From news that scientists have discovered the biggest black holes yet to dramatic video footage of volcanic eruptions, the new information science gleans about Earth and space grabs students’ attention. To help teachers capitalize on student curiosity and interest in Earth science, NSTA Press recently launched updated editions of the popular Project Earth Science Series for grades 5–10 teachers. Check out some of the creative lessons in these four resource books as well as additional lessons from NSTA Press books in the December issue of NSTA’s Book Beat.  One timely lesson offered for free in this Book Beat issue is “Habitable Zone: How Distance and Temperature Are Related.” In this lesson, you can investigate with your students how distance from a light source and temperature help us understand why Earth is “just right” in its ability to support life.  A recent New York Times article focused on findings from NASA’s Kepler satellite telescope that suggest astronomers may soon announce progress in the search for other habitable planets. Imagine other Earth-like planets that we might soon be studying in the lab and the classroom!  The Project Earth Science Series includes individual books on Astronomy, Geology, Meteorology, and Physical Oceanography chock full of activities on a wide range of Earth and space topics.

Can it reflect light? Is it a plant? Is it made of cells? These questions are among more than 100 formative assessment probes developed by Page Keeley and her colleagues to help teachers elicit information about what students think about key science concepts. A capacity crowd at Keeley’s Seattle conference session turned out to learn more about these powerful tools and how to use them in the classroom to delve deeper into student thinking. Keeley began her session, “What Were They Thinking?” by pointing out that teachers realize “students don’t come to us as empty vessels; they have preconceptions about science.”  A teacher who brings those student ideas to the surface can challenge students’ existing ideas and encourage them to think more deeply about a science concept. As Keeley noted, lab equipment like Vernier probes can help us see below the surface and collect additional information, thereby deepening our knowledge. The formative assessment probe is a specific type of question that similarly can help us look beneath the surface to learn more about student thinking.

The probes in Uncovering Student Ideas in Science are engaging questions that promote a lot of talk, argumentation, and thought among students. Teachers who use probes at the beginning of a lesson or unit help make students’ thinking visible to the teacher, the class, and sometimes to the students themselves, who might not have realized their ideas until they were brought to the surface in a probe activity. One probe that Keeley highlighted is “Can It Reflect Light?” Students are given a list of items such as water, soil, mirror, rusty nail, and red apple and asked to sort them into items that reflect light and items that do not. The second part of these activity is the most powerful part, Keeley said, because students are then asked to explain their reasoning for the sorted lists they created. The student explanations give teachers rich insights into preconceptions or gaps in students’ knowledge, thereby guiding the teacher in how to structure an ensuing lesson. Several common ideas students have about light and reflection include the assumption that only light-colored or shiny objects reflect light, for example. A teacher might structure a lesson that offers numerous opportunities for students to explore light and reflectivity to gain first-hand understanding that “if you can see it, it is reflecting light.”

Several different types of questions are used in the probes, including one Keeley called “Familiar Phenomena Probes.” These probes are designed to get at students’ thinking about familiar events. Examples are “Wet Jeans,” in which students ponder where the water has “gone” from a pair of wet jeans that dried while hanging on a clothesline, and “What’s in the Bubbles?”, in which students discuss what they think is in the bubbles that form in boiling water. The probes “What’s in the Bubbles?” and “Can It Reflect Light?” are available for download in the NSTA Science Store. Keeley’s session prompted a lively discussion among the teachers present about commonly held misconceptions and how strongly held they can become among students. Formative assessment probes like those in Uncovering Student Ideas in Science can be just the tool for teachers to employ when urging students to reexamine their existing ideas and deepen their understanding about important concepts in science.

Why write in science class? As Jodi Wheeler-Toppen, editor of the new NSTA Press book Science the “Write” Way, notes in her Introduction, “there are many reasons to have our students write, but the one that is most powerful for me is simple: Writing helps students learn.” Scientists write their observations and analyses and publish their work. Students can reap the same benefits that scientists do from writing, including connecting prior knowledge to new findings, organizing their ideas, and uncovering questions for further study. The November issue of NSTA’s Book Beat offers numerous resources for broadening your approach to incorporating writing in your classroom.

In this issue of Book Beat, you’ll find freebie chapters from How to Write to Learn Science, 2nd Edition; Science the “Write” Way; and Lecture-Free Teaching. Strategies and tips for teachers of English learners are included in free-chapter downloads from Science for English Language Learners and Teaching Science to English Language Learners.

Being part of a military family, Veterans Day holds special significance for me. Members of my family have served in the Coast Guard, Navy, and Army. Wherever I am on Veterans Day, I seek out a way to reflect on the sacrifices and accomplishments of the men and women who serve in our armed forces. This year I had occasion to visit The National WWII Museum while in New Orleans for the National Science Teachers Association area conference. The scope of the exhibition galleries in this 11-year-old museum is overwhelming; the curators and historians took care to present an overview of the war in all theatres, with special emphasis on the amphibious invasions or D-Days. Moving from gallery to gallery, visitors see large-scale illustrations of battles across continents side by side with small objects soldiers carried and brought home, such as the metallic “cricket” clickers paratroopers used to signal one another in the French countryside. A soldier’s bullet-punctured helmet is displayed not far from a pocket Bible, carried by a Marine into battle in the Solomon Islands. In one gallery that focused on the war effort at home, I saw my reasons for being in New Orleans and at the museum come together in a compelling look at science and engineering that helped win World War II.

The exhibit supplies a summary of “Some Wartime Scientific and Technical Advances” that included the Jeep, high-octane gasoline, Teflon, synthetic cortisone, the electron microscope, and M&M’s. Penicillin, discovered and developed in 1928, was moved into mass production during the war, a boon to battlefield medicine. An engineering marvel that contributed greatly to the U.S.’s ability to ferry troops efficiently from sea to land was the Higgins landing craft, invented by Andrew Jackson Higgins of New Orleans. Higgins Industries and its affiliates manufactured more than 20,000 of these boats, which facilitated swifter landings of troops and equipment around the world. General Dwight Eisenhower is said to have called Higgins “the man who won the war for us.”

Another feature of this gallery is discussion of the extensive programs of conservation, salvage, and recycling the American public participated in to aid the war effort. In addition to adhering to rationing programs, Americans delivered tin foil, metal, used cooking oil, and nylon stockings to collection centers. These salvaged materials could be repurposed into shells, parachutes, and explosives. A gallery sign notes the salvage yields of some household items: 30,000 razor blades could yield 50 .30-caliber machine guns. And 30 lipstick cases could yield 20 ammunition cartridges.

As I moved through the museum, gaining a deeper understanding of World War II, I reflected on the American ingenuity and inventiveness that fueled many of the Allies’ strategies. Today’s military embodies this spirit of invention, continuously improving technology and equipment and advancing medical practice to improve care for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. In “With STEM, Almost Everything Is Possible,” Debra Shapiro writes of a remarkable advance in prosthetics research announced at the New Orleans NSTA conference by Colonel Geoffrey Ling, program manager for the Defense Science Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

As a student of science and of history, I could not have asked for more from my New Orleans experience this Veterans Day.  For a glimpse inside the NSTA conference, be sure to browse the NSTA Blog entries from New Orleans. For a virtual visit to The National WWII Museum, visit their website. Teachers and students should visit The National WWII Museum’s website “Science & Technology of World War II” for cool lessons and activities like “Moon Phases and Tides in Planning the D-Day Invasion,” “Waves, Sonar, and Radar” and “Send a Coded Message.”

Steve Rich’s early morning NSTA Press Session in New Orleans “Bringing Outdoor Science Into Your Classroom” drew teachers eager to explore strategies to incorporate more of the outdoors into their science lessons. Rich presented dozens of ideas for activities linked to nature, and the participants brainstormed about “what can we bring indoors to study?” Some of the ideas included samples of soil, seeds, leaves, seashells, and branches. When collecting specimens like this, Rich stresses always following safety precautions like placing caterpillars or bugs into a critter container and then releasing them outdoors again later in the day. Teachers also should be sure to research federal and state regulations on collecting specimens in the wild to be sure they follow the rules in their local area.  A survey of the schoolyard with students is a simple activity that can yield wonderful objects for study, such as seeds for measuring and comparing or artifacts such as insect wings lying beneath spider webs that students can draw and record their observations about in a journal. The teachers present used Rich’s own collection of artifacts as inspiration for a brief writing activity that yielded fascinating read-alouds such as a short poem and a CSI-type case summary. Steve Rich is the author of Outdoor Science: A Practical Guide. His forthcoming book on bringing outdoor science in will be published by NSTA Press in spring 2012. Rich shared the following web links with workshop participants seeking new ideas for outdoor or indoor science activities:

• www.learner.org/jnorth
• www.kidsgardening.org
• www.globe.gov
• www.monarchwatch.org
• www.birds.cornell.edu
• www.amnh.org/ology

The NSTA Science Store at the conferences is a popular meeting spot where teachers can browse new teaching resources and NSTA gear while catching up with colleagues. A few of the popular books at the Store in New Orleans include Science the “Write” Way, Picture-Perfect Science Lessons, 2nd Edition; Celebrating Cultural Diversity: Science for All; Companion Classroom Activities for Stop Faking It! Force and Motion; and STEM Student Research Handbook. Authors like John Eichinger, the guru of Activities Linking Science With Math, K–4, and 5–8, also stop by to visit and talk about their books after sessions conclude. It’s fun to see science teachers sporting NSTA gear items like “I Love Science” hoodies and t-shirts while rushing to their next workshop session.  A cool new item debuting at the New Orleans Store, inspired by Sarah Young’s Gourmet Lab book, is an apron declaring “My Other Lab Is My Kitchen.” All the books displayed at the Store and many of the gear items are available through the online Science Store, too.

Making connections

Emily Morgan and Karen Ansberry, authors of the popular Picture-Perfect Science Lessons Series, led a lively group of teachers in exploring classroom strategies and lessons that combine science with reading in the elementary grades. The Picture-Perfect Science

Roller coaster activity

Preconference Workshop at the New Orleans NSTA Area Conference included activities highlighting reading strategies like making connections, questioning, visualizing, determining importance, and synthesizing. Morgan and Ansberry focused also on the powerful BSCS 5E lesson model, which Morgan credited with transforming her science teaching. In the engage phase of one lesson, workshop participants heard Morgan read Marla Frazee’s children’s book Roller Coaster and shared their own experiences with riding a roller coaster. During the explore phase, they tested ways to change the speed and direction of a rolling object by building roller coasters out of pipe insulation. From exploring mystery objects inside small film canisters, to configuring a loop-to-loop for a model roller coaster and utilizing key reading strategies, the workshop participants shared some laughs while learning new ways to combine reading and science in engaging lessons for students in grades 3-6.  On a picture-perfect day in New Orleans, these workshop participants and their facilitators departed the session with new insights and strategies for transforming their own classrooms for science learning. To read more about Picture-Perfect Science and clever ways to combine science learning with reading, download the PDF “Why Read Picture Books in Science Class?”, a free e-book containing the introductory five chapters of Picture-Perfect Science Lessons, 2nd Edition.

After reading the moving NPR story of a neurosurgeon who thanked his high school science teacher, investigative reporter Steve Silberman began to imagine all the other stories out there of a teacher’s influence on prominent writers, teachers, and scientists.  “It struck me how rarely we hear from accomplished people about the debt they owe their teachers,” writes Silberman in the NeuroTribes blog on PLoS Blogs. Lucky for us, Silberman approached a number of scientists and writers and asked them “What’s the most important lesson you learned from a teacher?” Read the wonderful submissions he received from award-winning science journalists, best-selling authors, and researchers paying tribute to the teachers who influenced their paths. The stories are both entertaining and inspiring.  As Silberman notes, “The words of a true teacher stay with us a long time, offering wise counsel in a confusing world and a potent inoculation against foolishness.” What’s the most important lesson you learned from a teacher?

The July 2011 release of the Framework for K-12 Science Education, from the National Academies, places new emphasis on the topic of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in the discussion of K–12 education priorities. The Framework recommends building science education in grades K–12 around three major dimensions: scientific and engineering practices; cross-cutting concepts that unify the study of science and engineering; and core ideas in four disciplinary areas (physical sciences; life sciences; Earth and space sciences; and engineering, technology, and the application of science). The September 2011 issue of NSTA’s Book Beat anticipates this growing emphasis on STEM education by highlighting lessons that can help science teachers demonstrate to students—in ways both fun and enlightening—the strong connections among science, technology, and engineering.  Included in the issue are links to free lessons like “Imaginative Inventions” from More Picture-Perfect Science Lessons (grades K–4), which helps students explore the invention process and then test toys with both fun and safety in mind. Middle and high school students can delve into the intriguing study of science at the nanoscale through the free lesson “Nanomedicine” from Nanoscale Science: Activities for Grades 6-12, by Gail Jones and colleagues. Nanotechnology has opened the door for medical applications that work at the molecular level to diagnose, treat, and prevent disease. In the “Nanomedicine” activity, students investigate through the use of gelatin-based cell models how nanotechnology is being used to treat cancer without harming the surrounding tissue. There’s also a free e-book offer and a preview chapter of the new NSTA Press book STEM Student Research Handbook. Read this month’s issue of NSTA’s Book Beat to download these STEM-related resources and more.

The first days of school offer teachers an opportunity to set a positive tone and convey to students that their classrooms are supportive learning environments for all. Free chapter excerpts offered in the August 2011 issue of NSTA’s Book Beat include helpful tips from NSTA Press authors. Consider adding several of them to your classroom toolkit this fall.

Jill Swango and Sally Steward open Help! I’’m Teaching Middle School Science (grades 6–8) with a wonderful collection of ideas, games, and activities designed to captivate students’ enthusiasm for science and problem solving. Book Beat offers the free chapter “The First Day,” which provides clever icebreaker activities like The Simplest Quiz and Just Read the Directions. These opening activities can help create a comfortable, lively, and active atmosphere for learning. Elementary teachers can use author John Eichinger’s activity “What Do You See? Visual Observation” (from Activities Linking Science With Math, K-4) to boost students’ observation skills; students observe closely and then sketch familiar and unfamiliar objects, honing key science process skills as they go. High school teachers will find a wealth of ideas in Lynn Bell and John Park’s chapter “Digital Images and Video for Teaching Science” from Technology in the Secondary Science Classroom (grades 6–12). The chapter includes suggestions for using images or video to introduce just about any science topic and then following up with creative questioning to capture students’ attention and set the context for later comprehension of the topic being investigated. As Yogi Berra once said, “You can observe a lot just by watching.” Check out the August issue of NSTA’s Book Beat for these resources plus tips on how to ask the right questions and one resource that might address that question “when we will use this in real life?” Best wishes for the new school year!