One of my biggest questions is how to get the younger elementary students involved in science. Should we do more hands-on activities, having them participate in the environment or should we watch videos? —F., Texas

“Every kid starts out as a natural-born scientist, and then we beat it out of them. A few trickle through the system with their wonder and enthusiasm for science intact.” ― Carl Sagan

We were all born with curiosity, a willingness to experiment and wanting to figure out how the world works. Science should be the easiest subject to teach – we just need to let human nature take its course! I think adults do a good job of stopping young people from exploring and asking simple, but tough, questions. Hands-on activities that encourage manipulation and experimentation along with exploring the real world is where students really learn science. Have them make their own videos. You may be surprised at how involved they will get in their projects!

The role of the teacher, in my opinion, is to provide opportunities to explore and inquire. Teach some basic things like: how to conduct a fair test; use observation not conjecture; record data accurately; how to reach a conclusion based on evidence and how to present data. In essence, teach children the nature of science – not just arbitrary facts. Let them see that science is an active pursuit of knowledge.

Hope this helps!

Photo Credit: Cblack95 via Wikimedia Commons

Six-time NSTA author Rodger Bybee’s deep subject-matter expertise draws on 50 years of working in the science education field as well as keeping up with relevant STEM education-related publications, meetings, and projects. In the last few years, Bybee began noticing that far too many STEM initiatives seemed to suffer from the same shortcoming: They used the STEM acronym in broad, ambiguous ways.

STEM, Bybee said, had become just another slogan and lacked a clear definition and plan for policies, programs, and teaching practices.

Bybee’s latest book, STEM Education Now More Than Ever, presents ideas to counteract the weaknesses that the author sees in STEM education, an urgent call to action during a critical time in American history when the integrity of core STEM disciplines is under assault. He wants students to better understand the important place STEM education occupies across cultural, political, and ethical areas of their lives, especially as they prepare to become citizens of our democracy as well as the global community.

The book is organized into four thought-provoking sections that cover a wide range of issues:

The chapters organized under Part 1 (Innovations for STEM Education) make the new and urgent case for STEM education in light of the recent and seemingly growing challenges to science’s validity from the highest levels of government; discuss what STEM means for state policies, school curriculum, and classroom practices; cover how to connect STEM education with new state standards and the Next Generation Science Standards; and provide a plan of action to move STEM education from a collection of initiatives to a lasting component of American education.

“We need citizens who can entertain different, if not contradictory, ideas; understand different judgements; make decisions based on facts; and recognize the role of scientific evidence that supports that facts,” says Bybee. “Yes, civics education may address these aims, but STEM-related issues certainly could be the context for civil dialogue based on evidence and the recognition that scientific evidence is fundamentally different from personal opinions.”

Part 2 (Our Cultural Heritage: STEM and Society) canvasses America’s foundational ideas and values—the U.S. Constitution, democracy, citizenship—and connects them to each of the STEM disciplines. The chapters in this section help identify the components of a cultural foundation; how to establish a cultural foundation; and how to build on a cultural foundation via democracy, schooling, and STEM education.

“One of the unique goals of education is to aid the individual’s search for a personal freedom that results from the choices one makes and the values one develops as a citizen,” Bybee writes. “STEM education must contribute to the development of literacy and the priorities of this period in American history.”

Part 3 (Advancing STEM Education: Priorities, Perspectives, and Plans) focuses on the important purposes of STEM education and gives recommendations for how to translate those purposes into practical improvement—across STEM programs, STEM units, and professional learning and development. Teachers will appreciate Bybee’s suggestions for newer, faster ways to develop the most relevant STEM classroom learning.

“If we need STEM education now more than ever, what must be done?” Bybee asks. “The answer begins with designing and developing STEM units that will be implemented in current classrooms. Furthermore, it is essential that units are developed by classroom teachers with the provision of professional learning experiences.”

Part 4, the book’s concluding section, answers questions raised in previous chapters, such as: “How does STEM education represent an innovation?”; What is STEM trying to achieve?”; and “How long will it take to implement STEM programs?” This section also stresses the critical need for STEM educators to step up and be strong leaders during a time when far too many policy initiatives disregard rational, evidence-based information.

“Providing a vison for America’s future requires continued efforts to develop and apply the best that science, technology, engineering and mathematics have to offer,” Bybee says. “The health of our oceans, pollutants in the atmosphere, emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, and environmental hazards are STEM problems that citizens must be able to recognize and use scientific information—instead of political and economic ideas—to solve.” 

Read the free sample chapter, “Designing Innovative STEM Units,” to learn about the strategy that state and local leaders can use to design, develop and implement STEM units as well as the critical connection between the development of instructional materials and the professional learning of STEM teachers.

This book is also available as an e-book.

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

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The April edition of NSTA’s Science Scope includes the article Classic Lessons 2.0: What kind of person becomes a scientist?

Some teachers have used the draw-a-scientist activity to ascertain the (mis)conceptions students have about who scientists are and what they do. It’s encouraging to read studies such as U.S. Children Are Drawing Female Scientists Now More Than Ever and What We Learn From 50 Years of Kids Drawing Scientists

As the Science Scope Editor notes, “It is important that students are aware of the careers available to them and to have experiences that mirror the tasks a scientist performs when doing research and conducting experiments.”

Unfortunately, our students may not be familiar with the variety of career opportunities in the 21^st century. (Indeed, may of our students will participate in careers that don’t exist right now!)

For students of any age who are interested in careers in science and engineering, NSTA’s The Science Teacher features a “Career of the Month” column. This two-page article includes interviews with professionals who use science in their work, a description of the job (work overview, career knowledge, and skills), and career advice in a student-friendly, easy to read format.

Here is a sample of careers described in the 2013-2018 journals (access other years for more careers). Note that many are cross-disciplinary, incorporating not only science and engineering but also writing, creativity, technology, and the social science.(I personally was intrigued by Ethnobotanist and Forensic Entomologist!)

• Acoustical Consultant
• Additive Engineer
• Aerospace Engineer
• Agricultural Engineer
• Astronomer
• Astrophysicist
• Automotive Engineer
• Biomaterials Engineer
• Biomedical Engineer
• Chemical Engineer
• Citizen Scientist (and Research Chemist)
• Civil Engineer
• Climate Scientist
• Conservation Scientist
• Earthquake Engineer
• Data Analyst
• Data Scientist
• Ecosystem Scientist
• Electrical Engineer
• Epidemiologist
• Ethnobotanist
• Evolutional Psychologist
• Forensic Entomologist
• Fire Protection Engineer
• Hydrologist
• Interdisciplinary Technologist
• Mars Mission Manager
• Materials Engineer
• Medical Scientist
• Microscopist
• Nutritional Biochemist
• Oceanographic Engineer
• Paleoseismologist
• Research Chemist
• Robotics Engineer
• Science and Technology Librarian
• Science Writer
• Social Media Manager
• Structural Biologist
• Systems Engineer
• Television Writer
• Thermal Engineer

For more, see the SciLinks topics Biology Careers, Careers in Chemistry, Careers in Earth Science, Careers in Life Science, Careers in Environmental Science, Careers in Physics, Geologists, Paleontologists, Pharmacologist, Physiologist, Public Health Careers, Wildlife Biologists

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/glaciernps/4427417055/in/photostream/

I’ve wanted to work in education for as long as I can remember. My mom tells a story of me “teaching” our family cat before I would leave for preschool. This typically involved storytime (me reading to the cat) and a snack (mostly for me) and was lovingly called “Kitty-garden.” As far back as anyone in my family can remember, I was born to be a teacher.

Jump forward a few years (“few” meaning about twenty), and I was lucky enough to secure a summer job at Fontenelle Forest as a summer camp counselor. In this role, I taught a different summer camp each week with a fellow counselor – one week could be a group of third graders hiking through the forest all day, and the next week could be half-day preschool nature exploration. My supervisor in this role, Deborah Woracek, inspired our team, and myself especially, to love science education. We were taught how to ask important questions, and lead the children to ask their own. We had access to unbelievable resources (quite literally an entire forest) to engage and explore with the campers in an education experience of a lifetime. Most importantly, in my opinion, she taught me how to be okay not having all the answers. My favorite line to respond to a question I didn’t have the answer to is: “I don’t know – how can we all find out together?” Deborah taught me how to be vulnerable and inquisitive – and for that I am extremely grateful.

Because of this camp, and especially Deborah, I brought my love of inquiry to the classroom as a first grade teacher. All questions were valid, and all made the classroom community stronger. If I didn’t have the answer, which was more often than not the case, we discussed how we could find the answer and why it was important to “do the research.” I was a better science teacher because of Deborah Woracek. So during Teacher Appreciation Week, I’d like to say thank you to all informal science educators, but especially Deborah, who open the doors to a world (or forest) we can’t always find in a classroom.

Megan Doty is the e-Learning Engagement Specialist with the NSTA Learning Center.

Reach her via email at mdoty@nsta.org or via Twitter @Megan_NSTA. 

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Brownsville (Texas) Independent School District’s top three Middle School Division cars that competed in the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) HESTEC (Hispanic Engineering, Science, and Technology Week) GreenPowerUSA South Texas Electric Car Competition included the second-place winning car from Garcia Middle School (center car). PHOTO COURTESY OF UTRGV—DAVID PIKE

Students around the country are learning science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) by designing, building, and racing electric cars. Mario Molina, eighth-grade science teacher at Dr. Juliet V. Garcia Middle School in Brownsville, Texas, co-coached (with a seventh-grade math teacher) a team of 3 seventh graders and 10 eighth graders who built a single-seat electric-powered racecar and competed in the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley HESTEC (Hispanic Engineering, Science, and Technology Week) GreenPowerUSA South Texas Electric Car Competition, held at the Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport on April 6–7 (see www.greenpowerusa.net). They competed to see which car could drive the farthest in 90 minutes with one set of batteries. “It was a good opportunity for students to look at a vehicle and see the components from start to end, and work on a project in a group setting,” Molina contends.

Brownsville Independent School District paid for 10 car kits from GreenpowerUSA for its 10 middle schools. The kits cost about $5,000 each and consisted of “a body, a motor, and batteries,” says Molina. “The students had to design the outside body panels, choose their own design and colors… The skeleton of the car had two pieces and had to be put together with the motor and wiring,” he explains. The kits arrived in February 2018, giving the students two months to build them before the race.

As they built the car’s interior, Molina says students learned about engineering and electrical work, as well as using hand tools and safety equipment, reading a blueprint, and “problem solving—why is the car making this noise?” Students designed the car’s exterior “on their own as homework, and they brought their ideas to school. There was a lot of homework with this project,” he reports.

Though the district funded the car kits, tools, and teacher training ($6,500 per school), the students had to find additional donors. Garcia’s teachers donated three sets of driving suits and gloves for the drivers, and a local business donated a sheet of corrugated plastic for the car’s body, says Molina. The students collected $800 in donations.

Molina’s team placed second in the race’s Middle School Division. It also had High School and College divisions, and “it was very impressive when the students got to see the high school and college students’ cars and what advanced things they did with their cars,” which further inspired them, Molina observes.

Though Jack Rosenthal’s high school students at Lennox Mathematics, Science, and Technology Academy (LMSTA) in Inglewood, California, weren’t able to build a working car, they learned a lot by trying. Rosenthal— who was an EnCorps STEM Teacher Fellow (https://encorps.org) at LMSTA and is now an engineering instructor at St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California—and science teacher Jose Rivas spent a year building a safe electric car with LMSTA students for the 2015 Shell Eco-Marathon, held in Detroit, Michigan.

“I had [four high school] students working on the battery system and control portions of the car [for] a college competition. [LMSTA] was invited to participate because they had built an electric boat and received praise for it,” Rosenthal relates. Though the competition allowed students to build various types of cars, Rosenthal says his students chose to build an electric car “due to the growth of electric cars. They’re in vogue, and a hot topic because the autonomous car industry is shifting to less air polluting/safer cars.”

Building a safe electric car from scratch as specified in the contest rules proved challenging and costly. “The financial issues and [limited] availability of advanced technologies such as battery safety equipment/systems to meet competition rules cost us the trip to Detroit,” Rosenthal explains.

“The purpose of the competition was to get students to brainstorm, research, and build an electric car from specifications only and make it work safely,” he maintains. His students benefitted from their effort because “they understood what it takes to build a safe battery and associated control system and to work with other teams doing different parts of the car…They got an understanding of how many people are needed to build an electric car and the many steps [involved].”

Starting Small

Because of the time and money needed to build a life-size electric car, some teachers opt to build small electric cars instead. “Our seventh-grade science teachers collaborate with our Tech Lab teacher on a recycled car project. Kids design and build their car with plastic bottles, bottle caps, 9-volt batteries, small motors with propellers, and anything they can think of to attach a battery to the car and motor,” says Eric Diefenderfer, seventh-grade science teacher at Boardman Glenwood Junior High School in Boardman, Ohio.

“Students learn about lab safety and proper use of tools and power equipment (glue gun, utility knives, drills, drill press, awl),” Diefenderfer reports. “This student-led lab allows them to problem-solve as they work through the scientific methods/inquiry skills while making connections to the engineering design process,” he observes. “[T]his was a great way to introduce STEM and 21st-century learning concepts while still connecting to science standards. Some people think STEM is a separate subject, but this project shows how it is integrated.”

“I run an after-school competition called Junior Solar Sprint (learn more at https://goo.gl/zwzunn) in which students build an electric car out of any material that has to carry an empty soda can…The cars run on a solar panel if it is sunny; if not, a battery pack,” says Gavin Kearns, grades 7–8 science teacher at Paul Elementary School in Wakefield, New Hampshire. He gives students the motors and solar panels, but students are free to choose the rest of the materials for their cars, which allows them to be creative, he contends.

One challenge students face is “with an electric car, they really have to pay attention to the weight and structure of the car. It needs to perform a lot of functions, but can’t be over-built,” Kearns points out. “It needs to be very precise in how gears mesh; the axles have to be perfectly parallel so that the gears mesh [properly].”

At the competition, students can win awards for innovation and style, craftsmanship, technical merit of the solar panel and powertrain, and technical merit for weight, traction, drag, and guidance. “Some cars might have an interesting design, but might not win the race. They’ll get an award for their design,” reports Kearns.

This article originally appeared in the May 2018 issue of NSTA Reports, the member newspaper of the National Science Teachers Association. Each month, NSTA members receive NSTA Reports, featuring news on science education, the association, and more. Not a member? Learn how NSTA can help you become the best science teacher you can be.

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

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