At our inservice last month, we learned several strategies for writing in science classes.  But when I tried one in my classroom, it went over like a lead balloon. What was I doing wrong?
—Rosalind, Denver, Colorado
How many times have we heard “Well, I tried <fill-in-the-blank>, but it didn’t work”? And then the classroom instruction reverts to the tried and (not necessarily) true methods. This certainly happened to me when I tried a different instructional strategy, an alternative form of assessment, or a new classroom management routine. Students would roll their eyes or complain before we even started.
I’ve come to the conclusion that any type of change is difficult for some people (not an original thought on my part). We are such creatures of habit! By the time students are in the upper elementary grades, they have a definite idea of what school is “supposed to be.” Whenever teachers or administrators deviate from this comfort zone, the defenses go up.
Students are not the only ones who have comfort zones. Just try a different format for a faculty meeting, a new schedule for inservice days, or a strategy to get teachers out of their seats at a workshop. I had a graduate student in one of my classes who was incredulous that I expected them to work cooperatively and to participate in class discussions. “I didn’t know we were going to have to, like, DO anything!” she remarked with an angry look. I had obviously encroached on her comfort zone.
I’m not sure who invented the three-time rule, but it seems true: once is an event, twice is a coincidence, but after the third time a trend or pattern is established. If we try a new strategy once and it doesn’t fit the modus operandi, the students may assume that if they fuss or refuse, we’ll say “Well, that didn’t work” and classroom life will return to the-way-things-are-supposed-to-be.
But if we know that something is the right thing to do, that a research base is behind it, or that it will ultimately pay off in better learning or a better classroom environment, we should stick with it and explain why we are doing something new or different. We may need to model the activity or strategy, too.
This actually turned into several action research projects for me. As I was implementing something new, I noted what the responses were and by whom. I reflected on whether I was implementing the new strategy appropriately and how I had introduced it. After all, my students weren’t any different from others. Why would something work in many other classrooms across the country, but not in mine?
Being aware of the three-time rule (event, coincidence, pattern) and understanding that it often takes several attempts before a new practice is accepted – whether by students or teachers – worked for me. Just give yourself some time and keep at it. If it’s the right thing to do, the students will internalize it, and soon what was once a new idea becomes part of the-way-things-are-supposed-to-be.

The big fish died.  The constant silent presence of the plecostomus—now hiding in the cave, now sucking algae off the aquarium wall—is gone. Donated by a parent who has moved on to high school PTSA duties, the odd fish taught 10 years of preschoolers about its needs: warm water to live in, particular kinds of food, and a place that was quiet and still. Only then would it come out, quickly returning to the cave as children noticed it and the shout went up, “The Big Fish is out, the Big Fish is out!”
Not many children commented on the fish’s death, perhaps because school has just started and over the summer they had forgotten about the Big Fish. The tank needs an algae eater. It’s time to buy a new little “Big Fish.”
Do you have a fish tank in your classroom? How have you used it in teaching? Read more about these cool fish on The Ultimate Pleco Community page.
Peggy

Who hasn’t looked into the night sky and wondered about the stars and the universe? But upper elementary and middle school may be the last chance for many students to study or be exposed to concepts in astronomy. Earth and space science is not offered in many high schools or it not chosen by college-bound students. And yet, astronomy is a science that can be pursued and enjoyed even beyond one’s school days.
The articles in this month’s Science and Children provides teachers with many ideas for getting student started on a lifelong learning adventure. Secondary teachers can get ideas for working with students who do not have much background in astronomy.
Several of the articles have SciLinks codes: SC090801 for Exploring Mars; SC090802 for Moon Phases; SC090803 for the Other Planets; and SC090804 for What Causes Day and Night. Members can explore other topics by typing “astronomy” or “universe” as a SciLinks keyword.
It’s hard to study astronomy during the school day, but fortunately there are lots of websites that can be used to get students (and teachers) interested in the topic. Here are some ones worth checking out:

• Astronomy – Our Place in Space is an “ology” site from the American Museum of Natural History. This is well organized with lots of information, but I found the cartoonish illustrations of the planets (with human faces and appendages) to be unnecessary. These objects have a beauty of their own!
• Go beyond the planets with Capture the Cosmos that has lots of information, graphics, and simulations on black holes, comets, galaxies, and other phenomena.
• NASA calls Starchild “a learning center for young astronauts.”
• Don’t be put off by the title of Fundamental Physics in Space. Upper elementary and middle level students (and teachers) can learn about the big bang and other topics (and no higher math knowledge is necessary to read and learn from this site).
• Astronomy and Space is an overview of space research for advanced students or teacher’s background knowledge.
• For some content refreshers for teachers, check out NSTA’s Science Objects related to earth and space science. Each object takes 1-2 hours to complete. They’re very good as a refresher (or introduction). Topics in include the Universe, the Solar System, and Earth, Sun and Moon
• Astronomy with a Stick is a classic!
• A recent issue of Edutopia describes how a teacher uses a free desktop program called “Celestia” to study space from the desktop. The article also has links to other desktop astronomy programs, including the popular Google Sky. Playing with Celestia is next on my list of things to do!
• I just learned about Galaxy Zoo from a Scientific American podcast. This is another example of citizen science, in that volunteers log in and classify images of galaxies.

If anyone has used either of these last two resources, please let us know what you think!

The S&C astronomy issue article Sky Observations by the Book (NSTA membership required) presents lessons specifically for teaching young children astronomy concepts with picture books. Authors Kathy Cabe Trundle and Mesut Sackes describe ways to prompt children to notice differences in day and night in pictures to foster understanding about objects in the sky. An important reminder is to evaluate the books first to make sure they do not introduce misconceptions, but keep in mind that flawed books provide the opportunity to help students analyze content.

A walking fieldtrip can bring much needed outdoor time and opportunity for scientific observation to a class schedule. The objective can be to view the sky, look for birds, find seeds, or to inventory the surrounding environment.
Whether just a walk around the school building or to a natural area several blocks away, a walking fieldtrip is most successful when materials for dealing with unexpected discoveries are brought along.
Here’s a short list of what might be useful:

• Emergency supplies including emergency phone numbers, cell phone, information on student allergies, non-latex disposable gloves, anti-biotic wipes, band-aids, and a trash bag.
• Each student should have drawing “pad” of several sheets of paper folded together, and a pencil, for drawing what they see.
• Students should dress appropriately—wear sunscreen and hat in the middle of the day, and boots and gloves on cold days, for example.
• Identification books or handouts that may be needed, for birds, trees, insects, clouds, or others.
• For looking closer bring magnifiers, and for holding small animals (such as insects) bring small clear containers with lids such as carry-out cups or baby-food containers.
• Young children enjoy using pretend binoculars, made by taping two cardboard tubes together and attaching a wrist loop of yarn with a staple. (See photo below.) Looking through these tubes at objects at any distance will help children focus on details.
• To make your walk more enjoyable, pack a simple snack such as graham crackers and apple slices.
• A camera can be used to document the exploration and discoveries.
• Bring a change of clothes that will fit most children, just in case.

Planting spring-flowering bulbs connects the seasons of Fall and Spring in the minds of young children as they wait all winter for the bulbs to sprout and to see the flowers blooming in the spring. Following the growth of daffodils or tulips reinforces learning about cycles in nature and noting the sequence of the seasons. Read about planting bulbs on the Clemson University Extension Service webpage.
Reading a book, handling a bulb, and seeing what is inside (no tasting!) prepare children to plant a living thing, a flower bulb. Planting a Rainbow by Lois Elhert (Harcourt, 2003), shows bulbs in the ground before sprouting and when blooming. I also like cycle-of-the-season’s books, such as, When This Box is Full by Patricia Lillie (Greenwillow Books, c1993), What Comes in Spring by Barbara Horton (Random House, c1992), Spring: An Alphabet Acrostic by Steven Schnur (Clarion Books, c1999), and Be Blest, a celebration of the seasons by Mary Beth Owens (Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, 1999).
Here’s a song the class can act out while waiting for a turn to plant, (based on, and to the tune of a traditional song,“Jack in the Box” or make up your own):

Spring flowering bulb, (children curl face down on floor/ground, hiding face)
So safe in the ground,
Way down inside, your little dirt mound, (hands curve over head)
Spring flowering bulb so quiet and still,
Won’t you sprout up? (heads up, stretch arms up high)
Of course I will! (jump up!)

I usually explain the word “mound”, and sometimes the word “sprout” before repeating the song.
There are seasonal bulbs that grow and bloom in regions that never experience freezing temperatures, such as the “Spider” lily (Hymenocallis sp.) Tropical Giant. Learn about other tropical bulbs in the
Amaryllidaceae or the Amaryllis family from the Pacific Bulb Society.
Planting the bulbs is a good investment because many species return, year after year, and can be appreciated in many ways. The sweet-sharp-green smell of daffodils takes me back to my childhood.
Peggy

OK, it’s almost October and it’s time to celebrate science. Get ready for Earth Science Week this year (October 12-18, 2008). The theme is “No Child Left Inside.”

If you really are in a celebratory mood, you can move right into National Chemistry Week October 19-25, 2008. The theme is “Having a Ball with Chemistry.”

Both of these websites have lots of resources, and it shouldn’t be hard to find some that align with your curriculum and standards. I did not get any results when I googled National Physics Week or National Biology Week, but please let me know of any nationwide events in these areas!

Astronomy gets into the lineup of October events, too. Check out the Great World Wide Star Count in which your observation data can be uploaded and shared with participants from around the world during the October 20 – November 3 time period.

Don’t forget that October 23 is also the time to celebrate Mole Day.

And then, top off the month by attending the NSTA conference in Charlotte, NC from October 30 – November 1.

With all of these events to celebrate in October, who needs Halloween?

My principal is talking to us about using “formative” assessments. Does this mean taking time away from instruction for more tests? When will I have time to teach?
—W.S., Overland Park, KS
While teaching a lesson, it’s easy to get wrapped up in what we are doing or to “cover” material. But how do we know what students are actually learning? We can wait for the results of state tests, we can give end-of-course exams, or we can create/use unit tests or final projects. These summative assessments help us make decisions about our courses and curriculum (assuming we look at the results), but they don’t tell us much about which students are having problems or have developed misconceptions during our instruction. And by then it could be too late to go back and review or reteach.
Formative assessments are ongoing, classroom-level assessments that are critical to discovering what students are learning during the instructional process, and they help us know if we can move on (if students have learned a topic) or if we need to revisit our instruction to correct any misconceptions or to fill in any gaps. These quick and focused checkups can provide just-in-time information on what students know or can do.
The good news is you probably already use many activities that could be part of a formative assessment process. Quick, frequent thumbs-up/down responses from the students give instant feedback during a discussion. Some teachers use small whiteboards or half sheets of paper on which students write and display short responses. Challenge students to quickly write down their understanding of the topic (as a short summary, graphic organizer, or diagram) in their notebook/journal, share their writing with a partner, and then summarize to the class. These activities could be warm-ups to get your class engaged or bell-ringers to wrap up the day’s lesson.
While students are working together, you can use a checklist of skills, lab behaviors, or quick questions to do “spot checks” while walking around the room. Many schools (including colleges) have clicker systems allowing the students to respond electronically. Vary the methods so they become an integral and enjoyable part of the learning process. Of course, traditional quizzes and lab reports can be used formatively. All of these strategies assume all students are involved, that we provide feedback (more than just a grade or percentage correct), and that we use the results ourselves to improve or validate our instruction. Students should see these activities as part of the learning process, not just as a special event.
Two recent NSTA periodicals focus on assessments: the January 2008 Science Scope and the April 2008 Science and Children (NSTA members can read these online). I’d also recommend the NSTA Press book Science Formative Assessments: 75 Practical Strategies for Linking Assessment, Instruction, and Learning. I showed it to some of my colleagues in other subject areas, and they said quite a few could be adapted to their fields.
I heard once that formative assessment is the tasting a chef does in the kitchen, while summative assessment is the guests celebrating a good meal. If the chef does not do any tasting, he/she is taking a chance on whether the meal will be appetizing for the guests!

One way I like to show the science learning that goes on in school is by posting my photos or children’s work under headings borrowed from, or inspired by, Barbara Lehn in her book What is a Scientist? (1999. Millbrook Press, with photographs by Carol Krauss). Throughout the year the posted pictures change, and gradually fill up each category (some are harder to capture on paper than others). The last category, “Scientists have fun” usually fills first. Children love to look at the photos and reminisce about past activities.
Here are Lehn’s categories and two I added:

• A scientist is a person who asks questions and tries different ways to answer them.
• A scientist learns from her senses.
• A scientist notices details.
• A scientist draws what she sees.
• A scientist writes about what happens.
• A scientist makes comparisons by measuring.
• A scientist must count exactly.
• A scientist looks at objects carefully to decide how to sort.
• A scientist designs experiments to test predictions.
• A scientist experiments by trial and error.
• A scientist thinks logically.
• A scientist keeps trying over and over.
• *A scientist collaborates with others.
• *A scientist lists what she thinks she knows.
• A scientist has fun.

*My additions.

The importance of being scientifically literate, that is, being able to sift through the information and decide what seems likely to be true, was brought home (literally) to me this month when I discovered a “colony” of bed bugs in our house. Colony sounds so much nicer, more David Attenborough, than the word “infestation”. While fascinated with the thought that these small animals had been sharing a family member’s bed for at least a month without disturbing the sleeper (what a good system in which the blood-sucker feeds without harming the host!), I immediately went into search-the-bedrooms, search-the-Internet, and destroy-the-insects mode.
And there was a lot of information about bed bugs to find. Many pest control companies had primers about this invertebrate which looks something like a small, very flat, lentil shaped roach with a pointy head. Entomology departments of universities were also helpful as was an Australian government document. All sites agreed that bed bugs are rebounding after being controlled with the pesticide DDT. (My mother said that they just used a one-time fumigation “bomb” for their apartment back in the day.) I also learned that the initial clean-up we had done in the colonized bedroom had probably spread the surviving animals to other parts of the house because the pesticide we used repels them. Sure enough, a few days later I woke up on several mornings with really itchy bites that have lasted for more than a week. If only I had read further before acting!
My information search resolved into two questions: How did we get them (and not make the same mistake again), and how do we get rid of them now? The bed bugs probably came in on some luggage or a yard-sale stuffed animal, brought by someone who is not sensitive to the bed bug bite and didn’t know they were bringing them. Maybe the bed bugs were still babies, instars who were just a few millimeters of cream-colored exoskeleton looking for a blood meal so they could progress to the next level, that is, molt and move up a nymphal growth stage. The answer to the second question depends on knowing more than most people would like to know about the bed bug life-cycle, and the acceptance of pesticides, and a whole lot of laundering at 60°C. After all my reading I’m still not sure I’m using the correct entomological terms but I do have a plan of action. Because adult bed bugs can survive for 6-7 months without a blood meal, waiting for them to die was not an option.
Even the non-commercial internet sites agreed that it is very difficult to eradicate bed bugs from your home without using a knowledgeable pest control service. Some pest control companies I contacted promised to do the job in one day. Here’s where being able to understand the amazing adaptations of bed bugs to their environment was important. The bed bugs can squeeze through outlet and light switch plates into the space between walls, far away from the household spray we had applied. The eggs they lay in the walls and cracks will hatch after the initial pesticide has broken down and is no longer lethal, so a one-time spray is not likely to end the colony. We are using a combination of techniques to kill all the bed bugs in our house beginning with  a whole-house inspection and application of different pesticides on the beds, mattresses, furniture, baseboards, and inside the walls, by a pest control company. We are hot laundering or dry-cleaning all our fabrics and rugs, especially the bedding and things stored near beds, the drive-in fast food stop for bedbugs. Every day we change and wash our sheets to eliminate any eggs that may have been laid by a surviving adult. I just read about using a diatomaceous earth powder as a long-term protection against survivors or newly hatched or surviving bedbugs—apparently it cuts into their exoskeleton and they dry out and die—so it’s back to the internet to see if this method has any research behind it.
Before the pest control company treatment I had to take my box of Tenebrio (mealworm) beetles out of the house. Odd how depending on the setting, one insect is a valued educational tool and another is a dreaded invader that turns the house upside down. That’s the silver lining: accomplishing the long-delayed deep clean and de-cluttering.