I have talked to conference attendees and presenters who have come to San Francisco from all over the country. California, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and everywhere in between. Some are here for their first conference, others are attending their first conference in several years. But they all seem eager to get the most out of the experience!
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It’s not quite 7 a.m. here in San Francisco, but it looks like a number of people are getting an early start. When I arrived at the conference center a few minutes ago, I saw several people headed in, apparently on their way to some early sessions—many with coffee in hand. Talk about dedication!

I went to a session this morning for conference first-timers, as a veteran conference-attender.  NSTA staff and office holders welcomed the “newbies” and guided them through a discussion of the many options for sessions and events. Each table had a conference veteran to offer advice and answer questions. At my table, there were teachers from Delaware, Tennessee, New York, and Ghana!
The first-timers were treated to refreshments and door prizes, including NSTA books, gift certificates to the NSTA store, vendor coupons, and NSTA shirts and mugs. Welcome to all!

A panel discussion on the Next Generation of Science Education Standards with NSTA executive director Francis Eberle; Helen Quinn, chair of the board on Science Education, The National Academies in Menlo Park, California; and Stephen Pruitt, vice president, Achieve, Inc., wrapped up a few minutes ago.
The trio shared an overview of how the draft framework was created and talked about the next steps.
Interest was evident—the room was full with many people standing around the periphery and several sitting on the floor. When microphone was opened for questions, several people quickly lined up.
The framework is expected to service as the basis for new K–12 science education standards.

It’s been a busy morning at the national conference. Although the exhibit hall didn’t open until 10 a.m., many sessions started much earlier. I had to chance to talk to some attendees between sessions and it sounds like everyone is looking for something a little bit different, but all with the same goal—to be a better educator.

Whether from the East Coast or the West, attendees are looking for ways to fill gaps in their own knowledge and excite their students about science education.

I just had the honor of being a guest at the NSELA breakfast—a star-studded event if I ever saw one in the science education community! At the breakfast, Jason Painter of North Carolina was named this year’s recipient of the Outstanding Leadership in Science Education Award, given by Pearson Publishing Company and the National Science Education Leadership Association. Painter was unable to attend, but was recognized by Dr. Thomasena Woods of NASA’s Langley Research Center. As I was peeking at the program, I noticed that Dr. Woods herself was the winner of an NSTA award. What a testimonial to the importance of collaboration among our members. Congratulations to both Jason and Thomasena!

I’m finding it hard to believe that it was 25 years ago that I attended my first NSTA conference—here in San Francisco. I remember going home with lots of new ideas to improve my teaching, a ton of materials (no charge for checked bags then), and many new friends.
Fast forward to today where a lot has changed, in terms of technology, research on learning, NCLB, and financial situations. One thing that hasn’t changed though is the dedication of teachers. I stopped by the Moscone Center on Wednesday evening before the conference, and it was packed with teachers registering for the conference, browsing the program for tomorrow’s agenda, and talking with colleagues about which sessions to attend (which run from 8 am to 6 pm).  The line at the bookstore was long, and I’ll bet a lot of the books being purchased will be shared with fellow teachers next week.
I suspect that many of the teachers here have paid all or part of their expenses and used personal days to attend. They had to prepare lessons for their substitutes, and they’ll be checking in via text, Skype, or email. I’m very proud to be part of such a dedicated group of professionals. Now more than ever, we need to support each other and learn from each other. Our students are depending on us.

You never know who you might meet in the airport. Another NSTA staffer and I were waiting for our flight at Dulles and discussing our plans to put our soon-to-be kindergartners in a Spanish immersion program. A woman in a nearby seat piped up that she’d had 4 children go through such a program, and we were immediately at attention! For our few remaining minutes before lift-off, we peppered the veteran mom with questions, and most of the information was gratifying. But then she explained one of the parts that had been a challenge, and that was about science. “For instance,” she said, “my daughter could name every part of the cricket in Spanish, but when she took state testing, she couldn’t name them in English.” She lauded the program anyway—the mind-expanding opportunities far outweighed the challenges. But I began to worry. But the worry soon evaporated as I remembered that I was heading to a place full of bright, inspiring people who would have answers for me. Thank you, Science Teachers! As an NSTA staffer, today I found yet another reason to remember that I am working with a great bunch of people.

Here’s a question for you, to help me understand the way science activities and science inquiry are developed in early childhood classrooms. It relates to the topic of the March 2011 issue of  Science and Children, “Shifting from “Cookbook Labs” to Full Inquiry.”
What questions do your preK-grade 2 students ask, investigate, document, and present their findings, all on their own? Any?
In the classes I work with, I see a lot of questioning, action to find out what happens, and presentation (showing or telling classmates and teachers) but not much documentation. My students rarely document their findings without my encouragement or request but they often raise questions, by their actions or they voice questions.
Here’s my preliminary list of the investigations my students undertake:

• Which food tastes better?
• Does liquid soap come out of the pump when I push down?
• Will it make a loud sound again when I dump out this basket of small objects?
• Will I get the object if I grab it from another student?
• Where was the snail yesterday (I didn’t see it in the tank)?
• What happens when I touch the magnets together?
• If I throw the scarf with more force will it go higher into the air?
• What plants do the green caterpillars live on?
• Will the sand hold a hole shape as I dig?
• Why is the tunnel warm in the sunshine and cool in the shade?
• How does my voice sound when I talk and then shout into a big cardboard tube?

And some additional questions from preschool teacher Marie Faust Evitt who has many photos of the activities online:

In the sand box:

• What happens if I put sand in a gutter as water from a hose runs down? Can I block the water?
• What happens if I dig a big hole where water is pouring into the sand?
• How can I make a lake the fastest way—letting water run down the gutter into the sandbox or filling a sand pail with water from a sink and dumping it in?

Block area:

• How tall can I make my block tower before it falls over?
• Which cars go fastest down ramps?
• How can I make cars go faster down ramps?
• How tall  can I make a building out of magna tiles?

Painting/color mixing:

• What happens if I mix these colors?
• What happens if I mix all the colors?
• What happens if I pile oodles of paint on the paper?
• What happens if I squeeze the glue container as hard as I can?

Marie says, “This is just a start. Actually when I think about it, they are posing and exploring jillions of questions… but as you say, they don’t document. They are busy doing.”
We can make a request for documenting their work and findings at times when it will extend rather than end their work. Children will refer back to this drawing/writing/photograph later in further discussion about the activity. This happened in my classroom with a drawing of how much rain was in a playground rain gauge  —a drawing made in October. Now at the end of our winter I am reintroducing the gauge (it was inside for winter) with a container for “making rain” and a tub to hold it all. The children poured water through container with holes in the bottom to make “rain”. The rain fell into the rain gauge and into the plastic tubs (and a little spilled). I asked the children, “How can we measure how tall the water column is, and how can we tell other people about it?”
Children pointed to the numbers (inches of rain) marked on the column, recognizing them as measurement. They also selected the previously introduced unit cubes, “measuring hands” (hands cut from paper and taped into a length) and links of chain as a way of seeing how tall the water column was. Others compared it to another object such as a pencil, string of beads, or the edge of a mirror. Then one child pointed to the drawing of the rain gauge hung on the wall last fall. This inspired other children to make drawings to show the height of the water in the column. I was so delighted at the various measuring strategies they used. The old drawing from the fall led to this further documentation months later, and I hope this documentation will lead to additional documentation in later weeks.
Understanding about measurement develops with experience. Being able to understand a “one to one” correspondence (saying one number for each item as we count, or matching two sets one-to-one) is a pre-kindergarten skill. Discussion about how to measure and how to count is a big part of learning about science. Playing a Weather Bingo Game is another way the children worked on math skills while learning science content.
Now that the temperatures remain mostly above freezing I put the rain gauge back out on the playground. A teacher pointed out the first sprouts of daffodil leaves poking above the soil in the backdoor garden beds. Spring is on the way! Maybe someone will measure the growth of those leaves….
Peggy

Only one day to go until the national conference opens in San Francisco. On my way out I overheard some folks talking, apparently on their way to San Francisco for the conference. They were discussing what topics the conference needs more of, with quite divergent opinions.  Chemistry, engineering, and more. This got me wondering, are there other topics NSTA members would like to see featured more, or more frequently, at the conferences?
I stopped by the exhibit hall on my way in as well, it’s still looks like quite a mess, but I have no doubt all the booths will be ready in short order!