With the conference being two weeks away, I’ll review some suggestions for first-timers.

At this point, you should be registered, have arrangements for lodging and transportation, and have your lesson plans ready for the substitute.
Consider attending the first-timers session on the first day. This year, Dr. Christine Royce is hosting the session twice on Thursday (8:00 -9:00 and 3:30-4:30) in the Hilton Continental 5. It’s worth the time.
There are a few other things you should do before you go:

• Add the NSTA Conference page to your bookmarks or favorites. Be sure to check out the Conference Newcomer’s page.
• Decide what you’d like to focus on at the conference: What content do you want to know more about? What topics do your students struggle with? Are you looking for new textbooks or equipment? Get suggestions from your colleagues, too. Ask your students what you should learn more about (related to science, of course!). Then go to the conference website and use the Session Browser/Scheduler to look at the session descriptions. You can even print out a personal schedule.
• Preview the Conference Transcript section on the conference site. When you turn in a session evaluation, the session will be added automatically to your transcript. You can also add events manually. This is a great way to show your administrators which sessions you attended—and it looks impressive!

Read more suggestions on what to take and what to do.

Some hints on what to take:

• An empty bag—preferably one with wheels—if you know you can’t resist picking up every brochure, handout, and session material you encounter (resistance can be futile), although many presenters are now posting their handouts online.
• Address labels are handy for sign-up sheets and marking your program and other materials.
• If you don’t have any business cards, get some or make your own. Be sure to include your e-mail address and what and where you teach. These are great to handout when you’re networking with other teachers, presenters, and exhibitors.
• A digital camera or cellphone camera is handy to take pictures of equipment, displays, speakers, and new friends.
• Have an envelope or other system for keeping receipts and other documents. Expenses not reimbursed by your school might be tax-deductible (check with your accountant).
• Above all, wear comfortable walking shoes and be prepared for San Francisco’s changeable weather!

At the Conference:

• Pick up your badge holder, your copy of the program (there’s one for each day) and other conference materials ahead of time, if possible. Take some time to finalize your daily schedules. I like to put a small reminder in my badge holder with the session names, times, and locations. You can also stash a few of your business cards in your badge holder, making it easier to hand them out to new contacts.
• Turn in the session evaluations so they can be added to your transcript.
• Get to the sessions early. Sometimes the smaller rooms fill up quickly. Have a back-up session in mind in case the room is full.
• Divide and conquer if you’re attending with friends or colleagues. You can only be at one place at a time, so coordinate with other teachers on what to attend and how to share notes and materials from sessions.
• Consider taking some snacks and a water bottle (the concessions are often crowded at lunch time).
• It’s tempting to collect every brochure, poster, and promotional giveaway in the exhibit area. It’s like a science wonderland! But whatever you collect, you’ll have to get home somehow. I know teachers who take an empty bag (see above under things to take) they can check on the way home (or you can ship things home via a delivery service).
• Take some time for sightseeing, especially if this is your first trip to San Francisco. There will be a booth at registration staffed by local teachers. They’ll have lots of ideas and suggestions for what to see and do and where to eat. My favorite things to do include the Exploratorium museum (but it’s not your ordinary museum!), noshing in Chinatown or North Beach (you’ll walk off the calories on the hills), being a tourist and riding the cable cars, or just strolling around this lovely place. The area right around the Moscone Center has become an amazing collection of eateries and coffee shops, many with outdoor seating.
• Keep a log or journal of the sessions you attended, people you met, and new ideas. Update your homepage, Facebook, tweets, or class Wiki/blog with a summary of what you are learning at the conference. I’ve even seen teachers Skyping back to their students!
• Update your conference transcript.
• Introduce yourself to teachers at the sessions or events. You’ll meet lots of interesting people and make many new personal connections. Although it’s important to keep up with your colleagues via texts/tweets/email, take the opportunity to actually talk to the teachers in line with you or sitting next to you at a session. The value of a face-to-face conference is meeting and interacting with real people, and teachers are the most interesting people of all.
• Attend a session or two on a topic you know nothing about. It’s a good way to learn something new.

Back Home:

• Share your experiences with your students. Use some of the promotional items you collected as prizes or gifts.
• Organize and file your notes and handouts. Share the materials and what you learned with your colleagues.
• Send a note of appreciation to the administrator who approved your attendance at the conference. Write a brief article for the school or district newsletter, if appropriate.
• Print your transcript.
• Get ready for next year!

Does anybody else have tips for conference newbies? Please leave a comment.

When we see the word “model” some of us get flashbacks to Styrofoam planets, papier-mâché volcanoes, or pretzel-stick log cabins. Their construction often was more of an arts-and-crafts exercise. But models in science can be more than representations of objects. As the editor notes, models “help us make predictions, understand complex systems, generate new ideas, and visualize both the very large and the very small. Examples include physical models, mathematical models, computer models, climate models, and model organisms such as laboratory mice and Drosophila fruit flies. The generation of models is the creative engine that drives scientific progress.” Several types of models are described in this month’s issue, and I’ve noted the SciLinks topics that would support the content or include additional activities.
As illustrated on the cover, Antigenic Shift and Drift has information about how modeling can help students understand the evolution of the influenza virus. Along with a basic primer on viruses, the article describes a 5E lesson in which students construct models of viruses to visualize how genetic reassortment (i.e., antigenic shift) occurs in the influenza virus. The author includes a list of materials used in the models as well as online materials. [SciLinks: Virus, Viral Diseases]

Modeling Natural Selection describes a unit that incorporates model-based inquiry and creating wikis to share student learning with a wider audience. (Edutopia recently had a article on the value of writing for an audience.) Because students may have misconceptions about natural selection, the unit begins with a pre-assessment. The links to the assessment are in the article. [SciLinks: Natural Selection]
The author of A Tale of Four Electrons shows that using creative writing can be an engaging way for students to demonstrate what they’ve learned about chemical bonding. Students are given basic concepts and key vocabulary to incorporate into an original story. The author provides a sample story line as a model or guide to help students get started. When it’s so easy for students to copy and paste information, this appears to be a way of encouraging originality and creativity. Writing in science does not have to be dry formulaic, as shown in the samples provided in the article. [SciLinks: Chemical Bonding, Electrons,  Electron Configuration]
This month’s New Teacher’s Toolbox looks at Making the Most of “Lost Days”—how to take advantage of the days before holidays or time before starting a new unit. One suggestion could be to use engaging, multidisciplinary investigations such as the one described in One Fish, Two Fish, Redfish, You Fish! Although the authors refer to the three hands-on simulations as “games,” the teacher can guide the students through a focused discussion on the impact of recreational overfishing. The authors provide suggested procedures and data sheets. This activity could also be appropriate for younger students. [SciLinks: Overfishing] The videos and resources described in Electronic BeeSpace could also be integrated into various topics related to genetics, environmental science, or molecular biology. [SciLinks: Honeybees]
If you thought that case studies were only used in law school, the authors of Teaching Forward show that students’ critical thinking skills can be enhanced and reinforced with case studies on topics of interest (and they can also learn content). The source for the case studies is the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (NCCST) at the University of Buffalo.
Another type of communication is described in Student Sustainability Conference. Student interact with community members and professionals in a school-based conference format  to discuss the ideas for promoting sustainability in the schools.  [SciLinks: Sustainability]
In the classroom, many teachers use a “model” of instruction. In the case of Flipping Your Classroom, the teachers still provide the same instructional strategies, but in a different order. Students watch or listen to presentations (e.g., vodcasts) outside of the class period. The teachers then have more in-class time for investigations, clarification, additional practice, or group activities. The teachers act as mentors while the students take on more responsibility for their learning.  Check out Bergman and Sam’s website or their social networking site  for more information and ideas (I’m going to search the program for sessions on this at the NSTA conference next month—I’ll be there.)
Don’t forget to look at the Connections for this issue (February 2011). Even if the article does not quite fit with your lesson agenda, this resource has ideas for handouts, background information sheets, data sheets, rubrics, etc.