This week in education news, Girls Scouts launch $70 Million STEM initiative; new study reveals that some Latinos believe science education may have a negative impact on the religious faith of their children; the more education that Democrats and Republicans have, the more their beliefs in climate change diverge; Nevada may add math and science requirements to graduate high school; and after school STEM programs inspire kids to keep learning.

Attracting, Retaining Qualified And Diverse Faculty Is A Prerequisite To Building The Field

As we try to digest how to get more women and underrepresented minorities into STEM fields, or really any other type of career, experts often say that one key factor is that students see in themselves a future through the people they look up to. In other words, it’s difficult for a girl from a diverse background to see herself getting into a computer science field, when the demographics of her class and her professor is the complete opposite of anything she’s ever known. Read the article featured in Education DIVE.

Girl Scouts Launches $70 Million STEM Initiative

Girl Scouts of the USA has announced a national fundraising initiative in support of a new program aimed at closing the gender gap in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Read the article featured in Philanthropy News Digest.

Some Latinos Believe Science May Negatively Impact Their Kids’ Faith

More than one-third of Latinos interviewed in a recent study believe science education may have a negative impact on the religious faith of their children, according to new research from sociologists at Rice University. The study examined the relationship between STEM education and religious faith from the perspective of blacks and Latinos, two groups that are among the most religious in the U.S. Read the press release from Rice University.

Even When States Revise Standards, The Core Of The Common Core Remains

For a while, the Common Core State Standards seemed to teeter on the brink of the abyss. State lawmakers were defecting left and right, convening committees to rewrite the standards. But a review released of 24 states’ revisions show that they have largely preserved the common core’s most important features. Read the article featured in Education Week.

The More Education Republicans Have, The Less They Tend To Believe In Climate Change

Climate change divides Americans, but in an unlikely way: The more education that Democrats and Republicans have, the more their beliefs in climate change diverge. About one in four Republicans with only a high school education said they worried about climate change a great deal. But among college-educated Republicans, that figure decreases, sharply, to 8 percent. Read the article featured in The New York Times.

Nevada Students May Soon Face Added Math, Science Requirements

Nevada may soon join a handful of states that require students to pass four credits of math to graduate high school, a move critics say would limit student choice. At the moment, the plan includes adding one credit apiece of math, science and social studies to current requirements. Read the article featured in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Fires, Floods, Hurricanes: Teachers Turn Natural Disasters Into Science And History Lessons

At Design Tech High, a charter school in Burlingame that’s affiliated with Oracle, students are analyzing the science behind the Tubbs Fire that raged through Sonoma County in October and creating blueprints for how the destroyed neighborhoods can rebuild in a way that could minimize impacts from the next fire. “Drought, famine, fire, war — students get it. They see the connection between what’s on the news and these larger environmental issues,” said Andra Yeghoian, environmental education coordinator for the San Mateo County Office of Education, who teaches environmental science and trains teachers at Design Tech and other public schools in San Mateo County. Read the article featured in EdSource.

After-School STEM Programs Inspire Kids To Keep Learning

At an after-school STEM club in Rhode Island, students are working on an engineering challenge — because they want to be. The low-stakes, fun environment offers time for exploration when resources or hands-on activities may be in short supply during school hours, and can help sustain interest as classes get harder. Watch the segment featured on PBS Newshour.

Fascinating: Can Analytics Help Schools Hire The Best Teachers?

As K-12 school administrators know, finding the best talent for their schools is becoming more challenging, with fewer people entering the teaching profession and more teachers retiring. With no near-term end in sight, hiring and retaining great teachers may be problematic for years to come. Read the article featured in eSchool News.

3 Reasons To Introduce Kindergartners To Robots

The children we teach were born with technology as a part of their lives. They don’t know a world without touchscreen phones and computers in every room. In today’s world, saying that subjects like coding and robotics “are for ‘big kids’” is like saying “reading is for ‘big kids.’” Read the article featured in eSchool News.

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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Although guest presenters can offer real-life science experiences to students, they may not be familiar with the safety practices that need to be in place to create safer learning experiences. In October 2012, for instance, two fourth graders were rushed to a hospital during a science demonstration involving dry ice and salt. As part of the demonstration with the science education company Mad Science, students placed items in their mouths, reportedly resulting in corrosive burns in one child’s mouth and throat.

As a licensed professional, the teacher carries the bulk of the legal responsibility with student injuries during a demonstration. Thus, science teachers need to keep safety in mind when planning a guest presentation. The following seven strategies will help teachers prepare for the event and establish safety guidelines and expectations for guest speakers.

1. School policies. Contact school administrators to determine if there are any policies in place governing the use of guest speakers in your classroom or science laboratory.

2. Announce the activity. Let the school’s main office know about plans to have a guest speaker, including the time, date, location, and topic. Also, invite building administrators, the department head, and fellow colleagues to the presentation.

3. Choose a reputable source. Know who you are inviting as a guest. Reach out to colleagues, parents, the local Chamber of Commerce, local colleges, and other reputable resources for guest speakers.

4. Set your expectations. Before the guest speaker comes into the classroom:

• review any school policies related to guest speakers; and security procedures such as registering at the main office and wearing appropriate attire.
• review the speaker’s lesson plan(s) to determine what safety procedures (e.g., personal protective equipment, hazardous chemical use) might be required. The teacher must also approve any changes to the lesson plan before the presentation.
• the science teacher and the guest presenter should develop and sign a letter of agreement, acknowledging the lesson plan and required safety practices that will be in place.
• request educational technology needs (e.g., computer, LCD projector, VCR).
• provide parking instructions.

5. Check the hygiene plan. Review your school’s Chemical Hygiene Plan with the guest speaker, especially in demonstrations using hazardous chemicals or requiring general laboratory work.

6. Give feedback. Develop a teacher and student feedback form about the presentation as well as a speaker feedback form to be filled out by the presenter. Share summaries of the feedback with the presenter. The student feedback form could use the Likert scale focusing on items such as:
• usefulness of information presented,
• level of interest in topic by students,
• relevance to area of study, and
• general comments/recommendations.

The teacher feedback form could include items such as:
• grade appropriateness,
• additional safety suggestions,
• areas of strength,
• areas of least interest, and
• general comments and suggestions.

The speaker feedback form for teacher could include:
• availability and operation of educational technology,
• communications and arrangements,
• specific expertise,
• future interest in presenting, and
• general recommendations.

7. Have a backup plan. Have an alternative plan such as a reading assignment, video, or lecture in place in case of an emergency or you or the presenter cannot make it that day, but you may also reschedule the activity to another time.

In the end

Teachers should give the presenter a thank-you note from students.

Submit questions regarding safety in K–12 to Ken Roy at safesci@sbcglobal.net or leave him a comment below. Follow Ken Roy on Twitter: @drroysafersci.

NSTA resources and safety issue papers
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This is my first year of teaching physics and I can’t think of generic substitute plans for this class. Can you suggest some generic/emergency plans that could help me? 
– E., Michigan

One of the hardest things is to wake up knowing you can’t make it to work and you’re now scrambling to provide something for your substitute. Mary Bigelow recently posted an excellent blog post (goo.gl/7ctWKe) on preparing for substitutes. Since your question is specific to physics, I can add a little to her advice.

• I advise against generic activities to “just keep students busy.” Concentrate on moving your lessons ahead.
• The Physics Classroom (www.physicsclassroom.com) has free downloadable worksheets along with online tutorials and quizzes that can address almost anything you’re teaching in physics (although I find them a little short on magnetism).
• The National Science Digital Library goo.gl/wXV3hE has a searchable library of lessons, activities, simulations and more.
• The National Science Foundation (NSF) has an incredible number of videos on all subjects:
  – Multimedia library: goo.gl/aqv2pA
  – NSF YouTube Channel: goo.gl/WZPLmF
  – Science 360 videos: goo.gl/hsRAh3

When showing videos, the students shouldn’t see them as a break from learning, particularly when there is a substitute teacher. You should always have some form of follow up or active component. An online search for graphic organizers to respond to videos will give you lots to choose from. Keep these on file.

Hope this helps.

This week in education news, a team of researchers is now analyzing whether science fairs help to improve student achievement or interest in science; Best Buy pledges $30 million to dramatically expand its Teen Tech Centers; K-12 students in 30 Long Island school districts are learning to code; teachers would lose $250 deduction for classroom material under new proposed tax bill; a new study finds teachers who are good at raising test scores are worse at making students happy and engaged in school; and OK governor sets goal to increase the number of paid internships and apprenticeships in the state to 20,000 each year by 2020.

Are Science Fairs Worth All That Trouble? Study Seeks Some Answers

It’s something of a rite of passage for middle school students (and parents) to struggle with musical water glasses, baking soda volcanoes, sprouting yams, and red cabbage indicators in the science fair. Surprisingly, we don’t actually know a ton about how (or whether) the fairs help to improve student achievement or interest in science. But thanks to a National Science Foundation grant, a team of researchers is now analyzing a national survey and case studies of more than a dozen schools for clues about how the fairs might help pay dividends for students. Read the article featured in Education Week.

A Corporate Funder Finds a Way to Get Teens Jazzed About STEM and Scales It Up in a Big Way

Best Buy recently pledged $30 million to dramatically expand its 11 Teen Tech Centers to more than 60 in the next three years. The philanthropic arm of the consumer electronics store also plans to extend its internship and professional mentorship opportunities. The expansion is a part of its goal to reach 1 million kids a year by 2020. Read the article featured in Inside Philanthropy.

Kindergarten Coding: Schools Teach Tech Skills At All Levels

Dozens of Long Island school districts are asking students to put down their pencils and pick up their keyboards to learn the tech-savvy skills of computer programming. About 30 Long Island school districts have contracted to work with kidOYO, a nonprofit that offers digital lessons in more than two dozen programming languages to students in prekindergarten through senior year of high school. Read the article featured in Newsday.

Teachers Would Lose $250 Deduction For Classroom Materials Under GOP Tax Bill

The tax bill proposed by Republican leaders scraps a benefit that many teachers have come to rely on: the $250 “educator expense deduction,” which can be used to recoup the cost of classroom materials. Read the article featured in Education Week.

Congress Urged To Invest In Blue-Collar STEM Jobs

Automation and other technological advancements threaten to put good-paying jobs further out of reach for marginalized groups unless more investments are made in preparing students for “Blue-Collar STEM” jobs, panelists convened Tuesday on Capitol Hill said. Read the article featured in Diverse.

Is A Good Teacher One Who Makes Kids Happy Or One Who Raises Test Scores?

On average, teachers who are good at raising test scores are worse at making students happy and engaged in school, a new study finds. The study, written by David Blazar, an assistant professor of education policy and economics at the University of Maryland, looked at data from 4th and 5th grade teachers in four school districts from three states over three school years. Blazar found that teachers do have substantive impacts on students’ attitudes and behavior, particularly students’ happiness in class. And he also found that the teachers who are skilled at improving students’ math achievement may do so in ways that make students less happy in class. Read the article featured in Education Week TEACHER.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin Sets Goals For Apprenticeships To Help Address The State’s Skills Gap

Gov. Mary Fallin announced a goal to increase the number of paid internships and apprenticeships in Oklahoma to 20,000 each year by 2020 to help address the state’s workforce shortage. The Earn & Learn Oklahoma initiative will benefit both workers and employers who cannot find the skilled people they need, Fallin said. Read the article featured in The Oklahoman.

Do students Buy Into Maker Culture?

Maker culture is going mainstream. The maker industry is projected to grow to more than $8 billion by 2020, and with the maker movement infiltrating classrooms, after-school clubs and homes, it’s no wonder. But where is the maker movement strongest? A new report from robotics and open-source hardware provider DFRobot aims to find out by analyzing DIY-labeled products hosted on Kickstarter. Read the article featured in eSchool News.

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.

Follow NSTA

Looking for lessons that align with NGSS? Teaching NGSS-Aligned Lessons in Science Classrooms has several examples that illustrate three-dimensional learning.

Science & Children – Vocabulary in Context

Editor’s Note: Making Sense of Science Terms: “Making sense of science terms requires selection of appropriate words, identification of strategies that help children connect with the words, and repetitive experiences over time to develop complete word knowledge. How is that accomplished? Through intervention by a teacher who uses a variety of strategies…” such as those in this month’s featured articles.

The lessons described in the articles have a chart showing connections with the NGSS, and many include classroom materials and illustrations of student work.

• From “Plants Don’t Eat” to “Plants Are Producers” has an in-depth description of a project for young students that supports their understanding of science concepts while learning and using new vocabulary.
• Through storytelling, games, discussion, and crafts (and technology) as described in Swimming in New Vocabulary, young students experience a continuum of vocabulary activities in identification, application, and assessment.
• Vocabulary and data recording can be integral par of science notebooks. The authors of More Than Data elaborate on how notebooks can be vital and authentic components of science learning. The article includes examples of students’ notebook pages.
• A Cucurbit Ripe for Building Vocabulary describes a classroom project in which students carried out an investigation in food production (growing and harvesting cucumbers) and learned botanical vocabulary in context.
• “Adaptation” is more than a word. With the 5E lesson outlined in The Case of Polar Bears, students have hands-on and visual experiences to help them understand the concept.
• The Early Years: The Building Blocks of Language has suggestions for exposing children to new words and for developing a shared vocabulary as they explore with blocks and shapes.
• “Meet the Saurus” as students enjoy The Poetry of Science: Words, Words, Words
• Young students may have heard the word “amphibian,” but teachers can determine their misconceptions and misinformation with Formative Assessment Probes: Vocabulary in Context: What Is an Amphibian?
• Teaching Teachers: Is It Worth It? Can I Do It? showcases a professional development program that addresses the usefulness of word walls and five steps for planning and implementing them.

These monthly columns continue to provide background knowledge and classroom ideas:

• Teaching Through Trade Books: Inventions Take Center Stage
• Methods and Strategies: Time to Change
• Engineering Encounters: Chemical Reaction Vehicles
• Science 101: Why Aren’t There Magnetic Charges?
• Science 102: Haunted Face

For more on the content that provides a context for projects and strategies described in this issue, see the SciLinks topics Adaptations of Animals, Amphibians, Chemical Reactions, Dinosaurs, Food Chains, Magnetic Poles, Magnetism, Pendulums, Plant Growth, Plants as Food, Static Electricity

Continue for The Science Teacher and Science Scope

The Science Teacher – Forensic Science

Editor’s Corner: Forensics: Solving Mysteries With Science: “Forensics activities involve careful observation, logical reasoning, and evidence-based argumentation–important skills for our students to develop….The forensic sciences–used around the world to resolve civil disputes, enforce criminal laws and government regulations, and protect public health—can provide a career pathway for our students.” (Career of the Month: Forensic Entomologist)

Articles in this issue that describe lessons include a helpful sidebar (“At a Glance”) documenting the big idea, essential pre-knowledge, time, and cost; many follow a 5E format. The lessons also include connections with the NGSS, and many include examples of student work and classroom materials.

• In the 5E unit Secrets of a Mass Grave, students gather, interpret, and draw conclusions from remains in a simulated mass grave.
• Gravity Can Do What? builds on students’ understanding of how energy is produced and the advantages of producing energy without fossil fuels.
• Investigate the relationship between climate change and the spread of invasive species with the resources in The Green Room: Species That Benefit From Climate Change.
• The authors of Idea Bank: Document a Crime Scene With Smartphone Apps suggest starting with a smaller “crime scene” to help students learn to analyze, photograph, and document using apps.
• The lesson in Digital Forensics also focuses on smartphones with the issues of password security, cellular metadata, digital forensics, and collecting and analyzing evidence in a simulated situation.            
• The Science of Little Boy illustrates how students use modeling to construct an evidence-based explanation for how fission releases radiation and how radiation affects the human body.
• Help students learn the value of collaboration with the ideas in Working As a Team.

These monthly columns continue to provide background knowledge and classroom ideas:

• Science 2.0: Use 3D Printers to Teach Design Thinking
• Focus on Physics: Elementary Electricity in a Nutshell
• Right to the Source: The History of Fingerprinting

For more on the content that provides a context for projects and strategies described in this issue, see the SciLinks topics Anthropology, Biomolecules, Changes in Climate, Electrical Circuits, Electricity, Fingerprints, Fission, Forensic Science, Forensics, Fossil Fuels, Gravity, Insects, Invasive Species, Nuclear Reactions, Ohm’s Law, Paleontology, Radiation Effects on Humans, Skeletal System

Science Scope – Informal Learning

From the Editor’s Desk: Sparking the “Need to Know”: Informal learning “…which often occurs outside the confines of a classroom, can be classified as “need to know” learning. It is very powerful because it is driven by authentic questions and our own innate curiosity…. interest-driven learning can be fostered by connecting students to an online or physical community and allowing students to create products that demonstrate their learning as creators and producers of knowledge.”

The lessons described in the articles include connections with the NGSS and many include classroom resources and illustrations of student work.

• Inquiry Into Action: Ecosystems and Animals suggests pre- and post-activities to provide a learning context for a zoo visit.
• Building Bee Houses: Designing and Constructing Solitary Bee Houses for Scientific Investigations focuses on integrating the design process with a real-life study of insect pollination. The article includes photos of the student designs.
• Take a plant unit to a new dimension. Out in the Field: Learning About Plant Diversity uses a place-based learning unit as a context for students to learn about their own surroundings.
• Integrating Technology: Weather Versus Climate and Teachers’s Toolkit: How to Start a STEM Club illustrate how extra-curricular and co-curricular activities can become informal learning opportunities.
• With the investigation in Citizen Science: Where the Wildlife Are, students use camera traps to contribute to a worldwide study sponsored by the Smithsonian.
• Field trips provide students with learning experiences beyond the classroom Science For All: Planning and Preparing Your Students With Special Needs For Field Trips has ideas for making field trips valuable for all students.

These monthly columns continue to provide background knowledge and classroom ideas:

• Disequilibrium: Exploring Buoyancy and Density with Cartesian Divers
• Listserv Roundup: Technology tools for a paperless classroom
• Teacher To Teacher: Teaching With Learning Cycles and Storylines
• Scope on the Skies: Measuring the Universe

For more on the content that provides a context for projects and strategies described in this issue, see the SciLinks topics Biodiversity, Buoyancy, Cartesian Diver, Density, Ecosystems/Adaptations, Honeybees, Luminosity, Mammals, Parallax, Plant Growth, Pollination, Weather and Climate

What if you could challenge your third grade students to design the train of the future? The exciting new book Transportation in the Future, Grade 3: STEM Road Map for Elementary School shows students how to do just that.

Through interdisciplinary lessons that combine science, social studies, English language arts, and mathematics, Transportation in the Future encourages students to think, question, and design in a hands-on learning environment.

Students will learn about U.S. geography and explore the role that trains have played in the development of the U.S. They will learn how trains work, and discuss the questions train engineers must address. They will also learn about magnetic levitation (maglev) trains and apply their new knowledge in the Maglevacation Train Challenge, where they will work collaboratively using engineering design processes to create prototype trains that could safely carry passengers.

“[The book] highlights two major aspects of engineering design—problem scoping and solution generation—and six specific components of working toward a design: define the problem, learn about the problem, plan a solution, try the solution, test the solution, decide whether the solution is good enough,” the authors state.

Students will learn how to read a map and distinguish features such as rivers, mountains, and oceans, as well as locate a destination and calculate distances. They will further use their mathematic skills to calculate train speeds and time intervals.

The lesson plans include essential questions, content standards, key vocabulary, reading texts, links to videos and online resources, and maps. Through the in-depth and interdisciplinary modules, students will learn to use their enthusiasm, creativity, and imagination while engaging in rigorous STEM instruction that feels real.

“One of the most important factors in determining whether humans will have a positive future is innovation. Innovation is the driving force behind progress, which helps create possibilities that did not exist before,” the authors state in the opening chapter. “Students should consider how their innovation might affect progress and use their STEM thinking to change current human burdens to benefits.”

Transportation in the Future is part of the STEM Road Map Curriculum Series. The series aligns with the Next Generation Science Standards, the Common Core State Standards, and the Framework for 21st Century Learning. The series was developed by a team of STEM educators from across the U.S., who desired to infuse real-world learning contexts and authentic problem-solving pedagogy into K-12 classrooms.

How interesting would your students find the idea of creating solutions that can actually help people in the real world? Would it make school more fun? If you think so, then check out Transportation in the Future, Grade 3: STEM Road Map for Elementary School edited by Carla C. Johnson, Janet B. Walton, and Erin Peters-Burton in the NSTA Store.

This book is also available as an e-book.

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In regions where trees drop their leaves in fall, this big change draws children’s attention to the existence of seasonal changes. More subtle changes and incremental changes, such as more or less rain and slowly dropping or rising air temperatures may not be noticed unless we support children’s awareness by having them make and record weather measurements. In some education programs, if it is October, it is time to teach a unit about fall changes to the environment even if no noticeable change has happened, and in January, snow precipitation may be celebrated with books and crafts, even if the thermometer reads 65ºF.

“Can I get a ‘like’?”

Seasonal changes and weather measurement can be part of learning about patterns, one of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Crosscutting Concepts and an important math concept. Crosscutting concepts can help students better understand core ideas in science and engineering. 

1. Patterns. Observed patterns of forms and events guide organization and classification, and they prompt questions about relationships and the factors that influence them.

In NGSS Appendix G-Crosscutting Concepts, it is noted that it makes sense to begin developing an understanding of a natural phenomenon by observing and characterizing the phenomenon in terms of patterns (page 2). 

The NGSS Kindergarten Earth’s Systems performance expectation K-ESS2-1. states:

“Students who demonstrate understanding can: Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time.”

Children making observations might notice:

• The temperature has been getting lower, colder, since summer.
• When it rains the sky is cloudy. 

Understanding our own local environment provides a frame of reference when learning about other places with different kinds of weather, flora, and fauna. How can we appreciate how dry a desert is, or how wet a rainforest is, if we don’t know how much rainfall our locality gets in a typical month or year?

Collecting weather data can be as simple as keeping and posting a calendar poster of the daily weather as reported by children each morning or after recess: sunny, rainy, windy, cloudy, snowy and any combination of those conditions. Don’t wait for it to be time for the “Weather Unit”—start today so your children can collect enough weather data to recognize a change in the pattern when it happens. (See The Early Years columns, October 2015 “About the Weather,” and “The Wonders of Weather.”)

 A Tree is Nice by Janice May Udry and illustrated by Marc Simont celebrates trees. “Befriending” a nearby tree is one way to observe both obvious and subtle seasonal changes. What kinds of structures do the leaves have? When do new buds form and how big are they relative to a child’s pinky fingernail? How big are they the next time you make observations? What does the bark of this tree look and feel like? Are seeds hanging on the tree or on the ground surrounding it? Are any of the seeds sprouting? So many ways to mark seasonal changes!

I have been thinking about getting a thermal imaging camera. Specifically, an attachment for an iPhone that allows it to do thermal imaging. If you had one in your classroom, what would you use it for?  – R., Alaska

This is a great idea! Having a hands-on device to explore phenomena beyond our senses is an excellent tool for a science class. When I think of using thermal imaging technology (and I would include infrared thermometers) the following comes to mind:

Convection/Conduction: Set up an ambient temperature aquarium and turn on the heater. Track the convection over time through photos or time-lapse video. Heat or cool different materials and rank them in terms of conduction. Experiment with surface area, fans, colors, and their effects on heating and cooling.

Homeotherms vs. Poikilotherms: compare the body temperatures of “hot-blooded” and “cold-blooded” animals at different ambient temperatures.

Temperature gradients: Many students don’t really grasp what a gradient is. Have them graph temperature vs. distance for a variety of radiant heat sources.

Heat of vaporization: Students will discover that the temperature of boiling water is constant. This is where an infrared thermometer is excellent to use. Point it at a beaker of boiling water. The glass (measured from the side) will register 400+ °C while the water (measured from the top) will be at 100°C.

Hypo- and hyperthermia (within reason!). Have students over- and underdress for outside and map their temperature patterns and changes. Compare this to a dog. Most mammals handle hypothermia and hyperthermia differently than humans.

Engineering: Have students design insulated containers that keep a beverage warm for the longest possible time. Thermal images will allow them to assess and modify their creations.

Hope this helps!

Photo credit: By NASA/IPAC [Public domain]