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This activity involves playing with a parachute to make discoveries about air. It is always a favorite activity as most children enjoy hiding under the parachute but limit the number who can hide at the same time. After they play with the parachute, encourage children to think about and describe how parachutes help skydivers as they fall through the air. A materials list, internet resources, standards, and safety practices are provided.
This activity involves playing with a parachute to make discoveries about air. It is always a favorite activity as most children enjoy hiding under the parachute but limit the number who can hide at the same time. After they play with the parachute, encourage children to think about and describe how parachutes help skydivers as they fall through the air. A materials list, internet resources, standards, and safety practices are provided.
This activity is for testing how different speeds of wind make objects move. In the activity, students hold their streamers in front of an electric fan. By changing the speed of the fan, have the students describe and compare their streamers. A materials list, internet resources, standards, and safety practices are provided. This book selection also includes the Table of Contents, Preface, About the Editors, Introduction, Simple Graphing for Young Children, Science Teaching Boards and Boxes, Basic Materials List, and Index.
This activity is for testing how different speeds of wind make objects move. In the activity, students hold their streamers in front of an electric fan. By changing the speed of the fan, have the students describe and compare their streamers. A materials list, internet resources, standards, and safety practices are provided. This book selection also includes the Table of Contents, Preface, About the Editors, Introduction, Simple Graphing for Young Children, Science Teaching Boards and Boxes, Basic Materials List, and Index.
This activity is for discovering what makes streamers move. On a breezy day, give each child a small stick with a streamer attached. Let children explore with their streamers and challenge them to walk in different directions and to hold the streamers in different ways to notice what happens. A materials list, internet resources, standards, and safety practices are provided. This book selection also includes the Table of Contents, Preface, About the Editors, Introduction, Simple Graphing for Young Children, Science Teaching Boards and Boxes, Basic Materials List, and Index.
This activity is for discovering what makes streamers move. On a breezy day, give each child a small stick with a streamer attached. Let children explore with their streamers and challenge them to walk in different directions and to hold the streamers in different ways to notice what happens. A materials list, internet resources, standards, and safety practices are provided. This book selection also includes the Table of Contents, Preface, About the Editors, Introduction, Simple Graphing for Young Children, Science Teaching Boards and Boxes, Basic Materials List, and Index.
This activity is for observing that wind can make objects move. In the activity, children take a walk around the school grounds on a breezy day to look for things that are moving. Children are asked to describe the things they saw once back inside. A materials list, internet resources, standards, and safety practices are provided. This book selection also includes the Table of Contents, Preface, About the Editors, Introduction, Simple Graphing for Young Children, Science Teaching Boards and Boxes, Basic Materials List, and Index..
This activity is for observing that wind can make objects move. In the activity, children take a walk around the school grounds on a breezy day to look for things that are moving. Children are asked to describe the things they saw once back inside. A materials list, internet resources, standards, and safety practices are provided. This book selection also includes the Table of Contents, Preface, About the Editors, Introduction, Simple Graphing for Young Children, Science Teaching Boards and Boxes, Basic Materials List, and Index..
This activity uses the sense of touch to match objects. In the activity, each group of students is given a matching set of materials to observe and describe. After initial discussions, children are asked to consider how the objects feel and one set of objects is put in a feeling box. Children can choose an object from the other set and then take turns reaching into the feeling box to find its match. Follow up with a discussion about how they were able to find matching items without looking by using their sense of touch.
This activity uses the sense of touch to match objects. In the activity, each group of students is given a matching set of materials to observe and describe. After initial discussions, children are asked to consider how the objects feel and one set of objects is put in a feeling box. Children can choose an object from the other set and then take turns reaching into the feeling box to find its match. Follow up with a discussion about how they were able to find matching items without looking by using their sense of touch.
This activity focuses on identifying various materials by touch. The activity encourages children to touch and hold the various materials as they make a collage. When collages are finished, put them on tables and have children feel each collage and try to find their own. A materials list, internet resources, standards, and safety practices are provided. This book selection also includes the Table of Contents, Preface, About the Editors, Introduction, Simple Graphing for Young Children, Science Teaching Boards and Boxes, Basic Materials List, and Index.
This activity focuses on identifying various materials by touch. The activity encourages children to touch and hold the various materials as they make a collage. When collages are finished, put them on tables and have children feel each collage and try to find their own. A materials list, internet resources, standards, and safety practices are provided. This book selection also includes the Table of Contents, Preface, About the Editors, Introduction, Simple Graphing for Young Children, Science Teaching Boards and Boxes, Basic Materials List, and Index.
This activity is about reusing materials to make sounds. In the activity, children use their used cups and paper towels to make a noise maker that results in a very realistic duck sound! Children will want to continue this activity all day long. Instead, have them make and describe different types of sounds and to brainstorm other uses, including different types of noise-makers, for items they can reuse instead of throwing out. A materials list, internet resources, standards, and safety practices are provided.
This activity is about reusing materials to make sounds. In the activity, children use their used cups and paper towels to make a noise maker that results in a very realistic duck sound! Children will want to continue this activity all day long. Instead, have them make and describe different types of sounds and to brainstorm other uses, including different types of noise-makers, for items they can reuse instead of throwing out. A materials list, internet resources, standards, and safety practices are provided.

A Head Start on Science, Second Edition: Encouraging a Sense of Wonder

Imagine what fun it could be for 3- to 7-year-olds to engage in a game of Prism Play or Magnetic Scavenger Hunt or Where Did the Shadows Go? Then imagine how convenient it would be for you if such activities came with the connections, standards, and assessments today’s early childhood educators need most. Your dream resource comes to life in this revised and expanded edition of A Head Start on Science: Encouraging a Sense of Wonder. It builds on children’s innate curiosity through 89 developmentally appropriate, teacher-tested activities in life, Earth, and physical science.
Imagine what fun it could be for 3- to 7-year-olds to engage in a game of Prism Play or Magnetic Scavenger Hunt or Where Did the Shadows Go? Then imagine how convenient it would be for you if such activities came with the connections, standards, and assessments today’s early childhood educators need most. Your dream resource comes to life in this revised and expanded edition of A Head Start on Science: Encouraging a Sense of Wonder. It builds on children’s innate curiosity through 89 developmentally appropriate, teacher-tested activities in life, Earth, and physical science.
 

Ed News: Teach STEM Using Laughter, Creative Techniques

By Kate Falk

Posted on 2019-05-03

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This week in education news, in several states, retired teachers and other state workers haven’t gotten a cost-of-living adjustment to their pension checks in years; Bill Nye’s new podcast—Science Rules—to launch May 16; U.S. 8th-graders are getting better at applying their knowledge of technology and engineering to real-world challenges; NMSI unveiled new STEM Opportunity Index; Wyoming State Board of Education approves state computer science standards; different kinds of students are flocking to career and technical education, according to a new analysis; animal dissection will remain in California biology classrooms; 43% of U.S. adults believe teachers are “very prepared” or “prepared” to handle discipline issues in the classroom; and a new study finds black and Latino college students transfer or drop out of STEM programs at higher rates than their white peers.

2 State Universities Successfully Replicate STEM Program for Underrepresented Students

Two state flagship universities — Penn State and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) — have made strides in retaining and graduating more underrepresented students in STEM fields thanks to a program pioneered by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), according to a new paper in Science magazine. Read the brief featured in Education DIVE.

Retired Teachers Struggle to Make Ends Meet

Many teachers go into the profession, despite the relatively low wages, with the expectation that they will be taken care of in retirement through their pension. But in many places, that promise isn’t being met. Read the article featured in Education Week.

Bill Nye Wants to Educate the Public About Science with His New Podcast

If you grew up in the 1990s, you’re probably familiar with Bill Nye. He was the host of the popular PBS series Bill Nye the Science Guy, a TV program that ran for a hundred episodes and introduced kids to a range of science concepts. More recently, he hosted Bill Nye Saves the World, a Netflix series designed to educate the wider public about the importance of science. Now, Nye has a new project: a science-themed podcast called Science Rules, which will launch on May 16th. Read the Q and A featured in The Verge.

US 8th-Graders Show Growth in Tech, Engineering Skills

New NAEP results show girls outscoring boys in almost every area but not taking as many STEM classes, while performance gaps persist between students of color and their white peers. Read the article featured in Education DIVE.

New Online Map Increases Understanding of Country’s STEM Education Delivery and Outcomes

The National Math and Science Initiative today unveiled the first version of its STEM Opportunity Index (SOI), a multi-layered online map that illustrates strengths and potential gaps in public STEM education around the country. The Index is based on the nonprofit’s STEM Framework for Success, a collection of 114 indicators that are measured by publicly available data. Read the press release.

State Board Of Education Approves Computer Science Standards

Wyoming is one step closer to teaching computer science in K-12 schools across the state by 2022. A mandate to do so was passed by the state legislature in 2018. Last week, the Wyoming State Board of Education approved revised computer science standards. During its March meeting, the SBE received input that more could be done to make the standards accessible. Read the article featured on the Wyoming Public Media website.

Why the High-Achievers Have Moved to ‘Shop’ Class

A new breed of students has flooded into career-technical education, and they’re transforming a slice of the K-12 world that’s long suffered from stigma and disrespect. These students are focusing on professions like engineering and health care instead of traditional trades like manufacturing and agriculture. Read the article featured in Education Week.

Dissection Will Remain in Many K-12 Biology Lessons

A bill that would have barred K-12 students from dissecting animals during science instruction narrow failed to move out of committee after lawmakers expressed concern that it went against local control. Read the article featured in K-12 Daily.

In U.S., 54% Say Teachers Unprepared to Handle Discipline

Less than half of U.S. adults (43%) believe teachers are “very prepared” or “prepared” to handle discipline issues in the classroom — while a slight majority, 54%, say they are “unprepared” or “very unprepared.” Read the article on Gallup.com.

Report: Teach STEM Using Laughter, Creative Techniques

A study by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) of 1,100 high school students found 60% want teachers to be more creative when teaching science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses. Read the brief featured in Education DIVE.

The Science Divide: Why Do Latino and Black Students Leave STEM Majors at Higher Rates

Lab classes have always left Shason Briscoe wracked with anxiety. The 21-year-old senior at the University of California at Davis wasn’t concerned about the academic rigor or long hours spent in the classroom — it was the uneasiness he felt when his peers and instructors watched him. Briscoe, who is African American, studies computer engineering at UC Davis, where black students constitute fewer than 3 percent of students in the program. Often, he is the only black student in his classes. Read the article featured in The Washington Post.

Instead of Standardized Testing, Consider Portfolio Assessment

The irony of standardized testing is that it seeks to equalize assessment in a way to level the playing field for all students. Regardless of where students are in a state or the country, these exams, not made by classroom teachers, are supposed to show what students really know and can do against a decided upon value. Of course, most educators understand that they do nothing of the sort. Read the article featured in Education Week.

Stay tuned for next week’s top education news stories.

The Communication, Legislative & Public Affairs (CLPA) team strives to keep NSTA members, teachers, science education leaders, and the general public informed about NSTA programs, products, and services and key science education issues and legislation. In the association’s role as the national voice for science education, its CLPA team actively promotes NSTA’s positions on science education issues and communicates key NSTA messages to essential audiences.

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

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Learning Visualized with the Vernier Go Direct Hand Dynamometer

By Martin Horejsi

Posted on 2019-05-02

Collecting real-time data is important in science and science education, but it also presents a wonderful opportunity to learn about graphing and data visualization in general. It also provides an inspection into what learning actually looks like. I’ve used the Vernier Hand Dynamometers for many years to teach graphing to students from preschool to grad school. Using a few planned activities, and a gentle progression from concrete to abstract, “being the graph” leverages immediate feedback to “teach” how data is presented in a graph.
 
 
 
 
The Vernier Go Direct Hand Dynamometer can run as high as 10 samples per second over a 600 Newton range (safe up to 850 N) all while talking to a computing device via Bluetooth 4.2 up to 30 m away (your mileage may vary). The internal replaceable 300 mA rechargeable battery should easily allow a whole day’s worth of dynamometering.
 
 
The strain-gauge based isometric force sensor (AKA: Vernier Go Direct Hand Dynamometer) fits comfortable in the human hand, and a pair of fingertip pads are provided for more refined and less forceful gripping surfaces. Output can be in newtons, pounds, or kilograms and the dynamometer can talk to a computing device through Vernier’s Graphical Analysis 4 software whether by bluetooth or cable.
 
The Vernier Go Direct Hand Dynamometer is exceptionally good at measuring muscle fatigue in addition to strength. Single-subject experimentation can include limb position during data collection, dominant vs non-dominant limb measurements, and predication line following across different force values such as trying to follow a prediction line while at the upper end of grip strength.

 Vernier has the following suggestions for operation: “To assess grip strength, hold the sensor in a vertical position so that the fingers and palm of the hand make contact with the sensor pads. Squeeze the sensor so that force is applied to the pads. To assess pinch strength, hold the sensor in one hand by the case avoiding contact with the pads. Using your thumb and forefinger of the opposite hand, place each on the opposing pinch pads and squeeze. If the default experiment duration is too long for your experiment, change the data-collection parameters in the program you are using.”
 
 
Further, the Vernier Go Direct Hand Dynamometer has seven distinct sensor channels including X, Y and Z acceleration, X, Y and Z gyro, and of course force. The measurements of acceleration and/or rotation add a triple dimension of what’s possible with this sensor. Further, you can calculate the total magnitude of angular velocity as well. In less than one cup of coffee, you could design a dozen physiological experiments all capable of enthralling the students and teaching far above the sensor’s pay grade.
 
 
But back to learning to learn. In a nutshell, the progression moves from exploration (which also allows the teacher to notice the upper limit of the student’s strength with the dynamometer. The next step is to answer a few questions about what makes the graph line go up and down. And the third of the beginning steps is to try and trace over a predication line drawn on the screen.
 
At this point, the student should be offered multiple opportunities to trace the predication line since that’s where much of the learning takes place. In fact, you could look at the graph the student is making through time as watching actual learning taking place. I can just imagine the synapses being connected and organized to allow the student to read the graph and duplicate the data in real time by providing the proper force input across the X-axis of time.
 
From here, we can use some target questions to help verbalize and solidify the concepts in the predication line. For instance, the slope of the line, a plateau, a drop to zero, and a repeating cycle (harmonic motion). Talking through the graph helps the student and the rest of the class to reason through how a force over time is represented by a continuous line. It also gives the students a chance to learn and exercise the vocabulary of graphing.
 
You know, maybe it would be easier to show you what I mean. Here is a progression of data screens that present the initial steps of creating a data visualization that actually shows learning in realtime and to a significant level of resolution.
 

Step 1: the student squeezes the dynamometer. Things to note include the range of force (0-x), and also that if the student is making the connection between hand squeeze and force. The latter is usually apparent as the student squeezes and releases rapidly indicating some play.

 

Step 2: Point out to the student some of the things you notice including what the graph looks like at zero force, various slopes (both ascending and defending) fast vs. slow responses and small changes compared to large changes.

 

Draw a prediction line using the tool within the software that is well within the force and motor-skill capabilities of the student. Start the line several seconds into the time axis and about in the middle of the previous force measurement. This will give the student time to orient the relationship between squeezing the dynomometer and the fixed line.

 

 

Actual learning is visible in the graph. Squeezing becomes more refined and scaled. Note some of the larger changes in the prediction line are accompanied by an opposite reaction, usually harder squeeze. Over time, the student follows the predication line with less amplitude, and sudden force adjustments are made in the correct direction more often.

 

 

After several attempts, the student now reads the predication link as force quantity over time and adjusts grip accordingly. The student follows the predication line much closer, and fewer directional mistakes are made. Also, the finer adjustments made over time based on predication line slope are smoother and controlled.

Currently, there are two versions of the Hand Dynamometer offered by Vernier with corded version selling for one dollar less in price. I’ve used both and the addition of the Bluetooth option is well worth extra buck. It allows the dynamometer to move about the classroom with ease. And most importantly, as I discovered using the corded model, a student’s enthusiasm for squeezing the sensor can sometimes exceed the length of the cord.
 
Other sensors also offer similar opportunities for learning how to “be the graph” including the Go Direct Motion Detector. But no matter what you use, or how you use it, the application of a digital sensor with realtime data graphing will also create visible learning in realtime.
 
Collecting real-time data is important in science and science education, but it also presents a wonderful opportunity to learn about graphing and data visualization in general. It also provides an inspection into what learning actually looks like. I’ve used the Vernier Hand Dynamometers for many years to teach graphing to students from preschool to grad school.
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