Nov11

Interdisciplinary/Integrated Science

I always look forward to the NSTA journal issues that have a theme with the words integrated or interdisciplinary in them. Interdisciplinary is one of those words that is hard to define, but we "know it when we see it." The article Thinking, Teaching, and Learning Science Outside the Boxes in the February 2009 issue of The Science Teacher does provide a definition as well as a discussion of its importance and even a "taxonomy" of levels of disciplinarity (yes, I know that's not a real word!), showing that it's not an either/or dichotomy. The challenge is to make the connections authentic and purposeful, rather than contrived and trivial.

The lessons described in this issue are anything but contrived and trivial! Solving the Mystery of Mock Mummies goes beyond creating "mummies" as a arts-and-crafts activity to fact-finding on the process of mummification, a study of artifacts, observations, and inferencing. A key component is having to interpret the work of others. In addition to the online resources mentioned in the article, SciLinks has websites under the keyword "archaeology." Although they are in the 9-12 group, some of the sites would be appropriate for middle-schoolers, including Animal Mummies in the Cairo Museum, and In Vesuvius' Shadow. It would be interesting to connect these activities with an ancient history class.

My students were fascinated by amber and the insects inside, and the activities in Amber: Using "Tree Tears Turned to Stone" to Teach Biology, Ecology, and More! would certainly capitalize on that interest. (I also saw this topic as a rationale to visit jewelry stores selling amber for pieces to wear to class!). If your students are interested in more information, try Fossil Amber, Amber: Window to the Past (also recommended in the article), and Oldest Gecko Fossil Ever Found, Entombed in Amber. In Search for the Golden Moon Bear, the authors describe a Reader's Theatre project, in which students wrote and performed an original script based on a science-related book. I've seen many elementary classes use this technique to improve fluency and comprehension, but I'm excited by the idea of middle-schoolers writing and performing, especially if they can share what they're learning with a younger audience. The article has step-by-step directions, but if you need more information, check out the resources at Readers' Theater.

Helping students see the connections between science and "real life" is the theme of several articles. In Cell Towers and Songbirds, students look at the possible consequences of the technology that seems to be indispensible these days. The Global Warming Project could be adapted for high school students with the question: What is the impact of most students driving to school rather than carpooling or using the bus? And Time's Up, Turkey: Pop-up Thermometers takes a look at a technology that will be in use later this month in many homes.

Regardless of what grade level you teacher, two articles would make excellent discussion starters at faculty meetings: The Great Divide: How Mathematics Is Perceived by Students in Math and Science Classrooms shows how there may be confusion between how common concepts (such as data collecting and analysis, graphing, measurement, and unit analysis) are taught and used in science and math classes. And Physics or Stamp Collecting? Pitfalls of the Hierarchy of Disciplines is a thought-provoking article that discusses how we communicate the importance of science to students and some of the misconceptions that students may develop.

Published: Nov-11-09 | 0 Comments | 0 Links to this post

Sep28

Bits and Pieces for September

Rather than competing with the commercial hoopla around Halloween, perhaps we science teachers could do our own special celebrations that relate to science concepts. For example, it's not too early to plan events for Mole Day, celebrated on October 23 (10/23) from 6:02 a.m. to 6:02 p.m. The timing of this event celebrates Avogadro’s number -- 6.02 * 10^23 For more information on the concept of a “mole," enter Avogadro into the SciLinks keyword search. You’ll get a list of websites related to moles and to the work of this scientist.

This day is also used to celebrate the science of chemistry and its applications. The National Mole Day Foundation’s website has background information, themes, and some suggested activities. The American Chemical Society has embedded Mole Day in its National Chemistry Week events. The ACS site has many resources for students and teachers of all grade levels.

The September issue of Learning and Leading with Technology has a product review of handheld digital field recorders to create high quality sound files.

I've read of some websites that are worth a look: Biovisions from Harvard University has video clips and animations related to biology. Learn Bird Songs includes recordings to help you identify common bird by their songs. And Tech How-To: Podcasts has suggestions for creating and hosting original podcasts.

An online conference sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution focuses on the evidence, impact, and response to climate change. It features Smithsonian scientists, curators, and collections examining the issues surrounding climate change from a variety of perspectives. The conference is scheduled for 9/29/2009-10/1/2009 and it will be archived for later use.

Published: Sep-28-09 | 0 Comments | 0 Links to this post

Sep23

Exploring Habitats

What an appropriate theme for the September issue! I've often wondered why field trips are usually scheduled in the spring when the fall is such a great time to be outdoors. And activities involving plants and animals are good ways to introduce students to scientific investigation and observation at the beginning of the year. These activities range from growing plants in the classroom or the schoolyard to studying bird habitats.

If you're tired of the same old "scavenger hunt" activity, the article Forest or Field? has some good suggestions for how to make your field trip more meaningful by formulating questions to investigate, using activities prior to the trip to build background knowledge and experiences, conducting actual investigations during the trip, and analyzing data back in the classroom. I can imagine that this takes a lot of work, but I'm sure the experience is much more of a learning process than simply giving students a checklist. And your field trip can be part of your instruction, not just a social event!

When studying habitats, it's easy to focus on the plants and animals, but we can't forget the nonliving (abiotic) factors that influence the kinds of organisms that live there: elevation, types of soil, climate, rock formations, water sources, the terrain. Use SciLinks to find information on these abiotic factors to complement what students learn about the living things in a habitat.

How many of your schools are decorated with real pumpkins for the fall? The article Gourd-ous Decomposition shows you how to turn these decorations into a learning experience on plant life cycles, especially the process of decomposition.

I was excited to see so many references to SciLinks in the articles. As a summary, here are the links directly to the topics:

I always learn from each issue. For example, I had never heard of the term "thigmotropism" before reading the article How Plants Move. It's a cool-sounding word that I'll think of when I plant my tomatoes and beans next spring!

Published: Sep-23-09 | 0 Comments | 0 Links to this post

Sep16

Critical Thinking

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!

Published: Sep-16-09 | 0 Comments | 0 Links to this post

Sep10

Chemistry for a Changing World

Welcome to the 2009-2010 school year! I was excited by the theme of this kick-off issue. I loved chemistry as a high school student (Thank you, Sister Maureen!), majored in the subject in college, and taught it as part of a physical science course. Even today the smell of a chemistry lab gets me psyched up.

Some students do not take chemistry in high school; those in a traditional course may never realize how what they are learning applies to the real world. And some of my students would have the misconception that chemistry is about blowing things up and is the domain of nerds in stereotypical white coats and plastic pocket protectors! The outside world is not the only thing that is changing. The authors of these articles describe how the teaching and learning of chemistry is changing in their own classrooms.

The activities in Shrinking Our Footprints are built around a real-world problem and use an interesting online calculator, the Ecological Footprint Quiz. The online nature of the quiz enables students to test their ideas about reducing carbon consumption.

Project-based learning was the focus of in What Happens to Cemetery Headstones? Students applied their learning of acids and bases to a study of a local environment. Wouldn't it be interesting to incorporate this into an interdisciplinary project involving social studies? Check out How to Read a Graveyard or History Comes Alive in the Graveyard from the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

Not all learning in the classroom is done by students! The authors of Teacher Research: Challenging Our Assumptions describe their own inquiry into what student do or do not understand about the gas laws. (Their findings are interesting. Would they apply to your students?) If you're logged into SciLinks, you can search for websites that may help your students understand the laws conceptually, in addition to doing the algebra to solve problems!

On a smaller scale, check out articles on Investigating Membranes, The Science Behind Nanosunscreens, and Teaching with Crystal Structures. And use SciLinks to search for resources on membranes, nanotechnology, and crystalline solids.

Published: Sep-10-09 | 0 Comments | 0 Links to this post

Jul23

Connecting with Technology

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.

Published: Jul-23-09 | 0 Comments | 0 Links to this post

Jul17

Classroom Management

"Would you like to be a student in your classroom?" This month's guest editorial says it all when it comes to classroom management. A well-organized science lab with students that are engaged and enthusiastic--it doesn't get any better than that! But it takes a lot of planning, effort, and reflection to make it so. The articles in this issue have variety of suggestions from many perspectives. I would encourage teachers at the upper elementary and high school levels to browse the contents, too.

The best way to solve discipline problems is to prevent them from happening. We science teachers have an advantage--interesting content and hands-on investigations to keep students focused and engaged. In Managing Inquiry-Based Classrooms, Classroom Management and Inquiry-Based Learning, and Classroom Management, Rules, Consequences, and Rewards! Oh, My!, the authors share their teacher-tested strategies for making the science classroom an engaging and safe place for learning. Classroom Management: Setting Up the Classroom for Learning illustrates several ways to configure a classroom for various learning activities. For information on laboratory safety, I'd recommend the NSTA publication Inquiring Safely: A Guide for Middle School Teachers and the NSTA Guide to Planning School Science Facilities.

In addition to the resources suggested at the end of the articles, check out SciLinks for more information on classroom management. I'd also recommend the work of Robert Marzano and his book Classroom Management That Works, in which he synthesizes current research on the topic and provides practical suggestions based on this research. If you or any of your colleagues are members of ASCD, you can read the book and the companion handbook online for free!

When students are off-task, our first question should be "what's the task?" Most middle school students are motivated by interesting assignments and being able to work with each other. Science Scope always has suggestions for interesting and challenging activities and assessments, such as Cartooning Your Way to Student Motivation (I've also seen teachers ask students to respond in a haiku format or as a tweet.)

I was surprised by the content of the article Teaching: A Reflective Process. After using an asseement probe, the teachers developed an an interesting activity to model the water cycle and address the students' misconceptions. SciLinks has more activities and information on the water cycle.

Published: Jul-17-09 | 0 Comments | 0 Links to this post

Jul08

Summer Reading

As I head off to the beach next week, along with a few mystery novels, I'm going to pack some of the books I ordered at the NSTA conference last spring, a few back issues of NSTA journals I want to review, and several of the resources listed in Current Research: Summer Reading Suggestions in this issue. It will be a full bag, but armed with my highlighter and sticky notes, I'm looking forward to catching up on my reading!

The connection between reading and science is a professional interest of mine, so I was especially interested in the article Reading Aloud: A Springboard to Inquiry. The author makes a compelling case for the value of reading trade books aloud in the classroom, especially if the class has many struggling readers. She provides a list of suggested titles of content-rich books that are written for students through grade 9 (or age 15). She also has suggestions for how (and when) to use the read-aloud strategy.

I was visiting a high school science class where, rather than using a "round robin" style of oral reading by students, the teacher read aloud sections of the textbook. The class had many struggling readers in it, and the advantage was that the students heard the text read fluently as they followed along. The teacher modeled what a good reader would do - stop and reflect, make connections to the graphics on the page, note the text clues, and highlight or add questions to the margin. When I asked the students what they thought, one said "It’s like a live podcast." The teacher did not read aloud the entire chapter, just those sections with essential concepts or that were vocabulary-dense. For more information on think-alouds and other content reading strategies, check out the SciLinks Reading and Writing in Science websites.

Some research suggests that the quality of a mentoring program can affect teacher retention. The article Helping New Science Teachers has practical suggestions for mentoring teachers, beyond helping them with paperwork and school routines. These suggestions are directly related to science instruction. This article would also be helpful to new teachers whose mentor is not another science teacher (NSTA's MsMentor is ready to assist with questions and there is a forum for new teachers on the NSTA Community site. New high school teachers could also benefit from reading Science Scope, the NSTA journal for middle school, especially if they are teaching students whose experiences in science have been minimal. And more ideas can be found in SciLinks' New Teacher Resources list of websites.

Published: Jul-08-09 | 0 Comments | 0 Links to this post

Jun08

Big Ideas in Earth Science

Many current approaches to the design of curriculum and instruction are emphasizing the use of "big ideas" (aka essential questions, overarching themes) as an organizing framework for courses or units. I've done several presentations on this topic, and some teachers find it challenging to identify the big ideas in their content areas.

But if you're an earth science teacher, check out a recent NSF press release that describes a new publication-- Earth Science Literacy Principles, which lists big ideas and supporting concepts which can be used for a variety of purposes: education, legislation, scientific endeavors. You can download the document, but here is the list of earth science "literacy principles" from the publication:

Earth scientists use repeatable observations and testable ideas to understand and explain our planet.
Earth is 4.6 billion years old.
Earth is a complex system of interacting rock, water, air, and life.
Earth is continuously changing.
Earth is the water planet.
Life evolves on a dynamic Earth and continuously modifies Earth.
Humans depend on Earth for resources.
Natural hazards pose risks to humans.
Humans significantly alter the Earth.

But wait - it gets even better. On the Earth Science Literacy Initiative website, use the link to "Complementary Projects" for similar documents in Ocean Literacy, Atmospheric Literacy, and Climate Literacy. Whether you teach an entire course or just a few topics, these are worth a look.

Published: Jun-08-09 | 1 Comment | 0 Links to this post

Apr12

Astronomy

This is a timely theme, considering that 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy. And this month's Science Scope is full of relevant teaching ideas and lots of background information, such as simulating the vast spaces in the solar system, working with models of the Earth, incorporating movement into lessons, and finding video resources on Teacher Tube

I must admit that I never had the chance to formally study astronomy in high school or college. But it's been the focus of a lot of my informal learning - in museums, planetariums, observatories, and with my own telescope. It is certainly one of the oldest of human scientific endeavors in many cultures, as described in the article Solar Paths: An International and Integrated Look at the Sun and the Seasons.

Many of us have done lessons on the phases of the moon, but the authors of Inquiry, Argumentation, and the Phases of the Moon show how to embed this content into a lesson on scientific literacy, argumentation, and critical thinking.

For more information on astronomy, check out a special set of websites in SciLinks. One of my favorites here is NASA Quest, which has many learning activities in astronomy and the atmospheric sciences for grades K-12. One of my morning rituals is listening to StarDate program on my local public radio station. At the website, you can listed to the daily program, download a podcasts of the programs, read current astronomy news, and get lesson plans, classroom activities, and lots of visuals. Of course, if you have particular topics in mind related to astronomy, you can log into SciLinks and search for particular keywords.

I'd also suggest two other sources. One of my favorite sites is Windows to the Universe. This site (many sections of which are in the SciLinks database) takes a comprehensive look at the universe and Earth's place in it. There are many graphics, lesson plan ideas, and the site is available in Spanish, too. Another good source is Teachers' Domain. Use the index to get multimedia resources and lesson plan ideas on the topic of "Earth in the Universe."

You don't have to wait for a Science Scope themed issue for update in astronomy. The monthly column "Scope on the Skies" has information and suggestions for classroom activities. The author has his own website Current Skies with monthly star maps and other resources.

But getting back down to Earth…. Who would think playing with a pen (something that I do at meetings that once made my supervisor go crazy!) would inspire a science activity described in Everyday Engineering: What Makes a Bic Click? If you're thinking of including this activity in a study of writing technology, check out the SciLinks topics for pencils and paper. Right now, SciLinks doesn’t have much on how to actually make paper. We'll work on adding some (if you have any suggestions, put the URL in a comment, and we'll take a look at it) but here are some directions for making handmade paper from the Exploratorium.

Published: Apr-12-09 | 0 Comments | 0 Links to this post

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