I have always loved science – earth and space sciences especially. Although I’ve had a variety of jobs, since I began home schooling, I’ve discovered I absolutely love teaching. I’m thinking about getting my bachelor’s degree in science education, perhaps at an online university. Do you believe this could be a worthwhile career change for me? Are science teachers still needed? Will I be able to support a family on a new teacher’s salary? I need advice.
–M.S., No City or State
Being a science teacher can be a rewarding and enjoyable experience, sharing your passion and interest in the subject with students. But there are some aspects of the job you may want to consider. You mentioned your own interest in the earth sciences, so I assume you’re thinking of teaching in a middle/junior high or high school setting. You may want to see if a nearby school will let you “shadow” a secondary science teacher for a day. You’ll see for yourself the dynamics of working with 25 adolescents in a classroom. Secondary teachers usually have 4-6 sections, which add up to working with 100-150 students each day. You’ll also see other parts of a teacher’s day, including supervision duties such as homeroom or hall duties. But a teacher’s day does not end at 3:00, as I’m sure you realize. Staff meetings, professional development sessions, and managing the laboratory all require time beyond the school day. Then there’s the teacher’s “homework” – grading lab reports and tests, planning lessons, revising lessons, keeping current on the content, and preparing other learning materials. I didn’t see the top of the desk in my home office for years!
You asked if science teachers are still needed. That’s hard to predict, without knowing your geographic location. Schools in urban and rural settings often recruit teachers actively, and schools with a lot of “baby boomer” teachers who are getting ready to retire may also have openings. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has an Occupational Outlook Handbook with job outlooks and projections. Having a certificate in more than one subject area (e.g., earth science, biology, math) or credentials in special education or ESL may make you a more attractive candidate. One thing is in your favor – I know of schools that look for “nontraditional” beginning teachers who bring a lot to the classroom in terms of life experiences and maturity. In places where there is a surplus of teachers, many teachers have to start out doing substitute work (per diem pay and no benefits).
In addition to schools, other types of institutions often hire educators: museums, nature centers, zoos, and state/national parks. I talked with a friend who works at a nearby nature center where I’m a volunteer. She loves her work but noted funding for her type of position is always an issue, and she cringes at every budget cut.
Speaking of funding, you asked if you could support a family on a new teacher’s salary. That certainly depends on the starting salary and your family’s needs and lifestyle. Most public schools offer benefit plans (health insurance, life insurance) and some may offer full or partial tuition reimbursement for future studies. The American Federation of Teachers has an online tool to look at salaries state-by-state and the Teacher Portal website has a table to compare beginning salaries in the 50 states Even within a state, the salaries can vary, but this would give you an estimate. Many schools have extra opportunities for teachers to supplement their salary: extracurricular activities, tutoring, evening adult education classes, or summer programs for students.
If you do decide to pursue teaching credentials, a major decision will be on a college or university. Before enrolling in any higher-education teacher program, I’d ask a lot of questions. Does your state accept the coursework and degree from the institution for a teaching certification? What accreditation does it have? What percent of graduates find teaching positions? What experience and background do the education professors and the science professors have?
The courses at online universities are certainly convenient and can be challenging and informative with a good instructor. I’d go a little further with my questions about the science courses. How will you gain experience in a real laboratory or out in the field? How will you get experience with the “tools of the trade” you probably don’t have at home (e.g., telescopes, weather stations, computer-based probes, digital balances, microscopes, SmartBoards) but you’ll be expected to teach with in a classroom lab? What kinds of scientific inquiry will you do, and how? What kind of training in lab safety is provided?
On a practical note, I also would ask any online university which local schools they have partnerships with for you to do your practicum (student teaching). Does the university have a supervisor who will visit you in the classroom regularly to provided feedback? How do the education methods courses enable you to address your state’s science standards and reach a diverse student population?
I realize I responded to most of your questions with more questions! You have a lot to think about, and you’re very smart to gather data from a variety of sources before making such a big decision. Going back to school sets a wonderful example for your children!

I’ve worked with several schools that are framing their curriculum and units of instruction around big ideas, key understandings, generative topics, or themes (the terminology depends on which model is being used). The rationale for using an overarching concept is that it helps to pull together a disjointed set of topics, provides a focus for instruction, and helps students see connections among concepts.
If you’re struggling to find a “big idea” in science, look no further than this month’s issue of Science Scope. for resources on the concept of Change. Think of how many science topics include changes: plant and animal life cycles, the seasons, acceleration, the rock cycle, climate change, weather, the night sky, motion, chemical and physical changes, reflection and refraction, evolution, and the list goes on (feel free to add more). If there’s a constant in science, it’s the idea of change (discuss that over a cup of coffee some time!).
If you enter the word “change” as a SciLinks keyword, you’ll see a list of topics. Among them are the ones highlighted in the journal:

• Changes in Climate
• Changes in Ecosystems
• Changes in the Earth’s Surface
• Changes of Properties in Matter
• Changes of State

Wikis, Moodles, blogs, Face Book, podcasts, Smart Boards – just look at the changes in technology applications and resources that are available to teachers and students to access and share information. Whether it’s a fact-to-face or online, professional development is changing, too, from one-shot “sit and git” presentations to more focused and intensive projects that are related to and embedded in actual practice.
The overemphasis that some are placing on standardized tests and changes in the economy that are forcing schools to make hard decisions illustrate that not every change is positive, of course. And there are those who lament that students aren’t the same as they used to be. I’ve heard this comment for a zillion years. I’d be curious to know when there was a time when students were not changing!

In this Year of Science, this early childhood science teacher is excited to have a President who says, “When it comes to science, elevating science once again, and having lectures in the White House where people are talking about traveling to the stars or breaking down atoms, inspiring our youth to get a sense of what discovery is all about.” Read the ‘‘Meet the Press’ transcript for the December 7, 2008, Obama interview with Tom Brokaw.
Our professional organizations have made recommendations for the year and to the new adminstration.
The NSTA Key Policy Recommendations for 2009 includes preK teachers in the call to increase the quality and quantity of science teachers. The National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC)letter to President Barack Obama (then President-elect) urges him to make early childhood education a federal priority.
And in his inaugural address today, President Barack Obama called upon the nation, “For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.”
It’s a good year to celebrate science and re-dedicate ourselves to teaching excellence.

Dinosaurs! This high-interest subject is a focus for questions relating to how animals live in many different environmental niches. What evidence do we have for what we think we know about dinosaurs? How do we know how they were shaped and how they lived? What was that body shape best suited for? What did they eat? Are there any animals alive today that evolved from dinosaurs?   These questions can be related to animals the children may have experience with—how do we know a dog walked through the mud at the edge of the playground? What can a bird do that a squirrel can not? How does the shape of their bodies help them survive?   An easy way to help young children draw dinosaur shapes is to draw a line of liquid glue over a line drawing on poster board. When the line of glue dries it will be ever-so-slightly raised, high enough to feel through a piece of paper with fingers or with a crayon held edgewise to make a rubbing.
Details such as eyes, or feathers, can be added to this basic outline later with crayons, watercolor, or markers.
Young scientists ably copy long words—dinosaur names—getting practice with letter recognition and formation.
With a successful experience making a familiar dinosaur shape, reluctant artists are more comfortable drawing on their own.
The American Museum of Natural History has online pages related to a 2005-2006 dinosaur exhibit. Teachers can visit a site by Glen J. Kuban for an overview of dinosaur tracks with drawings of sauropod, theropod, and ornithopod tracks (scroll down).
Happy tracking,
Peggy

With the theme of “record keeping,” we might have expected the cover photo to show children writing in a notebook or typing on a computer. Instead, the editor chose a photo of a child looking through binoculars with an “Oh Wow!” expression. As teachers, we live for these Oh Wow! or Aha! events. But if we’re not careful, these can easily become a series of unconnected events that can lead to Ho Hum or So What attitudes toward science. According to many of the articles in this issue, having students discuss, share, write, and record data makes the difference.
For example, in Just Like Real Scientists students used a copy of records kept by Ian Gilby (Jane Goodall’s counterpart) as an inspiration to create a way to observe, record, and discuss the behaviors of their own pets. If you’re planning a field trip, check out A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words for an alternative to the traditional scavenger hunt. Note how the teacher guides students through asking questions before a trip to the zoo, shows them how to collect both written and visual data, and then facilitates their sharing their observations afterward. (Note: the author refers to the 5E Learning Cycle. Click here for more information.)
Sometimes we spend so much time on organizing data that we run out of steam when it comes to doing anything with the data! Organizing Weather Data has ideas for incorporating weather data into morning meeting time. Older students can get ideas for organizing their weather data from websites such as NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center or the National Weather Service.
If the student in the photo has just spotted an interesting bird, this interest may have been sparked by activities such as What Sort of Feather? To learn more about birds so that you can spark a similar interest, SciLinks has a collection of links on birds for younger students. For students in grades 5-8, go to SciLinks and type in “birds” as a keyword. You’ll find websites for several concepts related to birds. One of my new favorites is an online Bird Guide with photos, maps, sounds, and “cool facts.”
An O-fish-al Research Project shows how to structure online research and real-time observations to help students create both written and PowerPoint documentation (a rubric is provided). First Grade Record Keepers (with the guidance of their teacher) charted the growth of salamanders and discussed what they had in their journals. SciLinks can help you find more information on salamanders and other amphibians.
I noticed that most of the articles here dealt with observing and documenting animal behaviors. For more ideas, you can check out the SciLinks websites on the topic Animal Behaviors. But I wonder what if the child’s “O Wow” came from looking at big machines, cloud formations, mountains, a waterfall, airplanes, or a rainbow? How can we help students with record-keeping or journaling on these topics?

Voting may not be a scientific way of answering a question but it’s the way members of the National Science Teachers Association choose among the dedicated professionals who are interested in serving on the Board of Directors. The more we participate in an organization, the more it becomes our organization.
The online site for the 2009 NSTA Board and Council election is now open until 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time, February 2, 2009. You may vote online using your Member ID Number and your Ballot Control Number.

We have a new principal. She doesn’t seem to understand what it’s like to be a science teacher. For example, she wants to schedule non-science classes in the labs during our planning periods. One of my colleagues wants to give her a list of what she should do for us, but I’m not sure that would be the best solution.
— DeAnn, North Charleston, South Carolina
In all fairness to our principals, they are expected to be both building managers and instructional leaders. If their own science backgrounds consisted of lectures with an occasional demonstration, they may not understand the concept or the value of inquiry-based learning. They may be unaware of the teacher’s responsibility for safety in the labs or security in the storage areas. They may have never considered how much behind-the-scenes work science teachers do (especially when we make it look easy). Giving her a list could put her on the defensive, so you might want to help her see what your challenges are.
Ask your principal to observe lab classes (for the whole period, not just a walkthrough). In your debriefing meeting, describe what students learn from these activities (perhaps with examples of student work) as well as the amount of time it takes to set up and put away the materials and read a report from each student, the safety and cooperative learning procedures you help students learn, and the fact that the students could not have done the activity in a “regular” classroom without running water, lots of electrical outlets, flat tables, and appropriate safety equipment.
All teachers use their planning time for writing lesson plans and evaluating assignments. But science teachers have additional demands. Sometimes principals see how organized you are and don’t realize how much time and effort it takes. Keep a log of the amount of time you spend setting up your labs, including time before and after school. Also log the time spent inventorying and maintaining the storage areas, repairing or servicing equipment, and complying with local and state regulations. Show her the inventory of equipment and materials you have to keep up-to-date, including the Material Safety Data Sheets.
Invite your principal to attend a department or team meeting to discuss some of your concerns. Frame your suggestions in terms of student benefit and safety rather than teacher ease and convenience. For example, describe the hazards (and possible liability) of scheduling non-science classes or study halls in lab classrooms. If you think homeroom students would interfere with your lab setups, suggest you could take on a different duty in lieu of a homeroom class. If you ask for more planning time, emphasize it would be used for the additional responsibilities that come with teaching science (and then be sure that it is).
Share some resources with your principal. The website Understanding Science has a section called “Everything You Need to Know About the Nature and Process of Science” that could bring her up-to-date on what good science teaching includes. Your question implies you’re in a secondary school, so you could share copies of NSTA’s position statements Learning Conditions for High School Science and Safety and School Science Instruction. NSTA’s newsletter for elementary principals, Scientific Principals, may also be of interest. You don’t have to be a principal (or a member of NSTA) to subscribe. NSTA also has several publications on safety that should be part of every school’s professional library.
If you treat her as a professional colleague and focus on student learning and safety, she may become your science department’s best advocate.

It used to be that a unit on the polar regions focused on historical explorations or cute stories about polar bears and penguins. But with the Internet, students can get involved themselves in real-time explorations and studies, such as the ones featured in this month’s issue. In case you erased your copy of NSTA’s Science Class, this month’s issue had a list of links for On the Web: Polar Science and the International Polar Year . Other resources are available from the organizations such as the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: Polar Research and Polar Discovery. Other relevant website can be found on the SciLinks site with the keyword polar marine ecosystems.
A colleague tuned me in to Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears, an online magazine designed for K-5 teachers. But don’t scoff at this – there are no dancing cartoons here, and when I looked at the online versions for grades 4-5, this could be perfect for older students who have challenges reading high school level materials. These nonfiction books are serious science in them and the site itself is not childish.
It seems that just about every topic in science has engaging projects and resources for the classroom. But one refrain keeps coming up: “I’d love to do these, but I have too much to cover.” If we assume that “cover” means to transmit information, the lecture is how this is often accomplished. The latest issue of Learning and Leading with Technology has an interesting point/counterpoint discussion on the topic Should Podcasts Replace Lectures? One of the participants makes a strong case for the value of interactive lectures, while the other notes that if a lecture is simply a one-way transmission of information, why not take advantage of the medium that has become an integral part of our students’ lives.
Our students are already wired for sound! I had to stop for a school bus recently, and just about every student who got off had a cell phone and/or an iPod attached to his or her ears. I wonder if the students who frequently forget their homework or textbooks ever leave home without their electronics? This same issue of Learning and Leading also had an article Remixing Chemistry Class that describes how two chemistry teachers make “vodcasts” (videos with lectures and demonstrations) to free up class time for lab investigations and other activities. Unfortunately, the article is available online only to members of ISTE, but your school’s technology coordinator may be a member and can get you the article.
If you’re not as familiar with podcasts as you’d like to be, many organizations have daily or weekly podcasts (which you can also listen to on your computer – you don’t need to walk around with earbuds). Scientific American and AAAS have brief podcasts on a variety of topics. If you Google science + podcast,, you get a lengthy list. And don’t forget NSTA’s Lab Out Loud (check out episode 23 on the Period Table of Videos).
If you’d like to take the plunge and try to create a podcast, your students can probably show you how, or you can check out the Resources section of the EdTech Innovators website. These two science teachers have embraced the way current technologies can engage students. Their resources include free downloads of the software and step-by-step directions for creating a podcast. Wouldn’t it be interesting to have students create podcasts – for review or make-up work or for younger students?

Does it seem to you that the pigeons and seagulls that roost and circle the grocery parking lot are more active in winter? I wonder if they are really more active or just more noticeable as there is less action on the street with fewer people walking by. Winter wonderings like these make me realize how dedicated to finding out scientists must be, to persist in difficult conditions.
Talking about persistent—read how Michael Beecher, who leads the research on song sparrows at the University of Washington, and his colleagues tracked song sparrows in the November 8, 2008 issue of Science News. Reporter Susan Milius writes, “Now Beecher and Templeton are analyzing results from their Seattle field project tracking young birds out listening to music. The experimental demands were “insane,” Beecher says. Starting in spring 2006, Templeton and his tracking team equipped young male birds with little radio tags. Thanks to the miracle of modern electronics, tags weighed only about 4 percent of the weight of a song sparrow. At that size, the batteries lasted only five or six weeks, necessitating trapping the youngster at the right time for a switch.
For a year, the crew went out every day to find young birds and record the songs of nearby adults. On a “perfect” day, data gathering took only five hours. The real world of evasive birds, cranky bystanders and suburban cats was far from perfect.”
In the January 2009 issue of Science and Children, the Early Years column activity tells how students examine feathers and group them by shape and size and color. Children can do the same kind of grouping with birds they see. All they need is a paper and pencil to record what they see so they can keep track of their data. Grouping and counting are part of a young scientist’s everyday math tasks. Where can your class observe birds?
Peggy

My school wants to encourage more parental involvement. Any suggestions?
—Madeleine, Lafayette, Louisiana
“Parental involvement” is a term we think we all understand, but it might help to discuss what “involved” parents are. On the one hand, they might be the parents/caregivers who come to open houses or conferences, belong to the Parent Teacher Association, read aloud to their child, volunteer in the school, call with questions about their child’s learning, and make sure their child does homework. On the other hand, there are the parents who do the homework for the child, question you repeatedly about grading, second-guess instructional decisions, make unreasonable demands on your time, or assume their child is always correct. And don’t forget about the parents who work multiple jobs to pay bills, have difficulty communicating in English, are experiencing their own personal or medical problems, or stay away because of negative experiences when they were students.
I prefer the term “parental support” to describe the positive things parents can do to be a part of their child’s education. Surprisingly, some parents may not know how to be supportive. Communication and positive experiences with schools can be the first steps in promoting parent support.
If we communicate only negative information (behavior issues, low test scores, missing homework), it can be understandable why parents/caregivers might not want much contact. A high school I worked in had a “Good News” project. Teachers were encouraged to send postcards (provided by the school) to parents to share positive student events: an improved grade, helpful behaviors, or an interesting activity. The school secretary would address and mail them (e-mail works, too, if parents/caregivers have accounts). Many parents would call to thank us for the good news.
Parents also should be able to find information easily on the school website. Class newsletters, webpages, or blogs could describe activities and assignments. An elementary school added a twist to the traditional school calendar. In addition to sporting events and holidays, every day had a suggestion—simple things such as “help your child write a note to a relative or friend” or “tell your child a story about when you were his/her age.” The calendar also had information about the local public library and museums. Some schools have take-home kits that include books, science mini-kits, or puzzles and games.
It may be hard to believe, but many parents get nervous when they have to visit their child’s school, and non-threatening, pleasant experiences can help them overcome their anxiety. A middle school I know switched from a teacher-centered Back-to-School Night to an Open House concept, encouraging students and other family members to come along. The students introduced their parents and teachers, showed their families where their seats were, what was in their lab notebooks, and how to open the lockers. If parents wanted to talk about their child in detail, they left their names and the teacher contacted them.
Some elementary schools are including students in the parent conferences, so students can share their work. At an elementary school in a neighborhood where many parents/caregivers walked their children to school, the principal offered coffee and doughnuts in the lobby every Friday morning and invited the parents to stay and chat with each other and some staff members.
A statement attributed to Shimon Peres may be applicable here: If a problem has no solution, it may not be a problem, but a fact, not to be solved, but to be coped with over time. We can wait for external solutions to what we perceive as the “problem” of a lack of parent involvement, or we can cope by communicating with parents/caregivers, providing non-threatening opportunities for parents/caregivers to visit the school, and helping them learn how to be supportive.