Two items titled "Critical Thinking" are on my desktop right now: the September issue of Science Scope and an op-ed piece in the Boston Globe Critical thinking? You need knowledge. In this article, the author Diane Ravitch discusses "21st century skills" such as critical thinking and cooperative learning and suggests these are being emphasized to the exclusion of "knowledge." It's an interesting article, and the comments that have been submitted are diverse and thought-provoking, too.

One thing I looked for in the article was a definition of "critical thinking." It seems like a phrase we all use but may have different interpretations. Does the term refer to questioning, synthesizing, problem-solving, creating, reflecting, judging, evaluating? Something else? We also should consider what we mean by "knowledge" Is knowledge information from the outside that gets absorbed (memorized?) or does it also involve a deeper level of understanding that comes from making internal connections? How do we determine what information and experiences should be internalized as knowledge? Just some rambling thoughts.

I'm sure we've all had experiences in classrooms where the teacher emphasized the acquisition of facts and definitions, with few opportunities to use the information in any context. On the other hand, there are classrooms that focus on projects and activities but the students don't really understand why they are doing them. We often hear "They are having so much fun, they don't know they're learning." Maybe we should help students know that they are learning, how the activity is helping them learn, what content is important, and that learning can be enjoyable (and challenging).

But as I read the articles in Science Scope, I have the impression that these teachers use critical thinking and cooperative learning, not as isolated skills, but as ways of helping students learn science through investigations, discussion, readings, and writing. The activities they describe integrate essential content with experiences that help the students internalize and apply what they are learning in creative ways

The Internet is changing the way we locate and share information, so I'll put in a plug for SciLinks as a tool for finding relevant science content!

Having been a technology coordinator in a previous career, I saw two different interpretations of the theme.

Several of the articles deal with connecting students to the technology in their lives. For example, Breezy Power--From Wind to Energy and How Do Windmills Generate Power? show how students (and teachers) can learn about this renewable energy source. For more background information and ideas for student activities, enter "wind" as a keyword in SciLinks. The author of the article Designing Payloads describes how an elementary classroom connected with university faculty and their resources to study the atmosphere, using high-tech tools and applications.

I was visiting a class where the students defined the word technology as the "tools and strategies that people use to solve problems." The teacher posed the questions: Can the tools be simple and non-electronic to be considered technology? Do the strategies have to be brand-new, or can they be tried-and-true ones? If your answer is in the affirmative, then two articles in this issue definitely relate to technology! Larger Than Life: Introducing Magnifiers discusses ways to introduce this essential tool to younger children (or older ones who have never used one before). Older children may be interested in how magnifies work (a great introduction to a unit on optics), so check out these resources on lenses in SciLinks. And studying plants (Flower Power) is a tried-and-true strategy for helping students learn about scientific processes such as observation and classification. Use "plants" as a SciLinks keyword for more ideas.

Another interpretation of the theme can be using technology to connect students with each other and the world around them. If you’ve never tried Wonderful Wikis and Internet Forums, read about how a fourth-grade teacher uses these to engage students in thinking and writing, to foster writing skills, and as a formative assessment of learning. If your district does not allow the use of these tools, show this article! Likewise for YouTube in the Science Classroom. (This author shows how to access and use the videos, even if the site is blocked in your school.)

For more info on using the newest technologies in the classroom, check out the website of the EdTech Innovators, two science teachers with lots to share.

Science and technology are human endeavors. So be sure to wrap up your reading with Teaching the Human Dimension of Science and Finding a Place for Girls in Science. I love the cover of this issue--forty years after a teacher told me that "little girls" did not belong in science. But I'm curious as to why--in 2009--we're still trying to find a place for girls.

It's not hard to get young students interested in the earth sciences that explain and describe the world around them. And yet for many students, the upper elementary and middle school grades are the last time they'll be exposed to earth science topics in school. (Although I just visited a high school that is returning earth science to the curriculum in response to the state's science assessment.)

But SciLinks does not skimp on earth science topics. By entering keywords such as volcano, rock, glacier, plate tectonics, geyser, weather, or earthquake, you'll find many informational websites for students, background information for yourself, and teaching suggestions.

Several sites recently submitted to SciLinks include a wealth of ideas and multimedia resources. Earth in the Universe and Earth System, Structure, and Processes from Teachers' Domain have images, Flash interactives, and videos. You can incorporate these into your lessons, or use the many lesson plans (with connections to state standards) included. Registration for the site is free. Rock Cycle has animations of the rock cycle and the formation of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks.

Classifying Classification describes how a team of first-grade teachers examined their own instruction in classification and how it related to their state standards. Check out the rubric they created and how it could be adapted for older students. They also have a continuum for classification activities: matching, sorting, categorizing, and interpreting. I wonder how many teachers of older students repeat these activities without knowing what the students have done in the younger grades? Are we challenging students along a continuum or doing the same level of activities again and again?

The SciLinks database has some good resources and lesson ideas on the topic at the K-4 level. Websites for the middle grades and high school can be accessed by entering classification as a keyword for lists of websites related to classification systems, classification of rocks, and the basis for classification.

The students' activities described in Shark Teeth helped them to learn that scientists classify for a purpose. And the authors describe how the students also learned how to use the graphing feature of Excel (with which many adults struggle!). The SciLinks keyword sharks has websites listed for grades 9-12, but you can preview and select any that would be appropriate for your students or as background information for yourself.

We often think of classification in terms of living things, but Does Light Go Through It? shows that even very young children can describe patterns and characteristics. I think that even older students would understand vocabulary such as opaque, transparent, and translucent if they have some hands-on experiences to explore the concepts.

The February issue of Science Scope has a "Classification" theme also. Many of the activities in that issue could be adapted for younger (or older) students. I've found that with any of these classification activities, the point is not for students to get a "correct" answer. The real value is in the discussions students have about the similarities and differences of the objects and in the teacher's guidance through the processes. You can learn a lot by listening and guiding when necessary as students develop their skills in observation, description, measuring, graphing, summarizing via their journals, and making connections.

My experiences at an Orioles game will never be the same after reading What Makes a Curveball Curve. Check out SciLinks for websites describing and investigating the science behind many sports.