Citizen Science Day is April 14, and these projects are a wonderful way for young children to continue their science learning by being part of a larger science effort doing “real science.”  (For the record, I think the observations and thinking young children do is real science, the beginning of making sense of natural phenomena.) One citizen science project is the Pieris Project, named after the Latin name of the Cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae.

The Cabbage white butterfly is the earliest butterfly I see, cherished by preschool teachers because it is relatively easy for children to observe its lifecycle. The green larva hatch out of eggs laid by the mother butterfly on plants you may be familiar with, broccoli, cabbage, collards, and kale, all in mustard family. Collard seedlings can be planted now to attract the mother Cabbage white butterfly to lay her eggs where children can see them. You will notice when the babies hatch because they eat holes in the leaves, the reason why this species is an agricultural pest. 

Plant the collard seedlings and check them daily for the tiny eggs. If you find an egg, the entire leaf can be cut from the plant and put in a vase for close observation indoors so all children can see it and the tiny, tiny caterpillar when it hatches and begins to eat. Additional collard leaves purchased at a grocery must be washed thoroughly to wash away any pesticides before being added to the vase as an additional food source. See more details in the April 2007 Early Years column or in chapter 23 of Science Learning in the Early Years. (NSTA Press 2016).

The SciStarter listing of this citizen science project says, “Please consider helping this important effort, because through your collections of this butterfly we can learn a great deal about the ecology and evolution of butterflies more broadly as well as how human activities (climate change, pollution, etc.) are having an effect on biodiversity.”

Your children will learn that people all over the world are working to help scientists learn. They may be too young to understand the details of this project that seeks to answer: 1) How has the cabbage white butterfly adapted (evolved) to the new environments it invaded? 2) Where did these butterflies (those found in the US) come from? and 3) How has the “phenotype” (color, shape, size) of the cabbage white butterfly changed as it has moved into new environments? But even two-year-olds aren’t too young to be interested in small animals such as butterflies.

 And they will learn about the animal-plant relationship, part of the Next Generation Science Standards, K-LS1-1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes, 1-LS1-2 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes, and K-ESS3-1 Earth and Human Activity.  

“Apollo 17: Blue Marble” taken by the crew of the final Apollo mission as the crew made its way to the Moon.

Earth Day is celebrated on April 22 and every day as we connect young children to the natural environment. Weekly walks over the same ground or city block will help children see the changes in nature and the human built environment as the seasons change. Where does the sunshine fall this week compared to where it could be seen last month? The shadows of buildings that blocked the sunlight in winter months may have shifted! Trees leafing out and bees and ants appearing are other examples of seasonal changes children may notice. Feeling like a part of nature, rather than apart from it, helps children begin to notice connections between their actions and what happens in the environment. 

One way we can make a small change in our practices to make the environment a healthier place is to begin using paper straws instead of plastic straws for children’s engineering and art projects. Plastic takes a long time to break down so the straws we use today will be around for years, in landfills or dispersed in nature where animals are endangered. Researchers at the University of California, Davis are investigating whether microplastic debris is toxic to marine organisms and if toxic impacts can transfer up the food chain.

Paper straws fall apart faster than plastic ones and that’s a good thing!

This week in education news, Wyoming and Idaho pass laws mandating schools to offer computer science classes; March for Science taking place April 14; NAEP scores in math and reading remain relatively flat; blind and visually impaired students can now conduct their own science experiments that might have been exceedingly difficult before; Joan Ferrini-Mundy named President of the University of Maine; and Utah State Board of Education approves plans to begin drafting new school science standards.

Wyoming, Idaho Laws Expand K-12 Computer Science Education

Two states, Wyoming and Idaho, passed laws mandating schools offer computer science instruction, with the goal of preparing students for the future workforce. Read the article featured in Education Week.

Ky. Can’t Push STEM Jobs While Cutting Education, Raising Tuition

Gov. Matt Bevin has stated that one of the goals of his Kentucky education reform is to focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). As a Kentucky-educated computer scientist and team member of a group whose work was inducted into the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, I feel obligated to comment on Bevin’s plan, and why it’s an abject failure. Read the opinion piece by Mark Alsip featured in the Lexington Herald Leader.

March for Science: Scientists Are Back — And Ready To March

Supporters of science around the world will take to the streets on April 14 to send public officials a message that evidence-based policy decisions are important — and science cannot be ignored. Read the article featured in USA Today.

2017 NAEP Sees Almost No Growth In US Atudents’ Math, Reading Scores

The performance of U.S. students in reading and mathematics has remained relatively flat since 2015, according to the results of the National Assessment of Education Progress, released Tuesday by the National Center for Education Statistics. Read the article featured in Education DIVE.

ESSA Pressures States To Assure All Students Have Good Teachers

Every student, no matter their race or family income level, should be taught by an effective teacher, the Every Student Succeeds Act declares. Exactly how to define what makes an effective teacher and how to implement this ambitious goal has been left up to the states—and their track records on getting started have been mixed. Read the article featured in Education Week.

Study Reveals Teachers Don’t Have Enough Time For Peer Collaboration

Teachers in high-poverty schools collaborate just as much as teachers in low-poverty schools, researchers at the RAND Corporation recently found. However, teachers in both low- and high-poverty schools reported they didn’t have enough time to devote to collaboration. Read the article featured in Education Week.

Illuminating Science For Blind Students, With Help From Latest Tech Devices

As high school student in Los Angeles, Ann Wai-Yee Kwong, who is visually impaired, remembers what it was like when her classmates did a science project. They mixed chemicals and watched them change color, checked liquid temperatures using a thermometer and measured speed and velocity by racing toy cars down a ramp. Kwong couldn’t do much besides sit quietly and “robotically copy data from my non-disabled peers. … I definitely did not feel included. I felt like a second-class citizen.” Using digital Braille readers, “smart” pens affixed with thermometers, 3-D printers, audio textbooks and other innovations, Kwong and other blind and visually impaired students can now conduct their own science experiments and even pursue scientific careers that might have been exceedingly difficult before. Read the article featured in EdSource.

Teachers Still Haven’t Recovered Financially From The Recession

In recent weeks, teachers have been protesting, staging walkouts and marches in Kentucky, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Arizona. Teachers are upset about working conditions, pay and benefits, which in some cases have been stagnant or worsening for years. One major contributing factor is recession recovery — states have less funding per student now than they did in 2008. Read the article featured in the Kera News.

National Science Foundation Executive Named New President Of UMaine

A top executive at the National Science Foundation and leading science, technology, engineering and math expert has been named president of the University of Maine. Joan Ferrini-Mundy was selected after a national search, and succeeds Susan Hunter, who is retiring. Read the article featured in the Portland Press Herald.

The U.S. Doesn’t Have Enough STEM Teachers To Prepare Students For Our High-Tech Economy. 4 Steps Toward Addressing That Shortage

Now more than ever, a high-quality STEM education matters. The STEM fields cultivate curiosity and creativity while preparing students to reach their highest potential in work and life. They are also critical for personal and national prosperity: In the next decade, almost all of the 30 fastest-growing occupations will require intermediate or advanced knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and/or mathematics. Unfortunately, access to a high-quality STEM education is deeply inequitable, limiting opportunities for students while they are still in high school. Read the article featured in The 74.

Here’s The Best Way To Create Jobs And Growth In The US

Today, the biggest need of any startup is talent — creative, highly-skilled workers who can turn ideas into the next big technological revolution. To maintain America’s innovative edge, we need a two-prong policy approach of boosting STEM education and training for Americans to fill the jobs of the future, while fixing our high-skilled immigration system so that businesses can recruit the best people for these jobs today without harming U.S. workers. Read the article featured on CNBC.com.

After Past Sparring Over Hot-Button Topics Like Evolution And Climate Change, Utah Board Of Education Gives Go-Ahead To Draft New Science Standards

The Utah State Board of Education approves plans yesterday to begin drafting new school science standards, a process likely to touch on divisive issues like climate change and evolution. Read the article featured in the Salt Lake Tribune.

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

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At room temperature, elemental (metallic) mercury can evaporate to become an invisible, odorless toxic vapor. The warmer the air, the more quickly mercury vaporizes. Exposure to even a small amount can affect your health. Symptoms can surface within hours of exposure. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), exposure to mercury can result in short-term symptoms (e.g., coughing, vomiting) and long-term symptoms (e.g., loss of appetite, memory loss).

The problem with mercury is that it keeps on recycling itself. It vaporizes, is absorbed by materials in the environment (e.g., carpet, cloth, wood, window fixings), and again vaporizes into the air. This means that mercury drops can continue to turn into vapors that are breathed in by students and teachers years after a spill. It keeps recycling unless there is an intervention.

To determine if there is mercury in the lab, either secure a mercury detection kit or have a commercial lab test the science lab for mercury. If the results come back positive, the school district will need to hire a mercury spill clean-up contractor. If there is a small spill from, say, a broken mercury thermometer, see “How to handle a mercury spill” below.

Where can mercury be found in schools?

For decades, science teachers have used mercury in demonstrations and lab experiments involving oxygen production, exceptionally strong cohesive forces, and more. Before the health concerns about elemental mercury were evident, it could be found in a number of sites at schools, especially in science labs (e.g., glass thermometers, pressure gauges, batteries). Beyond the science lab, mercury can be found in fluorescent lamps and light bulbs, thermostats, switches, latex paint (produced prior to 1992), old microwave ovens, high-intensity discharge lamps, and silent, mercury-tiltwall switches.

All mercury instrumentation and mercury compounds need to be removed from labs appropriately. There are mercury thermometer exchange programs at the local and state levels, commercial hazardous waste vendors, and science laboratory equipment/supply houses.

Alternatives to mercury

Alcohol or electronic thermometers should replace all mercury-filled thermometers. There are also accurate alternatives to mercury barometers, vacuum gauges, manometers, and sphygmomanometers (blood pressure gauges) that rely on electronic or digital gauges and aneroid gauges. Other less hazardous chemicals such as a copper catalyst or zinc formalin can be in place of mercury for science demonstrations and experiments.

How to handle a mercury spill

Should there be a mercury spill, its size will dictate the response. Prepare for a spill by determining the mercury cleanup protocol from your school’s administration or board of education. In addition, general mercury spill guidelines are available from numerous sources, including most state departments of environmental protection and the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA’s guidelines provide information on cleaning up mercury spills, including what never to do after a spill, preparation for cleaning up a broken mercury thermometer, materials for cleaning up the spill, and specific instructions for cleaning up a spill.

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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