Creativity and safety

I subscribe to many blogs, listserves, and RSS feeds as a way to keep up with current events. This week, two articles caught my attention for their relation to science teaching.

The ISTE Connects blog had a discussion How do you teach creativity? in response to the recent Newsweek article The Creativity Crisis We often think of creativity in terms of the arts, but I had a great conversation with a colleague on what creativity would look like in science. I’m not sure we can “teach” creativity, but it would be an interesting discussion on how we can promote, encourage, model, guide, or recognize creativity in our science classrooms – new, different, or untraditional ways of problem solving, problem finding, inventing, communicating.

Risk-taking can be a component of creativity, but one area in which we shouldn’t take risks is in safety. Scientific American has a recent article Danger in School Labs. Although the article uses examples from college and university situations, the topic is one that should be on the agenda of every school this fall. NSTA has many resources to assist, including the Safety in the Science Classroom portal with links to many resources.  Every school should have a copy of the relevant NSTA publication:

Use the keyword “safety” in SciLinks to find web-based resources such as MSDS documents, suggestions for lab safety guidelines, handouts for students, and other suggestions. Two topics to start with are Safety in the Science Classroom and Chemical Handling and Safety. And every month, check out the suggestions in the Science Scope column Scope on Safety.

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Preserving specimens

It’s me again, the “bone collecting” teacher with a new question. How effective is rubbing alcohol in preserving specimens? Since I live at the beach, I am always finding marine specimens to use for student observations. Typically, I do not have any biological preservative available, so I’ve been using rubbing alcohol.
—Susan, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Many of us remember high school or college biology labs full of jars with preserved specimens and labels showing the name and when it was collected. They were interesting to look at, but the formaldehyde or formalin frequently used as a preservative in those days is a substance to be avoided today. In the NSTA Press book, Inquiring Safely, “Formaldehyde solution—also called formalin—has been replaced largely by newer, less odorous, and less toxic preservatives with a variety of trade names. However, most still contain formaldehyde, albeit in lesser concentrations and mixed with other ingredients. Treat all specimen preservatives as though they contain formaldehyde, particularly if you or your students are sensitive to materials of this type.” (p. 72)

In terms of alcohol as a preservative, I saw conflicting advice on the websites I examined. I contacted a friend of mine, Dr. Walter Meshaka, a zoologist and the senior curator of the section of Zoology and Botany of the State Museum of Pennsylvania. Here is his response to your question:

I advise strongly against formalin. You can use the standard 40% Isopropyl; however, a better choice, also to be found in most drugstores is ethyl alcohol. Additives keep it from being drinkable, so it is not ethanol [that is, it is] not white lightening. If available as stock (c.a. 95% or so strength) then dilute to about 70-75% and you’re good to go!

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What’s new for July 19th on NSTA’s various online outposts

Highlights of stimulating conversations taking place right now on our listservs:

  • Biology—Blood typing, first day activities, board games, job interview help;
  • Chemistry—Student response systems (clickers), and the chemical differences between plastic and vinyl;
  • Earth Science—More recommendations on what sort of GPS device to buy;
  • Physics—Selecting the right whiteboard for your needs.

In NSTA’s online professional learning communities, we welcome our 13 new users this past week.

On our “core site” (www.nsta.org): learn about how NSTA is involved with National Lab Day and check out our web news digest, which is active with stories on the elusive Higgs Boson particle and how body shape may affect mental acuity.

On Facebook, science educators are discussing weather warnings, chemical disposal, and NASA’s Cassini Scientist for a Day program.

On LinkedIn, more direct posts from NSTA’s Career Center, and discussions about bluebirds and wood ducks.

And of course, on our Twitter stream, science educators are tweeting and re-tweeting about several freebies that NSTA offers, the upcoming national San Francisco conference, and more!

Renew Your Membership!

Now is the time to insure that you don’t miss a single journal issue or one minute of the time you use to network and build professional connections here in these online communities. Click the link above to renew your membership and insure that NSTA stays in your corner for your science education career!

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Differentiated instruction in science

I am a science specialist and I teach students in first through fifth grades. My school is becoming the resource room building in the district. I expect to have large class sizes, 25–30 students, with mixed ability levels. I could have as many as 12 special education students in one class. I’d like to try differentiated inquiry science instruction. Can you suggest some resources?
—Jane, Waltham, MA

In an online interview, Carol Ann Tomlinson, a teacher and author of many publications on the topic, says differentiated instruction is a result of a teacher “acknowledging that kids learn in different ways, and responding by doing something about that through curriculum and instruction. A more dictionary-like definition is adapting content, process, and product in response to student readiness, interest, and/or learning profile.

Many teachers have been differentiating without ever attending a workshop on the topic. They have realized one-size-fits-all instruction doesn’t work with the diversity of students in their classrooms. Strategies such as flexible grouping, cooperative learning, learning contracts, learning stations/centers, tiered assignments, independent study, direct instruction, authentic and alternative assessments, multimedia, inquiry, and problem-based learning can be used skillfully and purposefully to fit the many needs and varied interests of their students.

On Tomlinson’s website, you can find out more about the topic. I would recommend her book The Differentiated Classroom, an easy-to-read discussion of the topic with examples and suggestions. On YouTube, use the phrase “differentiated instruction” to find videos of what this can look like in real classrooms, where students are engaged in the learning process through a variety of activities. It’s also encouraging to see how students are taking more responsibility for their learning in these classrooms.
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Summer reading

Science Scope Cover

Click here for the Table of Contents

I’m getting ready for a camping trip to the Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts for some sightseeing and hiking later this month. In addition to attending a concert at Tanglewood and perhaps adding to my birding lifelist, I’m also looking forward to propping up my feet and reading in the fresh air. As I packed my bag of reading materials, I found some great ideas in this month’s A Diverse Summer Reading List and the NSTA Recommends feature. I also looked at Kick Off Summer with Reading in this month’s Science Teacher for another list of suggested books, and at the NSTA Recommends website you can get even more reading resources.

In addition to reading text materials, this month’s issue has articles relating to other types of “literacy.” Visual Literacy in Science has some terrific ideas for helping students to understand what information is communicated through the photographs, diagrams, tables, graphs, and sidebars in their textbooks or other documents. The authors have a set of four brief lessons that introduce students to the concept of visual literacy. This could be complementary to the “textbook tour” that many teachers use to point out the purpose of the table of contents, index, glossary, headings and subheadings, sidebars, and summaries. This type of instruction is important, especially when in the middle years, as students make the transition from “learning to read” to “”reading to learn.”
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Conceptual Framework for New Science Education Standards, draft ready for our review

Science learning begins in early childhood.

Science learning begins in early childhood.

Teachers of K-12, including early childhood educators, we have until August 2nd, 2010 to comment on the preliminary public draft of the Conceptual Framework for New Science Education Standards

Here are a few paragraphs from the beginning of the document to get you interested:

“This document is an interim draft of a report from a committee of the National Research Council (NRC) on K-12 science education in U.S. schools. It is being made public so that the authoring committee can receive comments and suggestions from interested practitioners, researchers, and the public to inform its final product.” (first page of Memo)

[Peggy: They want to hear from us! Therefore the authors may be forgiven for staying within the K-12 scope by describing children who are “entering school” as being kindergarteners. In this preschool teacher’s view, children “enter” school the first time they are formally taught, at home, in preschool, or in kindergarten.]

“The conceptual framework in this report presents the committee’s vision of the scope and nature of the education in science and engineering that is needed in the 21st century. Thus, it describes the major scientific ideas and practices that all students should be familiar with by the end of high school. Engineering and technology are featured alongside the natural sciences in recognition of the importance of understanding the designed world and of the need to better integrate the teaching and learning of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.” (Chapter 1, Introduction: A New Conceptual Framework, pg. 1-1)

 “The rationale for organizing content around core ideas comes from studies that show that one major difference between experts and novices in any field is the organization of their knowledge. Experts understand the core principles and theoretical frameworks of their field. Their retention of detailed information is aided by their understanding of its placement in the context of these principles and theories. Novices tend to hold disconnected and even contradictory bits of “knowledge” as isolated facts, and struggle to find a way to organize and integrate them. Learning to understand science or engineering in a more expert fashion requires development of an understanding of how facts are related to each other and to overarching core ideas. Research on learning shows building this kind of understanding is challenging, but is aided by explicit instructional support that stresses connections across different activities and learning experiences.” (Chapter 1, Introduction: A New Conceptual Framework, Understanding Develops Over Time, pg. 1-6)

[Peggy: Making connections may be easier in early childhood—before students have different teachers for different subjects.]

“As a result of our effort to identify fewer core ideas of science and engineering, some scientists and educators may be disappointed to find little or nothing of their favorite science topics included in this framework. The committee is convinced that by building a strong base of core knowledge and competencies, understood at a deep enough level to be used and applied, students will leave school with a better grounding in scientific knowledge and practices and greater interest in further learning in science, than those whose instruction “covers” multiple disconnected pieces of information, to be memorized and forgotten as soon as the test is done.” (Chapter 1, Introduction: A New Conceptual Framework, Selecting Core Ideas and Practices, pgs. 1-14 & 1-15)

[Peggy: Yes, let children work on a few topics or concepts for a long time to develop the deep understanding they are capable of. There are many favorites still in the mix.]

There are four grade level bands, K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12. I have only taken a brief look at Chapter 3, Core Ideas and Chapter 7, Learning Progressions, (similar in structure to the conceptual strand maps in the Atlas of Science Literacy (AAAS)), and see that there is more than one progression for each branch of science, one for each Core Idea. I definitely need more time to read and think about this draft and may need to see it printed out to really be able to think about it.

Here’s one question I have:

Does the Life Science Core Ideas 1, or 3, (see below) need to add something about plants and animals needing access to air into the K-2 section? Maybe it is omitted because the concept of matter existing as a gas is not introduced in the Physical Science Core Idea progression until Grades 3-5 (also below). 

Growing bean plantOn page 7-9, Life Science (LS) Core Idea 1: Organisms have structures and functions that facilitate their life processes, growth, and reproduction.

Grades K – 2

How do living things meet their basic needs?

All living things have various external parts. Different animals use their body parts in different ways to see, hear, grasp objects, seek, find and take in food and move from place to place. Plants also have different parts that help them meet their needs.

On page 7-11, LS Core Idea 3: Organisms and populations of organisms obtain necessary resources from their environment which includes other organisms and physical factors.

Grades K – 2

Where do animals get food?

Animals depend on plants and other animals for food. When animals and plants (or plant parts) die, they are fed upon by tiny organisms that break them apart. Plants depend on air, water and light to grow.

On page 7-40, Physical Science (PS) Core Idea 1: Macroscopic states and characteristic properties of matter depend on the type, arrangement and motion of particles at the molecular and atomic scales.

Grades K – 2

What kind of parts are objects made of? (macroscopic)

Objects are generally made of different parts. The parts can be made of different materials. Materials can be natural or manufactured from natural resources. The identity, characteristics and function of an object depend on the materials/building blocks used to make it, and the way they fit together. The same materials can exist as a solid or a liquid depending on the temperature. Solids have a definite shape while liquids flow to the lowest level in the container.

Grades 3 – 5

How do the parts of an object affect its structure and function? (macroscopic)

All substances are considered matter. Matter can exist as solid, liquid, or gas. In all forms it can be felt and weighed. It is possible to break materials apart into pieces too tiny to see. However, the material still exists and continues to have weight even though we can’t see it. You can make a great variety of objects with just a few types of components. The structure, properties and uses of the objects depend on the nature of the components and they ways they attach to one-another, but can be quite different from those of the components. Knowing about the characteristics of materials helps design uses of them. Many substances can exist as solid, liquid or gas depending on the temperature. Solids have definite shape and volume, liquids also occupy definite volume, but not shape, gases are made of particles too small to see that move around throughout the full volume of any container.

Thank you to all involved in this important endeavor. Let’s take a close look and give the committee our feedback. A survey will be posted on July 14, 2010.

Peggy

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Summer sampler

Click here for the Table of Contents

I know that summer is well underway when I get my July issue of The Science Teacher with suggestions for new books to read, websites to explore, and topics to think about!

Call me a dinosaur, but to me there’s nothing better than curling up with a good book on a hot summer day—at the beach, by the river, in the park, or on the front stoop/porch. In addition to those novels I didn’t read during the school year, I’ve picked out a few science-related books form the recommendations in Kick Off Summer with Reading. (See A Diverse Summer Reading List in this month’s Science Scope for another list of suggested books). At NSTA Recommends, you can get the complete list.

The summer is not just for reading. This month’s Science 2.0 article Summer Surfing has a list of 21 free web tools to support learning. I’m familiar with and have used many of them (such as Google Docs, iGoogle, Inspiration, the NSTA Learning Center, and TED. But I made a little checklist for myself to look at the others. It’s unfortunate, however, that many of these tools are blocked in schools, requiring teachers to access them outside of school.
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Is “connecting with nature” the same as “science”?

Children looking closely at a grub on a nature walk.Take a look at The ChildCare Information Exchange’s current “Insta-Poll” (a casual poll of readers) on their views on the Highest Priority Teacher Training Topics. “Connecting children with nature” is fifth in priority today when I looked at the poll, mentioned by 19% of the 263 people who had so far responded and “Science” is 42nd, tied with “Art” as mentioned by 3% of respondents. The Exchange publishes books, the Child Care Information Exchange magazine and the online ExchangeEveryDay daily early childhood newsbrief, and founded the independent non-profit organization, the World Forum Foundation, which runs a yearly conference on early care and education.

I think science walks and explorations, and making art would be excellent ways to connect children with nature. Perhaps taking nature walks would be a good first step in strengthening the science curriculum in early childhood programs.

The “Into the Woods” Teaching through Trade Books column by Karen Ansberry and Emily Morgan (Science and Children April/May 2007) describes how a class can explore a natural area outdoors, record their observations, and create a class book containing their own questions and answers about local wildlife (available at no cost online to NSTA members and to non-members after registration—scroll down to search).  “A Walk in the ‘Tall, Tall Grass’” by Kathryn Kaatz (Science and Children February 2008) describes an inquiry-based lesson (inspired by Denise Fleming’s 1991 book entitled, In the Tall, Tall Grass) that takes kindergarteners out on a nature walk to make observations and record them (available at no cost online to NSTA members and for $0.99 to non-members—scroll down to search).

An isopod, also called roly-polies, pillbugs, and potato bugs, on the sidewalk.Clouds can have interesting shapes.Children are thrilled by the smallest discoveries, such as a critter on the sidewalk or an interesting cloud. I’m wondering, can every walk can be a nature walk in early childhood or should some be specially for observing?

Peggy

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Safety information for teaching science

In planning for the school year, I check for safety considerations on the National Science Teachers Association website, at www.nsta.org/portals/safety.aspx#elem

Children wear safety goggles.Of course, each class of children is different, and I won’t know until September if any of the four-year-olds still put small objects in their mouths, or if any of the children have allergies. Read More »

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What’s new on NSTA’s various online social media outposts

What’s New for July 5th on NSTA’s various online outposts

Highlights of stimulating conversations taking place right now on our listservs:

  • Biology—Evolutionary, biological, and anatomical misconceptions, Biology Art Projects, and CheeseMaking for gifted elementary students;
  • Chemistry—alcohol and flame test;
  • Earth Science—Microfossil Sand Collection;
  • Elementary Science—teaching the concept of the mole;
  • Pedagogy—understanding labs;
  • Physical Science—class instant response systems;

In NSTA’s online professional learning communities, we welcome our 20 new users this past week, and forum posts involving rates of reaction are being discussed.

On our “core site” (www.nsta.org): our web news digest is active with stories on teachers getting training on oil spills, and cotton candy, and roller coasters.

On Facebook, NASA and classwish.org are posting links to various programs for science educators.

On LinkedIn, more direct posts from NSTA’s Career Center, and discussions about springtime ferns and next generation education.

And of course, on our Twitter stream, science educators are tweeting and re-tweeting about several freebies that NSTA offers, the upcoming national San Francisco conference, and more!

Renew Your Membership!

Now is the time to insure that you don’t miss a single journal issue or one minute of the time you use to network and build professional connections here in these online communities. Click the link above to renew your membership and insure that NSTA stays in your corner for your science education career!

Posted in Chapters and Associated Groups, NSTA Membership | 1 Comment