Each month in NSTA’s Science Scope journal, Bob Riddle writes Scope on the Skies, an informational article on topics related to astronomy. Bob is a science educator in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, and also authors the website Bob’s Spaces in which he frequently posts additional articles, updates, and resources. You can also read more about his background and experiences on this website.

The Scope on the Skies “background boosters” present content information in an easy-to-read format with many illustrations, resources, and applications for the classroom. The articles also include a monthly calendar of astronomical events.

Although this is published in NSTA’s middle school journal, teachers of other grade levels can access and read these articles in Science Scope as NSTA members. These articles could also be shared with secondary students as a supplement to other readings and as an example of how to communicate science concepts in terms that everyone can understand.

Here are the Scope on the Skies articles that appeared within the last two years:

• Timely Motions of the Earth and Moon
• Storms From the Skies
• Gaining Insight Into Mars
• Motions of the Earth and Beyond
• Studying Rings Around the Sun
• The Historic Stars in Our Skies
• Connected Computing
• Angles and Eclipses
• Juno’s Route to Jupiter
• In Transit
• GRACE, GRAIL, and Gravity
• A Leap Forward
• A Model Solar System
• Star Chart
• Measuring the Universe
• A Candle in Space
• Cassini’s Grand Finale
• Vocabulary of the Skies
• The Universe, From Micro to Macro
• Beyond Earth’s Orbit
• In the Midst of an Eclipse Season
• Flipped Constellations

For more information and activities on astronomy-related topics, see these SciLinks—

K-4: Astronomy, Comets Asteroids Meteors, Extrasolar Planets, Moon Phases, Planets, Sun

5-8: Astronomy, Big Bang, Comets, Constellations, Early Astronomers, Early Theories in Astronomy, Galaxies, Inner Planets, Lunar Cycle, Milky Way, Moons of Other Planets, Outer Planets, Phases of the Moon, Structure of the Universe, What Is the Life Cycle of a Star?

9-12: Astrobiology, Astronomy, Astrophysicist, Big Bang, Black Holes, Comets Asteroids Meteors, Constellations, Early Astronomers, Galaxies, Inner Planets, Meteoroids, Milky Way Galaxy, Moons of Other Planets, Origin of the Solar System, Outer Planets, Radioastronomy, What Is a Star?

Graphic: https://tinyurl.com/y9vq3mvp

As states continue to adopt the Next Generation Science Standards and STEM curricula programs, science teachers will be asked to engage students in a way that requires specific lab facilities. The demands of three-dimensional teaching could mean that you will need to renovate your existing lab, or construct new facilities. Science teachers and their supervisors must work with administrators to ensure that the facilities meet the needs of current teaching and learning, future curriculum endeavors, and safety concerns.

The following list summarizes the phases of lab construction/renovation and discusses the role of the staff in the construction process.

1. Getting started: Architects first need to understand how the lab facility will meet the needs of a curriculum. The teaching staff must therefore develop educational specifications based on their curricular needs (such as laboratory size, lab furniture layout, and engineering controls) to help the architects understand the type of teaching and learning that will take place in the lab. Note: This phase needs to be finalized before the school applies for a bond for the laboratory because the teacher’s instructional needs will inform the building plans and specifications.

2. Visiting another lab: Science teachers and their supervisors should visit other schools that have completed new construction or made renovations to labs within the last five years. This way staff can learn what works and what doesn’t in their facility design.

3. Planning: It’s important to establish a planning committee consisting of teachers, the administration, architects, engineers, and more. The planning process not only involves the physical structure but also furnishings, equipment, and labware. Equally important are the engineering controls for safety such as proper ventilation, an eyewash station, showers, sinks, fire extinguishers, and goggle sanitizers. Occupancy load issues should also be addressed based on the NFPA Life Safety Code 101. Ideally, the lab’s maximum student occupancy should not exceed 24 students. Finally, it is important that labs address the Americans with Disabilities Act and Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act. The lab, for instance, must follow certain height and width dimensions that allow students with special needs to access eyewash controls, lab desks, and other means.

4. Construction: After finalizing a building plan, put together a construction team involving administrators, teachers, architects, contractors, and a fire marshal. This team should meet weekly to make decisions on issues as they develop, often involving a change in work orders specified on the original contract. Yet, the change in a work order might not alter the original contract amount or completion date. For example, if a chemical storeroom turns out to be too small to meet the needs of its inventory, a change order could require altering the dimensions of the floor plan. Science teachers and their supervisors should also visit the site during this phase to make sure things such as locations of fume hoods, eyewashes, storage cabinets, and sinks are where they need to be.

5. Final inspections: A Certificate of Occupancy is the final approval stage by which the town allows the school to take over the new construction or renovated facility. Prior to its issuance, teachers and their supervisors should tour the new facility. This allows teachers to make any corrections to the building design. Once the Certificate of Occupancy is approved, it is very difficult to make changes and can be cost prohibitive. So it’s important to get it right the first time!

Final thought

For further recommendations on constructing, renovating, and addressing safety in school science labs, check out Safer Makerspaces, Science Laboratory Safety Manual, Third Edition, and NSTA Guide to Planning School Facilities, Second Edition.

Submit questions regarding safety in K–12 to Ken Roy at safesci@sbcglobal.net or leave him a comment below. Follow Ken Roy on Twitter: @drroysafersci.
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This week in education news, New Jersey governor announces new measures to help keep STEM college graduates in the state; more must be do in U.S. schools to increase the number of women represented in STEM careers; teachers need to set professional boundaries; California lawmakers approve bills to increase STEM funding in the state; new research shows that the UTeach teacher prep program is actually working; the Quality Teacher Incentive Program has been a game changer in Utah’s San Juan School District; driven by dislike for federal and state-based education policy, teachers across the country are running for office in unprecedented numbers; and first-generation, college-bound Hispanic students in California don’t often see a clear pathway to a high-tech career.

Murphy Proposes State Help For STEM Tuition

Gov. Phil Murphy has unveiled a pair of measures aimed at keeping science, tech, engineering and math college graduates in the state. His proposed loan forgiveness program would mean anyone who’s worked in a STEM-related job in New Jersey for at least four years would receive $8,000 in tuition assistance. Employers and the state would split the covered amount 50/50. Read the article featured on NJBiz.com.

Is STEM Getting ‘IT’ Right For Female Students?

March 8th was memorable for many reasons. Not only was it International Women’s Day, but Meghan Markle made one of her first official public appearances with her future husband, Prince Harry, at an event in Birmingham, England. Significantly, the event was organized by the STEMettes, an award-winning social enterprise working across the U.K. and Ireland to inspire young women to pursue STEM careers. Read the article featured in eSchool News.

The Necessity Of Boundaries

Teachers need balance. You need to set professional limits that will support long-term engagement with your students and with teaching. This is about protecting your energy and attention in order to maximize their effects. It’s about what you can and cannot control. It’s about when to hold on and when to let go. Read the article featured in edutopia.

How One Organization Is Changing The STEM Education Landscape

Six years ago, I founded 100Kin10, a national network focused on training and retaining excellent K-12 STEM teachers. Originally inspired by Barack Obama’s 2011 State of the Union Address, we knew that we were preparing to take on a huge and daunting problem; for years, our education system has faced an acute teacher shortage. There simply aren’t enough qualified educators to meet the needs of our students, especially in STEM. Read the article featured in eSchool News.

Lawmakers Approve Bills To Expand STEM Funding And Access

STEM education could expand significantly under a handful of bills moving through the California Legislature. Read the article featured in K-12 Daily.

How San Francisco Is Transforming Science Education

Five years ago, the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) made a commitment to invest in the implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) through a multi-year solution strategy that combined developing and adapting new curriculum materials with an integrated professional development plan so that the persistent inequities in student learning would be interrupted. Seeing an opportunity in the disruptive nature of the NGSS to alter science teaching and learning in ways that improved learning for all students, the SFUSD Science Team partnered with the Center to Support Excellence in Teaching (CSET) at Stanford University to ensure that the curriculum and professional development work was guided by best practices and research. Read the article featured in Education Week.

A Teacher Prep Program That Really Works? This One Is Successfully Minting Math And Science Educators

Mariam Manuel was sitting in calculus class at the University of Houston over a decade ago when a professor mentioned a new program allowing math and science majors could also earn a teaching certification. Manuel knew she wanted to teach, but she didn’t know how she’d get licensed. Now, new peer-reviewed research on the program, known as UTeach, shows that its teachers performed substantially better in the classroom than other teachers in Texas, as measured by student test scores. Read the article featured in Chalkbeat.

Utah’s Tug Of War For Teachers Leads To Higher Salaries And Other Incentives

Christy Fitzgerald isn’t worrying on the last day of school, she’s celebrating with her students. The elementary school principal doesn’t have a bunch of empty teacher positions to fill before fall. Students at the Tse’bii’nidzisgai Elementary School, on the Navajo Nation typically lose seven out of 10 of their teachers every year. That changed when the San Juan School District piloted a new program to pay teachers up to $81,000 to come to these remote schools and stay. Read the article featured on KSL.com

From The Classroom To The Campaign Trail: Emboldened Teachers Run For Office

One recent afternoon, reading teacher Karen Mallard settled into a kindergarten classroom at Greenbrier Primary School in Chesapeake, Va., as young readers worked through a book about pets. Then, she headed home to brush up on Iran nuclear policy. Mallard has been leading a double life for the past several months, spending her days helping young readers and then heading to a faculty bathroom to change into a suit when the afternoon bell rings so she can hit the campaign trail. Mallard, who calls herself the “Teacher for Congress,” is running a campaign for the Democratic nomination in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District. Read the article featured in The Washington Post.

A Better Way To Talk About Education

Standardized test scores have been the driving force in U.S. education for more than two decades. But across the country, parents concerned about the psychic toll of high-stakes testing on their children have been “opting out” of testing programs. Meanwhile, teachers have long complained that testing reduces the time for instruction and distorts the curriculum. Read the article featured in Education Week.

Competitions, Experiments A Focus In Inspiring Low-Income Students To Embrace STEM

California schools are using various methods to not only get low-income and diverse high school students interested in STEM subject areas, but to increase the odds they’ll actually get a STEM-related degree and wind up working in one of those fields. In schools located a short distance from Silicon Valley, less than 5% of tech professionals are Hispanic, and just over 2% are African American. Interestingly, 57% of students in the area weren’t born in the U.S.; most came from China or India. Read the brief featured in Education DIVE.

Oklahoma Externship Pays Teachers For Hands-On Experience In Engineering And Science

Schools are always trying to get their kids interested in pursuing careers in science, engineering and technology. But that’s hard to do when the students don’t have a solid idea of what having a STEM-related job really means.Beth Bryan, a middle-school enrichment teacher in Edmond, Oklahoma, is  one of five teachers selected last summer for a pilot program in her state that gives teachers real-life experience in STEM fields. The program, run by Oklahoma’s department of education, aimed to give teachers a more concrete understanding of the applications of science and technology – by getting their hands on some actual concrete. Read the article featured in The Hechinger Report.

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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On June 1, 2018, new committee, advisory board, and panel members begin their term of office in service to NSTA over the next three years. As they do so, I would like to welcome each of them on behalf of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) leadership, staff, and members, for their willingness to step forward, serve, and advocate for science education. Each of them will bring unique and needed perspectives to committee work at a time where promoting the importance of science education is both needed and necessary.

As these new volunteers step into their new roles, other members who have served on committees and boards just finished their terms on May 31, 2018. To them, I say thank you for your service; NSTA and the entire science teaching community has been made stronger by your participation.

(Please see the chart below for the names of those newly joining committees and those who are rotating off.)

Together, We Advocate for Science Education

In April 2017, the nation joined together in a collective and symbolic movement to March for Science.  Knowing the value of science for our future and the need for science education to help get there, NSTA joined this movement as an official partner in both 2017 and again this year.  With this official position, science teachers who prepare students to study science became vocal advocates and part of the one million people worldwide who gathered together with the understanding that “I Stand for Students, I Stand for Science”.

Recognizing the need and desiring to continue to promote the importance of science education, the theme I selected is “Together, We Advocate for Science Education” and will be the focus of efforts over the next year.

By combining our efforts and voices, we as a community of science educators will be able to better voice both the accomplishments and needs of our students, the importance of science education as a pathway to future scientific discoveries, and the importance of teaching with a three-dimensional approach that enables students to utilize real world strategies.  By advocating together, we can express a clear message.

Speaking Out for Science Education

Efforts to pursue this initiative are well underway. The National Congress on Science Education which will be held in Little Rock, AR will bring together state and chapter leaders along with other advocates for science education as we spend three days working on the theme: Speaking Out for Science Education.  Topics that will drive discussion within focus groups and become the work of state chapters and/or NSTA in the coming year are:  Developing Leaders and Advocates for Science Education, Building Collaborative Relationships to Further Science Education, and Elevating the Status of Science Education.

Advocacy takes many forms and that is demonstrated during our upcoming regional conferences. Our fall regional conference planning committee members have been hard at work throughout the past year and have incorporated the need to be advocates into either a strand at each conference or the conference theme.  

• At the fall conference in Reno, NV one strand will focus on Developing Persistence: The Power of Experience where participants are encouraged to learn from your peers’ experiences in persisting as they negotiate the terrain of facilitating science learning for the next generation. 
• According to the Framework, “Arguably, the most pressing challenge facing U.S. education is to provide all students with a fair opportunity to learn” (p. 282). Those participants heading to National Harbor, MD will be reminded of this in many ways from the overarching conference theme that Science Education: A National Priority to a strand theme that identifies the need for Monumental Challenge: STEM Equity, Diversity, and Advocacy via
• And to round out the conferences for the fall, the theme for Charlotte, NC is Energize Science: Educate and Engage all of which help to move the field of science education forward.

Turning to the National Conference on Science Education in April 2019, those that head to St. Louis, MO will be reminded that advocates continually have Science on My Mind.

These are but a few examples of how the theme of Together, We Advocate for Science Education will be featured in NSTA events and initiatives over the next year.

I invite each and every one of our members to join the new committee members, existing committee members and all of the NSTA leadership in advocating for science education and using your teacher’s voice to identify both the accomplishment and needs of our students and also to inform schools, districts, states, and our nation about the importance of science education for our future.

NSTA President Christine Royce is a professor in the teacher education department and co-director for the MAT in STEM Education program at Shippensburg University in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. Follow Royce on Twitter @caroyce.

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

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Treasurer Rios Guest Teaching Personal Finance

I’ve read about inviting guests into the classrooms for a day. Would you recommend that for a new teacher or would it be best for students to see me as the expert initially? Also, how can we get experts into the classroom?
—A., North Carolina

I loved bringing guests into my classrooms! I think it is perfectly fine for a teacher to act as facilitator and guide to help students learn rather than be seen as the expert in everything. This approach is very conducive to inquiry and questioning.

Professional organizations in many fields often have outreach programs and volunteers who visit classrooms. Agricultural groups may offer speakers and demonstrations. Zoos, animal hospitals, animal shelters, and conservation organizations might have an educational “roadshow.” Don’t be too shy to ask friends, acquaintances, and your former professors to share their expertise with your class! Videoconferencing can open up amazing opportunities to connect with scientists in the field.

Check with your administration on the protocol for inviting guests. Talk with your guests about what they will bring (literally and figuratively) into the classroom. Help them modify anything that might not fit with your curriculum and your students. Also, have students submit written questions to you the day before so you can vet them and don’t have the awkward silences when you ask, “Does anyone have any questions?”

I always had some kind of gift for guests. Ask the principal if there is some school-related bling you can hand out.

Hope this helps!

Photo Credit: U.S. Department of the Treasury via Wikimedia Commons