The NSTA Recognition and Awards program is proud to announce its 2005 awardees.
Robert H. Carleton Award for National Leadership in the Field of Science Education
Sponsored by the Dow Chemical Corporation
This is the most prestigious award an NSTA member may receive. The Robert H. Carleton Award recognizes one individual who has made outstanding contributions to, and provided leadership in, science education at the national level and to NSTA in particular. It is NSTA's highest honor.
Sponsored by the Dow Chemical Company the Robert H. Carleton Award recipient receives $5,000, a formal citation and an all expense paid trip to attend the NSTA National Convention.
Harold Pratt
NSTA President 2001-2002
Educational Consultants Inc.
Littleton, CO
Harold Pratt has spent his 49-year career working to improve the quality of science education for students, teachers, curriculum developers and science coordinators. For 23 years he was the science coordinator at the Jefferson County Public School District before becoming Executive Director of Curriculum. His service to NSTA includes serving on the NSTA Task Force for Science Education in the 1990s and coordinating several national curriculum projects; he was President of NSTA in 2001-2002. He currently is a Fellow in the Institute for Learning at the Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh.
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Distinguished Service to Science
This award honors NSTA members who, through active leadership and scholarly endeavor over a significant period of time, have made extraordinary contributions to the advancement of education in the sciences and science teaching.
Each recipient receives a formal citation, three night's hotel accommodation and $500 towards expenses to attend the NSTA National Convention.
Lloyd Barrow
Professor Science Education
University of Missouri
Columbia, MO
Lloyd Barrow has been a science educator for 40 years. He has served on numerous NSTA committees, including the Executive Committee. Currently, he is the President of the Science Teachers of Missouri. He has presented more than 150 sessions at professional national meetings. His has been published over 100 times in numerous publications, including NSTA Journals.
Arthur Eisenkraft
Distinguished Professor of Science Education
University of Massachusetts-Boston
Boston, MA
Arthur Eisenkraft has recently moved from a successful public school experience of 28 years in high school as both a physics teacher and a 6-12 grade science coordinator to his new position as the first Distinguished Professor of Science Education and Senior Research Fellow at the Graduate College of Education at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA. He was President of NSTA in 2000-2001. He is the co-creator of the Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision program.
Dennis Schatz
VP for Education & Exhibits
Pacific Science Center
Seattle, WA
Dennis Schatz is the Vice President for Education and Exhibits at the Pacific Science Center, the major informal science museum in Seattle, WA. He has been one of the key managers of that institution since 1980, guiding major exhibits that traveled around the US, overseeing a number of influential outreach programs and co-chairing LASER, a statewide science teaching improvement program for Washington state.
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Distinguished Teaching Award
This award honors NSTA members who are teachers that have made extraordinary contributions to the field of science teaching.
The recipient receives a formal citation, three night's hotel accommodation and $500 towards expenses to attend the NSTA National Convention.
Robert Laghetto
High School Science Instructor
Tuscarawas Valley High School
Zoarville, OH
Robert Laghetto has more than 37 years of teaching experience. His teaching experience includes a diverse opportunities such as working as a Peace Corps teacher in Ghana and as an Urban Teacher Corps instructor in Washington, DC.
Len Sharp
Science Teacher, Earth Science
Liverpool Central Schools
Liverpool, NY
Len Sharp has been an Earth Science teacher for the past 27 years. He was President of the Science Teachers Association of New York State in 1992; the National Earth Science Teacher's Association, 1992-1996 and the Association of Presidential Awardees for Science Teaching 2004-2006. He has served NSTA as District IV Director 1998-2000.
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Ciba Specialty Chemicals Middle Level Principal Award
Sponsored by Ciba Specialty Chemicals Education Foundation
This program recognizes one principal who has demonstrated leadership in developing, implementing, and maintaining an outstanding science program; supported staff development in science; promoted positive relationships between the school science program and the community; and has been an advocate and leader for the development of science process skills and positive attitudes toward science among children and teachers.
Recipients of the Ciba Awards receive a check for $1000 and $500 towards expenses to attend the NSTA National Convention.
Kristi Jefferson
Principal
Freedom Middle School
Franklin, TN
Under Kristi Jefferson's leadership, the Freedom Middle School was removed from the list of schools targeted as underperforming as stated in the guidelines for the No Child Left Behind Act. She has developed programs, evaluations and uniformity to ensure the success of every student. She has broadened outreach to the community by implementing Parent Science Night which helped to forge stronger parent-school relationships.
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Ciba Specialty Chemicals High School Teaching Award
Sponsored by Ciba Specialty Chemicals Education Foundation
This program recognizes one teacher who has demonstrated exemplary science teaching in one or more of the following areas: creativity using science teaching materials; design and use of innovative teaching plans and ideas; and development and implementation of department, school, or school-community programs that improve science instruction and/or stimulate interest in science and the learning of science.
Kimberly Reining-Gray
Science Department Chair/Teacher
Central High School
Macon, GA
Kimberly Reining-Gray has been a science educator for almost 16 years. Using a variety of innovative activities, she has encouraged and supported her students and colleagues. For example, to investigate the coefficient of friction her students are given a memo from a shoe company stating that sales of the most popular basketball shoe have sharply declined. Students discover the “grip” or coefficient of friction is the problem and they then investigate which type of shoe soles would best grip the basketball court. The lab is followed by a formal lab write up based on the steps of the scientific method.
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Delta Education/CPO Science Education Awards for Excellence in Inquiry-based Science Teaching
Sponsored by Delta Education, LLC
The Delta Education/CPO Science Awards for Excellence in Inquiry-based Science Teaching will recognizes and honor full-time PreK-12 teachers of science who successfully use inquiry-based science to enhance teaching and learning in their classroom.
Recipients of the Delta/CPO Award receive a check for $1500 and an all-expense paid trip (not to exceed $1500) to attend the NSTA National Convention.
James Calaway
Physical Science, Environmental Science, Biology II Teacher
MacArthur High School
Lawton, OK
James Calaway took advantage of a wildfire and turned the problem into a focal point for scientific inquiry. This project, “Fire on the Prairie!” had students doing environmental and biological field research. His students first decided what parameters were important to measure at both types of fire; control burns by the government or wildfires common on the Great Plains. His students took water and soil samples from fire burned areas and soil next to burned areas, tracked grass growth and studied the repopulation of birds, insects and mammals.
Mark Goldner
7th & 8th Grade Science Teacher
Heath School
Brookline, MA
Mark Goldner has designed at least eight different inquiry investigations. One example is the Microbes in a Jar Investigation “aka” Little Jars of Crud. Students create and observe a grass infusion (cut grass and water in a small sealed jar) using a microscope over several days. They develop investigable questions regarding to the appearance of microorganisms and how changing their environment will change what they observe. Student questions lead to lessons on traditional classification schemes.
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Estes Rocketry / Space Foundation Educator Award
Sponsored by Estes Rocketry and the Space Foundation
This award is given to an elementary, middle level or high school classroom science teacher (grades 4-12) who has demonstrated excellence in a space science program. Entries must show innovative, exemplary, and effective teaching strategies and approaches combined with a curriculum that employs the use of model rockets. Entries must show evidence of enhanced student achievement in mathematics, science, and/or technology and must demonstrate that the program can be replicated and used as a model in other schools.
The recipient of the Estes Rocketry Award receives a check for $1000 and $500 towards expenses to attend the NSTA National Convention. In addition, the recipient also receives airfare and a full tuition fellowship to attend the Space Discovery Graduate Course in Colorado Springs, CO.
Jayson Duncan
Pine Hall Elementary
1400 Pine Hall Road
Pine Hall, NC 27042
Jayson Duncan offers students the opportunity to learn the nature of science. His inquiry based curriculum encouraged students to use science along with math, social studies, technology and written expression. In one of the programs he developed, the students had a mock space shuttle where they had a thirty hour mission. Prior to each mission, they would launch Estes rockets to excite the students. The students developed their own activites, meals and experiments.
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Faraday Science Communicator Award
Sponsored by the Discovery Channel
The Faraday Science Communicator Award will recognize and reward an individual or organization that has inspired and elevated the public's interest in and appreciation of science
The recipient will receive a check for $5,000 and an all expense paid trip to attend the NSTA National Convention.
Bernard Zubrowski
Education Development Center, Inc.
Newton, MA
A graduate of Loyola and Boston Colleges, Bernie Zubrowski is the award-winning author of sixteen science education books. For 23 years, Bernie was the Senior Science Developer for the Children's Museum of Boston and Principal Investigator for several NSF projects. According to Dr. Richard Hudson, PBS television producer and former Faraday Award recipient, "Bernie's work in this field is monumental. He's known around the world as an outstanding science communicator."
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Ohaus Honorary Award for Innovations in Science Teaching
Sponsored by Ohaus Corporation
This award honors a science teacher who has shown continual innovation in the teaching of science in one, or a combination of the following areas: new curriculum design, instructional methods or techniques, unique organization, administrative patterns, new approach to laboratory activities or other enhance learning activity for students.
The recipient will receive a check for $2500.
Dale Rosene
8th Grade Science Teacher
Marshall Middle School
Marshall, MI
Mr. Rosene is the founder of the Alaska Great Lakes Project, a science program in which groups of students travel to Alaska for a three week learning adventure. What began as a research project in 1990 in response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill has evolved over the last 15 years from an environmental project to a hands-on, comprehensive science experiment as well as an opportunity for students' personal growth and self discovery. The Alaska Great Lakes Project was awarded a W.K. Kellogg Foundation grant in 1990 to fund the development of the project. Today, the program is self-sufficient and sends 65 students to Alaska each summer. As evidence that his program changes students' lives, one of Mr. Rosene's earliest program participants works as a scientist for the Oil Spill Commission in Anchorage. Additional students have returned to Alaska after graduating to pursue careers in environmental and educational fields.
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Science Screen Report Award
Sponsored by Science Screen Report, Inc.
This award is given to one teacher who has creatively used commercially available films or videotapes to develop a science unit or theme.
The recipient of the Science Screen Report Award will receive a check for $1000 and $500 to attend the NSTA National Convention.
Peggy Carlisle
3rd & 4th Grade Teacher
Pecan Park Elementary School
415 Claiborne Avenue
Jackson, MS 39209
Peggy Carlisle devised several lesson plans for her elementary students based on their fascination of dinosaurs. The video, "When Dinosaurs Roamed America" produced by the Discovery Channel and Family Home Entertainment (2001) proved an invaluable resource throughout the study. One hands-on investigation that cast each student in the role of paleontologist. Students developed a beginning understanding of the processes used by paleontologists to study bones and tracks. They used toothpick "chisels" and paint brushes to excavate chocolate chip "fossils" from cookie "rocks."
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Shell Science Teaching Award
Sponsored by the Shell Oil Company
This award recognizes one outstanding classroom science teacher (K-12) who has had a positive impact on his or her students, school, and community through exemplary classroom science teaching.
The two finalists receive travel expenses to attend the NSTA National Convention. In addition to travel expenses, the awardee will receive a check for $10,000.
Anne Mangas Smith - Finalist
James F. Bay Elementary
Seabrook, TX
Anne Mangas Smith's classroom celebrates uniqueness, creativity, inventiveness, compassion and life long learning. Children keep science journals and portfolios that express their feelings, new knowledge, ideas and learning experiences. She developed the first elementary robotics lab in the US after she received a grant to integrate robotics into the curriculum for nine hundred students. Her students use Lego's to create a mobile unit on the computer. With a transmitting tower those commands are installed into the mobile robot, which can then move independently following the commands. Students are greatly empowered when they successfully write the sequence of commands that logically move the vehicle. The students have presented their findings to university students, educators and professionals in the scientific community.
Jeff Shull - Finalist
Macomb Academy of Arts & Sciences
Armada, MI
Jeff Shull's method of teaching is open-ended student driven projects. “The Races” is an annual project that is performed at the beginning of the year. In this exploration, students are asked to design a gravity propelled “car” that will compete in seven categories: displacement, velocity, breaking, accuracy, aesthetics, presentation and report. The catch is that no pre-manufactured model car parts can be used in construction. Tires are made out of everything from CDs to bowling balls. Extensive testing is completed, the cars are put into action and an overall winner is determined. The races have been video taped for use by the local cable station.
Lawrence O'Flynn - Finalist
Jones Middle School
Upper Arlington, OH
Lawrence O'Flynn designs his lesson plans to reflect his belief that all students are capable of success in the science classroom. His annual project, “Jones Eighth Grade Environmental Project” or “J.E.E.P” requires student groups to research, develop and present environmental action plans. An election is held to determine the student choice for the project. Recently, the project was to paint messages on storm sewer catch basins lids in the city. The message stated, "Dump no waste. Leads to Stream.” In addition to raising environmental awareness, the project provided the students with insight into the challenges associated with coordination of supplies, permissions, and securing volunteers in order to complete the task in a single day.
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Vernier Technology Awards
Sponsored by Vernier Software & Technology
The Vernier Technology Awards will recognize and reward the innovative use of data collection technology using a computer, graphing calculator, or other handheld in the science classroom.
Each recipient of the Vernier Technology Award receives a check for $1000 and $1000 towards expenses to attend the NSTA National Convention. In addition, the recipients receives $1000 in Vernier products.
Elementary Level
Julia Green
Berry Elementary
Detroit, MI
Julia Green uses technology in a way to stimulate thinking, questions and inquiry into science subjects. She believes it is important to use sensors and probe ware as an integral part of the learning process. Student activities include a class-wide investigation into the temperature observed when popping microwave popcorn, studies on heat loss and insulation and phase change of water. A favorite student investigation included determining if a pair of sunglasses really blocked simulated sunlight or if the sunglasses were only used for decoration.
Middle Level
Diane Callahan
Fairfield Middle School
Fairfield, OH
Diane Callahan based her project, “CSI: Creek Scene Investigation – Fairfield” on a popular TV show that deals with forensic science. This project exposed students to water quality/ watersheds, data collection and analysis. T he students sampled a community “body” of water, “fingerprinted” and analyzed the makeup. Using hand held technology, the class learned about water quality and what makes a safe and clean water supply by identifying the physical, chemical and biological aspects of water. The students then presented the findings in presentations to community groups, peers and parents.
High School Level
Robert Schlichting
Cleveland High School
Portland, OR
Robert Schlichting's physics program is highly experimental and students are trained to use technology as a primary tool in data gathering. The students participated in a project using a Vernier motion detector on Eliot Glacier. The field implementation of this technology required the development of a solar powered charging system that could provide constant power to a Vernier LabPro that logged data from the motion sensor. The implementation of this system resulted in a record of glacier ablation. The data collected will be analyzed and an energy budget for the glacier will be developed. The data will be used as a springboard for discussion regarding global climate changes.
Stan Wawrzyniak
Bow High School
Bow, NH
Stan Wawrzyniak's primary mode of instruction is active. Students complete an instructor designed activity to become familiar with the technology and basic concepts before completing a related activity of their design. In his Engineering Design & Development course, students are engaged in a yearlong engineering project. They choose a problem and use an engineering design process to research, develop and test a solution. One class chose to develop a remotely operated submersible. Vernier's Digital Control Units will be used to control the submersible. An onboard video camera records and sends real time video through the tether along with data to the control laptop.
Gillian Winters
Sachem North High School
Lake Ronkonkoma, NY
Gillian Winters' believes that her students need to know how to use modern equipment, including computers, to run their experiments. Several times during the years, she will ask students to do a lab experiment without a computer, and then in a later class ask the students to do a similar experiment using computers. The repetition and different approach reinforce the concepts, and the students learn how to use the computers without relying on them. In one lab, students determine Planck's constant, h, a fundamental constant of modern physics. Students use current and voltage probes interfaced with Vernier LabPro to determine the current through, and potential difference (voltage) across various Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs).
College Level
James Vesenka
University of New England
Biddeford, ME
James Vesenka believes technology makes data collection and analysis fun for the students and provides the means of developing accurate empirical data. Fluid mechanics plays an important role in the life sciences curriculum. A counterintuitive model his students must confront is that increased velocity of fluid results in a decrease in fluid pressure. The key to the success of his laboratory activity was Vernier's sensitive "barometer" pressure gauge and Vernier's motion detector to extract wind speed. From this data Bernoulli's principle can be modeled, with the density of air solved empirically to within 10% of the accepted value. The power of modeling in this way converts abstract mathematical concepts to a more clear sense of ownership by our students.