The Inner Harbor is a popular tourist destination in Baltimore.

This conference is being held at the Baltimore Convention Center, One West Pratt Street. Attendees can register on-site for the conference at the convention center. Activities will conclude at 12 noon on Nov. 4.

Biotechnology

Several attendees started the first day of the conference by taking a field trip to the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI). Located in Baltimore, the UMBI consists of five biotechnology research centers. Attendees on this field trip were able to visit UMBI’s Center for Marine Biotechnology. 

Tour guide Jeff Morgen, who works with UMBI outreach programs, greeted attendees as they arrived at the center. He then explained to them they would spend the next two and half hours learning about UMBI before making a plant extraction and testing it for bioactivity on bioluminescent bacteria.

Patty Nizlek of Weston, Connecticut, extracts pieces of a sage plant during a field trip to the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute.

“The best example I can give is DNA,” Morgen said of the types of programs students and teachers work on.

Teachers had the opportunity to experience one of these lab-based programs following Morgen’s presentation.

Working individually and in groups of two’s, Morgen engaged attendees in an activity called Rosemary Extraction. This activity consisted of attendees making a plant extraction and testing it for bioactivity (antimicrobial) on bioluminescent bacteria, which served as a biosensor.

“The lab is pretty straight forward,” Morgen explained to attendees before they began their work. He then divided the group in half, giving some attendees sage, and the other half some rosemary.

Attendees then began their work tearing up plant pieces and filling nine tubes with one milliliter of bioluminescent bacteria. The next step consisted of adding the rosemary or sage to some water and grinding it into a homogenate paste using a pestle. Attendees then poured the mixture into a blue capped centrifuge tube and placed into a centrifuge station. After retrieving their tubes, attendees used a micropipette to add water, alcohol, and extraction supernatant as controls for three tests. After everyone prepared their tubes, Morgen then turned off the lights so attendees could see if bioluminescent bacteria would glow in the dark. Attendees were then instructed to record their results. They found that rosemary was a good choice. 

“It’s very interesting,” Barbara Wiggins of Lewes, Delaware, said of the activity. “It’s easy to do.”

Teachers interested in learning more about these programs can visit www.umbi.umd.edu/educ.

Science and English Language Learners

Before the start of the conference, dozens of attendees participated in a daylong event on Nov. 1 titled Science and English Language Learners (ELL): Research, Practical Approaches and Policy Directions for Classroom Teachers, School and District Level Administrators, and University Teacher Educators.

Sponsored by the National Science Foundation, this event consisted of three plenary sessions and two breakout sessions facilitated by Ann Rosebery, codirector of the Cheche Konnen Center for Science Education, TERC, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“Teaching ELLs should be on the radar screens of all educators,” Rosebery told attendees as she began the conference.

Rosebery explained to attendees that ELL students face many challenges in and out of the classroom, such as making friends and meeting students from other cultures. She also noted that ELLs are often judged as having a lower academic ability. The goal of this conference is to turn that around, she said.

Eugene Garcia, dean of the College of Education at Arizona State University, Tempe, who served as the first plenary session speaker helped attendees change that trend by sharing with them four critical aspects that educators should be aware of. These aspects include:

• Language Counts: Teachers cannot treat ELLs as students who come from English speaking backgrounds.
• Kids Lose Time: ELLs need supplemental instruction.
• ELLs Learn Phonics Well: ELLs don’t learn differently than English-speaking students.
• Teachers Need to Know about Immigration Status: About 50% of ELLs reside with an immigrant parent. However, the students themselves are not immigrants.

Ohkee Lee, professor in the School of Education at the University of Miami, Coral Gables, shared with attendees a synthesis of research on science with ELLs.

Key points from Lee’s presentation that are important for teachers to remember include: 

• Having equitable learning opportunities.
• Offering educational resources. 

“When ELLs are provided with equitable learning opportunities, they demonstrate academic achievement,” Lee explained.

Attendees had the opportunity to participate in two breakout sessions following Garcia and Lee’s presentations. One session titled Science Learning Experiences for ELLs: Integrating Science and Language Instruction enabled attendees to learn connections between language and science teaching, strategies for teaching and extended learning, and lessons for inquiry-based science. Attendees were also able to learn about the contents of the NSTA Press book Science for English Learners. David Crowther, Ann K. Fathman, and Joaquin Vila, editors and authors of the book, presented the session. A second session, titled Science Classrooms That Work for ELLs: Focusing on ELL Development Strategies in Science, focused on how teachers can support English acquisition through science using a lesson design modified through the use of research-based instructional strategies.

Mike Klentschy, superintendent of the El Centro School District in California presented the third plenary session. Klentschy shared with attendees How Instruction and Policy Can Support a Systemic Approach to Science Education for ELLs.

For more information, visit www.nsta.org/baltimore.