Table of Contents

The other evening, as I was out walking, I noticed that the moon seemed exceptionally bright. I took out my binoculars and spent a few minutes gazing at the craters on the full moon. What a sight! Learning about and appreciating the relationship between the Earth, Sun, and Moon can be a lifelong interest. The elementary years are the first (and, unfortunately for many students, the last) school-based experiences they have with the topic.

Seeing the Moon focuses on the most famous features of our moon—the craters. The article includes an activity that simulates impact craters. The formative assessment probe described in The Daytime Moon uncovers student misconceptions about the moon and would be a good introduction to a unit on the moon. [SciLinks: Moon Phases]

What Causes the Tides? As a SciLinks reviewer, one of the first sites I reviewed (and declined) stated that tides come in the morning and go out in the evening. It’s not hard to understand how people who have never experiences tidal activity can develop misconceptions or incomplete understandings. This article is a quick primer on this phenomenon. While you’re on the subject of gravity, Gravity and Weight has two activities to help students explore the concept. [SciLinks: Tides, Gravity]

Shadows are fascinating to students and are related to the position of the Sun. Shadow Play describes a unit of study in which students investigated the relationship between shadows and seasons. The activities make use of the Starry Night software, but other Internet resources are suggested (such as the Stelllarium website). Child’s Play also has an activity related to shadows. [SciLinks: Light]

Can 4th-graders take on an engineering project? The students in the article Landing Safely on Mars did just that as they built models of Mars landers. This was not the typical craft stick model—the twist here was that the “landers” were dropped off the school roof to the ground below. Would the contents survive the “landing?” The activity also included connections to language arts as students wrote about their designs and created their own nonfiction books on the topic.  [SciLinks: Exploring Mars]

Collegiality and Better Science Teaching describes the implementation of a professional learning community and how one could be started elsewhere. If your PLC is interested in resources for teaching Earth and space science, Reach for the Stars! describes the resources that NSTA and NASA have for background knowledge and professional development on the topic.

Is a Mealworm Really a Worm? describes a model for a scaffolding process for science notebooks with younger students (Inquiry-Modeling-Sharing-Collaborative-Independent). I liked the checklist that documents the progression the students make on key organization skills tracked over several weeks. What would this model look like for other science topics? [SciLinks: Metamorphosis, Insects]

In her Early Years blog, Peggy Ashbrook has additional thoughts and resources on the topic. And check out more Connections for this issue (January 2012). Even if the article does not quite fit with your lesson agenda, there are ideas for handouts, background information sheets, data sheets, rubrics, and other resources.

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.

Children observe and document seasonal changes as they begin to learn how living organisms respond to their environment.

Do you have resources for early childhood teachers who are struggling to teach earth science or life science concepts? Especially for teachers who understand that young children need to be physically involved with their learning but not simply making a craft project to take home? Teachers who responded to this NSTA members’ email list request suggested:

•Young children really do well with observation techniques. Get them talking and discussing what they see using their senses. Make a chart with the senses and document verbiage they use in short words/phrases about an object/topic. Go outside and explore their environment with hand-lens, let them get their hands dirty. Let them bring items from home that would add to the discussion. Let them draw what they observe (this helps with fine motor coordination). Let them use a BROCK microscope, my first graders loved to take them out to recess. They are VERY durable. Make screens with varying grids to shake [sort] out dirt. ASK them what THEY want to learn about. Open the world of science for them and you’ll have life-long learners in no time! Graph [the number of] objects they bring in or find outside. Get them thinking what else could they use the object for. Have them draw/trace an object say, scissors, then have them draw them as something else. Deb Wilson, Retired Primary Teacher, Executive Director for STOM (Science Teachers of Missouri).

• Being able to use the outdoors as your classroom is a real plus. Humans begin to make sense of their world by using their 5 senses, so take advantage of investigating it, especially the tiny minute organisms. Most children are so ready to go outside…running, playing, etc., but how many children go outside to observe and investigate? I take a bag of science tools outside with me: hand lenses, binoculars, small “collection” jars, rulers, identification books, nature journals, pencils, and my camera. Encourage the children to “take in” the textures – tree bark, leaves, rocks, soil; the sights: get on their knees and look for tiny insects and bits of nature that have interesting color, shapes, texture, smells; look up in the trees and the sky; go on a listening walk and identify natural and man-made sounds; plant a small garden so the children can experience plant life cycles and the interdependence of plants and animals. If you have access to a digital microscope, bring some of the nature inside so your children can look even closer (see attachment). Hope this gives you some more ideas. The experiences that I am talking about can be enjoyed by all children. Asking leading inquiry based questions might result in projects. Gail Laubenthal, Pre-K teacher, Austin, Texas

• Here are some life science learning activities. Some may be considered “arts and crafts” because they are required to draw or assemble, but these are legitimate science (and motor) skills that young students need to learn. Describing and depicting what they observe is an early building block to later inquiry. Specific to elementary life science: camouflage as a selective advantage,  animal behavior and observation and recording skills,  studying pollination and seed dispersal adaptations, parts of the plant with a Plant Party and using Hidden Pictures to search for and name animals and plants that live in various habitats around the world. Sheri Amsel Science Coordinator, Exploring Nature Educational Resource, Wild Science Professional Development, www.exploringnature.org

Children plant seeds to begin learning about life cycles.

Here are my two cents about these resources–a few books that I found especially helpful in teaching about life cycles and flower-fruit-seed formation in plants, and a rich discussion and listing of resources on an NSTA Learning Communities forum.

From Seed to Plant (Rookie Read About Science Series) by Alan Fowler. 2001. Childrens Press.

Nature Close-Ups: Seeds and Seedlings by Elaine Pascoe. 1999. Blackbirch Press.

Plant Secrets by Emily Goodman, illustrated by Phyllis L. Tildes. 2009. Charlesbridge.

Seeds by Ken Robbins. 2005. Atheneum Books.

Ten Seeds by Ruth Brown. 2001. Knopf Books.

Examining rocks up close to see small textural features.

And a couple about earth science concept of rock formation:

Materials, Materials, Materials: Rock by Chris Oxlade. 2002. Heinemann.

Rocks: Hard, Soft, Smooth, and Rough by Natalie M. Rosinsky. 2003. Picture Window Books.

See more resources on teaching earth science to young children, at the NSTA Learning Center Elementary Science forum, Earth Science Ideas for Kindergarten 

Rock on! (groan) Peggy

photo by cliff1066™ on Flickr

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning,” said Albert Einstein. Many educators would agree that learning about the science of yesterday through lessons integrating history and science benefits today’s students (who could be tomorrow’s scientists).

“What we know now and how we do science now is rooted in the past,” says one of the teachers interviewed in this NSTA Reports story. She invites her students “to objectively explore the historical events that led scientists to revise their ideas.”

Read the article to find out how teachers around the country are providing their students with a historical perspective on science–and tell us what you’re doing in your classroom.

photo courtesy of the Franklin Institute

Teachers and students are heading to science museums around the country to learn about weather events such as hurricanes, tsunamis, and tornadoes. In the photo, for example, these young visitors to Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute are using a shake table to learn about earthquakes and their effects on various structures.

Besides educating students about severe weather, these exhibits offer a look at weather forecasting and the instruments forecasters use, as described in a recent NSTA Reports story. If your school isn’t located near a science museum, not to worry: Many exhibits have online components, such as videos your students can watch.

Have you taken your students to a science museum to explore the weather? Tell us how your trip went and what they learned.

It’s almost October and it’s time to celebrate science. Get ready for Earth Science Week this year (October 9–15, 2011). The theme is “Our Ever-Changing Earth.” You can move right into National Chemistry Week (October 16–22, 2011) The theme this year is “Chemistry—Our Health, Our Future.” Both of these websites have lots of resources, and it shouldn’t be hard to find some that align with your curriculum and standards.

Astronomy gets into the lineup of October events, too. Check out the Great World Wide Star Count in which your observation data can be uploaded and shared with participants from around the world during the October 14 — October 28 time period.

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 · 10²³. See SciLinks for more information on  Avogadro: 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.

And then, top off the month by attending the NSTA conference in Hartford, CT from October 27 to October 29.

Photo http://www.flickr.com/photos/sfantti/53940691/

The devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan is on the minds of all of us, including our students. The event and aftermath is tragic and the continuing nuclear emergency is a reminder of how fragile society can be. As educators, we can help our students make sense of these events and give them the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of their world.

In their book, Comprehension and Collaboration, Daniels and Harvey provide a comprehensive vision of what inquiry can look like in the classroom. They describe the following components that can easily be used to bring the Japanese earthquake into your classroom.

Immerse: Invite Curiosity and Wonder
Introduce the topic by asking your students what they already know about the disaster. Follow this by brainstorming a list of “wonderings” that students have. You may want to set the context for the discussion by reading a small excerpt from a news article or by showing a video.

Investigate: Develop Questions, Search for Information, and Discover Answers
Individuals or small groups select and refine a broad question that they find interesting. You should help students with their question so that it provides an opportunity for them to delve into a topic and consider multiple sources of information. Students can use the web, library resources, and other media to search for information.

Coalesce: Synthesize Information and Build Knowledge
Students should identify a small number of “knowledge claims” that they have learned from their research. These claims should be supported by evidence from multiple media sources.

Go Public: Demonstrate Understanding and Share Learning
Students can share their learning in a variety of ways. For example, they can create newspaper articles, videos, audio podcasts, posters, or infographics.

The resources below provide a variety of perspectives on the Japanese earthquake. Some of the resources may not be suitable for all children.

Talking with Kids about Catastrophes

SFGate: Talking to Kids about the Japanese Earthquake
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfmoms/detail?entry_id=84814
WFAA: Talking to Children about the Earthquake in Japan
http://www.wfaa.com/news/health/kids-doctor/117938214.html

Plate Tectonics

USGS: Earthquakes for Kids
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/kids/
How Stuff Works: Tsunamis
http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/tsunami2.htm
Universe Today: Pacific Ring of Fire
http://www.universetoday.com/59341/pacific-ring-of-fire/
CBS News Online: Pacific Ring of Fire (video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpqUu0PLkmM
Yahoo Kids! Plate Tectonics Page
http://kids.yahoo.com/directory/Science-and-Nature/The-Earth/Geology/Plate-Tectonics

Infographics

Live Science
http://www.livescience.com/13189-japan-earthquake-tsunami-global-reach.html
BBC Infographic w/ Video
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12722187
Guardian: Japan’s Earthquake History
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/interactive/2011/mar/12/japan-earthquakes-new-scientist-map
The Moscow News
http://www.themoscownews.com/infographics/20110311/188486591.html

Earthquakes & Tsunamis
Scholastic: Reading the Richter Scale
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4892
CBS News: How Earthquakes are Measured
http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-202_162-10007016.html?tag=page
U.S. Department of State: U.S. Geologists Explain Science Behind Japanese Earthquakes
http://www.america.gov/st/scitech-english/2011/March/20110311150849nerual0.5314447.html
New York Times Interactive: How Shifting Plates Caused the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/11/world/asia/maps-of-earthquake-and-tsunami-damage-in-japan.html?ref=asia
BBC: Japan’s Earthqauke
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12711226
Yahoo! News: Japan Earthquake & Tsunami video collection
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theenvoy/20110311/ts_yblog_theenvoy/watch-raw-footage-of-the-japan-earthquake-and-tsunami
Scientific American: The Japan Earthquake and Tsunami
http://www.scientificamerican.com/report.cfm?id=japan-earthquake-tsunami
Scientific American: How Does an Earthquake Trigger Tsunamis Thousands of Miles Away?
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=japan-earthquake-tsunami-waves
BBC: Japan Earthquake – Footage of Moment Tsunami hit
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12725646
Australian Broadcast Corporation: Japan Earthquake Before and After (images)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/japan-quake-2011/beforeafter.htm
National Geographic: Tsunami Facts in Wake of Japan Earthquake
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110311-tsunami-facts-japan-earthquake-hawaii/
National Geographic: Tsunami Waves Hit U.S.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110311-tsunami-us-nation-earthquake-japan-hawaii-science-california-waves/
CBS: Pacific Northwest at risk for quake like Japan’s
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/14/earlyshow/main20042811.shtml
NOAA: Tsunami Page
http://www.tsunami.noaa.gov/index.html

Earthquake and Tsunami Safety
Public Radio International: Japan’s Earthquake Resistant Buildings
http://www.pri.org/science/technology/japan-s-earthquake-resistant-buildings2898.html
Scientific American: Seconds Before the Big One – Progress in Earthquake Alarms
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=tsunami-seconds-before-the-big-one
MSNBC: How Quake Prediction Works (or not)
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/03/11/6247882-how-quake-prediction-works-or-not
Japan’s Earthquake Early Warning system
http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/en/Activities/eew.html
NOAA: How Does a Tsunami Warning System Work?
http://www.tsunami.noaa.gov/warning_system_works.html

Nuclear Reactors
How Stuff Works: How Nuclear Power Works
http://www.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-power.htm
How a Nuclear Reactor Works (animation)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4Q9O1vICWs&feature=related
New York Times: Radioactive Releases in Japan Could Last Months
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/world/asia/japan-fukushima-nuclear-reactor.html?_r=1
The Guardian’s Nuclear Power page
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/nuclearpower
U.S. Department of Energy: Impact of Radiation on Humans
http://www.hss.energy.gov/HealthSafety/ohre/roadmap/achre/intro_9_5.html
CNN Dr. Gupta: Radiation Fears in Sendai
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2011/03/14/exp.am.gupta.radiation.cnn?iref=allsearch

Helping

The Red Cross
http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.1a019a978f421296e81ec89e43181aa0/?vgnextoid=f9efd2a1ac6ae210VgnVCM10000089f0870aRCRD
PC Magazine: Japan Earthquake – How to Donate, Reach Out
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2381922,00.asp

Education Resources
DLESE: Living in Earthquake Country
http://www.teachingboxes.org/earthquakes/index.jsp
New York Times: Teaching Ideas – The Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/teaching-ideas-the-earthquake-and-tsunami-in-japan/
USGS Earthquake Science Explained (10 articles)
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/2006/21/
AAAS Science NetLinks: Earthquake Teaching Resources
http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/earthquakes/

This is cross-posted to Edutopia.

Click here for the Table of Contents

I totally agree with the editor of Science Scope this month, concerning the status of the earth sciences in many of our high schools. Many years ago when I was in high school, the science offerings started with biology, followed by chemistry, physics, and a fourth year biology elective. Earth science was not even in the course catalog—so much for the good ol’ days! Are things different now? In recent conversations on NSTA listserves, teachers were discussing the order in which students should take biology, chemistry, physics—but few of the conversations included earth and space sciences anywhere in the sequence.

It seems like an earth/space science course would be an ideal capstone course in high school—integrating physics with meteorology and astronomy, chemistry with geology and oceanography, and biology with paleontology and ecology. In essence, students would experience how the sciences are related and focus on interesting and current topics. But as of now, for many students, the upper elementary and middle school grades are the last time they’ll be formally exposed to earth science topics in school.

As middle level teachers will attest, it’s not hard to get young students interested in the earth sciences that explain and describe the world around them. The articles in this issue have lots of suggestions for activities, and I’ve noted the SciLinks topics that would support the content or include additional activities.

By the time students get to middle school, they’ve heard the word “system” in the context of the solar system or the metric system, but they may not understand what systems are. An Earth-System Approach to Understanding the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill describes a recent event in terms of the interrelationships among the biosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and atmosphere. The article also includes graphics to help students see and reflect on the connections. [SciLinks: Atmosphere, Biosphere, Earth's Structure, Water Cycle]

In the Hot Seat has an analysis of home heating options  [SciLinks: Heating Systems, Alternative Energy Homes, Solar Heated Homes, Carbon Cycle/Global Warming]

Ocean Acidification has two lessons presented to help students understand the causes of ocean acidification and its effects on coral reefs. [SciLinks: Coral Reefs, Acid Rain, Greenhouse Gases, pH]

Are you planning any outdoor events at the end of the year? The students in the article Clever with Weather collected and analyzed local data (with an emphasis on graphing) to determine the best place for a picnic. (I know of an elementary school where the students analyze weather data each morning and prepare a report for the principal to help her make a decision about whether to have outdoor recess that day). [SciLinks: Weather, Weather Instruments, Weather Patterns]

Prehistoric life is a popular topic with middle schoolers, and three articles add to that interest. In the Dinoviz project, students trace how our perceptions of what dinosaurs “looked like” over time have changed, based what was learned through research. Fossil Patterns in Time describes a 5E lesson that addresses misconceptions students may have about the geologic time scale and the occurrence of vertebrates. This is one of many excellent lessons at the ENSI (Evolution & the Nature of Science Institutes) website.  Fossil Sharks: Learning From and About the Past also has activities using fossil shark teeth to guide students through investigations of how life and environmental conditions have changed over time. [SciLinks: Geologic Time Scale, Fossils, Fossil Record, Dinosaurs, Sharks]

As the author of Fun with a Flume—Ideas for Inquiry suggests, middle schoolers don’t mind getting wet. The simple apparatus here can be used to demonstrate many concepts related to water. [SciLinks: Convection, Water Erosion, Watersheds and Pollution]

Earth’s Reflection: Albedo includes several activities to illustrate the relationship between this concept and climate change. Although students may not be familiar with this term, they can understand the concept. The authors include diagrams, suggestions for data collection, and assessments. [SciLinks: Albedo]

In my early childhood experiences in a small creek below our house where neighborhood children waded and built dams, I learned many science and engineering concepts — the pushing force of moving water, its erosion of the sandbank, annual flooding depositing silt on the banks, algae growing on rocks in the backwaters, and the rounded edges of rocks in the creek making it hard to stack them. I would love to have such a creek on the playground, minus the polluted water and danger of drowning, of course.

A teacher writing on the NSTA Earth Science list tells about the misconceptions she has seen held by her 9^th grade students: “…my students had to describe an island they had “discovered” and how the features of that island had come to be [and make a poster showing a model of their island]…, These students had performed fairly well on my more traditional assessments up to this point. When they presented their projects, I discovered that many, maybe even most of these honors and GT [Gifted and Talented] level students believed that islands float in the water; water flows out of the ocean and into rivers; and that rivers can flow up over mountains and even bisect islands. I am aware of misconceptions, but every time I come across a new one, I am newly surprised by it.”

I remember being similarly surprised by how differently a kindergartener and I viewed the landscape. We were on a bus on a bridge crossing over a major river, just a five minute drive from the school, and I said, “Look out the window!” My 5-year-old seatmate looked and said, “Wow, it’s a huge swimming pool!” Thinking that I would be helping him understand that we were crossing a river, I said, “Look out the other window.” He did and said, “There’s two of them!”

By learning what our students understand we can choose experiences that will help them build their knowledge. Digging riverbeds into the sandbox and building bridges to cross, making an island in the middle of a sandbox lake, or doing it in miniature indoors with small bowls and plasticine clay to build the landscape before pouring in a little water, are activities that young children enjoy. The sand will dry out and plasticine clay will dry off, to be used another day. By asking questions and having the children draw their created landscapes, teachers can help children build understanding which they can use in 9^th grade Earth Science class.

Peggy

Once again, a late evening was spent on earth science worksheets. This time, however, it was not memorizing terms that presented the challenge, but rather something that caused great consternation in science in general leading up to a discovery that happened in my lifetime. (reference: http://scign.jpl.nasa.gov/learn/plate2.htm )

My daughter was trying to stuff the mechanics of the mid-Atlantic ridge and subduction zones into her sixth-grade head. Piece of cake, I thought. I was wrong. Briefly.

A few probing questions yielded that not much was making conceptual sense. I tried to use the images in the textbook, but didn’t pump that dry well for very long. Instead I used my favorite tool for such things…Google Earth. I do have some physical globes around the house (you know, the real spherical ones), but I needed the sea floor, and video links, and metadata, and 3-D ocean feature views, and ocean labels, and photo databases, and…and…and. …in order to learn with the fearlessness my daughter needed to explore the topic in her way.

Mere minutes later she could explain the process of plate tectonics reasonably well, show features on the earth that demonstrate the process, predict outcomes, make inferences, and best of all, show real excitement for the topic.

Then I remembered that I had an actual sample of the mid-Atlantic ridge. I won a piece of sea floor basalt at a conference a few years ago. It was brought up from the floor of the Atlantic right after it solidified. And what brought it up? Why Alvin of course. I said she could take the specimen to school and could remember the name of the submersible by thinking of Alvin and the Chipmunks.  But low and behold, a few pages into the next chapter in her textbook, there was a picture of Alvin (the sub, not the rodent). The circles were closing beautifully.

After a few short BBC videos on the subject, I think we went from a skeptical 1950s view of continental movement to a 21^st century view complete with powerful evidence and explanations.

While were on the topic, if Google Earth is on your list of teaching tools, may I suggest the SpaceNavigator. It makes the moving around as effortless as flying a stick-and-rudder plane. And a SpaceNavigator in the hands of students generates more questions per second than any other computer peripheral I can think of. In fact, it makes plate tectonics seem like just a simplistic explanation for a wildly complex set of inescapable processes.

For more information on GeoEverything, see our Science 2.0 column in the September 2010 issue of The Science Teacher.