Should science instruction before grade 3 be eliminated to make more time in the school day for Language Arts and Math instruction? That question has energized the NSTA General Science email list in recent days. It was raised by a science teacher asking for research on the question so he can guide a study committee [...]
Congratulations to all of the teacher-presenters at NSTA—to those who were willing to share their ideas and experiences. It’s a quantum leap from the classroom to the national stage, but in the sessions I attended, my colleagues rose to the occasion. For example, Greg Benedis-Grab from The School at Columbia University (NY) shared ideas he [...]
Featured speaker Larry Lowery’s lively presentation at the San Francisco NSTA conference highlighted research findings about how children learn to inspire teachers to incorporate new practices in their classrooms. Lowery encouraged teachers to further expand students’ opportunities to learn and explore using their various senses. He showed a functional MRI image to illustrate the lit-up [...]
Dear Early Childhood Teacher (of science and everything else) and teacher educators: We invite you to join NSTA! The National Science Teachers Association has lowered new membership dues to $65 for a limited time only, until February 15th, 2011. So for $65 you get: A one-year subscription to your choice of one of the four [...]
Dear early childhood educators and researchers, We’re writing to invite you to join us in applying to NAEYC to form an Early Childhood Science Interest Forum. The purpose of the forum is to: Provide a forum for the exchange of effective strategies and quality materials for science teaching in early childhood. Establish and maintain a [...]
What’s New for June 14 on NSTA’s various online outposts Highlights of stimulating conversations taking place right now on our listservs: Biology—Science Olympiad and online high school biology courses; Chemistry—“gag” lab gift ideas, like stink-bombs; Earth Science—Glacier activities, the Moh hardness scale, and an excellent mini-tutorial on how to find what you’re looking for on [...]
At our elementary school, we’re exploring the idea of changing from self-contained classrooms to departmentalizing in grades 4 through 6. In terms of science instruction, what are some advantages and disadvantages we should consider? —Erin, Jackson, Mississippi Any time we change how we do things in schools, there should be some fact-finding and thoughtful discussion [...]
Many of you are wanting to download the resources from the conference in Philadelphia. Here’s how. Highlights of stimulating conversations taking place right now on our listservs: Chemistry—iron titration, how to deal with dangerous chemicals, and what incoming freshman need to know; Earth Science—Friday, May 28th, being celebrated as the 2,595th “birthday of science,” and [...]
I thought I’d start off the conference with a session by a Philadelphia-ite. Stephen Wade, a Board-certified teacher, is a science specialist for the younger grades at William Penn Charter School. He shared several ideas for helping students design, conduct, and share the results of their science investigations. These ideas include modeling inquiry behaviors, providing [...]
I’ve been hearing a lot about science notebooks lately, so I went to the Education Development Center’s Pathway Session on Establishing Science Notebook Habits and Skills. It was interesting to hear each presenter’s unique take on the science notebook and see all of the student examples they displayed.
