 | | June 5, 2017 |
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| | NSTA shapes the direction of science education, and each year thousands of science teachers provide the vision and energy for our work. NSTA Retiring President Mary Gromko extends a special thank you to them. Learn more about the special people who makes this work possible. |  |
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| | Last week dozens of teachers sent us the unsolicited propaganda they received from the Heartland Institute. This week is your last chance to send us (snail mail) the Heartland booklet you received and we will recycle it for you (or just email us a photo when you recycle). In return, we will give you our popular e-book, Ocean's Effect on Weather and Climate. Learn more. | |
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| | In science classes, do students work better in random groups or with their friends? Veteran teacher Ms. Mentor answers on the NSTA blog. | |
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| | How can a teacher build and maintain a learning environment that will help students investigate meaningful questions? That's the central question of The Power of Investigating: Guiding Authentic Assessments by Julie V. McGough and Lisa M. Nyberg. Read more about how teachers build and maintain learning environments that help students investigate meaningful questions. | |
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| | | On June 15, join Heidi Schweingruber and Peter McLaren for a one-hour webinar on the new National Academies Press book, Seeing Students Learn Science. This publication helps teachers improve their understanding of new approaches to science education and adapt instruction and assessment accordingly. Register here. | |
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| | STEM, the NGSS, force and motion, lab safety, engineering practices, outdoor activities, science notebooks, Pluto, weather and climate, and genetics: These are the hottest topics in the NSTA Learning Center. Join us there to scoop up lesson plans, ask you peers questions, and weigh in on discussions about these. | |
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| | Some educators argue that crosscutting concepts should develop in students' minds organically, and others see the value in making them explicit for students. Is one or the other better, and could graphic organizers be your answer? Read more from science educators Jeremy and Amy Peacock. | |
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| | | | | Grab a box of spaghetti, some plastic foam board, and a few books and blocks, and you are set for a STEM challenge that lets elementary students explore ideas about materials strength. |
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| | | | | This hands-on life science role play lets high school students explore the effects of random biological mutation on animals' survival skills and understand how animal adaptations evolve over time. |
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| | | | | The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary has educational resources for learning about the effects of increased acidity in the oceans. Students can watch video lectures or demonstrations on ocean acidification or do hands-on activities to explore the topic. |
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| | Sometimes showing is easier than telling. That's certainly the case in trying to capture the Next Generation Science Standards—the K–12 learning benchmarks that 18 states and the District of Columbia have adopted and are now using in classrooms. Unlike some previous science standards that focused on the facts, these standards emphasize action. They ask students to construct models, interpret data, design structures, and make arguments. Read the article featured in Education Week. |
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| | A large gap between the number of computer science graduates and available jobs has led an increasing number of districts to boost instruction in computational thinking. The concept refers to the thought process of expressing a solution to a problem with a series of sequenced steps. It's a critical part of computer programming and it can assist learning in all disciplines. Read the article featured in District Administration. |
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| | The Association of American Universities, which works, in part, to improve math, science, engineering and technology education for undergraduates, released a report on "Essential Questions and Data Sources for Continuous Improvement of Undergraduate STEM Teaching and Learning." It includes questions to aid faculty discussions on STEM education at the course, department, division and campus level on pedagogy, scaffolding and cultural change. Read the article featured in Inside Higher Ed. |
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