With the theme of “record keeping,” we might have expected the cover photo to show children writing in a notebook or typing on a computer. Instead, the editor chose a photo of a child looking through binoculars with an “Oh Wow!” expression. As teachers, we live for these Oh Wow! or Aha! events. But if [...]
I was in an elementary school where scientists from a nearby university visited the schools periodically to work with the students on a variety of activities and to describe their own research. The students were impressed with meeting “real” scientists and learning about their work. (One little girl asked if the scientist would autograph her [...]
A few years ago, one of the speakers at our school’s career day was a graduate who was an environmental scientist. A student asked her what she did all day. The audience expected her to say things such as I do chemical tests. I spend all day on the river. I look at things through [...]
As the new school year is getting underway, are you looking for some experiences to get students focused on scientific thinking and research skills? How can we show students what scientists actually “do” and how they communicate? In one of the NSTA’s listservs , the site Natural Inquirer was mentioned and recommended, so I took [...]
In the local newspaper, an organization advertised its Haunted House event for Halloween. One of the chambers is the laboratory of a “mad scientist.” I’m sure it was full of the usual stereotypes from horror movies. Compare these caricatures with the work of real scientists in this month’s Science Scope. (You can access the table [...]
