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Teachable moments

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Teachable moments

At a recent workshop, the presenter used the term “teachable moment.” What does this mean? —Todd, Tacoma, Washington...

By Mary Bigelow

Citizen scientist action begins at a young age—by extending a helping hand to toads

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Citizen scientist action begins at a young age—by extending a helping hand to toads

See more of Doug Wechsler's work at http://www.dougwechsler.com/...

By Peggy Ashbrook

Sandbox

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Sandbox

By timtester

Science Inside-Out

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Science Inside-Out

Spring is rapidly approaching, as indicated by the recent “springing forward” of our clocks. The arrival of Spring not only means longer days but also warmer weather, beautiful blooms, and…restless students....

By Amy America

Grant evaluation

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Grant evaluation

Our school recently received grant funds to upgrade the technology in our science labs next year, and the funding organization requires an annual report. This is a new endeavor for us. Do you have some suggestions on what to include in the report? &#...

By Mary Bigelow

Are you part of the NSTA Communities?

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Are you part of the NSTA Communities?

One of Chapter Leaders called me this morning to ask about the NSTA Communities. I wanted to share the highlights of our conversation with the CAG Blog....

By Howard Wahlberg

Monthly features

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Monthly features

As an NSTA member, did you know that you have electronic access to each of the journals, in addition to the print copy you receive? In the monthly SciLinks blog for each issue (and on the NSTA home page, there are links to browse the table of content...

By Mary Bigelow

The power of saying thanks!

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The power of saying thanks!

As the dust settles from NSTA’s Annual Conference, my thoughts return to a conversation I had with a new NSTA member during the conference.  I was grateful to have the opportunity to say “thanks!” for being a member of NSTA and “thanks” fo...

By Howard Wahlberg

Community-based science

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Community-based science

Click on the cover for the Table of Contents...

By Mary Bigelow

More Chemistry Basics in the Stop Faking It! Series

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More Chemistry Basics in the Stop Faking It! Series

Thermodynamics and atomic bonding and quantum mechanics, oh my! Bill Robertson tackles these, and other chemistry themes, in More Chemistry Basics, the ninth book in the bestselling Stop Faking It! series....

By Claire Reinburg

Lab instructions: Finding the right mix

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Lab instructions: Finding the right mix

I’m looking for information regarding student comprehension and/or performance when given basic, succinct instructions versus long, detailed lab instructions. I have heard convincing arguments for both, but I’d like to find out what the r...

By Mary Bigelow

So how was the conference?

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So how was the conference?

Skye Diers...

By Debra Shapiro

STEM ed … with whiz

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STEM ed … with whiz

Governor Edward G. Rendell of Pennsylvania addressed the “Science Matters” Town Hall Meeting in Philadelphia on Friday, March 19. In addition to describing the success of Pennsylvania’s STEM education programs and reeling off some f...

By NSTA Web Director

Thanks to the children who attended the conference

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Thanks to the children who attended the conference

Thanks go to all the children who made it possible for their parents to attend the NSTA national conference by coming along with them!...

By Peggy Ashbrook

Ideas sparkle at Intel Science Talent Search

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Ideas sparkle at Intel Science Talent Search

NY Times columnist Thomas Friedman recently attended the 2010 Intel Science Talent Search Awards in Washington, DC. He listened to student presentations (including one which he freely admits was out of his scope) and talked with science teachers. He...

By Lynn Petrinjak

More teacher talk

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More teacher talk

I didn’t get a chance to post on Saturday all the conversations with educators in Philadelphia, so I’m catching up a bit now....

By Lynn Petrinjak

Looking forward

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Looking forward

I’m at the 30th Street Station (with free wireless), waiting for the train to go home....

By Mary Bigelow

Sunday morning

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Sunday morning

Sunday morning is a tough time for a presenter. Early departures, church services, brunch dates, last minute sightseeing/souvenir gathering, or too much Saturday evening make it difficult for some to attend sessions at this time. But those die-hards ...

By Mary Bigelow

A Philly farewell

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A Philly farewell

view from my office at NSTA Headquarters...

By Debra Shapiro

Spend a little, gain a lot

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Spend a little, gain a lot

Ted Koehn with his arsenal of inexpensive/free materials...

By Debra Shapiro

What free time?

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What free time?

After the last session today was over at 6:00 PM, I went out for dinner.  I didn’t try to eavesdrop on the nearby table, but when I heard science notebook, nature study, and rubric, I knew I was sitting near some teachers....

By Mary Bigelow

Physics for all

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Physics for all

Arthur Eisenkraft...

By Mary Bigelow

Nature study

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Nature study

Bridging the Outdoors with Science Education, ELA, Art, and Historical Perspectives...

By Mary Bigelow

Scenes from the exhibit hall

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Scenes from the exhibit hall

Bill Nye...

By Mary Bigelow

Losing your marbles over data

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Losing your marbles over data

Improving Your Students' Graphing and Graph Interpretation Practices...

By Mary Bigelow

Science and social studies

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Science and social studies

Ellis Island...Science and Immigration Policy...

By Mary Bigelow

Creating tomorrow's STEM workforce

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Creating tomorrow's STEM workforce

Katherine Johnson helped pave the way for women and African Americans in technical fields...

By Debra Shapiro

CSI Philadelphia

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CSI Philadelphia

Full disclosure–NSTA got me hooked on the CSI programs. Ordinarily I would have ignored them, but when I heard that these shows excite students about science, I had to see at least one episode. Eventually I was watching all of them regularly. (...

By Debra Shapiro

Meet the author

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Meet the author

The NSTA Store has a corner where we can meet the authors of current and popular books. Steve Rich was here today to sign copies of his latest book Outdoor Science: A Practical Guide....

By Mary Bigelow

Learn, share, re-engergize

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Learn, share, re-engergize

I headed over to the exhibit hall just before it opened. I was surprised to see so many eager educators waiting for the doors to open, even on the third day! Since they had still had a few minutes before the doors opened, I was able to talk to a few...

By Lynn Petrinjak

Rest? Not much, even on the weekend

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Rest? Not much, even on the weekend

Some NSTA attendees take a few minutes to rest their feet....

By Lynn Petrinjak

Multi-tasking

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Multi-tasking

Hughes High School, a STEM-focused school in Cincinnati, has an intersession which students devote to their projects. As luck would have it this year, the intersession is the same week as the NSTA conference in Philadelphia. Kathy Wright, a program f...

By Mary Bigelow

Do these guys ever rest?

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Do these guys ever rest?

ISTE (the International Society for Technology in Education) sponsored a series of seven sessions (spread out over two days) presented by two of the most dynamic educators I’ve ever met: Ben Smith and Jared Mader of the Red Lion School District...

By Mary Bigelow

Taking a break

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Taking a break

Shopping at the NSTA store...

By Mary Bigelow

LOL in science class

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LOL in science class

Diana Hunn and Susan Clay Due to technical difficulties, I arrived late to Diana Hunn’s and Susan Clay’s session on Using Humor to Enhance Scientific Literacy. Fortunately, they are good humored about late arrivals....

By Debra Shapiro

Science talk in Philadelphia at the NSTA national conference

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Science talk in Philadelphia at the NSTA national conference

Science talk between students (not teacher-to-student)—is that possible?...

By Peggy Ashbrook

Talking to teachers

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Talking to teachers

I talked to a few more teachers this afternoon. There are folks from all across the country here this week, but I somehow managed to talk to two people from the West Coast in a row. They weren’t together, so just random chance. Maybe once the t...

By Lynn Petrinjak

Girl power in science

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Girl power in science

Christina Dragon...

By Debra Shapiro

Getting ideas

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Getting ideas

I was in an interesting session yesterday and have overheard bits and pieces of a lot of different conference attendees talking about presentations they’ve liked. I’m wondering: What presenters would you like to hear more from? ...

By Lynn Petrinjak

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