process several times may lead to a better way of doing it. More legible results were revealed the following day by heating the paper painted with lemon juice with an iron (with adult guidance). 

Painting with soil

Multiple experiences mixing soil into water as a pigment and painting with it produced work that does not reveal how it was created over three sessions. This reinforced for me how process is central to the children’s experiences with art media. Many were intent on seeing how the soil paint would apply to the paper, or on top of the previous coating of soil paint rather than making an image using each different color of soil paint.

Creating and painting with foam

The group also mixed up foam from dish soap and water using spring whisks, added liquid water color, and applied it to fingerpaint paper with their hands. This small class enjoyed conversations with each other during this group paint and every other moment in the morning.

Painting with frozen tempera…on foil and paper

Side-by-side painting with pieces of frozen tempera on aluminum foil and water color paper allowed children to compare the way tempera paint applied to different surfaces. Their reflection on any differences were about the size of the page and the color of the paint rather than the different surfaces. After drying, comments on the following day showed an understanding of how the paper absorbs paint so it doesn’t flake off the way it does from the aluminum foil.

Coloring eggs with onion skins 

Handling the onion skins engaged children in thinking about where we get pigments for artwork. We soaked the red onion skins in hot water in two bowls, one with added salt, and the other with vinegar. Using crayons as a resist the children drew on hard-boiled eggs to identify them later. After 40 minutes in the color bath the children asked, “Why wasn’t the color on the eggs as red as the color of the onion skin water?” With more time and more eggs this question could have developed into a scientific inquiry. 

Slime

Yes, we made the ever popular slime, and even though they had mixed water, white school glue, and a Borax solution together at least several times before in previous camps and classes, they weren’t sure what would happen this time. What could be making this liquid mixture “bunch up” into something “more solid” and “bouncy?” 

Puff paint

Familiarity with this medium did not reduce the children’s enthusiasm for mixing shaving cream and white school glue with a little liquid water color to create a thick paint. They commented on the textures of each material and asked for more pigment when they wanted a darker color. Using magnifiers revealed the tiny bubbles, even smaller than those they had made by whisking the dish soap.

Paint chips and color value

We examined a group of paint color samples and I asked the children what they thought made a single color get lighter and darker, creating a range of color values from almost white to almost black. Referencing a prior experience with crayons, a child said, “They pressed harder” to get the darker colors, and another child remembered adding more liquid water color to the the puff paint mixture.

Color acetate film as a filter

Last day of camp projects should be dry ones to make it easier to take them home. Giving each child a set of red, blue, and blue-green crayons with the instructions to draw from their imaginations set them up to consider how visible each color is when seen through either red or blue colored acetate. Since it was the first day in 10 that it wasn’t raining I thought we could skip the discussion to spend more time outside. They came back in after enacting the Harry Potter books 1, 2, and 3!

Mixing new colors

Last day of camp projects can also be ones without a product to take home. Using up some already-diluted liquid water color paint we gave each child a set of red, yellow, and blue colors and a pipette to mix colors drop by drop in a plastic egg carton with a sheet of newsprint underneath. The conversation slowed as children meditatively moved the colored water, and then exploded as they began to share about the new colors they made. Dropping paint onto the paper documented the colors and a photograph of the filled page allowed children to take the results home without packing up a wet page. It was a perfect activity to end our week of exploration of interactions between art media. 

Next time I will begin by eliciting children’s ideas about the kinds of art materials they are familiar with, and ideas for how we can combine or change those materials. This will set the stage for thinking more about what causes, or happens in, the interactions.

I needed a few more days or weeks to move the class from explore to explain. If we had more time to reflect with the children on how they liked using the various media, and what choices of media they would make in creating more art, they would have elaborated on their understanding by making their own choices of media. I would ask questions such as, “Let’s make a picture of today’s weather—how will you show what it feels like?” and “If you were going to make a great big statue of your favorite Pokemon, what media would you choose?” 

This week in education news, the White House unveiled new initiative, the National Council for the American Worker; Louisiana plans to add an endorsement on high school diplomas for students who complete a certain set of STEM classes; new summer camp for high school girls aims to take fear out of a career in technology; design thinking is both a process and a mindset; science centers play a distinctive role in advancing science literacy and building a pipeline of workers in the fields of STEM; federally funded programs are not enough to increase the numbers of underrepresented minorities pursuing and completing degrees in STEM; Oklahoma State Department of Education has expanded summer externship program for teachers.; and Arkansas governor named chair of the Governors’ Education and Workforce Committee.

Open Education Science And Challenges For Evidence-Based Teaching

With my colleague Tim Van der Zee, I wrote an article called Open Education Science that outlines new pathways and best practices for education researchers—in particular about being more transparent with readers about how we plan our research, what research we actually conducted, and how that reality aligns or not with what we planned. In this post, I try to explain why we wrote it, and what it might mean for educators and policymakers trying to make good use of education research to improve teaching and learning. Read the article featured in Education Week.

Retraining The Workforce Is Not Enough To Meet Labor Demand

This month, the White House unveiled the National Council for the American Worker, a new initiative focused on training and retraining American workers to fill the in-demand jobs of today. As part of this initiative, the administration is asking companies to sign the Pledge to America’s Workers to commit to invest in workforce development. Reskilling American workers is vitally important to the continued productivity of our labor force. Read the article featured in The Hill.

New Diploma Planned For Math, Science And Other Courses

The state plans to add an endorsement on high school diplomas for students who complete a certain set of math, science, engineering and other classes, officials said. The change is part of Louisiana’s push to elevate interest in STEM careers. Read the article featured in The Advocate.

For These High School Girls, Science And Technology Is A Brave New World

The STEM fields have long faced a challenge to attract and retain women and minorities. But a summer camp for high school girls, held for the first time last week in Indianapolis, is working hard to take the fear out of a career in technology. The Brave Initiatives program was a five-day camp held on Monument Circle that sought to influence young women to become involved in developing technology by using solution-oriented design-thinking tools. Read the article featured in the Indianapolis Star.

Design Thinking In Education

Design thinking has been around since the 1960s but reached K12 education only in the last decade. Some call it a revolution in learning, while others see it as just the latest fad, better left to Silicon Valley charter schools. Part of the problem is that design thinking can be hard to define and even harder to use in the classroom in a meaningful way. Read the article featured in District Administration.

Science Centers Play Role In Boosting Children’s Interest In STEM Fields

Change in our everyday lives and the workplace is occurring at a breathtaking pace. The need for citizens engaged in and appreciative of science and technology and for a skilled workforce to fill new and emerging roles has never been greater. Science centers, like the Da Vinci Science Center in Allentown, play a distinctive role in advancing science literacy and building a pipeline of workers in the fields of STEM. A national study (“The contribution of science rich resources to public science interest”) released recently found that visiting science centers was the only experience among those studied that consistently impacted youth and adult interest in science throughout their lives. Read the article featured in The Morning Call.

Federally Funded Programs Are Not Enough To Diversify The STEM Workforce

The Government Accountability Office (GOA) reported that of the 13 federal agencies surveyed that administer STEM education programs, there were 163 STEM programs funded in fiscal year 2016 that were designed to increase the number of historically underrepresented students studying or improve the quality of education in STEM. Of the $2.9 billion spent on these programs, the National Science Foundation received about $1.2 billion that supported 20 programs, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) received about $688 million that funded 54 programs. Read the article featured in Diverse.

Externships Give Oklahoma Teachers New Skills – And Extra Spending Money

Oklahoma teachers are taking advantage of the state education department’s expansion of an externship program that not only increases their skills in STEM subjects, but also puts some extra money in their pockets. Read the brief featured in Education DIVE.

Governor Hutchinson Selected As Chair Of Governors’ Education, Workforce Committee

The National Governors Association named Governor Asa Hutchinson 2018-2019 Chair of the Education and Workforce Committee during its summer meeting last week. The Committee is responsible for ensuring that the views of state leadership are represented in federal policy issues related to early childhood education, K-12 education, higher education, workforce development, and career-technical education. Read the press release.

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

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What are some of the best practices for teaching science vocabulary?

—D., Florida

Science has a language unto itself; it is not surprising that many students struggle with vocabulary much like English language learners (ELLs). Because of this, I used some ELL best practices to teach science to all my students.

Early in my career, I would give students a list of vocabulary at the beginning of a unit and have them find the definitions in the textbook’s glossary. While this technique introduces words students will encounter, it is out of context and does not really support learning the terms in a meaningful way. Besides, sometimes I had a tough time understanding the glossary definitions!

An ELL specialist suggested a very well-researched lesson framework called Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP). With this differentiated instruction approach you plan language objectives alongside your content objectives. Every lesson incorporates opportunities to practice reading, writing and speaking with the new terms. (I discovered that you should limit new terminology to no more than five terms each lesson.) You find resources using this model in the NSTA Learning Center and elsewhere online.

Many online graphic organizers can help students learn or study vocabulary: word wheels, concept maps, Venn diagrams, and so on. I would use these while reviewing content to help students contextualize terminology.

Students should also learn to speak using new terminology. Several online dictionaries feature recorded pronunciations that include scientific terms.

Hope this helps!

Photo credit: brewbooks via Flickr