How will your early childhood program celebrate the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) annual “Week of the Young Child?” Explorations that relate to all five daily themes offer many opportunities to connect young children to science and engineering concepts, using math and technology to build their understandings in a science inquiry investigating a question or natural phenomena–STEM learning! An initial investigation into how we use our senses might be a good beginning for a longer science inquiry into one particular sense or how we can use technology to extend our senses.

Music Monday

Exploring the connections between the properties of materials and the kinds of sounds they make is a fun way to begin exploring how sound is made. “Becoming Attuned to Sound,” the Early Years column from Science and Children February 2014, describes children exploring how the size and tautness of a rubber band changes the sound it makes when plucked, and how to construct a simple rubber band musical instrument.

The “Young Children Investigate and Engineer Sound Through STEM” session at the 2017 annual NSTA conference provided hands-on experiences and inquiry for teachers to bring back to their children. 

After making sound, children can represent it through drawing, or record it to share with others using an audio recording app on a phone or tablet. Maybe some of us are still using tape players!

Tasty Tuesday

The sense of taste is equally important as the other four for exploring the world but is not part of most science explorations because, for safety reasons, we separate lab work from anything we eat. So we will call it “cooking” to make sure young children understand that in this exploration all ingredients are safe to eat. Tasting is part of the Early Sprouts curriculum, an approach that engages young children in gardening, sensory exploration, and cooking throughout the school year. Try making and tasting their Hearty Apple & Raisin Cereal! While measuring the ingredients children get experience with the concept of volume and while cutting the apple they use an ancient technology–knives (Safety tip: precut apple slices are easy for children to further cut using butter knives). Read more about this approach in the July 2009 Young Children article.

Work Together Wednesday

Mixing materials together to make a change is fun work, and fun to do together. I wrote about the excitement children experience when they mix baking soda and water, and then baking soda and vinegar together, in the Early Years column in the April 2017 Science and Children.  Although some may describe this cool, bubbling-up activity as a model of a volcano, it doesn’t represent any of the earth science processes that form volcanoes. 

Artsy Thursday

Touch is a useful sense when exploring art materials whether you are finger painting, collaging with fabric, or working with potter’s clay. “What can this material do?” is the question children ask as they explore the properties of matter and shape the material to their purposes. Close observation of children while working with art materials will reveal how they feel about different sensory experiences. Marvin Bartel’s essay, “Clay for Toddlers and Preschoolers: How and why,” describes how a young child interacts with clay for the first time, and is “naturally fascinated, motivated, and empowered to keep experimenting.”

There are many vocabulary words to use while exploring the sense of touch. Children who use “soft” to describe both a blanket and a stone can learn the words “fuzzy” and “smooth” to explain what kind of soft they meant–“not hard” and “not rough.” 

Family Friday

Families are so proud of their young children who use magnifiers to extend their sense of sight and can explain how they saw the tiniest bubbles. Young children are proud of themselves as they share their documentation of science and engineering explorations with their families. A family science event can start with an event suggested by NAEYC: Invite parents for a Family Friday breakfast, where children can prepare and share breakfast treats with their families! Maybe they will want to make the Early Sprouts recipe for Hearty Apple & Raisin Cereal.

The Science Teacher (TST) seeks manuscripts of approximately 2,000 words that describe new and creative ideas for the secondary science classroom. Manuscripts should provide practical activities related to the themes listed below. TST also encourages manuscripts outside of the listed themes. For help, see our author guidelines and annotated sample manuscript.

Forensics: Solving Mysteries Through Science
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: May 1, 2017
Forensic science is both an important part of our criminal justice system and also an avenue for engaging students in scientific inquiry. From the stories of Sherlock Holmes to the popular television drama CSI, the analysis of forensic evidence has fascinated citizens for centuries. By its nature, forensics is an interdisciplinary subject, bringing in modern analytic techniques from chemistry, molecular biology, paleontology, physics, and Earth science. Do you use forensics activities in your classes? Have you found new strategies and engaging activities to teach this fascinating subject or enrich other subject areas? If so, TST wants to hear from you.

Using New Tools to Support Science Learning in a Connected World
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: June 1, 2017
As technology evolves, so do the skills needed for success in the modern world. New tools have radically changed the way we communicate, share information, and collect data. This issue will explore how these new tools can support student learning and create a “connected classroom.” Possible topics include ideas for using:
• social media
• online simulations and virtual field trips
• YouTube, online lectures, virtual learning communities, and flipped classrooms
• strategies to improve critical thinking and digital and media literacy
• probeware and wireless data collection in laboratory and field work
• cloud computing
• modeling
• big data
• mathematics and computational thinking tools
• 3D printers
• new presentation and communication tools
• live webcams
• digital graphics, multimedia, and visualization tools.
Please share your ideas for teaching with new tools.

Innovation
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: July 15, 2017
Innovation is crucial to science and engineering fields and also important in science education. Have you developed an innovative activity, assessment, or teaching strategy? Have you found a creative way to integrate science or engineering innovations in your classes? Share your ideas about using science innovation and innovative teaching methods. Possible ideas might include:
• Creating a new twist on an established activity,
• Integrating 21st-century skills development,
• Using new technologies to support student learning, or
using established technologies in a novel way,
• Incorporating recent scientific research, discoveries, or innovations in your instruction,
• Developing unique student grouping or assessment
methods.

General Topics
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Ongoing
The Science Teacher seeks general manuscripts across a variety of disciplines. Do you have an article in mind that does not fit with one of TST’s themes? Submit it for review! General articles not targeted to a requested theme are published in every issue. Possible topics include integrating technology, science on a shoestring, innovation, new twists on classic lessons, community collaborations and partnerships, assessment strategies, engineering and the maker movement, and connecting to the Next Generation Science Standards. Don’t limit yourself to these topics. Our readers want to hear about your classroom-tested activities and teaching strategies.

Science for All
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Ongoing
TST seeks manuscripts for this annual issue devoted to the inclusion of all learners. The issue offers strategies to mitigate academic achievement gaps associated with ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, physical disabilities, limited English-­language proficiency, learning differences, and even gifted abilities. Please share your ideas for what works in the classroom.

Idea Banks
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Ongoing
TST is always seeking Idea Banks—short articles of about 1,000 words. If you want to share an experience, activity, or classroom tip but do not think it will work as a feature-length article, consider submitting an Idea Bank.

Commentary
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Ongoing
Commentaries of approximately 750 words on any secondary education topic are accepted at any time. Do you have thoughts on science education that you would like to share with your peers? Write a Commentary and submit it to TST for review.

Author guidelines

Annotated sample manuscript

Author registration/submission of manuscripts

Get Involved With NSTA!

Join NSTA today and receive The Science Teacher,
the peer-reviewed journal just for high school teachers; to write for the journal, see our Author Guidelines, Call for Papers, and annotated sample manuscript; connect on the high school level science teaching list (members can sign up on the list server); or consider joining your peers at future NSTA conferences.

Team Crabyotics, 2015 White House Science Fair

When it comes to student-focused STEM projects at Taos Middle/High School, ideas seem limitless.

It all started with information shared from a group of Taos students participating in a STEM demonstration during eCYBERMISSION‘s 2013-2014 National Judging & Educational Event (NJ&EE). The demonstration mentioned the use of Chitosan as a filtration. The students shared this information back in New Mexico with soon-to-be team Crabyotics—Andrea-Chin Lopez, Julia Johnson, Anthony Archuleta, and James Valerio.

This shared-information soon became a bio-filter system community project, which competed in local science fairs, competitions, and of course eCYBERMISSION, which resulted in the team’s STEM-In-Action Grant.

During the 2013-2014 eCYBERMISSION competition, Team Advisor (TA) Laura Tenorio and her team “Crabyotics,” located in New Mexico, developed a bio-filter system that successfully removes antibiotic drugs from drinking water, thus helping to stem the growth of drug-resistant bacteria.

“To this day, if you ask any of them, they still don’t believe it really happened,” said Team Advisor Laura Tenorio. “They are convinced that it was just a dream.”

Three Steps to Turn Your Idea into Reality

Taos is considered a rural area with access to limited resources for major scientific efforts. But at the Middle School’s science lab, commonly referred to as the “The Tyger Lab,” Anthony and Andrea came together with their fellow 9th grade team members James and Julia to research all that was needed to produce Chitosan and then produce a filter.

1. In July of 2013, team Crabyotics began to work on their IDEA of making a filter against antibiotics.
2. It was then that they DETERMINED that not only could it chemically work in theory, but that this filtration method could also be cost effective.
3. This was when they began to think of a business plan, which the group CREATED after their research revealed their filter had potential for a patent. 

“eCYBERMISSION completely changed the entire focus of the project, along with the STEM-In-Action Grant,” said Andrea… “Thanks to the grant and our Team Advisor, the project and our futures were invested and encouraged.”

Andrea and TA Laura Tenorio worked together to smooth out the business plan the team started creating. The teams’ main goal was to turn an idea into reality and incorporate into the community.

Of the original STEM-In-Action Grant proposal, the only part that has not been implemented is the Middle School and Community implementation. Actions are currently underway to determine a mass identification of water contaminants. The patent application is ongoing and being modified and FDA and EPA approval of the filter use will not go into action until further testing has been completed.

Managing the STEM-In-Action Grant: Anthony, James, and Julia have gone in separate directions from the project, while Andrea has maintained work on the grant. Andrea recruited two eCYBERMISSION Alumni—Arasely Rodriguez (The Wyrmies- 2013 NJ&EE) and Will Song (1^st Place State, 2015)—to continue year three of the business plan and experimentation.  Currently:

• Andrea, Arasely, and Will are working on the final phase of Crabyotics, named “Crabsorption,” which will focus on laboratory honed chitosan as an absorption media for pharmaceuticals from water sources and from the human body.
• Dual patent are in the works, both with Crabyotics original purpose, and with Crabsorption.
    
• Andrea and Mentor/TA Laura Tenorio have continued to gather more sponsors to support the implementation of the idea. (i.e. attract interest of ISEF, enter the Science Talent Search, and plans to compete in BioGenius and AEOP’s Junior Science and Humanities Symposia (JSHS).

New/Upcoming Tests: They tested a wide variety of antibiotics against chitosan cooked for varying times, and focused on a filter design that could resist water pressures with potential use in a universal setting.

In the Community: Not only does Andrea assist with Taos Middle/High School teams competing in eCYBERMISSION, she encourages students with little interest or knowledge in STEM to join eCYBERMISSION. Her experiences are then shared with younger age groups in the community. 

We’ve been covering the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) standards in every issue since September. This month, we examine the final standard, called Creative Communicator, which requires students to communicate effectively and creatively express themselves (ISTE 2016). The science curriculum provides opportunities for students to express their understanding of concepts. Science involves more than collecting data and crunching numbers. Scientists must also be able to explain their work. We need to create persuasive arguments that support our conclusions.

Meeting the performance indicators
The performance indicators of this standard state that students need to choose, create, remix, communicate, and publish. For teachers, facilitating this type of work calls for a change in instructional design. The activities in your classroom must require students to communicate their understanding of a lab and what they’ve learned from it.

Students need to be able to choose the appropriate platform and tool for their presentations. For example, a poster on a trifold board could be used instead of a written report to present scientific work. When technology is brought into play, students have a much wider choice of media when presenting their work.

We ask our students to communicate their results of a lab report in three steps (explain what you did, explain what you found out, and describe how you found out) to summarize their findings. This summary can take place in virtually any medium. When students were learning to use digital graphic organizers, we would allow them to use a flow chart for their conclusions. They can easily paste pictures of lab setups, graphs, and other media into many tools (e.g., Inspiration, LucidChart, Poplet, MindMaps). Some students may make an infographic, while others may use Google Slides, write a song, or even compose a haiku.

Some students concluded a lab on the conservation of momentum with PowToon, an animation tool that creates a video with music. The lab asked students to collide carts and use motion sensors to record the data. Students used tools in Powtoon to explain what they did and then used other tools with imported images of their graphs to explain what they found. Overall, it was a creative, effective effort at completing the three components of the conclusion.

Additionally, this standard asks students to create original work or remix the work of others. We hang signs in our classroom that say “UCC,” which stands for “user-created content.” Almost every laptop, tablet, or phone has a camera, offering opportunities for students to take their own photos of equipment setup, written work, or scientific phenomena. Students can also use online simulations and their own videos to remix and communicate their work.

Finally, this standard requires students to publish their customized work. Online tools make publishing easy. Teachers should consider using a website that allows students to keep a portfolio of their best work. A web tool that allows students to edit pages (Google Sites or Wikispaces) will help accomplish this task. Students can link their products and use this to reflect on the tools they have learned and the methods they have used for communicating.

Conclusion
Becoming a creative communicator requires students to learn a variety of tools and develop the ability to evaluate the choice of the right tool for the task at hand. Students will learn how to become creative by using different tools and incorporating media into their work. This standard allows students to present their scientific work in a way that demonstrates their understanding both visually and verbally.

Ben Smith (ben@edtechinnovators.com) is an educational technology program specialist, and Jared Mader (jared@edtechinnovators.com) is the director of educational technology, for the Lincoln Intermediate Unit in New Oxford, Pennsylvania. They conduct teacher workshops on technology in the classroom nationwide.

Reference
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). 2016. The 2016 ISTE standards for students. Arlington, VA: ISTE. http://bit.ly/ISTE-standards.

Editor’s Note

This article was originally published in the April 2017 issue of The
Science Teacher journal from the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA).

Get Involved With NSTA!

Join NSTA today and receive The Science Teacher,
the peer-reviewed journal just for high school teachers; to write for the journal, see our Author Guidelines, Call for Papers, and annotated sample manuscript; connect on the high school level science teaching list (members can sign up on the list server); or consider joining your peers at future NSTA conferences.