Oct28

Evolution Resources

I see that NSTA has just published the Tool Kit for Teaching Evolution by Judy Elgin Jensen.

According to its description,
Teaching evolution is part of the core biology curriculum, and this new resource provides a teacher-ready summary of the scientific, legal, and ethical talking points for discussion of the topic. Compiled by NSTA with input from the National Center for Science Education, the NSTA Tool Kit for Teaching Evolution pulls together historical facts, scientific data, legal precedent, and other invaluable information for answering the all-too-common question of “Why teach evolution?” Biology and life science teachers will appreciate this resource, complete with classroom activities, for its ability to help you cover a relevant issue with depth and pedagogical support.

This is a very powerful resource that should be on the bookshelf of every science teacher, whether or not you teach biology. Did I say "bookshelf"? Of course you can order a hard copy, but as an NSTA member, you can download a PDF version as a free (free!) e-book for your virtual bookshelf.

The book suggests a variety of print and on-line resources, including SciLinks keywords: evolution teaching resources, evolution, history of evolution, Darwin, genome research, speciation, phylogenetic trees, antibiotic resistance, and human evolution.

For additional resources on the teaching of evolution, check out a previous blog entry on Evolution with some of my favorite sites.
Published: Oct-28-08 | 0 Comments | 95 Links to this post

Oct22

Earth Materials, Features, and Processes

Science Scope Cover 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!
Published: Oct-22-08 | 0 Comments | 95 Links to this post

Oct14

Investigation Skills

Science and Children Cover Little children love to ask questions such as Why? How come? But it seems that in school, it's the teacher who asks most of the questions. This issue provides some suggestions and examples for helping students to apply their curiosity to science investigations.

Investigating with Charles Darwin describes how a class uses Darwin's work with worms as the basis for their own investigations. The author mentions the Darwin exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History. Even though the exhibit is now closed, the virtual one is still active. For more information on Darwin and his works, use the keyword Darwin in SciLinks. Worms also are the basis for investigations in Worms Out of This World. You can check out other activities and background information by entering worm as a keyword in SciLinks.

There are several articles on models, but not the Styrofoam or craft stick kind. The Benefits of Scientific Modeling shows how to go beyond a diagram or physical representation and use models to explore, predict, and explain. There is a chart that show how even simple diagrams can be used a models. The Many Levels of Inquiry article shows a progression of activities, from demonstrations to independent investigations. Take a look at the September issue of Science Scope for more on inquiry lessons.

Investigation starts with asking questions. Two articles Methods and Strategies: The Crucial Role of the Teacher question stems and The Art (and Science) of Asking Questions deal with questions and wait time. The original research was published in the 1970s (by the late Mary Budd Rowe, who was also an NSTA president). This research noted that when teachers paused (for 3-5 seconds) after asking a higher-order question and before calling on a student, the student's response was likely to be more detailed and that more students volunteered to answer. Students also achieved higher on measures of complex thinking. It's a tried and true strategy, and if you need to review the concept, here are three resources:
Published: Oct-14-08 | 0 Comments | 184 Links to this post

Oct08

Research in Science Classrooms

The Science Teacher Cover Wow -- students doing real research! This adds a different dimension to the "labs" that students do. There is certainly a time and place for replication or follow-the-directions activities (for example, to learn how to use various equipment or to practice skills such as observation and data collection). But the research projects described in this month's issue of The Science Teacher have students designing and conducting their own research on a variety of topics.

The research projects described in this issue were not individual projects for a science fair. These were in-school activities that involved a whole class or teams of students in authentic investigations. What impressed me the most about the projects was the fact that the teachers didn't simply tell the students to "do some research." The teachers modeled their own curiosity and thinking about research, they asked questions, and they guided the students through the process.

My high school students used to do a "research paper" in their English classes, but this was basically a collection of information on a particular topic from books, articles, and websites. Scientific research is not a just a collection of facts. It involves processes such as observation, questioning, hypothesizing, measurement, data collection, and analysis. Depending on their prior experiences in elementary and middle schools, the students may need a lot of modeling and guidance at first. But judging from the students in these articles, it's worth it.

If your students are new to the concept of inquiry and research, I'd suggest looking at the Natural Inquirer site. 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. The articles are downloadable as PDFs, and you don't need a login. Even though the articles are designed for middle schoolers, they can be appropriate for high school students who have not had a lot of inquiry or research experiences.

You can use SciLinks for background information on virtually any topic. For example in this issue, there are two highlighted topics: TST100801 for Plant Adaptations and TST100802 for Ocean Research.

Many agencies and organizations have made their data available on the Internet. But for students doing research, it's hard to know where to start. NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) has made a wealth of data available for investigations in a project called Data in the Classroom. There are several modules (El Nino, Sea Level, and Water Quality) that guide teachers and students through what they call "levels of scaled interaction." Each module has five levels of lessons ranging from teacher-presented ones through letting students explore the data to full-blown problem solving and invention. Each module shows the associated data in a variety of formats and guides the students through how to interpret it. There are "checkup" questions throughout, and teachers can download the materials.

A helpful resource from North Carolina State University is LabWrite, which is designed to help students write about their research. Although it's written for college students, it could be helpful for high school students, too.
Published: Oct-08-08 | 0 Comments | 377 Links to this post