Middle School - SciLinks Blog

SciLinks Blog

1/21/2009

Change

I've worked with several schools that are framing their curriculum and units of instruction around big ideas, key understandings, generative topics, or themes (the terminology depends on which model is being used). The rationale for using an overarching concept is that it helps to pull together a disjointed set of topics, provides a focus for instruction, and helps students see connections among concepts.

If you’re struggling to find a "big idea" in science, look no further than this month's issue of Science Scope. for resources on the concept of Change. Think of how many science topics include changes: plant and animal life cycles, the seasons, acceleration, the rock cycle, climate change, weather, the night sky, motion, chemical and physical changes, reflection and refraction, evolution, and the list goes on (feel free to add more). If there's a constant in science, it's the idea of change (discuss that over a cup of coffee some time!).

If you enter the word "change" as a SciLinks keyword, you'll see a list of topics. Among them are the ones highlighted in the journal:

Wikis, Moodles, blogs, Face Book, podcasts, Smart Boards – just look at the changes in technology applications and resources that are available to teachers and students to access and share information. Whether it's a fact-to-face or online, professional development is changing, too, from one-shot "sit and git" presentations to more focused and intensive projects that are related to and embedded in actual practice.

The overemphasis that some are placing on standardized tests and changes in the economy that are forcing schools to make hard decisions illustrate that not every change is positive, of course. And there are those who lament that students aren't the same as they used to be. I've heard this comment for a zillion years. I'd be curious to know when there was a time when students were not changing!

Posted at 10:43 AM by Mary Bigelow | Category: Middle School | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

12/31/2008

Using Community Resources

I was in an elementary school where scientists from a nearby university visited the schools periodically to work with the students on a variety of activities and to describe their own research. The students were impressed with meeting "real" scientists and learning about their work. (One little girl asked if the scientist would autograph her notebook!) These students were learning about careers first-hand.

If there is a shortage of career role models in your community, we often have students could do "reports" on careers in science, looking at educational requirements, salary projections, etc. But I wonder how middleschoolers really relate to this activity? The Internet can bring people from around the world into our classrooms. For example, NOAA's Ocean Explorers has archives of webcasts that include videos of scientists at work.

And I just got a recommendation from the Math-Science Partnerships' Learning Network about the No Boundaries project from NASA. In this project, students explore STEM careers (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) within the context of NASA programs. It appears to be well designed, with rubrics, graphic organizers, cooperative learning suggestions, and other guidelines. Students can submit their projects later this year in a national competition.

If you're not affiliated with a Math-Science Partnership project, you can sign up to join the Math Science Partnerships' Learning Network which has a guest newsletter that is a great source of information and suggestions.

Posted at 12:54 PM by Mary Bigelow | Category: Middle School | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

11/15/2008

Communication Skills

A few years ago, one of the speakers at our school's career day was a graduate who was an environmental scientist. A student asked her what she did all day. The audience expected her to say things such as I do chemical tests. I spend all day on the river. I look at things through a microscope. I walk through the woods. I do experiments. But her answer surprised everyone. She said that she spends as much time on communications, especially on writing, as on anything else. She described how much of her work involves taking notes, writing reports, preparing presentations, writing articles for publication, writing brief updates for her funding agencies, writing and answering emails and letters, conversing with her colleagues, and writing entries in her daily log. I suspect that a similar response would come from those in many other professions and jobs, too.

So it appears that if we want our students to have authentic, real-life experiences in science, our classes will have to include more activities that involve communicating about what the students are learning. Fortunately, there are many resources to help us, including this month's Science Scope with several articles that discuss writing in science:

Learning to Write and Writing to Learn in Science describes refutational text – a type of persuasive writing. I was interested in this because in my state's writing assessment, narrative writing is not assessed at the middle and high school levels. The emphasis is on persuasive and informational. The article has a copy of the rubric that the author has used and a description of how the process is modeled and integrated in the classroom.
Using Science Journals to Encourage All Students to Write shows how writing can be a warm-up or summary activity, an assessment, or a discussion-starter. There are suggestions for modeling and guiding students through the process, a rubric, samples of feedback, and ideas for logistics.
Science and Literacy—Making Connections Through Writing has suggestions for guiding students through responding to open-ended questions and makes an interesting connection between the inquiry process and the writing process.
Science SLAMS—A Reading Strategy for Answering Open-Ended Questions goes beyond a description of the strategy and teaching suggestions. The author did an action research project to determine the effectiveness of using the strategy!

Another resource is SciLinks. Use the code SS110801 for websites on communications. Many of them deal specifically with reading in science. One that I like in particular is Connecting Elementary Science and Literacy. For each step of an inquiry process, this page has suggested resources for incorporating communications skills. (Although the title says "elementary" other grade levels can use this resource!)

You may also want to check out the November 2008 issue of Science and Children and the November 2007 issue of Science Scope for more articles and resources. Mention the idea of using a template for student writing, and you'll get a variety of responses (for example, ask your English teachers about the five-paragraph essay). Some teachers feel that using templates constrains student writing to a cookie-cutter format, with little room for individuality or creativity. Others suggest that using a template can guide students through the writing process, especially students who have not had much experience in a particular style or in writing for a specific purpose. Most of us probably have a format we want students to use for a lab report or a journal entry. It's been my experience that most students appreciate having a template (or a format or a set of guidelines) at first. After a while they can expand, customize, or embellish their work to express their creativity. It's hard to think outside the box when you don't know what the box is!

Posted at 6:57 PM by Mary Bigelow | Category: Middle School | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

10/22/2008

Earth Materials, Features, and Processes

Which branch of science seems to attract lifelong learners? You can make a strong case for the life or physical sciences, but my vote would go to the earth sciences! We spend time stargazing at night, watching the weather channel, learning about geologic features at national and state parks, reading about topics such as climate change and prehistoric events, and wondering when the next earthquake, tsunami, or volcanic eruption will occur.

And yet, for many students, their experiences in elementary and middle school are the capstone of any formal classes in the earth sciences. In high schools, earth science is often an elective (if it's on the schedule at all). So hats off to all teachers who spark an interest in lifelong learning in this branch of science.

This issue of Science Scope has lots of suggestions for teaching fundamental concepts, taking students out into the natural world, bringing the world (such as the Antarctic) to them via the Internet, simulating a geology conference (an authentic learning experience), and discovering what can be learned from dinosaur fossils.

Check out a selection of related resources on the topic of Investigating Earth Science in the SciLinks database. You'll find more than 60 websites on a variety of topics to whet your appetite. Or go to the SciLinks site and enter keywords related to what you're studying: volcano, tectonics, oceanography, galaxy, rock cycle, weather, dinosaur, weather. (Note: if you can't find a topic in SciLinks, add a comment to this post, and we'll work on adding the topic and related sites to the database.)

Some sites recently added in the area of earth science were suggested by FREE (Federal Resources for Excellence in Education):

The Paleontology Portal where students can learn about prehistoric life in the U.S. by state or time period and search fossil images and paleontology collections from several museums.
DLESE Teaching Boxes help teachers create activities on earth science topics with digital resources, education standards, and lesson plans.
Enduring Resources for Earth Sciences Education has a collection of maps, documents, and other resources for teaching about the earth and earth's processes.

Don't forget to check out NSTA's other recent publications, even if you teach at different grade levels: the January 2008 issue of The Science Teacher Our Changing Earth, and the September 2008 issue of Science and Children Astronomy.

Beyond our school experiences, most of us rely on informal science institutions such as museums, observatories, and national/state parks to continue learning. Last month, I had the opportunity to visit northern Arizona. Visiting the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest, Canyon De Chelly, and the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff was a dream adventure for a science teacher!

In an NSTA listserve, a question was raised as to what were the best places in the U.S. to study geology. Most of the suggestions were National Parks in the western U.S. (similar to my adventure). But one response noted that the best place to study geology is in your own neighborhood!

Posted at 11:00 PM by Mary Bigelow | Category: Middle School | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

9/28/2008

Developing Inquiry Skills

It's interesting in this issue to see how teachers can incorporate inquiry learning into topics such as Bernoulli's Principle, bridge design, photosynthesis, a beach clean-up program, rocks, paper airplanes, maple seeds, and ponds. The authors show how you don't need elaborate materials to create learning experiences for students that go beyond cookbook demonstrations and focus on real inquiry and problem solving. The articles describe these investigations and also have advice for teachers who want to include more inquiry in their classes. The articles have lots of real-life classroom examples, and the author share their resources, rubrics, and diagrams.

I followed up on some of the suggested websites:

Recognizing Inquiry compares three hands-on teaching techniques: guided activity, challenge activity, and an open exploration activity. The the comparison has activities that are on the same topic and use the same materials, but the student outcomes are different, based on which technique is used. This is a chapter from the book Inquiry:  Thoughts, Views, and Strategies for the K-5 Classroom, published by the National Science Foundation.
The Institute for Inquiry from the Exploratorium has ideas for professional development in inquiry and formative assessments. But you can click on Our Philosophy for a description of inquiry, a downloadable book Pathways to Learning, and Inquiry Structure, a graphic organizer that shows a process of inquiry.
Doing Science: The Process of Scientific Inquiry is a set of lessons from the National Institute of Health. These lessons guide students (and teachers) through an inquiry process.
A continuum from the National Research Council shows essential features of inquiry and how to vary activities to guide students through the process. Where do your classroom activities "fit"?

Efforts to promote inquiry in science have been around for a long time (I remember the discussion in my methods courses eons ago, and it's always at hot topic at NSTA conferences). So why are we still talking about it? What is keeping us from using more inquiry in K-12 science classes? The Science Scope article Engendering Inquiry discusses some of the perceived barriers to implementing inquiry instruction. Are there others? What do you think?

Posted at 8:36 AM by Mary Bigelow | Category: Middle School | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

8/14/2008

Thinking Like a Scientist

As the new school year is getting underway, are you looking for some experiences to get students focused on scientific thinking and research skills? How can we show students what scientists actually "do" and how they communicate?

In one of the NSTA's listservs , the site Natural Inquirer was mentioned and recommended, so I took a look. This is described as a "middle school science education journal" for students and teachers and is published by the USDA Forest Service. The articles are written by scientists who conduct various types of research. These aren't just summaries or digests – the articles describe the methodology and discuss the results, just like an article in a professional science journal. The difference is that these are written in student-friendly language and include resources for the classroom.

In each issue, the articles can be downloaded as PDF files. Many are also available in Spanish. Each article introduces the scientists and has a glossary, graphs, diagrams, charts, and photographs. What I really like, though, were the reflection questions throughout the article to get students to stop and think as they read. Many articles also have a "factivity" that extends the concept to the classroom as a hands-on investigation or a vocabulary review.

Some of the issues have several articles relating to a theme; others are monographs with one article. You can browse the contents of each issue, but I found the search feature helpful. The "Education Resources" link has ideas for lesson plans, downloadable podcasts, and slide shows. And, best of all, the downloads and other resources are FREE.

Some of the topics include the effects of nonnative earthworms on the environment; the relationship between carbon, photosynthesis, and roots of trees; the relationship between nonnative trout and pacific tree frogs; using harmonic radar to track the flight of beetles; the potential impact of rising levels of carbon dioxide on U.S. forests.

If you're an elementary or high school teacher, please take a look at this site, too. Even though the journal is designed for the middle school level (ages 11-14), the articles and activities could be useful at other grade levels: for upper elementary students who are interested in science and who could handle the reading level or for high school students with little experience in science thinking and hands-on science or those who struggle with the advanced reading level in traditional textbooks. Or for teachers who want to learn more for themselves! You could also give a copy of the articles that are in Spanish to the Spanish teachers in your school for their students to read "real" materials.

The articles are multidisciplinary, focusing not just on biology and ecology, but also on related topics in the physical and earth sciences. There is an invitation to "login" (which is necessary to purchase hard copies), but I just browsed through the site and downloaded a few articles without registering. Can you tell that I like this site?

Posted at 3:54 PM by Bryan Zorzi | Category: Middle School | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

7/29/2008

Systems

The solar system, the metric system, the circulatory system, the system of checks and balances, transportation systems, broadcasting systems, information systems, the Dewey Decimal system – we see the word "system" every day in a variety of contexts.

The word "system" refers to a group of interrelated objects that form an integrated whole or that work together to achieve a desired result. The concept of systems is an underlying theme or "big idea" in the sciences. And yet often we concentrate exclusively on the components such that students don't see how they are connected or affect and influence each other. For example, students learn about the body systems but may not realize how these systems of cells, tissues, organs, and functions are interrelated.

Some people can intuitively see and understand these relationships; others may need guidance and modeling to do so. This month's Science Scope has several articles with activities that can help students understand this concept.

Systems Concepts Effectively Taught Using Systems Practices uses a cell phone simulation (that should get students' attention!) to help students learn about networks.
Teaching Science Through a Systems Approach has many examples of systems and shows how concept maps can be used to visualize systems.
Focusing on Function: Thinking Below the Surface of Complex Natural Systems describes how a classroom aquarium can be used to illustrate the structures, behaviors, and functions are connected within a system.

So why should we bother with the concept of systems when there's so much else to "cover?" Is it all that important? The National Science Education Standards include systems as one of the Unifying Concepts and Processes in science. In Pennsylvania (the state I'm most familiar with), the first science standard category is "Unifying Themes" and the first standard deals with understanding systems! Check your state's standards in science to see if the concept of systems is mentioned.

The concept lends itself to interdisciplinary studies, too. The article Farm to Table and Beyond describes activities to "help students make sense of the global food system" and integrate their knowledge of biology, geography, economics, and nutrition. And who doesn't like to think about food! This would be an eye-opening discussion for students who do not live close to the sources of their food.

Log into Scilinks and use the code SS070801 for web resources on the topic of systems theory and examples of more activities. If you'd like more background on systems theory, here are some places to start: General Systems Theory, Systems Theory, System Theory, Systems Thinking, and Introduction to Systems Theory.

Here's a pop quiz: Our classrooms and schools are examples of systems, too. Are they "open" systems or "closed" ones?

Posted at 4:02 PM by Mary Bigelow | Category: Middle School | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

4/14/2008

Professional Development

Continuing education is an important part of any job or profession, to stay current on new techniques, legal requirements, and advanced topics. It was impossible to learn as undergraduates everything we need to know today, especially on content or strategies that didn't exist then! (Yes, my undergrad days included slide rules, library card catalogs with actual cards, and hard-bound textbooks – no laptops, Internet, or calculators in those good ol' days!).

We science teachers have two fields that require continuing education – teaching practices and science content. In my school district, it was easy for our committee to plan professional development in teaching practices. Topics such as cooperative learning, assessment, classroom management, technology, curriculum design, questioning strategies, and reading/writing in the content areas applied to virtually all of the subject areas. But science content was another issue. For the 4.5 of us who taught secondary biology/life science, it was difficult (and costly) to find facilitators to provide workshops or seminars on specific science topics for just a few teachers. The local colleges did not have many content courses that were appropriate for teachers to keep up on current topics or to learn new ones. So once a year we science teachers combined with other schools for the traditional "large group in the auditorium for a speaker." This approach to professional development was often irrelevant, and research has shown that these one-shot presentations without any follow-up are ineffective.

Fortunately, today there are a variety of ways to stay current in science topics: online courses offered by higher education and professional organizations, courses and seminars offered by museums, and podcasts, blogs and wikis from professional scientists. This month's Science Scope lists many resources for science teachers of all grade levels, not just middle school. The SciLinks code in the table of contents (SS040801) doesn’t have any sites listed for that code yet, but if you enter "Professional Development" as a keyword, you'll get a list of resources. The article Consumer Guide to Professional Development has a list of guidelines for choosing and evaluating professional development, whether online or in person. I'd give a copy to the principal or district professional development coordinator, too!

Something else I'd share with those responsible for PD are the resources at the NSTA Learning Center. It would be easy to design PD opportunities for both elementary and secondary teachers using these resources (and you could mention that many are free – for the cost of an NSTA membership, which is cheaper than most speakers would be). If you're not familiar with these resources, they are an absolute treasure trove. I myself use the transcript option for conferences, the free Science Objects, the free online web seminars (most other professional organizations charge for these), and the listservs. Did you notice how many opportunities are FREE? That is an administrator's favorite word!

But of course, reading journals such as The Science Teacher, Science Scope, and Science & Children is an easy way to stay current! For example, I've been to (and facilitated) many workshops on cooperative learning, but I'm excited about how the authors of Teaching Students to Think Like Scientists During Cooperative Investigations have modified the roles to go beyond the traditional logistical ones. They have lots of resources right in the article, too. If you need a refresher on cooperative learning, try What Is Cooperative Learning? or Cooperative Learning Strategies.

One of the things I enjoy most about finding and reviewing websites for SciLinks is exploring new topics. For example, this month I'm working on the topic "Dark Matter." I had heard of this topic, but my knowledge was very superficial. So now I'm learning a lot! If you want to stretch your mind on this, go to the Particle Adventure website from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. It's written for those who do not have a strong physics background. The concepts are chunked into a tutorial format, with lots of graphics and checkup questions. Even if you don't teach this subject, check out this website as an example of a well-designed way to present material that is very abstract, but fascinating. (And, like me, you might learn something new, too!)

Keep a record of this type of informal learning – in a daily planner, on your PDA, or the calendar that's on the NSTA learning center: reading a professional book or journal article (I have a friend who did a LOT of reading during her son's swim meets!), watching a TV program related to science, reading/responding to a professional forum or listserv, or visiting a museum, zoo, planetarium, nature center, or botanical garden. Although the time you spend on these activities may not "count" toward your state's continuing ed requirements, you may be surprised at the amount of informal professional learning that is part of your life.

Posted at 4:09 PM by Mary Bigelow | Category: Middle School | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

3/19/2008

Making Science Relevant

Why are we studying this? What good will this do me? I know there are teachers who enjoy the challenge of students' asking questions such as these and others who consider these questions to be disrespectful or distracting (and from some students they may be!). But I must confess that I was a questioner in school. If we were studying a new topic or doing an activity, I needed to know what the point was. It really didn’t matter to me what the teacher said the point was, as long as I could see that there was a point, beyond getting a grade or doing something for a test. And, regardless of the subject, if the point involved anything creative, I was hooked!

Some students find topics in science to be inherently interesting. The teacher could read from a textbook, and these students would still be interested. But for other students, teachers need to help students to see how the content is relevant. And even if students aren't particularly interested in a topic (my own high school economics class comes to mind), the teacher can hook the students with personal anecdotes, interesting questions, cooperative activities, hands-on projects, trade books, or multimedia. The focus of this issue of Science Scope is on how to make science relevant.

The article Volcano Resumes shows how students can be engaged by a new twist on the typical "report." In addition to the websites suggested by the author, the SciLinks keywords volcano or ring of fire can help students get started on their websearch. Students could also use websites to find volcano pictures for the resumes. And if the students would plot the coordinates on a map, they could see the "ring of fire" concept.

Who hasn't an idea for an invention? I saw a quote today that said "If necessity is the mother of invention, laziness is the grandmother." Middle-schoolers may relate to that! Problem Solving with Patents adds another dimension to the topic of inventions by looking at the patent process. Go to SciLinks and enter the keyword inventor to look at the inventive process through websites such as Invention Dimension from MIT with a searchable archive of inventors and a handbook for patenting an invention. You can also use the keywords Alexander Graham Bell or Thomas Edison for sites on these important inventors.

For information related to Bumpy, Sticky, and Shaky: Nanoscale Science and the Curriculum use nanoscience as keyword in SciLinks. Two of sites in this topic could be of interest to students: Introduction to Nanotechnology and Nanokids.

Investigating your own neighborhood and reporting the observations to a national database can be both relevant and authentic (two buzzwords in one sentence!). In addition to the projects described in Wanted: Citizen Scientists (Project Feederwatch, Bird Sleuth, and Monarch Watch), I recently heard of Project BudBurst, in which students, gardeners, and other interested folks observe flowering plants in their gardens, schoolyards, and lawns and then enter the observations into a national database to help scientists study the effects of climate change through the timing of flowers and foliage. The site has lots of ideas and resources (use the "Participate" link to get to the teacher resources).

Going on a Science Trek shows how students can demonstrate what they are learning in creative ways. I've seen a lot of lessons where the objective stated that the "students will be able to create a PowerPoint" (or diorama, poster, report). But in a science course, creating a report or exhibit is not really the objective. The PowerPoint, diorama, report, or poster is a way for students to communicate what science concepts they are learning. And this article makes this point with lots of ideas! What can be more relevant than providing many ways for students to use their creativity to solve a problem and communicate the results?

Posted at 4:11 PM by Mary Bigelow | Category: Middle School | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

2/13/2008

Environmental Activities

In much of the country, February is not the month in which we think of environmental activities, at least the outdoor kind. But this month's Science Scope has a lot of suggestions for teacher-tested activities that can be done at any time of the year – from exploring the microorganisms that help termites digest wood to working with spectroscopes to study light.

Sometimes our attempts to integrate subject areas can be superficial or contrived. But "Using Art to Get Kids Into and Doing Science" looks like an authentic way to integrate science and art. Even if you're not into birds, perhaps the same type of activity could be done with other animals, plants, or the sun and moon. But if you are into birds, the annual Great Backyard Bird Count is February 15-18, 2008. (schoolyards or parks would count, too!) Even if it's too late for you to participate this year, you can add it to your plans for next year. But be sure to look at the website. The section "Explore the Data" has maps and lots of searchable data from previous years by species, geographical location, and other topics. Projects such as this and Cornell's Project Feederwatch and Bird Sleuth are neat ways to engage kids. (I worked with a third-grade class on the Feederwatch project, from observing and counting birds to entering the data online.) Along with these sites, you may want to check out Cornell's online exhibit Beautiful Birds just because we need to see beautiful things once in a while.

"The Fish Kill Mystery" illustrates how case studies can provide a context for student thinking. This particular case study is from the Case Studies in Science collection. There are lots of case studies there, but the best thing is the "Teaching Notes" link for each one with background information and suggestions. If you use SciLinks to get a list of suggested websites with more information and related activities for the topic, you have the makings of an engaging study.

If you're interested in "Investigating Ecosystems in a Bottle," there are additional ideas at the Bottle Biology websites. Who know there were so many investigations involving 2-liter bottles! For additional resources related to the topics and activities in "How Do Our Actions Affect Water Quality?" log into SciLinks and enter water quality or groundwater as keywords for links to websites with activities and background information. The article "Alien Invaders!" has a board game that reviews invasive species. For more on this topic, log into SciLinks and use the keyword invasive species. One of the best of these resources is NOAA's Lionfish Invasion which describes a real-life invasion, with graphics, video, and lots of teacher resources on the topic of invasive species.

I have to admit that when I search for a topic, I often look at the wiki article first. It seems like wikis are becoming the basic encyclopedia of the digital age. But many schools block wikis, and many teachers will not let students use them at all! In the BI (before Internet) era, we used to discourage students from using basic encyclopedias as their only source of information. Perhaps that's the strategy we should be using with wikis –an initial background source, but certainly not the only one. The authors of "The Collaborative Powers of Wikis" describe the value of having students create wikis. I wonder if by creating and maintaining one themselves, students will see firsthand the advantages and shortcomings of this source of information. According to the Wikispaces site, teachers can get private space for free. It might be interesting for a few teachers to test-drive the process first. The authors mention that Tree of Life and Wikibooks are worth taking a look at, as examples of worthwhile wikis related to science.

Don’t forget to check out SciLinks and enter SS080201 as a code for a list of websites related to environmental activities.

Posted at 4:13 PM by Mary Bigelow | Category: Middle School | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

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