By now many of you surely have heard of Richard Louv and his book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder.
I looked at his blog, Field Notes From the Future, to see what he has to say lately. He reports the nonprofit Children & Nature Network, which he chairs, “has tracked and encouraged more than 50 regional campaigns that are helping reintroduce children to nature.” It’s been good for both students and teachers. “Canadian researchers found that teachers expressed renewed enthusiasm for teaching when they had time outdoors. In an era of increased teacher burnout, the impact of green schools and outdoor education on teachers should not be underestimated,” he says.
On October 29 at the NSTA Conference in Minneapolis, he’s going to give you some scientific evidence on the benefits of outdoor learning and practical tips for getting your students’ families and your colleagues and administrators in touch with the natural world.

The editor makes a good point – helping students connect science to real issues can help to dispel the “why are we doing this” question.
For example, every part of the country has its real challenges from storms and other disasters (both natural and human-enhanced). Use “severe weather” as a keyword in SciLinks for some additional information and teaching suggestions. The author of Hurricane Katrina: A Teachable Moment suggests Bernoulli’s Principle and Storms and Storm Surge: A “Rising” Concern Among Coastal Residents.
Students who watch a lot of “reality” television may not see many examples of constructive conversations. The authors of Socratic Seminars in Science Class show how students can discuss open-ended questions about a text–not as a free-for-all shouting match, but with a structured format for higher-level thinking and sharing of points of view. (I wonder if this could work at a faculty workshop or school board meeting?) They suggest resources such as National Paideia Center and the Ethics Primer.
Most students see the relevance of learning about the environment. Since languages other than English is the reality in many schools, look for resources such as EcoTipping Points that have a Spanish version Los Puntos de Inflexión Ecológica.
Using Issues-Based Science in the Classroom has an “inquiry continuum.” Also consider the article EQUIPping Teachers in the April 2009 edition of TST for another discussion of an inquiry continuum (pre-inquiry, developing, proficient, and exemplary.
Check out the Connections for this issue. Even if the article does not quite fit with your lesson agenda, this resource has ideas for handouts, background information sheets, data sheets, rubrics, and other teaching suggestions.

One of the organizing strands for the NSTA Conference in Phoenix is “Rigor Without Mortis: Challenging and Accessible Content.” Challenging AND accessible? Genetics fits that bill. The science is in our cells, so it’s certainly accessible, and for those of us with only a rudimentary appreciation of genetics, it’s challenging as well.
For instance, we can use a cheek swab to produce DNA to map our geneology. A number of databases are available for this. And we can do the same to support broader anthropological research. For example, National Geographic’s and IBM’s Genographic Project is mapping historical human migration patterns by collecting and analyzing DNA samples from hundreds of thousands of people from around the world.
Using similar techniques, session presenter Matthew E. Kaplan (Associate Staff Scientist and Project Lead, Human Origins Genotyping Laboratory, Arizona Research Laboratories, Division of Biotechnology, University of Arizona) is contributing to the DNA Shoah Project in order to analyze DNA data for a cause: to reunite families displaced by the Holocaust. His presentation is called DNA: The Strand That Connects Us All.
This fascinating session will take place on Friday, December 4 from 9:30–10:30 AM in the Phoenix Convention Center, Room 120B.
Do you have any questions you’d like Matt to cover?

In the article CSI for Trees there a quote that sums up the theme of this issue: “An ordinary activity can be transformed into a lesson that includes nature of science themes simply by adding a few key statements and questions throughout a lesson.” But the word simply is a little misleading. Asking the right questions (and encouraging students to ask questions) can be challenging. And the authors of the articles in this issue share many insights into how to accomplish this in elementary science.
The article How Do You Ask Effective Questions? has some suggestions. The author mentions “wait time” as a component of questioning and discussion. This strategy is often overlooked or dismissed in a quest to “cover” material, but the published research (and my own action research), indicates that it is a powerful way to increase participation and higher-level thinking. If you need a review of wait time, refer to Using Think-Time and Wait-Time Skillfully in the Classroom. (I love how the cover of this issue illustrates what happens during wait time!) More problem-finding prompts are featured in the article Problem Solving by Design
Dioramas often get a bad reputation as a project, but look at how the teacher in the article Deer Tracks in the City uses them to get young students to act out their predictions. This article also shows the value of asking questions but not necessarily following a lockstep investigation.
Check out the Connections for each issue. 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.
And remember that SciLinks can provide more ideas and background information on the topics in this issue. For example, the keyword “dendrochronology” as mentioned in CSI for Trees has several sites targeted for grades 9-12. These sites may be OK for more advanced or interested students – or for your own information.
Use the keyword “wind” for grades 5-8 for other lessons and information related to the topics in Wind Solvers. Even traditional classroom distractions such as paper airplanes can turn into opportunities for questioning, as noted in Use the keyword “wind” for grades 5-8 for other lessons and information related to the topics in Secrets of Flight.
Another aspect of problem solving is collecting and Making Sense of Data. Guiding students through this process is (to me) one of the most interesting parts of problem solving. One of my favorite websites is Create a Graph. There is also a tutorial to help you and your students match your data with an appropriate type of graph. The graphs can be saved and printed to attach into a science notebook, too.

Some of my colleagues in the science department and I would like to start a book group, but we’re not sure how to get started. What books should we read? How often should we meet? Any other suggestions?
—Allison, Lexington, Kentucky
How many times have we said to ourselves “I know I should do more professional reading, but…”? Participating in a book group may provide motivation for reading and an opportunity to discuss the book.
I shared your question with a librarian who has experience with book clubs. She offered several insights:

For books on science content and science teaching, consult the NSTA Reviews column in each journal issue or NSTA Recommends on NSTA’s website (www.nsta.org/recommends). For general books on teaching, I recommend browsing publications on the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) website .
I’ve recently read some books you might want to consider. Science Formative Assessments by Page Keeley and Using Science Notebooks in Elementary Classrooms by Michael Klentschy (both from NSTA Press) have many ideas your members could try in their classrooms as you read the book. Rethinking Homework by Cathy Vatterott (available from ASCD) is thought-provoking and has been getting a lot of attention lately. Right now I’m reading Never Work Harder Than Your Students by Robyn Jackson (also from ASCD; the website has a helpful study guide).
Professional books such as these are probably not in your local public library, so you’ll have to consider how your members will get copies. In my school, the professional development committee provided books for the summer reading groups. If finances are an issue, you could use articles from NSTA journals or online readings.
Don’t give up if you have a few glitches as the group starts. If you’re successful, you might find a way to include your book group as a personalized professional development option.
At an NSTA conference session I once attended, members of a book club noted their group has been in existence for more than 15 years. Their members come and go, and some teachers who transferred or retired still participate. I think that’s even longer than Oprah’s book club!

Does it seem to you that this blog needs a place to post about resources such as book and website recommendations, commercial sites for needed early childhood science supplies, and interesting articles that are not necessarily related to a particular post? As a blog it is difficult for readers to begin new threads, but here’s one way we can do it:
Please “Comment” to add your suggestions for resources of interest on this post. Begin your post with a header/title identifying the content: book of science activities, favorite fiction with science theme, great website about seeds, place to buy pipettes, blog on teaching kindergarten, and so on. Readers can use the Search feature to find posts on particular topics (let me know if the feature does not function—scienceissimple at yahoo dot com).
Another forum for members of the National Science Teacher’s Association is NSTA Communities, where you can join a grade-specific group such as the PreK-K Group.  Looking forward to hearing from you,
Peggy

When I shared my copy of the book Early Sprouts: Cultivating Healthy Food Choices in Young Children with a nutritionist friend, she got very excited about the possibilities, but then her job changed and she no longer works directly with children. Did that stop her? Read on…

I am doing Early Sprouts with my neighbor Sydney (4 years old) every Saturday afternoon. We did the initial taste tests and we’ve done five or six of the sessions, with the activity and then the cooking back to back. It takes about an hour. We’ve made couscous castles with green peppers, Chinese green beans, butternut squash pancakes (too wet but yummy), yogurt dip, and pasta with sauce made from cherry tomatoes. I love it. I took photos of the plants in the garden in different stages and made cards out of them and at the beginning of each class, she sorts them into piles by vegetable and then puts the cards for each vegetable in order from sprout to plant to flower to small fruit to large unripe fruit to ripe fruit, or whatever applies to the vegetable. I also took photos of the compost pile.
Wish I could send you some of our raspberries.

What she’s begun with one child she can use to inform her teaching with more, in future years. The materials can be used every year too—each following year will need less set-up time.
Read more about the Early Sprouts program at www.earlysprouts.org.
Thanks for the inspiration, Bonnie!