Using Web Tools to Support Learning

Standards play an important role in developing a strong curriculum and preparing students for the future. Science teachers are currently adjusting their curriculum to meet the Next Generation Science Standards, but other standards can also help us as the line between science and other subjects blurs.

The ISTE standards
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards for Students were originally published in 1998 under the name of the National Education Technology Standards. The standards emphasized technology as tools and required students to demonstrate proficiency with the tools.

Nine years later, in 2007, ISTE released an updated version of the standards that focused on how students use technology and moved away from simply learning about technology tools. They aspired to demonstrate such student behaviors as Creativity and Innovation, Communication and Collaboration, and Critical Thinking.

Now, ISTE has once again updated the Standards for Students. The new standards, released in June, look at how technology amplifies learning. They address the following student roles: Empowered Learner, Digital Citizen, Knowledge Constructor, Innovative Designer, Computational Thinker, Creative Communicator, and Global Collaborator.

Improved classroom activities
The 2007 revision of the ITSE standards made us rethink the skills students should be able to demonstrate upon graduation. We began to develop activities that combined one or more of the standard areas with curricular goals. At the time of their release, Ben Smith, co-author of this column, had an activity published by ISTE that required his physics students to make a video of some type of motion, analyze the motion with software, and publish their results on a website. Ben’s students learned how to use iMovie and VideoPoint and to create a website using Inspiration and Word. This multifaceted assignment was a great way to use standards to assess student skills.

Another assignment enhanced by the standards was Ben’s amusement park physics project. In earlier days, students simply took measurements while riding on amusement park rides and calculated experimental values. At the end of the day, they turned in a packet of papers to provide evidence for these calculations and perhaps performed some analysis.

In light of the evolving standards, students were next asked to become experts on just one ride and communicate how the ride works. They were assessed on creativity and ability to collaborate with peers and communicate their findings. This led to many different types of submissions. For instance, one group created a podcast while riding a roller coaster, explaining the physics behind the ride.

As technology developed, students created new formats for completing their work. Nowadays, they can even use apps for instant video analysis and for the collection of acceleration and motion data. Some use presentation tools while others make movies, websites, or other products with specific web 2.0 tools.

This year, students tweeted about physics experiences during the park visit. They used the hashtag #rlphun (RL for Red Lion and Phun for the class slogan “Physics is Phun”) as they gave a brief description of the activity and included a hashtag for the instructional unit (e.g., #momentum, #circular, and #newtons1st).

Conclusion
We are inspired by the actionable nature of the ISTE standards and the emphasis on student behaviors. These standards naturally fit with the NGSS as well as science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) curricula. In coming issues, we will take a deeper dive into the tech standards and discuss what they may look like in a transformed science classroom.

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

Editor’s Note

This article was originally published in the September 2016 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 and Call for Papers; 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.

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

My principal asked me to be a mentor for a new science teacher. I received a checklist of high school policies to review, but how can I help him in other ways? – T., New Jersey

In my experience, a good mentor can be a role model, a good listener, a source of suggestions and resources, a critical friend, and a shoulder to cry on. New teachers are often overwhelmed, so it’s important to initially focus on a few essentials. Let him know that it’s okay to learn from mistakes (and we all make them).

You’ll want to be helpful, but not overbearing. For example, as a beginning teacher I struggled with classroom management and how to deal with difficult students. (I came to realize that the two were connected—establishing expectations and routines provided a structure that many students needed.). We did not have a formal mentoring program, but another teacher took me under her wing. One day, she mentioned she was having problems with students X and Y. I also had these students, and she asked if I had any suggestions. I was astounded! She (a legend in the community) was asking me for advice! Whether she really needed my advice or not, her approach made me feel like a colleague, not just a rookie. I also realized that veteran teachers also have challenges and student misbehavior was not necessarily a personal attack.

In addition to your checklist, discuss effective safety practices in science; the NSTA safety portal has many resources. New teachers should understand that if an activity or demonstration cannot be done safely, it should not be done at all, no matter how interesting or engaging or how mature students may seem.

NSTA’s position statement, Induction Programs for the Support and Development of Beginning Teachers of Science has a good description of the roles and responsibilities of mentors and mentees.

For more ideas, see

• Mentoring New Teachers
• Ideas for must-have strategies
• Mentoring a colleague
• Mentoring mentors

Science teachers are savvy users of instructional technology. They use a multitude of digital resources to help students explore and learn, to differentiate instruction, support collaborative classroom projects, and develop formative assessments. Science teachers also use technology (a lot) and rely on the Internet and webinars to help them increase their content knowledge, prepare for a lesson, or share ideas with others.

Earlier this year NSTA partnered with Project Tomorrow for the 2015 Speak Up survey of parents, students, and teachers to find out more about how technology supports student learning. Since 2003, Project Tomorrow has collected input from more than 30,000 schools and more than 4.5M responses have contributed to the national discussion on the use of instructional technology in the classroom. NSTA created a subset of targeted questions for teachers of science in light of A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS, 2013). More than 3,100 science teachers completed these targeted questions (33% indicated they were members of NSTA).

In addition to these key points, the survey tells us:

• When science teachers were asked what they would need to more efficiently and effectively integrate digital content, tools, and resources into their daily instruction, the number one answer was “Planning time to work with colleagues (63%),” followed by classroom access to technology, funding support, student safety, and professional development.
• Science teachers think these types of professional development formats are most effective to help teachers learn how to integrate technology within instruction in their classroom:
  • 49%: Observations of other teachers
  • 48%: In school peer coaching and mentoring
  • 47%: Teacher led trainings
  • 45%: In-service school or district training days
  • 44%: Face to face conferences with expert presenters

• Survey respondents said these student learning experiences are most effective in improving students’ engagement and achievement in science:
  • 81%: Learning from a teacher who is excited about science
  • 74%: Conducting real research on topics that students are interested in
  • 71%: Learning from a teacher who is well trained in science
  • 67%: Watching animations, videos, or movies about science topics
  • 64%: Taking field trips to places where science happens

Technology clearly supports student learning, and science teachers are quite adept at infusing technology into their classrooms.  But as states and districts turn to a new way of teaching and learning science, how can technology help to support and enhance teacher practice within the context of their schools and districts?

Supporting Teacher Learning with Technology

Teachers must see examples and gain practice in modeling new instructional strategies closely aligned with their curriculum, informed by student work samples and data, iterative over time, and part of geographically dispersed digital networks that may extend and enhance access to resources, experts and other professional colleagues.

With respect to the effective use of technology, science teacher professional learning should be ground in helping students explore locally relevant science phenomena and engineering solutions.

Students should generate their own questions for exploration, gathering data, designing investigations and solutions, and developing and using models to help them more deeply understand and communicate their level of applied knowledge and skill. This type of learning can be found in the Framework for K–12 Science Education (Council, 2012) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS, 2013).  (In a February, 2016 blog post  I outlined some of the latest research-based strategies in designing professional development solutions that will be critical to the enactment and application of the three-dimensional teaching and learning espoused in the Framework and NGSS).

For example, augmenting a student’s reality can enhance learning as they investigate their local outdoor garden, pond, or school grounds, where thought provoking suggestions for exploration may be pushed to learners based on their location within their local environment, e.g., making observations of the flora and fauna, or collecting data in situ, perhaps using digital probes measuring the PH or O2 levels in a small stream or pond and exploring implications to sustain local ecosystems.

Similarly, platforms that seamlessly integrate virtual environments with the physical realm, situated within the authentic context of local community challenges, leverage the affordances of diverse educational technology in a coherent fashion.

Teacher professional learning and the infusion of technology to aid formative assessment also hold the potential to transform teacher practice. Differentiating learning based on student understanding as they engage in learning opportunities creates the opportunity for formative assessment and a feedback loop (for both students and teachers) that holds much promise. This resonates with the Speak Up survey data results on the top instructional strategies leveraged with technology (encouraging student self-monitoring of learning and providing feedback to students and examining student performance trends to enhance instructional plans and differentiate learning).

The 2016 survey data also shed light on the need for targeted professional learning for educators as we seek to equip them, and the students they serve, to use these tools and be critical consumers of data to inform not only their immediate teaching and learning goals, but also to guide their decisions throughout their life, as they make informed decisions and participate in a scientifically literate society.

 Creating Professional Learning that is Locally Sustained

It’s interesting to note that a vast majority of teachers (71% of science teachers and 65% of non-science teachers) use online video to enhance their personal learning. This data resonate with the notion of blending onsite and online teacher professional learning into coherent growth opportunities.

When teachers were asked what they would need to more efficiently and effectively integrate digital content, tools, and resources into their daily instruction, a whopping 63 percent said they needed “Planning time to work with colleagues.” This supports recommendations from the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, and Council of St
ate Science Supervisors, who call for support and delivery mechanisms that will “Enhance teacher practice through professional learning situated within the context of their schools and districts, where teachers must see examples and gain practice in modeling new instructional strategies.”

The survey also found that 81% of science teachers found information on the Internet to prepare/delivery a lesson, 58% watched Ted Talks or videos on a topic of interest, 46% attended a face-to-face conference, 31% pinned a classroom lesson plan idea to Pinterest, and 30% participated in a webinar or online conference.

Obviously the connectivity and connectedness provided via the Internet is a significantly critical support mechanism for educators. As stated in the 2016 National Education Technology Plan online learning provides immediacy, convenience, and access to other like-minded colleagues, experts, and resources that might not otherwise be available.

It is interesting to note the rise of mobile applications and social media sites like Pinterest for supporting teacher self-directed learning.  What is most important though is not what platform, app, or tool is the “flavor of the month” but in how the technology is used to enhance and personalize learning. What affordances increase connectedness, sharing promising strategies, and collegial discourse among educators? Teachers realize their passion for their subject matter, learning with like-minded colleagues, and facilitating research in topics their students are interested in energizes their students’ engagement and learning of science.

Professional Learning that Transforms Practice

Research suggests that educators are more effective and that greater student learning occurs when teachers have a deeper understanding of their subject matter, and how to teach it.

NSTA recognizes and integrates online teacher activity when collaborating face-to-face and vice versa to create a coherent experience, avoiding a bolt-on, separate and isolated, click-next, home alone activity. NSTA online networks provide immediacy, convenience, and access to colleagues, experts, and resources that may otherwise not be available.

Online personal learning and an abundance of rich content are the two cornerstones of the NSTA Learning Center. There teachers will find over 12,000 digital resources, web seminars and online virtual conferences, forums with like-minded colleagues sharing the latest practices, innovations and resources in science teaching and learning, and a suite of tools that allow them to create long term professional learning plans and document their growth over time.

NSTA formally collaborates with over 180 districts and universities across the country, helping them implement their strategic goals and course offerings in support of NGSS and STEM, both at the in-service and pre-service levels, respectively. Our NSTA Learning Center platform may be configured to enhance local onsite efforts with private cohorts and administrator dashboards to help document teacher growth as they create and complete long term professional growth plans catering to their unique needs and district and school strategic plans.

The NGSS@NSTA Hub, which is integrated with the Learning Center, contains over 300+ curated resources specifically aligned to the NGSS standards, including vetted lessons, activities, simulations, models, and other type of materials that might be used for instruction and meeting the new standards. The Hub has become a central source for science educators to locate professional learning, materials and resources to work towards the vision of the NGSS and Framework.

The NSTA Position Statements on a number of key issues including the role of technology in science education, NGSS, and inquiry support high impact and transformative instruction.

NSTA is now beginning to collaborate with districts to support  local efforts to build capacity by providing districts with targeted, face-to-face onsite programs (beyond our conferences), and with focused online webinars and moderated discussion on three dimensional learning through the NGSS@NSTA resource portal and NSTA Learning Center.

We are proud of the work NSTA does to combine online and onsite experiences that provide teachers of science with these multi-year, sequenced growth opportunities and we invite you to learn more at www.nsta.org.

Al Byers, Ph.D., NSTA Associate Executive Director, Strategic Development and Research

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

Future NSTA Conferences

2016 Area Conferences

• Minneapolis, October 27–29
• Portland, November 10–12
• Columbus, December 1–3

2016 National Conference

• Nashville, March 31–April 3

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Building an Understanding of Physical Principles

Our Earth is round, although it was not always thought to be that way. It looks flat. But if the Earth is viewed from a tall building, especially near the ocean when the horizon is clear, its curvature can be seen with the naked eye. This is helped with the aid of a straightedge held

Figure 1. From a high elevation, a straightedge held at arm’s length shows that the horizon is not quite level but curved.

at arm’s length aligned with the horizon (Figure 1), a popular activity of residents of tall high-rises near the seashore. 

Eratosthenes’ observations
The first person credited with measuring the roundness of Earth was the Greek scholar and geographer Eratosthenes of Cyrene in 235 BC. This man of learning was the chief librarian at the Library of Alexandria in Egypt. Just as the Sun and Moon are round, Eratosthenes assumed Earth was also round. He proceeded to measure “how round” and more.

From library information, Eratosthenes learned that the Sun is directly overhead at the summer solstice in the southern city of Syene (now called Aswan). At this special time in June, sunlight shining straight down a deep well in Syene was reflected up again—the only time the Sun’s reflection could be seen in the well. A nearby vertical stick in the ground at this time would cast no shadow, but farther north, in Alexandria, a vertical stick would cast a shadow.

This was evident to Eratosthenes, who noted the shadow cast by a tall, vertical pillar near his library during the summer solstice (Figure 2).

Figure 2. When the Sun is directly overhead in Syene, it is not directly overhead in Alexandria.

He measured the shadow, the shortest shadow of the year, to be 1/8 the height of the vertical pillar.

Eratosthenes’ calculations
Eratosthenes correctly assumed that rays from the faraway Sun are parallel. He then learned that while these parallel rays were vertical in Syene, they were nonvertical in Alexandria. Furthermore, he reasoned that if a line along the vertical well in Syene were extended into Earth, it would pass through Earth’s center. Likewise for a vertical line in Alexandria (or any point on the spherical Earth).

His knowledge of geometry told him that if the verticals at both locations were extended to the center of Earth, they would form the same angle that the Sun’s rays make with the pillar at Alexandria. Knowing the 8:1 ratio of the pillar’s height to the shadow length, Eratosthenes could calculate these angles to be 7.1° (Figure 3). Most

Figure 3. The 7.1° angle between the Sun’s rays and the pillar at Alexandria is the same 7.1° angle between the verticals from Alexandria and Syene.

importantly, 7.1° is about 1/50 of a circle (360 / 7.1 ≈ 50). Imagine Earth divided into 50 triangles, each with a 7.1° angle at Earth’s center and the angle’s opposite side equal to the distance between the two cities.

Aha! Eratosthenes reasoned that the distance between Alexandria and Syene must be 1/50 of Earth’s circumference! Thus the circumference of Earth becomes 50 times the distance between these two cities. This distance, quite flat and frequently traveled, was measured by surveyors to be about 5,000 stadia (800 kilometers today). Using this measurement, Earth’s circumference is 50 × 800 kilometers = 40,000 kilometers, which is very close to today’s accepted value.

Another line of reasoning that bypasses the 7.1° measurement is indicated by the nearly similar triangles in Figure 4. Just as the pillar is 8 times as high as the length of its shadow, the radius of Earth must

Figure 4. Similar triangles. Sides a and b have the same ratio as sides A and B. Just as the pillar’s height b is eight times the length of its shadow, Earth’s radius is eight times the distance between the two cities.

be 8 times the distance between the two cities. That is, Earth’s radius is 8 × 800 kilometers = 6,400 kilometers, very close to the currently accepted value. Once the value of the radius is known, the circumference is easily calculated (C = 2πr).

Eratosthenes’ legacy
Today, Eratosthenes is primarily remembered for his amazing calculation of Earth’s size, using only good thinking and a bit of geometry. Seventeen hundred years after Eratosthenes’ death, Christopher Columbus studied Eratosthenes’ findings before setting sail. Rather than heed them, however, Columbus chose to accept more up-to-date maps that indicated Earth’s circumference to be one-third smaller. If Columbus had accepted Eratosthenes’ larger circumference, then he would have known that the land he discovered was not the East Indies but rather a new world. ■

Paul G. Hewitt (pghewitt@aol.com) is the author of the popular textbook Conceptual Physics, 12th edition, and coauthor with his daughter Leslie and nephew John Suchocki of Conceptual Physical Science, 6th edition.

On the web
See complementary tutorial screencasts on physics by the author at www.HewittDrewit.com and on physical science and astronomy at www.ConceptualAcademy.com.

Editor’s Note

This article was originally published in the September 2016 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 and Call for Papers; 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.

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

Want to know how to maximize the products your elementary students make? What about getting fresh ideas for your middle school classroom? Looking for ideas on how to help your high school students understand the natural world through the construction of scientific models? Want to engage college students in meaningful outdoor learning experiences? The September K–College journals from the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) have the answers you need. Written by science teachers for science teachers, these peer-reviewed journals are targeted to your teaching level and are packed with lesson plans, expert advice, and ideas for using whatever time/space you have available. Browse the September issues; they are online (see below), in members’ mailboxes, and ready to inspire teachers.

Science and Children 

When students create products to demonstrate learning, we need to think beyond how those products are used to guide assessment. In this issue, we also consider all of the experiences and skills students use and develop through the creation of their products.

Featured articles (please note, only those marked “free” are available to nonmembers without a fee):

• Free – Bringing the Maker Movement to School
• Celebrating Science With the Community
• Free – Editor’s Note: Creating Meaningful Products
• Firefly, Firefly
• Remaking Science Fairs
• Seeing Science in Haiku
• Table of Contents

Science Scope 

We’d like to welcome you to the new and improved Science Scope, which features an updated design, new content, and most importantly, a new editor—Patty McGinness (see “From the Editor’s Desk”). After you’ve had a chance to review all the changes we’ve made to your journal, please let us know what you think so we can continue to improve and better serve your needs.

Featured articles (please note, only those marked “free” are available to nonmembers without a fee):

• A Closer Look at Flowers: Exploring Structure and Function in Science and Art
• A Middle School Lake Study: Connecting Disciplines Through a Hands-On Experience
• Free – From the Editor’s Desk: A Welcome From the New Editor
• Free – Investigating Axial Seamount: Using Student-Generated Models to Understand Plate Tectonics
• Teacher to Teacher: Start the School Year With an Authentic Activity
• Science for All: Creating Student Buy-In on Day One
• Table of Contents

The Science Teacher 

In every scientific discipline, the most important overall goal is to develop understanding of how the natural world works through the construction of scientific models. This issue continues our look at systems and models that we started in the Summer issue. As you’ll see, scientific models come in many forms. In “Achieving Liftoff,” students must develop models to explain what happens during a rocket launch. In “Scaling Up,” students use plant growth to understand climate change. In “Separating a Mixture,” they build models to explain ionic interactions. As you work through this issue, think about how you can incorporate model building, a central science and engineering practice, in your own classroom.

Featured articles (please note, only those marked “free” are available to nonmembers without a fee):

• A Twist on Measuring Catalase
• Free – Achieving Liftoff
• Free – Editor’s Corner: Science Practice in the Post-Truth Era
• Find Your Center
• Focus on Physics: When Our Round Earth Was First Measured
• Scaling Up
• Table of Contents

Journal of College Science Teaching 

Looking to engage students in meaningful outdoor learning experiences? See the article about a pilot program in which preservice teachers partner with classroom teachers to provide students in grades 3 and 4 with Chesapeake Bay watershed educational experiences. Learn about a promising, active learning assignment in which students identify their own questions relevant to lecture content and provide logical answers. And don’t miss the article about the importance of teaching “work checking”—an essential component skill of monitoring and reflection during problem solving that may reveal errors or inconsistencies.

Featured articles (please note, only those marked “free” are available to nonmembers without a fee):

• Building Bridges Between Science Courses Using Honors Organic Chemistry Projects
• Free – Feet Wet, Hands Dirty: Engaging Students in S
  cience Teaching and Learning With Stream Investigations
• Integrating Technology in Today’s Undergraduate Classrooms: A Look at Students’ Perspectives
• Research and Teaching: Assessment of Graduate Teaching Assistants Enrolled in a Teaching Techniques Course
• Research and Teaching: Reenvisioning the Introductory Science Course as a Cognitive Apprenticeship
• Self-Directed Learning With Feedback
• Table of Contents

Get these journals in your mailbox as well as your inbox—become an NSTA member!

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

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Science cafés—events held in casual, social venues where attendees can listen to and interact with scientists—have become common worldwide. Many U.S. science cafés are modeled after Café Scientifique, a United Kingdom–based grassroots network of science cafés organized by Duncan Dallas in 1998. When Michelle Hall and Michael Mayhew heard Dallas speak about Café Scientifique at a 2006 American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting, they wondered if the same model could provide “a way to have high school students challenge themselves about what they believe [about science] and why, and how science and technology are changing their lives,” says Hall, a geophysicist, science educator, and president and chief executive officer of Science Education Solutions, a research and development company in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Hall and Mayhew, a geophysicist who serves as senior research scientist for Science Education Solutions, also thought a Café Scientifique for teens would give them access to scientists and scientific research, help them see scientists as real human beings leading interesting lives, and encourage them to consider science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers. In 2008, with National Science Foundation (NSF) funding, they established Café Scientifique New Mexico in four towns: Los Alamos, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Española. “These are very different communities, but the impact on the teens was the same in all of them: The teens enjoyed it,” Mayhew reports.

By 2012, other organizations expressed interest in starting teen science cafés (TSCs). After obtaining additional NSF funds, Hall and Mayhew established the Teen Science Café Network (TSCN) to spread the model nationwide. The network is active in 23 states, with 50 individual sites nationwide. TSCN offers free 

At the Open Minds Teen Science Café in Raleigh, North Carolina, David Roberts, assistant professor of computer science at North Carolina State University, and his dog Diesel demonstrate wearable technology that allows service dogs to communicate with their handlers. (photo courtesy of Open Minds Teen Science Cafe–Raleigh)

memberships to TSC coordinators, along with online training and a national on-site training event. New members can apply for a grant of up to $3,000 to help pay for food and materials for hands-on activities—essential elements of TSCs.

Though adults, including some teachers, establish TSCs at venues like science centers, zoos, museums, aquariums, and libraries, Teen Leadership Teams at each site—guided by adult coordinators—“recommend the topics they’re interested in, do the marketing, and coach the speakers,” explains Hall. Adult coordinators often ask science teachers to recommend students for teen leader positions.

“We really want it to be teen-driven; it gives kids a voice and helps them learn skills and get comfortable with adults outside their families and schools,” she maintains. “The scientists have to pitch their presentations to the teen leaders, and the teens give them feedback. This is a big role reversal for these kids, and the scientists take their words to heart.” Presenters are asked to keep their talks briefer than they would at an adult café “because teens have lots of questions,” she explains, adding that the program is intended to be a series of lively conversations among teens and presenters, not a lecture series.

The cafés allow students to learn more about concepts introduced in school. “What was abstract in school can become concrete,” says Hall. It’s also easier for scientists to attend an after-school or evening café than to visit schools during their workday, she points out.

“Once we get [scientists] to become adept at communicating with teens, they’re in a position to present effectively to other audiences [because] they get better at it,” Mayhew contends.

Generally, parents don’t attend TSCs because “teens might not ask questions with their parents there,” says Hall, especially when topics like the effects of alcohol and drugs are being discussed.

“And we want all kids to come, not just the ones who claim to be already interested in science. We’ve been successful in that,” observes Mayhew.

In North Carolina, Open Minds TSCs take place at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh and at two other sites, funded by the Duke Energy Foundation. TSCs “are a way to connect teens to science careers,” says Lynn Cross, head of youth programs at the Raleigh site. “Teens can ask a presenter what he or she studied in college and what his or her workday is like.”

“Teens are typically not served in museums because it’s hard to attract them,” Kathryn Fromson, coordinator of youth programs in Raleigh, points out. “The café model is fun, relaxed, and social, and they like drop-in events [for which] you don’t have to register, just show up,” she reports.

Teens enjoy doing the hands-on activities, and “in this competitive setting, they enjoy being graded and winning prizes,” she contends.

Some teachers will give students extra credit for their participation. “We’re happy to have teachers use the café as a resource that way,” Cross observes. “We have supportive local teachers who bring their families.”

TSCs provide a way to “meet likeminded peers, people you don’t go to school with…It’s a free event that their parents approve of,” she notes.

Rockville Science Center in Rockville, Maryland, holds Young Adult Science Cafés with funding from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Program coordinator Katherine Perez says, “The café started out as a place where middle school, high school, and college students could come together to discuss science events and issues…Later, we started inviting speakers, professionals in science and health who could talk to kids about careers, college, and graduate school.”

“Sometimes it’s challenging to have that wide of an age range,” she admits. “The middle school students tend to like doing the hands-on activities, but the older ones don’t…Some topics attract more of one [particular] age group; [a topic like] 3D printing is interesting to all ages.

“Many students attend the cafés as part of their grade,” she reports.

“We’d like to have more professionals in STEM fields giving talks adapted to younger kids. STEM fields can seem challenging to younger kids because there are not many mentorship opportunities, no push to join graduate programs, and many internships are unpaid…It’s hard to get jobs in STEM fields,” Perez contends.

“Presenters can serve as mentors or guide students to those who can help them,” she concludes.

The TSC at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, Washington, “grew out of…Discovery Corps, a [teen] job training program,” says Tony Smith, program coordinator. “Discovery Corps teen members helped grow the program with guidance from adult staff.

“Our TSC Advisory Board has 20 to 25 teens,” Smith explains. One committee interviews scientists and serves as event moderators. “The food committee arranges for pizza and snacks,” he notes, while “the marketing committee does social media promotion.”

The Advisory Board created “a database of Seattle-area STEM teachers, and they e-mail fliers to them, encouraging them to give extra credit” to students who attend the cafés, says Smith. “We’ve had a very positive response from teachers.”

With speaker topics ranging from “health science to astrobiology to evolution and cooperation in species,” the events have also received high marks from teens. “‘I didn’t know this field even existed’ is what many of them say,” he reports. 

This article originally appeared in the September 2016 issue of NSTA Reports, the member newspaper of the National Science Teachers Association. Each month, NSTA members receive NSTA Reports, featuring news on science education, the association, and more. Not a member? Learn how NSTA can help you become the best science teacher you can be.

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

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On August 31 the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released proposed regulations to implement the supplement-not-supplant requirement in Title I of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The rules were quickly denounced by top Republicans and will likely set the stage for a battle over implementing the new federal education law in the waning days of the Obama administration.

The ESSA law says that when districts spend federal funds under Title I they must supplement, and may not supplant, state and local funds. Claiming that many Title I schools are shortchanged every year, and the federal funds spent in Title I schools are often used make up some or all of that shortfall, instead of providing the additional resources needed in high poverty schools, ED says the proposed rule out earlier this week “clarifies for school districts options for how to demonstrate compliance with the supplement, not supplant provision. The options include:

• A weighted student funding formula that provides additional resources for students with characteristics associated with educational disadvantage, such as students in poverty, English learners, and students with disabilities, and ensures that each Title I schools receives all of the actual funds to which it is entitled under that system;
• A formula that allocates resources including staff positions and non-personnel resources directly to schools, and that ensures each Title I school gets all of the funding it is entitled to, as measured by the sum of (1) the number of personnel in the school multiplied by the district’s average salaries for each staff category,  and (2)  the number of students in the school multiplied by the district’s average per-pupil expenditures for non-personnel resources;
• An alternative, funds-based test developed by the state and approved by a panel of expert peer reviewers that is as rigorous as the above two options; or
• A methodology selected by the district that ensures the per-pupil funding in each Title I school is at least as much as the average per-pupil funding in non-Title I schools within the district.

The Republican architects of ESSA reacted immediately with strong language about the proposed rule.

Rep. John Kline (R-MN), chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said in a statement:

“The Department of Education is threatening to unilaterally impose a multi-billion dollar regulatory tax on our nation’s schools. This punitive policy will unleash havoc on schools and their students at a time when education leaders should be focused on helping children succeed in the classroom. America’s poorest neighborhoods will be hit the hardest as communities are forced to relocate teachers, raise taxes, or both. Any supposed “flexibility” is really a limited set of bad choices dictated by the secretary of education. This is not at all what Congress intended, and those who helped enact this law cannot honestly believe differently.

What the secretary is proposing is unprecedented and unlawful. The only way to make this right is to scrap this convoluted regulatory scheme immediately. Members of Congress came together to pass bipartisan reforms that are designed to help every child receive an excellent education, and we will not allow this administration to undermine these reforms with its own extreme, partisan agenda.”

U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, also called the rule “unlawful” and said in a statement, “the U.S. Education Secretary must think he is the U.S. Congress as well as Chairman of a National School Board . . . The rule would regulate the way states and school districts spend nearly all state and local tax dollars on schools in order to receive federal Title I dollars.  These Title I dollars are only about 3 percent of total national spending on schools.”  He predicted that it would “upend state and local education funding and collective bargaining agreements in many states. If anything resembling it becomes final, I will do everything within my power to overturn it.”

The Council of Chief State Officers claimed the proposed rule was not consistent with the law, stating “Schools would be forced to move resources around at the last minute each year to try to meet a federal mandate, rather than doing what is in the best interest of students.”

The two teachers unions, concerned about teacher salaries and collective bargaining, are also not happy with the proposal.  AFT called the proposed regulations “an unfunded mandate from Washington’” and the NEA said the proposed regulatory language “does not eliminate the practical limitations and unintended consequences that may arise during implementation.”

Across the aisle, Congressional Democrats praised the draft rule. In a joint statement, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Senate HELP Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA), Ranking Member of the House Education Committee, said  “This proposal will ensure Title I dollars are used to supplement state and local investment in public education for high-need students.  For too long, the process of allocating public funds to support public education has lacked transparency and often resulted in underfunding high-poverty schools . . . With this proposal, the Department has fulfilled its responsibility to set clear expectations for compliance with statutory requirements through regulation. In addition, we believe this proposal honors Congressional intent to empower local leaders with greater latitude in the expenditure of Title I funds to support high-need students.” 

And last but not least, ED Secretary John King, long an outspoken champion of equity in the law, defended the proposed rule, stating “For too long, the students who need the most have gotten the least. The inequities in state and local funding that we see between schools within districts are inconsistent not only with the words ‘supplement-not-supplant’ but with the civil rights history of that provision and with the changes Congress made to the law last year. No single measure will erase generations of resource inequities, and there is much more work to do across states and districts to address additional resource inequities, but this is a concrete step forward to help level the playing field and ensure compliance with the law.”  

Shaping up to be an interesting fall in Washington D.C.  Watch for updates in the next Legislative Update and read the draft rule here.

Jodi Peterson is Assistant Executive Director of Legislative Affairs for the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and Chair of the STEM Education Coalition. e-mail Peterson at jpeterson@nsta.org; follow her on Twitter at @stemedadvocate.

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The upcoming NSTA Minneapolis conference, taking place October 27-29, will have a number of sessions dedicated to celebrating elementary science and literacy connections. Children are born investigators. Science is an engaging way to develop students’ skills in thinking creatively, expressing themselves, and investigating their world. Reading, writing, and speaking are inspired through science experiences. Educators attending these sessions will gain confidence in teaching science, learn strategies for literacy and science integration, and celebrate elementary science. The 7 sessions are just a sample of what #NSTA16 attendees can expect. 

Native Plants and Seeds, Oh My! (Thursday, October 27 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM)

• Cultivate new learning with a unit developed for upper elementary students that embeds reading and writing with a study of botany featuring native seeds and plants.

Developing and Implementing NGSS-Focused Curriculum in Gillette, WY: Strategies and Tools for Elementary Science and Literacy Integration (Thursday, October 27 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM)

• Explore newly developed NGSS-focused units in grades 3, 4, and 5 with an emphasis on strategies embedded within the lessons and activities that explicitly link ELA with science.

Whoosh, Crack, Slide, and Crash Your Way into a Grade 5 Earth Science Unit (Thursday, October 27 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM)

• Explore tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, landslides, and floods through hands-on investigations and connections to literacy.

Connecting the Skills of Literacy and Science Through Children’s Literature and STEM Topics (Friday, October 28 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM)

• We will investigate a series of activities that help to integrate science and literacy skills with a STEM focus through the use of children’s literature.

Science Notebooks—From Preservice to the Classroom (Friday, October 28 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM)

• Science notebooks provide powerful tools to engage NGSS practices. Discover how Hamline University’s teacher education program prepares preservice teachers to successfully implement notebooks in their classroom.

Disciplinary Literacy and Reading in the Content Area of Science: Yes! You Can Do Both as an Elementary Teacher! (Friday, October 28 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM)

• This session will provide elementary teachers with an understanding of what we mean by both reading in a content area like science and disciplinary literacy in science.

Teach Students to Read Like Scientists! (Saturday, October 29 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM)

• Explore strategies through interactive online simulations and activities that support success in reading science texts and, most importantly, scientific inquiry.

Register to attend here—and don’t forget, NSTA members get a substantial discount!

2016 Area Conferences

• Minneapolis, Minnesota: October 27–29
• Portland, Oregon: November 10–12
• Columbus, Ohio: December 1–3

National Conferences

• Los Angeles, California: March 30–April 2, 2017
• Atlanta, Georgia: March 15–18, 2018
• St. Louis, Missouri: April 11–14, 2019
• Boston, Massachusetts: March 26–29, 2020
• Chicago, Illinois: April 8–11, 2021

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