Author Archives: Debra Shapiro

Associate editor of NSTA Reports, blogger, and content manager for Freebies for Science Teachers and events calendar web pages

Wrapping up the old year, preparing for the new year

We’ve heard that after the school year ends, many teachers spend time catching up on NSTA Reports articles they didn’t have a chance to read thoroughly earlier. To help you make the most of this precious downtime, here’s a selection of 2011–2012 stories we think you’ll enjoy reading—or re-reading.

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Off to the races with physics!

I enjoyed watching auto races as a child, so I decided to check out Norm Barstow’s session, Elastic Power: Wind Up Your Engines and Explore (a.k.a. “NASCAR in New Orleans”).

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Fun and games with the carbon cycle

Demonstrating the carbon cycle was never so much fun as it was in Kristen Dotti’s session, Drop the Lecture and Let the Students Pick Up the Learning in Environmental Science.

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Picture-perfect elementary STEM

This morning in New Orleans, as part of the Urban Science Education Leadership (USEL) session, presenters from the Baltimore City Public Schools described their district’s Elementary STEM Teacher Clinic and how it transformed the teachers who participated in it.

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With STEM, almost everything is possible

In New Orleans, we heard from DARPA’s Geoffrey Ling about an amazing medical breakthrough.

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The scoop on the Next Generation Science Standards

Stephen Pruitt enlightened conference attendees about the standards and asked them to lead the way for implementation in their states.

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Morgan Fairchild on science ed and the economy

Who knew that actress Morgan Fairchild knew so much about science? “I was the original science nerd,” she told the audience during her keynote speech this morning. She said that when she first came to Hollywood, her first stop was not the beauty salon, but the La Brea tar pits.

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The magic of a scientist’s visit

When a scientist visits a classroom, it’s the start of a partnership that shapes students’ perception of science and enhances a teacher’s content knowledge.

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Science lessons from history

Find out how and why science educators around the country are integrating history in their science lessons to help students make connections to their world.

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How’s the weather at your science museum?

Teachers and students are exploring the weather through exhibits at science museums around the country.

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