It’s Time to Start Writing! Science and Children is seeking manuscripts on the following themes, but we welcome manuscripts on any topic at all times!

Summer 2010: Professional Development

Deadline: extended to January 1, 2010

To help students continually learn, we must continually learn. Research shows us there is a correlation between teacher expertise and student achievement. Some of us are fortunate and have excellent professional development opportunities. Many of us are left to devise our own strategies for improvement. Do you participate in a learning community? How do you use technology to support your PD such as video courses, Podcasts, Webinars, and online courses? Do you collaborate with other institutions in providing PD? How do you structure your learning if you are not in a location where PD is readily available?

September 2010: What Do Scientists Do?

Deadline: February 1, 2010

This issue begins a yearlong look at inquiry. Knowing what scientists do and how they investigate provides an avenue for learning science content. It also fosters an understanding of the nature of science. Although it is important to consider a progression as students learn through inquiry, it should not be considered a step-by-step “scientific method.” Questions can arise at any time, and solutions can be found through a wide variety of investigative strategies. How do you promote “thinking like a scientist” with your students?

October 2010: Process Skills

Deadline: March 1, 2010

Developing process skills in a meaningful way is critical in creating an environment that supports inquiry. For example, how do you guide students to observe—just looking is not enough. Frequently, students are asked to observe without being provided with instruction in how to observe with a focus. Consider all of the process skills:

• Observing: Using the senses and appropriate instruments to gather information about an object, event, or phenomenon.
• Questioning: Raising questions about an object, event, or phenomenon.
• Hypothesizing: Giving a tentative explanation, based on experience, of a phenomenon, event, or the nature of an object.
• Predicting: Forecasting the outcome of a specific future event based on a pattern or hypothesis.
• Planning and investigating: Designing an investigation that includes procedures to collect reliable data. Planning includes devising a way to test a hypothesis.
• Interpreting: Considering evidence, evaluating, and drawing conclusions by assessing data.
• Communicating: Representing observations, ideas, theoretical models, or conclusions in many forms.

How do you use direct instruction and practice to help students refine their process skills?

November 2010: Student Science Notebooks

Deadline: April 1, 2010

Reading and writing should be embedded in science instruction. These two essential communication skills, along with accompanying verbal skills, are essential in science. One of the ways in which reading, writing, and verbal communication can become an integral part of science instruction is through student notebooks. Topics in this issue may include: Focus questions, recording data, displaying data, reflections, showing observations, and/or developing conclusions.

How can we engage even the youngest students in developing notebook skills? What role do literacy circles play in science instruction? What grade level specific strategies have you used to develop notebooking skills? How do you provide support to ensure student understanding of how to use notebooks? How do notebooks support your teaching of science? What strategies do you use to differentiate the structure or function of notebooks to meet the needs of all students? What kinds of activities do you use as springboards in developing understanding of how notebooks are used by scientists?

December 2010: Posing Investigable Questions

Deadline: May 1, 2010

An environment of inquiry depends on the creation of questions that allow students to conduct hands-on research—and those questions must be investigable. An investigable question is one that can be answered by something students can do in the lab or classroom. Although all children are capable of asking questions, many questions cannot be answered through an experiment or systematic observation. How do you help students ask questions like those a scientist would ask? Do you use sentence starters or stems to guide students? Are students taught how to turn a question they have into one that is investigable? Have you found grade level specific lessons that help students understand how to create an investigable question?

Coming Up in 2011

January 2011: Data Collection and Representation
Deadline: August 1, 2010

February 2011: Selecting an Inquiry Experience
Deadline: September 1, 2010

March 2011: Shifting from “Cookbook Labs” to Full Inquiry
Deadline: October 1, 2010

April/May 2011: Sharing Research Results
Deadline: November 1, 2010

Summer 2011: Assessing Inquiry Learning, Process, and Products
Deadline: December 1, 2010

Science and Children at a Glance:

November 2009: Literacy

December 2009: Light, Heat, and Electricity

January 2010: Adaptations and Diversity

February 2010: Science in the Community

March 2010: STEM

April/May 2010: Weather

Details, Details

Your 2000-word manuscript should describe a set of connected lessons or investigations that build an idea or content area. They should include assessments (pre-, post- and formative) as well as enough detail that another teacher could replicate the lessons in the classroom. Examples of student work are encouraged.

Please read our manuscript guidelines before submitting your manuscript. You can find more tips in Write from the Start (PDF). Manuscripts should be submitted electronically; once online, follow the steps for New Author Registration. For more information, contact managing editor Valynda Mayes at vmayes@nsta.org.