Inspired by her favorite Bob Dylan song of 1964, “The Times They Are A-Changin,” NSTA President Page Keeley’s presidential theme during her 2008—2009 tenure will be “From Transition to Transformation—Striving for a Science-Literate Nation.” When she listens to this timeless classic today, she hears the urgent call for change in science education—deep, transformative changes in teaching and learning and the public perception of science. Throughout her presidency she will address several of these transformative changes that she believes are important—beginning with formative assessment. Here she outlines five methods that science educators can use to transform their professional learning in this area.
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Most sharks are the top predators in their ecosystems, yet they are often at the bottom of the conservation priority list. Because they are under-protected and exceptionally slow growing, and therefore valuable to overfishing, most of the world’s shark populations are declining. In fact, 20% are threatened with extinction. To restore shark populations within the lifetimes of today’s high school students, action is needed now. Sonja Fordham—the Policy Director for the Shark Alliance and Shark Conservation Program at the Ocean Conservancy—enjoys sticking up for these underdogs. Fordham believes the public, including students and teachers, are the key to turning this situation around.
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Are you, as a science teacher, ever left exhausted at the end of the day wondering, “Is it really worth the effort?” After over 50 years on this Earth—the author can safely say yes, it is. However, he is not a science teacher, and this is not an article on teaching methods, pedagogy, or an engaging activity. This is a story about the end result, which relates to all levels of instruction and curriculum, interdisciplinary or otherwise, and the lasting impression of good science teachers. Here he describes how his beloved science teacher, Mr. Richard, had a profound and positive influence on his life—which awakened during his sophomore year in high school.
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Though many teachers would like to incorporate creative activities into their teaching, there are few practical suggestions to help them accomplish this goal (Yager 2000). In this article, the authors introduce four strategies to help integrate creative-thinking skills into high school science instruction: SCAMPER; Six Thinking Hats; Agreement, Disagreement, and Irrelevance; and Creative Problem Solving.
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Because of teacher retirement and other factors, our nation will need almost a quarter of a million new middle and high school science teachers over this decade (NSB 2006). If we want to recruit and retain the most talented individuals, science teachers must be paid a salary competitive with other science professionals and appropriate to their true value to our society. While none of us enter teaching expecting to get rich, we do expect to be fairly compensated for our difficult and challenging work.
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In this article, the authors describe a two-phase inquiry lesson in which students explore the catalytic activity of amylase on starch (Rungruangsa and Panijpan 1979). In the first phase, students’ prior knowledge about the reaction is assessed through a set of directed prompts and small-group discussion, then challenged or reinforced as students carry out a laboratory investigation. During the second phase, students design and carry out an experiment to further explore the phenomenon, choosing to study the effect of pH, temperature, or substrate concentration on the kinetics of the starch hydrolysis.
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As a science teacher, do you find yourself fielding questions about everything from steroids to skin cancer to the bird flu? Tired of seeing students eat junk food in the school cafeteria? Want to help your students make healthy, informed choices? This is where Health Wise comes in. With this column, we will strive to provide you with up-to-date information on personal health topics to share with your students. We hope you and your students find this resource helpful.
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What can glaciers tell us about volcanoes and atmospheric conditions? How does this information relate to our understanding of climate change? Ice Core Investigations is an original and innovative activity that explores these types of questions. It brings together popular science issues such as research, climate change, ice core drilling, and air pollution to create a meaningful science learning experience for students.
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With the popularization of inquiry-based learning in science classes at all levels, laboratory instructors must be proficient in the proper handling of hazardous substances. This care in dealing with potentially harmful materials should also be communicated to students. This article provides a brief review of common safety procedures and how to implement them in a laboratory area.
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The Presidential “Periodic Table” is an engaging activity that encourages high school chemistry students to match the names of the elements with their chemical symbols in order to spell out the names of the 43 U.S. presidents. By completing the puzzle, students reinforce their knowledge of both chemical elements and the names of the American presidents in chronological order.
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Students’ understanding of science develops through everyday experiences. As a result, they come to the science classroom with their own notions of how the world works. As teachers, we often must help students overcome their prior naïve notions and move them toward a more scientific understanding. This process, known as conceptual change, is fundamental to student learning. It can be aided with strategies designed to help students rationalize their perceptions in light of accepted scientific understanding. This article outlines one such strategy: a process of recursive concept mapping the authors call “mapping for conceptual change.”
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Earth Science Week (ESW) 2008 encourages people around the globe to open doors and investigate new opportunities. This year’s theme, “No Child Left Inside,” is a call to explore our natural environments. The celebration urges everyone—especially young people—to venture outdoors and experience Earth science firsthand.
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In 1995, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the highly successful Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Tools for Schools (TfS) program. The TfS program is an in-the-trenches approach that empowers teachers and other school employees to help improve IAQ in the learning environment and reduce building occupants’ exposure to indoor environmental contaminants. As a supplement to the program, a nonprofit health affiliate of the National Education Association, the Health Information Network (HIN), has developed resources along with a series of hands-on, interactive lessons.
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New school years bring new challenges, students, lessons, and colleagues. Some teachers at your school may be just starting out with their first teaching job. Looking ahead to a new school year is a great time for all of us to think about understanding and helping the new teachers in our midst. In this month’s column, you’ll find some research-based suggestions to support new teachers.
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While the ideal situation is for all science to be taught in a properly-equipped classroom, where materials do not have to be transported from room to room, the unfortunate reality is that some teachers do have to travel. As a traveling teacher, the author has learned some valuable tips to travel well and effectively teach science. In this article, he discusses his experience as a traveling teacher and provides suggestions for overcoming this seemingly insurmountable challenge.
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Whole-class inquiry (WCI) assessments range from challenging, paper-and-pencil puzzles to lab-based problems that require students to apply their own gathered data to a new scenario; the latter might also require students to perform a lab with new parameters, or to answer a question using data from a previous lab. In this article, the authors present two example WCI assessments to describe how they implement these tests and use them to build a strong sense of community in their classrooms.
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