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- Never Be Within Doors… | Purple For Parenting on Are children getting enough direct experience with natural materials?
Tag Archives: Earth science
Seeking inventive college students
A new series for a major cable network is searching for college students who are always inventing things and building things. If you know any smart, creative, and talented students who have a flair for science and engineering, please share this announcement with them. Ideal candidates should be freshmen or sophomores and have a couple of [...]
Posted in NSTA Reports Also tagged chemistry, environmental science, physics, seeking student input Leave a comment
Science and current events
To help students understand this month’s earthquake in Haiti, the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology has compiled a set of resources called Recent Earthquake Teachable Moments. These include links to animations and visualizations, presentations, news releases, and other materials for students and teachers to explore seismology within the context of current activity. These resources are [...]
Observations and data from nature
The word “data” for some people conjures up pages of numbers or a dreadful experience in statistics class. But get rid of the deer-in-the-headlights look and dig into lessons focused on forensics, snow, fruit flies, and Down syndrome. The protocols, rubrics, and examples can help you work with students in this critical inquiry process.
I’ve been [...]
Posted in SciLinks Also tagged biology, communication, data, insects, physics, sound, volcano Leave a comment
Let it snow!
Here in the Northeast, we had to dig our way through the recent storm, the most snow we’ve had in my neck of the woods for two years! I once hosted an exchange teacher from Australia in January (their summer break), who had never seen snow. Snowplows, snowblowers, snowshoes, and skimobiles were all new to [...]
A recipe for success
So much of science involves communication and skills in language arts. Follow this simple recipe to help your students become science communicators: Add 1 cup of science (life, Earth, physical, or general) to 1 cup of language arts. Blend well by attending sessions at the NSTA conference in Phoenix.
Sample these recipe variations.
Elementary Science Surprise
You’ll actually [...]
The Sun also rises
Good morning teachers. Welcome to the second NSTA area conference of the fall season, this time in Ft Lauderdale. If you’re following along virtually, here’s a look at a morning sunrise from the beach along Atlantic Blvd (A1-A).
Not that we’re boasting. We spent the rest of the day in an exhibit hall, no sun to [...]
NASA schedules shuttle launch to coincide with NSTA conference
… not really.
But if you attend the NSTA Conference in Ft Lauderdale on November 12th, and you happen look north shortly after 4 pm, you may be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the shuttle Atlantis speeding from the launch pad.
The Kennedy Space Center may be 160 miles away, but the shuttle casts a pretty bright light. [...]
Rocks: collecting and classifying
On the playground two sisters collected rocks and set them on a bench where they grouped them by size. When I asked, “What kind of rock is that?” one said, “A triangle” referring to its outer shape. They also had a group based on material— small chunks of concrete were put together because “they have [...]
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 [...]
Science in the community