Each month in NSTA’s Science and Children journal, Bill Robertson* writes an informational article on a science concept. These “background boosters” present content information in an easy-to-read format with many illustrations and applications for the classroom. Science 101 articles have a conversational rather than a technical style.

Secondary teachers who want additional information can access and read these articles in S&C as NSTA members. These articles could also be shared with secondary students as a supplement to other readings and as an example of how to communicate science concepts in terms that everyone can understand.

Here are the Science 101 articles that appeared this year:

• What, Exactly, Is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle? (April/May 2016)
• Does the Earth Have Any Natural Ways to Adjust the CO₂ in the Atmosphere? (March 2016)
• What’s Going on When You Mix Colors? (February 2016)
• What Does the Sun Send to the Earth? (January 2016)
• What Is the Controlling Force in the Universe? (December 2015)
• How Do People Design Safe Amusement Park Rides? (November 2015)
• What Are the Earth’s Heating and Cooling Mechanisms? (October 2015)
• How Do Acoustics Dictate the Design of a Concert Hall? (September 2015)
• How Do You Date Fossils? (July 2015)

Each Science 101 article also includes Science 102—a brief “poser” that challenges your thinking (the explanation is printed the following month). These could be used as quick fillers or sponge activities for students, too.

*Bill also writes the popular Stop Faking It series of books for NSTA.

For more on the content and related activities, see these topics in Scilinks: Acoustics, Amusement Park Physics, Carbon Cycle, Carbon Cycle/Global Warming, Carbon Dating,  Color, Comparing Frames of Reference, Electromagnetic Spectrum, Electromagnetic Waves, Force of Gravity, Fossils, Greenhouse Effect, Greenhouse Gases, Light and Color, Mirrors, Properties of Sound, Roller Coaster Physics,  Static Electricity, Strong Nuclear Force, Visible Spectrum.

Senate Passes Bill to Fund FY2017 ED Programs

Its once again appropriations time in the nation’s capital, and this year federal lawmakers are working hard to pass the 12 FY2017 appropriations bills via regular order, instead of resorting to a series of continuing resolutions or relying on one big omnibus bill to fund the government. However, politics may sink this ship once again this year.  

Funding for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education– including the programs under the new federal education law the Every Student Succeeds Act–or ESSA–was finalized last week by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday, June 9. While the bill did provide a substantial boost to the NIH for combating opiate abuse and Alzheimer’s research, funding for K-12 programs under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was dismal.

The Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (Title IVA) block grant in the FY 2017 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Senate Subcommittee, authorized in ESSA to receive $1.65 billion dollars, was funded at only $300 million. This action stunned many in the education community, including NSTA and other STEM supporters. NSTA and the STEM Education Coalition both issued statements prior to the final vote asking lawmakers to raise the level of funding for the Title IV program. Several other groups, including  school counselors,  music educators, school technology leaders and physical educators, were equally disappointed with the funding level and also sent similar missives.  (Read Education Week reporter Alyson Klein’s article on the Senate’s action and a separate article on the reaction by education advocates.)

As reported in earlier issues of the NSTA Legislative Update, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Math and Science Partnerships were consolidated into Title IV in the ESSA Every Student Succeeds Act (known as the Student Success and Academic Enrichment Grant). Every district would get funding from this grant to use in a variety of ways to provide students with a well-rounded education, support student health and wellness, and expand educational technologies.

Under Title IV districts can elect to use funds to provide students with a well rounded education by improving instruction and student engagement in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by expanding high-quality STEM courses; supporting the participation of students in STEM nonprofit competitions; providing hands-on learning opportunities in STEM; integrating other academic subjects, including the arts, into STEM subject programs; creating or enhancing STEM specialty schools; integrating classroom-based and afterschool and informal STEM instruction; and expanding environmental education.

The Senate appropriators also cut Title II A state grants for teacher quality by about $200 million from the current levels of $2.3 billion.

The bill marked the first time in seven years that the committee avoided controversial amendments and voted in bipartisan way for this spending bill.

Focus now turns to the House education appropriators, who are expected to take up their funding bill for the Department of Education in a few weeks.

Flat Funding for FY2017 National Science Foundation Education programs

Overall funding for education in the NSF Education and Human Resources in both the Senate and House committee bills is flat this year. Below is a chart (credit: American Institute of Physics) for the major NSF directorates. Read more here.

FY 2017 NSF Appropriations Summary Table

Department of Education Releases Proposed Regulations for ESSA

Earlier this month ED released for public comment a set of proposed regulations that will provide states with more understanding of the law in three key areas: accountability, data reporting, and consolidated state plans.

The proposed regulations clarify several provisions in ESSA, including how to calculate and assign an overall rating to measure the quality of learning in schools; how to report on and hold schools accountable for the academic performance of students; and when states must intervene and provide support to low-performing schools.

ED will be accepting comments on the draft regulations until August 1, 2016. Draft regulations for assessments and supplement, not supplant are expected to be released in July 2016.

View the proposed regulations, a fact sheet, a chart comparing these proposed regulations to No Child Left Behind (NCLB), and the Department’s press release on the ESSA resources web page. Or read Ed Week’s Cheat Sheet for ESSA Accountability Plans.

What is Your State Doing to Implement ESSA?

And speaking of ESSA, here are examples of how Hawaii, Washington state, Michigan,  Alaska,  Nevada , Louisiana and Oregon are working to develop state plans to implement the new federal education law. Check out your state’s department of education website to find
out what your state is doing to get ready for ESSA and how teachers can get involved.  If you’d like to learn more about the law and how teachers can be a part of this effort (and ensure the science education community and classroom teachers are represented), or if you have questions, email me at jpeterson@nsta.org.

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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As NSTA’s chief science safety compliance adviser, I look forward to sharing the latest safety compliance information, while helping teachers solve safety-related problems and issues in the classroom, lab, and maker space. I’m also looking forward to interacting with colleagues to help improve science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education in the trenches.

Specifically, NSTA has initiated this new safety blog to:

• share up-to-date information on legal safety standards and better professional practices for a safer working and learning environment and a safer STEM instructional experience;
• disseminate current information on safety incidents occurring in K–12 classrooms, labs, and maker spaces; and
• provide support and initiate dialogue in efforts to answer safety-related questions from bloggers, either teaching or supervising in K–12 classrooms, labs, and maker spaces.

Students learn STEM best by doing, not just reading.  Make it a memorable hands-on experience by incorporating safety!  Encourage your friends and colleagues to subscribe to the NSTA Blog and share their experiences and knowledge about safer science education experiences.   

Have a safer day!

Dr. Ken Roy

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

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

NSTA resources and safety issue papers

Safety in the Science Classroom

Join NSTA

Membership

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There’s a lot of talk about using data to drive teaching and learning, but what data and how should these numbers be used?

Are you confused? So were the authors of NSTA Press’ new book, The Feedback Loop: Using Formative Assessment Data for Science Teaching and Learning.  Erin Marie Furtak, Howard Glasser, and Zora Wolfe, explain how the onslaught of data drove them to develop the book.

“We had difficulty figuring out how to select and use the information available to investigate our practice. We wanted to become better teachers but were overwhelmed with other tasks and uncertain of how to begin examining these areas,” the authors state in the book’s introduction.

The Feedback Loop offers practical advice from people who get it. The authors break down how to set learning goals, analyze data, and make inferences about student learning to understand better what students know and where they need help. By creating a loop, teachers can see where students have problems and respond accordingly.

“The Feedback Loop is intended to go beyond thinking about pieces of data in isolation to reorienting them as a part of a larger system that you, the teacher, can design and act on,” the authors say.

Designed for middle and high school science teachers, the book provides step-by-step guidance for designing your own formative assessments. You will also practice unpacking the Next Generation Science Standards to make sure that your students are achieving them. The best part of The Feedback Loop is the anecdotes from teachers who share their own assessments and results. You can learn from educators who use these tools every day.

Read the sample chapter on Collecting Data.

Check out The Feedback Loop. This book is also available as an e-book.

I recently read an article about having students “reflect” on their work. I’m not sure what the value would be. What would this look like in a science class? –G., Ohio

At a professional development workshop several years ago, I heard a teacher say “I do lots of activities. My students are so busy, they don’t have time to think!” This statement haunts me to this day. I wondered what students learned by following someone else’s busy, fast-paced agenda of activities. It sounded exhausting, for both the teacher and the students.

Another time, I visited a classroom in a school that had 90-minute class periods. The teacher presented a series of activities, changing topics about every 15 minutes—lecture, worksheet, small group discussion, writing, hands-on activities, pop quizzes—but there was no common theme or unifying concept. These students were also “busy,” but I wondered what they were actually learning from this series of disconnected events.

From a Twitter recommendation, I recently read the article “You Really Can ‘Work Smarter, Not Harder’” describing a study on the value of reflection.  (Note: the working paper Learning by Thinking: How Reflection Aids Performance from the Harvard Business School is downloadable here.

The study shows that learning is more effective if a lesson or experience is deliberately coupled with time spent thinking about what was just presented.

For teachers who already use reflective processes, it’s nice to have validation from more formal studies. Although, as with any study, there are problems generalizing to other populations, subject areas, and learning tasks, it seems that doing hands-on activities or investigations is only part of the learning process. Giving students time to process and think about what they are learning pays off.

Reflection doesn’t necessarily mean students staring into space (although that’s what I do when I’m thinking). Reflection is a process that involves articulating or summarizing what was learned, making personal connections to what was already learned, and formulating questions for future learning. Science teachers often use notebooking, exit activities, KWL organizers, creating graphics, or talking into a smartphone or app for these reflections.

I suspect most of our students need some examples of reflective thinking, along with a rationale as to why it is important to learning. Your modeling and guidance is important. Show students how you would reflect on your own learning:

• I learned that…
• I learned how to…
• I need to learn more about…

It also helps if each activity includes an explicit reference to the learning goals to form a basis for reflection. For example: In this lab, we will investigate the relationship between…. As you use this online simulation, pay attention to…. The purpose of this word game is to check your understanding of the key vocabulary for this unit.

For projects, give each student a copy of the rubric when the assignment is given. Ask them to fill it out and submit it with the project, along with their reflections in the form of personal feedback. At first, I asked students generically about the quality of their projects. The usual responses were I learned a lot, I had fun, I worked hard, I spent a lot of time on this. This was not enough to be helpful.

So I found that giving students some guidance in the form of “story starters” helped them to reflect more on their work:

• From doing this project I learned…
• If I had more time, I could improve this by….
• The best part about doing this project was…
• To make this project better, I could…
• Our study team could have improved our work by…
• Take a look at this part of the project to see how I…

This could be an interesting action research project for your classroom!

If you have not yet packed up for the summer break, consider picking out two or three lessons to begin the next school year. Choose the resources that will guide you, scan or read them, and pack them up along with the materials students will need so the school year can begin with a developmentally appropriate and seasonally appropriate inquiry. Choose a scientific concept that will fully engage children, thus helping them adjust to the expectations and culture of their new class. Choose activities that can be child directed so you can have individual conversations with children while the class explores the materials. And choose materials that are easy to clean up because the beginning of the year has many additional tasks requiring your time throughout the day.

Here are just two suggestions of activities to begin the year, that can be extended over months or revisited later.

Observing one of the small species of local wildlife, such as isopods (roly-polies, pill bugs) or crickets, is relatively simple because there are usually a few children who are comfortable with, and competent at, handling small “critters” to help put them in multiple containers so all children have an animal to observe. Watching these small animals introduces children to observation, a practice of science that is the basis for understanding the needs of living organisms. Children will have a reason to learn to use magnifiers and to collect data–their drawings of, and writing about, the animals. The excitement of sharing observations encourages children’s use of oral language as they seek to describe the body parts and actions of the isopods. In observing and recording their observations and questions using technology such as drawing, writing (or dictation), photography, and audio recording, children form beginning understandings about the way the structure of the animal’s body determines its functions (NGSS LS1.A) and that animals obtain food they need from plants or other animals (NGSS LS1.C).

Resources from NSTA for this kind of lesson includes:

• “The Amazing Ecology of Terrestrial Isopods” by Christopher Dobson and Dan Postema. March 2014. Science and Children.
• “Molting Mania: A kindergarten class learns about animals that shed their skin” by Christina Arce. April/May 2006. Science and Children.
• The Pillbug Project: A guide to investigation by Robin Burnett. 1999. NSTA Press.
• “Teaching Through Tradebooks: Roly Poly Pill Bugs” by Emily Morgan and Karen Ansberry. April/May 2016. Science and Children

Another activity for beginning the year is exploring small amounts of water using droppers (pipettes) to move water from small cups and dropping it on surfaces. Close observation of the shape of water drops on various surfaces, such as wax paper, tree leaves and bark, cloth, paper, or aluminum foil, will reveal differences. Children’s use of magnifiers improves with practice. They can observe the way water “sticks” to other materials (adheres), “beads up” on some surfaces, and flows. This introduces the idea that the properties of materials effect how other materials interact with their surfaces. They may notice that some materials absorb water as the drop penetrates the tiny holes in cloth or wood. The first time I introduced this activity to preschoolers I was amazed at how long they were engaged. They made drops, pushed them around on some surfaces, soaked a piece of cloth and wrung it out to start again. Through this work they are building a foundation for later understanding of the concepts in the Next Generation Science Standards PS1.A Structure of matter: “Matter exists as different substances that have observable different properties. Different properties are suited to different purposes. Objects can be built up from smaller parts.”

Resources to use include:

• “Early Years: Ongoing Inquiry.” February 2007. Science and Children.
• “Early Years: Water Works.” Summer 2007. Science and Children.
• Exploring Water with Young Children (Young Scientist series) by Ingrid Chalufour and Karen Worth. 2005. Redleaf Press.
• “Science Concepts Young Children Learn Through Water Play” by Carol M. Gross. 2012. Dimensions of Early Childhood, Vol 40 No. 2. Southern Early Childhood Association.
• Thinking BIG Learning BIG. Gryphon House. 2009. Marie Faust Evitt.
• “Why Take the Lid Off the Water Table?” by Cindy Gennarelli and Hope D’Avino Jennings. Teaching Young Children, Vol 1 No 3. National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Any investigation may extend over a month or two, or you may find that your new class is not interested in settling into your chosen topic. Your observations of them will help you choose a topic to match their interests.

At the 5th Annual STEM Forum & Expo, taking place on July 27-29 in Denver Colorado, high school educators can expect to learn more about environments that best facilitate effective STEM integration (both across STEM and non-STEM subject areas) and STEM Career Awareness. Through hands-on experiences and real-world connections high school educators will be able to establish a solid STEM education for students in grades 9-12. Check out the ten sessions below to get a sense of what we’ve got in store, and browse all of the high school sessions here.

How Skyline STEM Academy Stays Current in an Evolving STEM District (Thursday, July 28 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM)

• We will share how Skyline High School’s STEM Academy, which began in 2007, has been successful in many ways, but must continuously redefine its goals and strategies to stay current.

NCTM Session: NCTM Principles to Action Toolkit: Resources for Supporting the Effective Mathematics Teaching Practices in High School (Thursday, July 28 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM)

• Engage in resources from NCTM’s Principles to Action Toolkit, created to support implementation of the Effective Mathematics Teaching Practices in high school classrooms.

A Unique Ice Core Investigation That Integrates the Three Dimensions of NGSS and STEM (Thursday, July 28 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM)

• This open-ended investigation uses absolute and relative dating techniques and anomalies to date Icelandic and mid-latitude volcanoes, solar proton events, terrestrial events, and possibly supernovas.

Explore Building Mousetrap Vehicles to Integrate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) (Thursday, July 28 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM)

• Build a mousetrap vehicle and discover how to integrate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by modifying variables to increase speed or distance traveled.

Survive the Zombie Apocalypse (Thursday, July 28 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)

• Incorporating the NGSS and STEM into your physics class has never been more fun. Use this project to see if your students can survive the zombie apocalypse.

STEM Literacy: An Innovative Way to Collaborate with Language Arts (Friday, July 29 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM)

• Curious about ways to increase students’ scientific literacy? Come learn about this approach that uses a unique collaboration between science and language arts at the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology.

Building Teachers’ STEM Practices (Friday, July 29 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM)

• Developing standards-based inquiry and design lessons is a challenge. Learn about flexible and practical job-embedded professional development experiences that build teachers’ STEM practices.

Corrosion: Chemistry Made Simple, Relevant, and Fun (Friday, July 29 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)

• Join in for labs, demonstrations, and examples that make reactivity, oxidation/reduction, and corrosion engineering exciting, practical, and easy to teach and learn. STEM connections and CD of information.

STEM Garden (Friday, July 29 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)

• Hear about STEM Garden, a cross-curricular science-based program incorporating grades 7–12 classrooms to design, research, and foster self-directed learning—includes assessment tools, project ideas, and methods to incorporate core courses into the STEM Garden.

Hooking Students on STEM Learning by Using Practical Case Studies (Friday, July 29 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)

• Having a hard time piquing and maintaining the interest of your students? Make science practical by using case studies that integrate STEM concepts.

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

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

Future NSTA Conferences

5th Annual STEM Forum & Expo, hosted by NSTA

• Denver, Colorado: July 27–29

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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At the 5^th Annual STEM Forum & Expo, taking place on July 27-29 in Denver Colorado, administrators can expect to learn more about how they can incorporate STEM into their schools. From roundtable discussions to learning more about the benefits of professional development, the Expo will have everything an administrator will need or want.  Check out the ten sessions below to get a sense of what we’ve got in store, and browse all of the administrator sessions here.

If They Make It, They Will Learn: The Maker Movement and K–12 STEM (Wednesday, July 27 0:00 AM – 0:00 AM)

• “Making” is more than tinkering, and the Maker Movement offers powerful project-based lessons for learning STEM in K–12 classrooms.

STEM Innovation in Independent and Charter Schools Roundtable Discussion (Thursday, July 28 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM)

• Join us for an interactive roundtable to share and discuss our best practices for fostering STEM innovation in charter and independent schools.

Engaging School Principals in Professional Development (Thursday, July 28 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM)

• We will present project activities and outcomes of a Principals’ Inquiry Institute coinciding with a teacher professional development project focused on inquiry/investigation science.

Green STEM in Guam: A Districtwide Initiative That Works (Thursday, July 28 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM)

• Hear about the district development and implement of a districtwide STEM Strategic Plan that is effectively building and supporting STEM programs across the district. Find out how Guam has connected to island resources supporting green STEM initiatives that allow students to work on real place-based issues. Sample K–12 projects will be highlighted.

ITEEA Session: Integrative STEM Education—Intentional Teaching through Engineering Design (Thursday, July 28 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM)

• Integrative STEM education serves as the theoretical and pedagogical premise for technological/engineering (T/E) design-based teaching and learning practices. This session will characterize the unique aspects of integrative STEM education that parallel but are not covered by other disciplines.

Integrative STEM for Middle School/High School Administrators and Educators (Thursday, July 28 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM)

• Our cross-disciplinary team will highlight the challenges and successes of designing and implementing integrative STEM for middle school and high school teachers, and how administrators can support innovative teaching and learning. Join us for discussions and NGSS-based signature activities featuring local resources for integrative STEM.

ITEEA Session: Integrative STEM FocalPoints—Connecting the I-STEM Dots (Thursday, July 28 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM)

• Wondering how to get a team of teachers to teach Integrative STEM? This session will highlight how educators from around the country created a framework for I-STEM Education.

Ballistic Missile Defense = Math + Science + You (Thursday, July 28 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM)

• At the U.S. Department of Defense Missile Defense Agency, we aim to create productive, long-term, and mutually beneficial partnerships to pursue innovative research; continuously improve the skills of our existing workforce; nurture and shape the development of our future workforce; and strengthen partner institutions. Moreover, our individual and collaborative efforts further increase the STEM workforce pipeline with U.S. citizens. Join us to learn more.

STEMification! How Do You Do That? (Thursday, July 28 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)

• Learn how to transform your school into a STEM laboratory.

Planning a STEAM Night for Your School and Community (Thursday, July 28 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)

• Create your own STEAM Night, a fun night of exciting, hands-on science, technology, engineering, arts, and math activities.

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

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

 Future NSTA Conferences

5th Annual STEM Forum & Expo, hosted by NSTA

• Denver, Colorado: July 27–29

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

Follow NSTA

At the 5^th Annual STEM Forum & Expo hosted by NSTA, taking place July 27-29 in Denver, Colorado, middle level educators will find more than 80 sessions specific to their area. A successful middle school STEM program allows students to create, innovate, communicate, and collaborate on projects that are driven by their own interests. Check out the 10 sessions below to get a sense of what we’ve got in store, and browse all of the sessions here.

Engineering Soil: It’s Not Dirt (Thursday, July 28 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM)

• Go in-depth into a unit that opens soils to the world of engineering and applies STEM concepts to a science discipline not typically integrated with math and engineering.

Games for Engineering Code: Learning by Design (Thursday, July 28 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM)

• Explore a model for using gaming principles for practicing coding alongside engineering design that was developed in North Dakota for students and adjacently as educator workshops.

Reverse Engineering for Middle School (Thursday, July 28 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM)

• Reverse engineering or disassembly is a useful way to introduce the engineering design process and practice basic engineering skills in a measured and structured setting.

Planning and Designing Safe, Sustainable, and Sustainable Facilities for STEM-Based Science (Science Facilities 101) (Thursday, July 28 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM)

• So you want new science facilities? Does your curriculum define your science teaching facility? With more than 15 years of conducting visits and presentations of new/renovated school science facilities, the author team of the NSTA Guide to Planning School Science Facilities (2nd. Ed.) will present the basics of science facility planning for safe, ergonomically-designed, and sustainable facilities.

Integrating the STEM Disciplines Through Everyday Engineering (Thursday, July 28 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)

• Engage in hands-on activities that focus on three different aspects of engineering—designing and building, reverse engineering to learn how something operates, and the building and testing of models.

Tinkering with STEM (Thursday, July 28 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)

• Use tinker labs and maker spaces to address the goals of STEM education in middle school classrooms. Examples from career technical education, art, and upper elementary school classrooms will be presented. The maker challenges will range from challenges to be completed in a class period to challenges lasting the entire school year and beyond.

3-D Modeling with Middle School Girls (Thursday, July 28 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)

• Hear how teams of girls design Braille materials for museum education programs using NASA altimeter data.

Yes! You Can Teach Computer Science with Scalable Game Design! (Friday, July 29 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM)

• In scalable game design, students learn computational thinking patterns and 21st-century skills while coding video games and scientific simulations. NSF grant funded.

Beat Masters: The Energy of Sound Waves and Audio Engineering (Friday, July 29 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM)

• Tap into new learning in your classroom. Bring your laptop and headphones to hear this STEAM approach for analyzing sound energy as it relates to audio engineering in radio, television and film industries.

Engineering Deeper Understanding of Science (Friday, July 29 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)

• Discover how integrating engineering and science can deepen student understanding of the NGSS. Take away project ideas ranging from lava lamps to Martian Landers.

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

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

 Future NSTA Conferences

5th Annual STEM Forum & Expo, hosted by NSTA

• Denver, Colorado: July 27–29

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

Follow NSTA

At the 5^th Annual STEM Forum & Expo hosted by NSTA, taking place July 27-29 in Denver Colorado, lower elementary/early childhood educators will find more than 25 sessions catered to their area. The foundational skills learned and mastered through the integration of STEM during the early years, if done right, will help these students be critical thinkers and makers that can innovate the future they will be a part of. Check out the 10 sessions below to get a sense of what we’ve got in store, and browse all of the  lower elementary/early childhood sessions here.

Creating Scientific and Mathematical Thinkers Through Hands-On Experiences and Open-Ended Questioning (Thursday, July 28 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM)

• Join us as we explore math and science concepts in an interactive, playful way by sharing a program we’ve designed called “Fun with Math & Science”—which is a parent/child interactive learning opportunity.

Engineers in the Block Area: How Building with Blocks Fosters the Growth of a Child’s Scientific Mind (Thursday, July 28 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM)

• Learn how to analyze block play as a global tool that can be used to develop a child’s scientific, mathematical, and engineering frame of mind.

Teacher and Child—Co-Explorers, Co-Learners (Thursday, July 28 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM)

• Through hands-on activity, discussion, and video, we explore how teachers’ own exploratory learning can guide children’s learning of core ideas and engagement in science practices.

Engineers Play, Too! (Thursday, July 28 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM)

• Learn how to incorporate literacy and “engineering play” into early elementary classrooms and how to use read alouds to spark engineering thinking in play!

Simple Machines Made Simpler Through Mechanical Puppets and Masks (Thursday, July 28 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)

• These creations will surprise you by rolling their eyes, wiggling their ears, and sticking out their tongues, vividly illustrating concepts of levers and linkages.

Engaging Young Scientists in the Engineering Design Process to Create a PBL That Explores the Properties and Behavior of Matter (Friday, July 29 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM)

• Enhance conceptual understanding of the properties and behaviors of solids and liquids in a real-world STEM application to repurpose recycled solids.

STEMming Away from Stereotypes: Broadening Student Views on STEM Careers (Friday, July 29 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM)

• Since 1957, educators and social scientists have documented students’ stereotypical images of STEM professionals. Despite efforts to depict them accurately, most students do not perceive STEM professionals correctly. Strategies must be developed to change this misconception.

Teaching Engineering, Motion, and Energy Through Rube Goldberg (Friday, July 29 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM)

• This introduction to STEM for elementary classrooms will allow participants to explore motion and energy while creating their own Rube Goldberg machine using found objects.

Exploring Children’s (PreK–2) Physical Science Knowledge and Understanding (Friday, July 29 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)

• Engage in performance assessment activities developed to explore what preK–2 children know and can do in physical science.

STEM in the Primary Classroom (Friday, July 29 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM)

• Supporting young children’s instinctive desire to explore STEM ideas and phenomena has lasting benefits. Come investigate how interdisciplinary STEM teaching and learning supports all students.

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

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

 Future NSTA Conferences

5th Annual STEM Forum & Expo, hosted by NSTA

• Denver, Colorado: July 27–29

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

Follow NSTA