It’s the spunky little Pomeranian yipping at shadows from their human’s lap.
Image: Marjee Chmiel/Smithsonian Science Education Center
It’s the spunky little Pomeranian yipping at shadows from their human’s lap.
Image: Marjee Chmiel/Smithsonian Science Education Center
What do you think of when you hear the word “plastic”? The term has become synonymous with being fake, superficial or cheaply made. Plastic has gotten a bad reputation, but we shouldn’t lose sight of the innovations plastics have brought.
What makes something “plastic”?
“Are we there yet?”
Even people who love road trips will occasionally get bored during a long drive. Cutting down travel time helps to make traveling to different parts of the world easier and more accessible. There is a lot of interest in exploring technologies that can make travel fast and safe. A vehicle known as a maglev train is one type of transportation technology that seems to hold a great deal of promise in that respect.
Take a look at the picture below. You are looking at an underwater forest comprised of giant bladder kelp. Giant bladder kelp. Sounds delicious, right?
OK, maybe not so much, but through some straightforward chemical changes, a molecule found in this and other kelp makes its way to a variety of food, pharmaceuticals, and dental materials you are sure to be familiar with.
Whenever I'm engaged in small talk at a conference, soiree, or any other miscellaneous function where people talk about what they do (in Washington DC, that happens to be all functions, everywhere), someone invariably responds to my description of my vitae with a well-meaning, "It's so great that you are showing kids that science can be fun!" Of course I appreciate people's enthusiasm in what I do; I firmly believe that science education is the most interesting thing a person can do.
New learning standards are designed to keep up with the changing needs of new generations of schoolchildren. By that measure, New York University Professor Okhee Lee sees the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) as a success.
During our annual National Science Education Leadership Development Forum in Alexandria, VA, Professor Lisa Kenyon talked about creating a culture of argumentation in a science classroom. We talked about why you might want a culture of argumentation in your classroom in our previous post. This week, we will discuss what teachers can do to create this culture in their classrooms.
"In order to understand Earth, you have to understand rocks and minerals." Dr. Michael Wise took science teachers from around the nation behind the scenes to learn about some unusual rocks and minerals. His specialty is with pegmatite a mineral found in a variety of critical electronics (such as video game consoles).
A culture of argumentation... at first it doesn't sound like the sort of thing you would want to encourage in the classroom. But especially in science class, it is exactly what our students need. "Argumentation" is the backbone of how scientists talk to one another. Similar to building a court case, scientific arguments are a way to explain what you think, and why you think that way. Unfortunately, despite argumentation's critical role in science, it is seldom used in teaching the subject.
As many of you are done or winding down with the school year, we wanted to ask...how was it? We think ours was pretty good based on some of the feedback we got from students:QUOTE-I-learned-so-much-about
Happy summer, everyone! This is our favorite time of year because we get to meet and work with so many teachers!
Science can be intimidating even to those of us in the field, but particularly to students who find themselves struggling with STEM homework. The way we as educators talk about science can unintentionally contribute to students' self doubt about their potential in STEM. Too often, science is painted as the work of exceptional "geniuses". A superficial glance at history makes it seem as though scientific breakthroughs occur with ease and fanfare.
The tragedy brought about by natural disasters will leave your students with a lot of questions. Even students not directly affected by a damaging storm may find images of a twister and its aftermath scary.
When parents first approached Four Oaks Elementary School principal David Pearce about starting an after-school science club, the North Carolina parents estimated that 40 students would be interested. Shortly after Students learn about animal peltsannouncing the new science club, more than 160 students signed up. The anticipated small gathering of a few students quickly turned into nine separate groups: five K-2 Green Kids' Clubs, two 3-5 Green Kids' Clubs, and two Engineering Clubs.
Our LASER i3 grant looks at the impact of the LASER program on the STEM learning of over 75,000 students in North Carolina, New Mexico, and Houston. How do you evaluate the impact of something so enormous? What evidence for success are we seeing so far? Check out the video recorded and edited by our own Program Assistant, Dana Bulba
Come one, come all to this year's National Science Education Leadership Development Forum! Formerly held during NSTA's National Conference, this year's Forum will take place right in the Smithsonian's backyard. This half-day symposium offers science educators the unique opportunity to hear and experience the research of two distinguished scholars on the topic of scientific argumentation.
This summer we will be conducting three professional development workshops together known as the Smithsonian Science Education Academies for Teachers. These professional development opportunities are special for a lot of reasons, one of which is the opportunity to work with passionate scientists, researchers, and curators. These men and women are not only subject specialists, they are enthusiastic communicators and love to connect with kindred science spirits!
Here are some of the folks that will be working with us:
There have been a lot of changes around here, starting with our name! In order to better reflect our history and mission, we are now the Smithsonian Science Education Center (formerly National Science Resources Center). Our name has changed but our commitment hasn't: we are dedicated to a research-based approach to transforming science education and we continue to produce high-quality, inquiry-based curriculum.
Our publisher Carolina Biological has this wonderful video we would like to share of a teacher working on science with her 1st grade students. Notice the emphasis on student questions in this video...as the teacher says, the students are well on their way to being great scientist.
In addition to science, the students get a chance to use math and math vocabulary while perusing their own questions. Who wouldn't want to be a student in this wonderful classroom?
Has this ever happened to you? You're talking about a science topic with your class and they are captivated (Go You! You are such an awesome teacher!). They are asking tons of questions: Can animals see colors we can't? How do we know? Is the color blue that I see the same as the color blue that you see? How can we tell?
Make a list with fellow science teachers about what might be difficult about a particular science topic.
Time to work together with colleagues can be rare, but a conversation you might consider having with your colleagues is: what is it that makes science, or better yet, specific science topics, "hard".
The NSRC's Investing in Innovation (i3) initiative supports and promotes high quality, inquiry-based science education programs and helps establish infrastructures to sustain those programs for decades to come. This initiative studies the effects of the NSRC's LASER Model in grades 1-8 in three regions: North Carolina, Northern New Mexico, and Houston Independent School District.
Washington, DC-based interns will be based at NSRC's DC offices and may be asked to travel to one or more regional sites to assist with summer workshops.
We're excited to announce that together with other museums and units of the Smithsonian, we will once again be offering the Smithsonian Science Education Academies for Teachers (SSEATS). SSEATS were started in 2005 to bridge the gap between formal and informal science education by combining training in science content and pedagogy with behind the scenes experiences at a wide variety of Smithsonian units, Smithsonian Affiliate partners, inquiry-based STC/ STCMS curriculum and world-class science research facilities throughout the Washington DC area.
Are you interested in science? Are you good at things? Do you like to work with nice, smart people? Is money useful for you in your pursuit of goods and services? Yes? Oh good, we're looking for you!
How do we prepare students for a world where the answers aren't always waiting for them in the back of the book?
In an age of standardized tests and even tests that prepare you for standardized tests, answers, especially that one, single, right one, seem to take on an inflated importance in our classrooms. Those right answers and those tests certainly have a place in our children's education. But where do questions go?