NSTA Learning Center Professional Development Tools

Möbius Strip: Connecting Teaching and Learning

5/16/2012 12:00:00 AM

A Möbius strip is a nonorientable, two-dimensional surface with only one side. It serves as discrepant paper-and-pencil puzzle entry into scientific inquiry ("what will happen if…"). In this chapter, this topological puzzle serves as a visual participatory analogy to challenge teachers to reconsider the connection among their curricular, instructional, and assessment plans, as well as implementation efforts and impact on learners. The puzzle also introduces the predict-observe-explain (POE) approach to teaching with discrepant events. Students "playing" with this simple, hands-on exploration can be challenged to think about how learning requires minds-on effort on their part. Both teacher and student should see the need to stay connected with-and provide feedback to inform and to teach-each other.

Burning a Candle at Both Ends: Classrooms as Complex Systems

5/16/2012 12:00:00 AM

This introductory activity models how simple it is to prepare and execute interactive, discrepant-event demonstration-experiments. They can be used daily to activate students' perceptual attention, catalyze cognitive processing, and energize interest in science phenomena. This activity also serves as a visual participatory analogy (science education analogy) for classrooms as complex systems where teachers and students interact with one another and phenomena.

Perceptual Paradoxes: Multisensory Science and Measurement

5/16/2012 12:00:00 AM

Perceptual paradox activities challenge assumptions in ways that are both playful and mentally challenging and that point to the need for quantitative measurements. These activities also demonstrate that human meaning-making always involves both selective perception and active conception-making. Each of the experiments in this chapter serves as a unique visual participatory analogy for science education that can be discussed and critiqued.

Web Seminar: Chemistry of Water: Mars Exploration - Is there Water on Mars?, June 20, 2012

5/15/2012 12:00:00 AM

During this professional development Web seminar for educators of grades 9-12, find out how to incorporate the Chemistry of Water: Mars Exploration -- Is There Water on Mars? lesson into your physical science class. You will get an overview of the inquiry-based lesson and develop an understanding of how atmospheric pressure and vapor pressure affect the boiling point of water. You will see learn why water's boiling temperature is pressure dependent, rather than temperature dependent. Then, by extension, you will deduce if there could be liquid water on Mars. By experimenting with water as it changes state and investigating some effects of atmospheric pressure, you will not only learn core ideas in physical science. Find out how research led by NASA has been applied to the search for water on Mars and how you can share these resources with your students. Please visit the main <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NES2/webseminar25.aspx" target="_Blank">web page</a> of this program to see the description and find links to the biographical information about the presenter(s).

Web Seminar: Teaching Climate with Models: Breathing of the Earth, June 11, 2012

5/15/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this web seminar we'll examine a portion of the carbon cycle to see how Earth "breathes." We'll take a look at exchanges of carbon between Earth's atmosphere and the oceans and land plants, and see how human activities have altered those exchange rates. We'll explore a conceptual model, the "climate bathtub" model, as a way to help students understand the flow of carbon between various "reservoirs" or "stocks." Contrary to the intuitive perceptions of many students, merely "turning down the spigot" of human greenhouse gas emissions will not prevent the bulk of problems associated with climate change. We'll show how the bathtub model can help students overcome their misconceptions and understand the importance of timely action to reduce our impacts on future climate.Please visit the main <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/UCAR/webseminar13.aspx" target="_Blank">web page</a> of this program to see the description and find links to the biographical information about the presenter(s).

Archive: Chemistry of Water: Mars Exploration - Is there Water on Mars?, May 14, 2012

5/14/2012 12:00:00 AM

This Web Seminar took place on May 14, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Alissa Keil, NASA Explorer Schools Education Specialist at NASA Johnson Space Center. In this Seminar, Ms. Keil talked about the search for water on Mars and shared related lessons that can be used with high school students. For more information about this web seminar, its presenter(s), read what participants said about it, and to see and download its PowerPoint slides <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NES2/webseminar25-1.aspx" target=_Blank">go here</a>.

Analogies: Powerful Teaching-Learning Tools

5/14/2012 12:00:00 AM

Other than modeling the science process skill of analogical reasoning, this activity is not intended to teach any specific science concept. This is the only activity in this book that is not based on a science discrepant-event activity that can be used with grades 5-12 students (although teachers may wish to use a modified form of the activity with students to introduce the idea of analogies and the need for them to be active learners). This activity models the use of analogies as both a probe to activate and access student understanding and a concept-building tool to extend students' prior knowledge. In this activity, the focus is on the interactive, reciprocal nature of teaching and learning and the related implications for curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

Microbe-Mineral Interactions: Using the Winogradsky Column to Demonstrate Bacterial Reduction of Iron(III)

5/14/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this lesson, students study the reduction of iron oxide minerals in a simulated anaerobic aquatic environment. Students discuss how the respiration of anaerobic bacteria may be involved with iron reduction. Students also consider problems related to excessive nutrients entering surface waters and what role students can play to help sustain the health of the Earth's waters.

Investigation of Bacterial Transport in Groundwater

5/14/2012 12:00:00 AM

Students, in this lesson, explore the transport of bacteria in groundwater by performing a column experiment in a simulated groundwater environment. Students also investigate a groundwater scenario to learn about the influence of groundwater chemistry on bacterial transport.

Nanoforces in Nature: Using Atomic Force Microscopy to Explore Microbe-Mineral Interactions

5/14/2012 12:00:00 AM

This lesson uses computer simulations of an atomic force microscope to investigate bacteria-mineral forces of interaction on the order of nanonewtons over nanoscale distances of interaction. In this lesson, students - learn about the atomic force microscope (AFM), one of the most important tools used in nanoscale science and technology; - see how the AFM is a versatile tool that can be used to study many things, including both organic and inorganic systems; - discover how the AFM can be used to measure the forces of interaction among individual molecules, bacteria, and minerals; - construct a model AFM; - use the model AFM to generate data relating magnetic force to distance; - plot actual research data collected from the AFM to generate a force curve; and - relate changes in AFM force curves to changing conditions in the column experiments.

The First Week of School

5/14/2012 12:00:00 AM

The way you begin the school year will affect everything that occurs in your classroom and with your colleagues for the remainder of the year-and beyond. This chapter will give you ideas of things do to at the very beginning of the year such as The First Day Celebration, First Week Orientation, Getting Organized, Getting to Know Your Students, Motivation Students, Time Management, Your Professional Appearance, and Lesson Planning. This sample chapter also include the Table of Contents, Introduction, and Index.

Cloud Watchers

5/14/2012 12:00:00 AM

Weather is a topic in science that is applicable to our lives on an everyday basis. The weather often determines what we wear, where we go, and what we do. The activities here focus on clouds and the part they play in determining our weather. In the K-3 lesson, students learn about different cloud types and sculpt each type out of shaving cream. In the lesson for grades 4-6, students learn about Luke Howard-the man responsible for naming clouds-and then investigate clouds by collecting real data for NASA's S'COOL project (see Internet Resource). This sample chapter also included the Table of Contents, National Science Education Standards: Content Standards K-4, Content Standards 5-8, Alignment With A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas, and Index.

Reflections on Implementation

5/12/2012 12:00:00 AM

The intent of this chapter is not to review the literature that justifies and rationalizes the implementation of field-based learning experiences for elementary and middle school students and teachers. The authors instead provide narrative statements on implementation from a variety of stakeholders in the process of environmental science education. The hope is that these stories will inspire teachers to find ways to engage students in meaningful environmental science experiences and bring them "inside-out."

Action Projects

5/11/2012 12:00:00 AM

Action projects are an invaluable way to engage students in authentic, real-life application of the concepts they have learned relating to the environment and a wonderful means of instilling a sense of environmental stewardship.This chapter offers suggestions on how to plan action projects that address environmental issues of importance, whether in school grounds or in communities. The authors offer suggestions of how to begin this process, where to seek partnerships and funding, and how to garner support from faculty, administrators, and parents. Actual student projects are showcased in this chapter.

Energy and Nutrients

5/10/2012 12:00:00 AM

This chapter explores the concepts of energy and nutrients and goes back to the fundamental connection of these concepts with the environment. Activities are provided that help students design their own experiments to explore simple, but important, concepts in energy.

Soil: It's Not Dirt

5/10/2012 12:00:00 AM

The focus for this chapter is soil, and the activities investigate the general soil characteristics of color, structure, and texture. Students learn that an examination of the soil can tell much about the area under investigation. Learning about soil and soil composition is an essential part of environmental science education and connects the land-water and land-air interface in a number of significant ways. By learning about important aspects of soil and its significance in the environment, a better understanding of watersheds, nutrient cycles, water quality, and overall quality of the system can be attained.

Biodiversity

5/10/2012 12:00:00 AM

Biodiversity can be defined as the variation of taxonomic life forms within a given ecosystem or biome, or for the entire Earth. It can be used as a measure of the health of an ecosystem, to indicate what has existed from past to present, and to use native populations as a barometer for detecting introduced or invasive species. This chapter keeps the background and methods of measuring biodiversity on a fundamental level while providing an introduction to basic quantitative measures for practical fieldwork.

What Are Nanoscience and Nanotechnology? A Nano Primer

5/9/2012 12:00:00 AM

In the examples presented in this chapter, the authors have defined the nanoscale and nanoscience. They have seen surprising results for two "ordinary" phenomena that they thought they knew everything about, but which were both shown to have surprising twists. These deceptively simple twists are what the nanorevolution is all about.

Historical and Societal Aspects of Nanoscale Science and Technology

5/9/2012 12:00:00 AM

The nanorevolution is here to stay. It is this small scale-where we have the ability to put molecules and atoms to new uses-that fuels the hope and hype surrounding nanotechnology. This chapter discuses the origins of nanoscience, nanotechnology and what nanotechnology means to society in the long run.

The Link Between Nanoscale Science, Technology, and a Vital Environmental Issue: Groundwater Pollution

5/9/2012 12:00:00 AM

Nanoscale science and technology play central roles in our understanding of how Earth works and in the environmental science field of study. As a freshwater source, groundwater is second in abundance only to water found in glaciers and polar ice. Groundwater is critically important as a freshwater source to much of the Earth's population; however, when it is polluted, it becomes a severe and dangerous liability with hundreds of millions of lives at stake from waterborne illnesses. This chapter provides teachers with critical background information on the nature of groundwater and the reasons why nanoscale science and technology are so relevant to groundwater pollution.

Nano2Earth Curriculum and the National Science Education Standards

5/9/2012 12:00:00 AM

With the Nano2Earth curriculum, students learn about nanotechnology and nanoscience by using inquiry to study groundwater pollution. The curriculum is designed to meet the National Science Education Standards (NSES) for content in grades 9-12 (NRC 1996). This chapter goes into detail of what content standard categories are addressed in the curriculum.

Nano2Earth Curriculum Overview

5/9/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Nano2Earth curriculum is designed to promote student inquiry and learner centered investigations of microbe-mineral interactions at the nanoscale. This chapter shows how the curriculum is organized into lessons and to use the curriculum.

Introduction to Water Pollution

5/9/2012 12:00:00 AM

This lesson assesses students' prior knowledge about groundwater pollution and has students investigate types and sources of water pollution. Note that this introductory activity sets the stage for subsequent learning about sources of water pollution.

Physical Geography

5/9/2012 12:00:00 AM

Physical geography becomes a way to identify and better understand the components in the environment and the structure of the landscape. The activities in this chapter will help students build on their observational skills and begin to use interpretation as a way to better understand the world around them. In studying physical geography the terms natural resources, biome, and habitat are fundamental concepts in investigating the natural setting. An important physical feature is a watershed, which directly ties a land area with all the water within its boundaries.

Introduction to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) First Public Draft, May 15, 2012

5/9/2012 12:00:00 AM

Through a collaborative, state-led process managed by Achieve, new K-12 science standards are being developed that will be rich in content and practice, arranged in a coherent manner across disciplines and grades to provide all students an internationally benchmarked science education. The first public draft of these Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) will be released on Friday, May 11. The science education community is encouraged to review the draft document and provide feedback to Achieve and its writers by June 1.Please visit the main <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NSTA/webseminar10.aspx" target="_Blank">web page</a> of this program to see the description and find links to the biographical information about the presenter(s).

Web Seminar: How to Lead a Study Group on Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) First Public Draft, May 16, 2012

5/8/2012 12:00:00 AM

The first public draft of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) will be released on Friday, May 11. What should educators consider when reading and reviewing a draft standards document? How might you organize groups of educators to encourage thoughtful and informative discussions about the draft? Join NSTA as we explore these questions and more about the role of educators in the NGSS public review process and how science teachers can get involved. Get your free guide for leading study groups, including sample agendas, facilitator guides, sample questions, and more. Please visit the main <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/nsta/webseminar11.aspx" target="_Blank">web page</a> of this program to see the description and find links to the biographical information about the presenter(s).

Archive: Planning your Summer PD Activities, May 8, 2012

5/8/2012 12:00:00 AM

This Web Seminar took place on May 8, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Flavio Mendez, Senior Director, NSTA Learning Center. In this Seminar, Mr. Mendez showed participants how to use the Learning Center's PD Plan and Portfolio tool to catalog their professional development. For more information about this web seminar, its presenter(s), read what participants said about it, and to see and download its PowerPoint slides <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NLC/webseminarXIX.aspx" target=_Blank">go here</a>.

Topography

5/8/2012 12:00:00 AM

This chapter introduces the topic of topography, including map use and interpretation. Activities are provided to help students apply their understanding of the topic to the form and structure of the actual landscape.

Archive: Engineering Design/Forces and Motion: Balloon Aerodynamics Challenge, May 7, 2012

5/7/2012 12:00:00 AM

This Web Seminar took place on January 5, 2012, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Kristy Hill, NASA Explorer Schools Education Specialist. In this Seminar, Ms. Hill shared a hands-on lesson that allows students to observe basic aerodynamic forces by designing their own data-collecting balloons. She also demonstrated NASA's real-world applications of these concepts with the International Space Station and other research. For more information about this web seminar, its presenter(s), read what participants said about it, and to see and download its PowerPoint slides <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NES2/webseminar23-3.aspx" target=_Blank">go here</a>.

Teaching Science: A Historical Perspective

5/5/2012 12:00:00 AM

It is the authors' contention that a team of two teachers, one a science teacher with solid content background and the other a special-education-trained teacher, can create a particularly effective synergy to deliver science instruction to what is now often a classroom with a mixture of students, some of whom have special needs. In this chapter, the authors discuss the role of science in curriculum, development and impact of Science Standards, and the impact of high-stakes testing.

Teaching Science: The Instruction

5/5/2012 12:00:00 AM

Teaching science has unique challenges and opportunities for the co-teaching team. Science can be taught with a hands-on approach that encourages students to explore concepts and ideas through interaction. Science lessons can also use simulations or computer programs for instructional activities while providing the opportunity for students to work together. This chapter is intended to provide a general overview of instructional methods and assessment procedures that can be used in an inclusive classroom.

Team Teaching: The Basics

5/5/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this chapter, the importance of communication on a variety of topics is discussed. Each co-teaching team is unique and will have differing preferences for how to establish their working relationship. A good co-teaching relationship is an exciting and rejuvenating experience; however, as with any relationship, there are potential areas of difficulty. These challenges can be managed by each partner committing to communicating and being respectful.

Team Teaching: Science in the Elementary Classroom

5/5/2012 12:00:00 AM

Many of the challenges of team teaching-such as communication, content knowledge, and joint instruction-are issues that all co-teachers must address; however, there are unique characteristics to the elementary classroom that must be navigated by successful co-teaching teams. These issues relate to the characteristics of elementary learners, the focus on learning to read, the scope of the elementary science curriculum, and how co-teaching may be done in the elementary classroom. These challenges for the elementary classroom are discussed in this chapter.

Team Teaching: Science in the Middle School Classroom

5/5/2012 12:00:00 AM

Co-teachers in science at the middle school level must address co-teaching issues as well as the unique challenges of instructing middle school learners. Middle school is just that-in the middle, between elementary school and high school. Middle school students often are referred to as "tweeners," meaning in between young children and teenagers. The successful science co-teaching pair, as discussed in this chapter, will need to address issues relating to the characteristics of middle school learners, the scope of the middle school science curriculum, and how co-teaching may be done in the middle school classroom.

A Team-Teaching Game Plan for One School Year

5/5/2012 12:00:00 AM

This chapter helps to outline what all co-teaching teams should be doing during each phase of a typical school year. Because the two individuals involved in co-teaching are operating in a situation in which there must be teamwork, the authors recommend a sports analogy that compares the approach for co-teachers for the entire school year to a team of coaches preparing for an upcoming season (in any sport). We have broken the year down into three distinct phases: preseason, season, and postseason (Linz, Heater, and Howard 2008). The authors will consider each separately.

Teaching Science to Students With Special Needs in Advance Classes

5/5/2012 12:00:00 AM

Most advanced science classes are not team taught. Although there may be several students with special needs in honors, gifted and talented, International Baccalaureate (IB), or Advanced Placement (AP) science classes, classroom instruction is typically conducted by a single science teacher. It is important to note that the requirements (and needs) of students with IEPs do not disappear once that student is in an advanced class. It is critical, therefore, for science teachers to understand how to meet these needs and to learn what resources are available to assist both students and teachers. This chapter provides an overview of how to include students with special needs in honors, gifted and talented, IB, or AP classes.

Working With Others

5/5/2012 12:00:00 AM

Team teachers need to recognize the importance of establishing positive relationships with school professionals, principals, and parents. These relationships can be accomplished by focusing on establishing communication strategies and working to resolve differences. This chapter gives details of how to establish positive relationship. The same strategies that can strengthen effective co-teaching partnerships can be used to enhance the working relationship necessary to support student success.

Conclusion

5/5/2012 12:00:00 AM

This chapter sums up what the authors hope you have learned in previous chapters of Team Teaching Science: Success for All Learners.

Bacteria: The Good, The Bad, and Getting Rid of the Ugly

5/5/2012 12:00:00 AM

Most students think about bacteria primarily in the context of disease. However, bacteria are the most numerous organisms on Earth, and only a fraction of them cause disease. The exploration in this chapter-growing bacteria from the environment-is always popular with students. The reading reinforces their experience culturing bacteria, introduces the cell organization of bacteria, and clarifies that bacteria can be both helpful and harmful to humans.

Hunting the Ancient Whales

5/5/2012 12:00:00 AM

As mammals that live in the water, whales have been an enigma since the time of Darwin. In the past 20 years, biologists and paleontologists have uncovered a remarkably complete story of whales' transition from land to water. The evolution of whales provides an excellent example of how biologists use a variety of types of evidence to understand evolution. This lesson introduces students to a small portion of the fossil, biochemical, and genetic information that is known about the evolution of whales.

A Crisis of Crabs

5/4/2012 12:00:00 AM

It is easy for ecology to degenerate into lists of vocabulary words and isolated concepts, leaving students without an appreciation for the complexity of ecological systems. This chapter is designed to help students think about the connections between all of the players in both a familiar and a less-familiar ecosystem. The chapter would work well as a concluding activity for an ecology unit or following lessons on food chains, geological cycles (such as water, carbon, and nitrogen), and habitats. It could also introduce an ecology unit, assuming students have had some exposure to ecological concepts in elementary school.

The Outsiders

5/4/2012 12:00:00 AM

Students often believe that classification is an innate system in nature, discovered whole and unchanged by scientists. In this chapter, students will get a brief introduction to how classification has changed over the years by studying the odd organisms in Kindgom Protista. Most students have had little, if any, exposure to protists prior to middle school. This chapter fits well after students have studied basic classification principles, including the levels of classification, and as an introduction to protists.

Some Like It Hot

5/4/2012 12:00:00 AM

The word adaptation, as used in everyday speech, refers to a choice that individuals make to adjust to a new environment. In biology, adaptation refers to changes in populations that result from natural selection. This chapter uses a simulation involving penguins to show how biological adaptation can take place.

No Bones About It

5/4/2012 12:00:00 AM

All animals have some form of a skeleton. Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals have an internal skeleton, made of bones or cartilage. Arthropods have a stiff internal skeleton. Worms and other soft-bodied invertebrates have a hydrostatic skeleton. The lesson in this chapter will compare exoskeletons and internal bony skeletons while also introducing the other main characteristics of arthropods. This lesson should be used to introduce the concept of invertebrates.

Oh! I Gotta Pee!

5/4/2012 12:00:00 AM

There are many misconceptions about the urinary system. The misconceptions make it hard for students to understand the critical role of the kidneys. This chapter starts out by having students identify their current ideas about urination and leads them to correct any misconceptions.

A Gene for Drunkenness?

5/4/2012 12:00:00 AM

This chapter focuses on the relationship between genes and alcoholism. Examining this relationship can help students make wise choices about drinking, and it also can help them gain a wider perspective on genetics-a perspective that can help them understand a host of problems, from heart disease to obesity to depression.

Cells R Us

5/3/2012 12:00:00 AM

The lesson in this chapter is designed to open a unit on cells and cell parts. In the exploration, students will view plant, animal, and bacteria cells through a microscope while looking for the answers to their own questions about cells. The reading will provide essential cell-related vocabulary that the students can apply to the visual images they created for themselves during the exploration.

Healing Powers

5/3/2012 12:00:00 AM

The basic ideas in this chapter are simple. The cell duplicates important parts (including DNA) and then divides in half. Students often find the topic of cell division difficult because they become bogged down in the immense vocabulary associated with it. This lesson begins with a video animation of mitosis and cell division played without sound to help students develop a mental image of the process, then the article and activities help them master the key words.

The Challenge

5/3/2012 12:00:00 AM

You have recently found yourself assigned to team teach science. You may be a science teacher with no experience working with a class containing several students with special needs, or you may be a special education teacher who has never taught science. Or you may be a teacher with no co-teaching experience in any discipline. This chapter gives you an overview of the Challenge of team teaching.

Archive: New Climate Tools for Educators, May 3, 2012

5/3/2012 12:00:00 AM

This Web Seminar took place on May 3, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenters were Amy Work, education coordinator at the Institute for the Application of Geospatial Technology (IAGT), and Peg Steffen, education coordinator for the Communications and Education Division of NOAA's National Ocean Service. In this program, Ms. Work and Ms. Steffen talked about free online tools and resources that educators can use to teach about climate change issues. For more information about this web seminar, its presenter(s), read what participants said about it, and to see and download its PowerPoint slides <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/indy2012/webseminar2.aspx" target=_Blank">go here</a>.

Interdependence of Life

5/3/2012 12:00:00 AM

A Science Guide is a valuable classroom resource for science teachers interested in integrating the web into their teaching. Each guide consists of approximately 100 web-accessible resources (URLs) that have been aligned to the National Science Education Standards (NSES) and vetted across eight educational rubrics, such as Inquiry, Interactivity, Communication/ Collaboration, How Scientists Learn, etc. These URL resources have been assembled in a thematic drill-down structure with linked lesson plans, vignettes, samples of student work and MP3 files that demonstrate how the Guide's URLs can be utilized in a classroom. Ultimately, a Science Guide is a resource that saves educators time by providing exemplary web resources that have been pre-evaluated and aligned to the National Science Education Standards. The Interdependence of Life SciGuide includes a variety of resources that explore organisms and their environments, species relationships, population balance in biomes, and aganets of change in ecosystems.

The Parallax Effect

5/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

The stars are too far away to measure their distance directly, so astronomers use an indirect method that involves looking at the star from two or more perspectives. They measure how much the foreground star's position changes among the background stars when viewed from one position compared to another position. This Reading provides background information on the underlying concepts in the Activities included in the book, Project Earth Science: Astronomy, Revised 2nd Edition. The Readings go beyond what is found in the background information in the Activities. They can be used as supplementary information for the teacher, or to enhance classroom discussions.

Earth as a System

5/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

Earth is an extremely complex system with many components and subsystems, and they all interact and affect each other. The four major subsystems are atmosphere (air), lithosphere (land), hydrosphere (water), and biosphere (life). A change in one part of the system will cause changes in other parts. This Reading provides background information on the underlying concepts in the Activities included in the book, Project Earth Science: Astronomy, Revised 2nd Edition. The Readings go beyond what is found in the background information in the Activities. They can be used as supplementary information for the teacher, or to enhance classroom discussions.

The Water Cycle

5/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

Water is such an integral part of human existence that it makes up nearly three-quarters of Earth's surface and has a profound effect on all life on Earth. Water vapor in the atmosphere accounts for just one-thousandth of 1% of all the water on Earth, but it has a tremendous impact on Earth's climate and weather patterns. This Reading provides background information on the underlying concepts in the Activities included in the book, Project Earth Science: Astronomy, Revised 2nd Edition. The Readings go beyond what is found in the background information in the Activities. They can be used as supplementary information for the teacher, or to enhance classroom discussions.

The Greenhouse Effect

5/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

The greenhouse effect refers to the way Earth's atmospheric gases create a barrier that allows the heat from the Sun to penetrate and be absorbed by Earth's surface. The heat is trapped, much like in a greenhouse. The greenhouse effect on Venus works so "well" that its surface is 457°C. The greenhouse effect on Earth is not as intense, so it is able to sustain life as we know it. This Reading provides background information on the underlying concepts in the Activities included in the book, Project Earth Science: Astronomy, Revised 2nd Edition. The Readings go beyond what is found in the background information in the Activities. They can be used as supplementary information for the teacher, or to enhance classroom discussions.

The Coming Climate Crisis?

5/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

Much has been written about global warming and climate change, but Dr. Claire Parkinson, a NASA climatologist, cautions about the more alarmist predictions of future crises. Global warming is a fact, but how we go about dealing with it is still open for discussion. Dr. Parkinson warns against massive geoengineering schemes that might backfire and create an even larger disaster than they were trying to correct. This Reading provides background information on the underlying concepts in the Activities included in the book, Project Earth Science: Astronomy, Revised 2nd Edition. The Readings go beyond what is found in the background information in the Activities. They can be used as supplementary information for the teacher, or to enhance classroom discussions.

Global Warming

5/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

Global warming is happening now, and scientists have evidence that humans are to blame. The rate of warming in the past 50 years has doubled, and temperatures are certain to go up even more. To gain an understanding of how global warming might impact humanity, it is necessary to understand what global warming is, how scientists measure it, and how forecasts for the future are made. This Reading provides background information on the underlying concepts in the Activities included in the book, Project Earth Science: Astronomy, Revised 2nd Edition. The Readings go beyond what is found in the background information in the Activities. They can be used as supplementary information for the teacher, or to enhance classroom discussions.

Reasons for the Seasons

5/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

Understanding the causes of Earth's seasons is quite challenging and is often misunderstood. Earth's seasons are caused by the combination of its orbit around the Sun and the tilt of Earth's axis in relation to that orbit. These factors cause the height of the Sun's path, as seen from any given location, to change throughout the year. The height of the Sun in the sky determines how much heating will take place. This Reading provides background information on the underlying concepts in the Activities included in the book, Project Earth Science: Astronomy, Revised 2nd Edition. The Readings go beyond what is found in the background information in the Activities. They can be used as supplementary information for the teacher, or to enhance classroom discussions.

Phases of the Moon

5/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

The cause for the changing appearance of the Moon-its phases-is a difficult concept for many people to learn, and this gives rise to some surprisingly stubborn preconceptions. The phases are caused by the fact that we can only see the part of the Moon that is illuminated by the Sun. The amount of the illuminated surface that we can see from Earth varies as the Moon orbits Earth. This Reading provides background information on the underlying concepts in the Activities included in the book, Project Earth Science: Astronomy, Revised 2nd Edition. The Readings go beyond what is found in the background information in the Activities. They can be used as supplementary information for the teacher, or to enhance classroom discussions.

Archive: Natural and Anthropogenic Climate Impacts as Evidenced in Ice Cores, May 2, 2012

5/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

This Web Seminar took place on May 2, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenters were Dr. Joseph McConnell, faculty member at the Desert Research Institute (DRI) in Reno, Nevada, and Linda Morris, Education Program Manager for the NSF-funded Ice Drilling Program Office. For more information about this web seminar, its presenter(s), read what participants said about it, and to see and download its PowerPoint slides <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NSF/webseminar3.aspx" target=_Blank">go here</a>.

The Reading Strategies

5/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

Reading strategies can be important for helping students improve reading, but students need something more. They need to begin to view reading as an active search for meaning that is within their control. In this chapter find out how teachers can change how students think about reading just by the way reading is talked about in classrooms.

How Do You Know That? Helping Students With Claims and Evidence

5/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

Making claims (often called conclusions) and providing evidence are at the heart of the practice of science. Any simple activity that has students focus on making a claim and supporting it with evidence can be used as a starting point for introducing claims and evidence. This chapter provides two possible approaches and provides a rubric that can be used to assess the claims that students make in these activities and also serve as a springboard for a class discussion about what makes an effective claim.

A-Maze-ing Worms

5/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

This chapter has two main goals. The first goal is to ease students into the reading procedures described in Chapter 1 by using two reading passages-"On Your Mark!" allows students to practice using the codes to show what they are thinking as they read and "A-Maze-ing Worms," lets students practice the group reading process. The second goal is to review for students how to design a controlled experiment. Controlled experiments are a cornerstone of life science research. Although most students will have studied this topic usually called "the" scientific method, in prior classes, many have not mastered it by middle school.

Getting Started

5/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

This chapter provides an overview of the book that has everything needed to boost students' science and reading skills. Start by learning about the strategies you need in Chapters 2 and 3, and then dive into the 12 content chapters. As you work through these lessons together, you will be able to watch students' confidence as readers-and your confidence as a reading educator-grow. So, Get Started!

Archive: Developing Visual Literacy in Science K-8, May 1, 2012

5/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

This Web Seminar took place on May 1, 2012 from 8:15 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Dr. Jo Anne Vasquez, NSTA Press Author and Vice President and Program Director - Arizona Transition Years, Teacher and Curriculum Initiatives at Helios Education Foundation. In this Seminar, the presenter talked about how to use visual literacy to help students better understand science concepts. For more information about this web seminar, its presenter(s), read what participants said about it, and to see and download its PowerPoint slides <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NSTA/webseminar8.aspx" target=_Blank">go here</a>.

Empowering Science Teachers to Lead

5/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

For too long, teachers have allowed others to make work-related decisions for them. Science teachers need to see themselves as the key to the success of the educational enterprise. This chapter provides the first steps teachers need to take to be heard, as well as three recommendations for empowering science teachers to lead.

Conferences and Sessions: NSTA Area Conference on Science Education: Science-Everyone, Everyday!, Louisville, 2012

5/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

Learn how science is for everyone, every day during the NSTA Louisville Area Conference on Science Education. Conference strands include: - Everyday Connections: Science Across the Curriculum - Everyday Applications: Putting STEM to Work - Everyday Innovations: Creativity and Problem Solving with Science The conference will begin with concurrent sessions on Thursday, October 18, at 8:00 AM and end on Saturday, October 20, at 12 Noon. Visit <a href="http://www.nsta.org/conferences/2012lou">http://www.nsta.org/conferences/2012lou</a> for more information about the NSTA Area Conference in Louisville, KY, 2012. Open to member and nonmember science educators, NSTA conferences offer the latest in science content, teaching strategy, and research to enhance and expand your professional growth. Take advantage of this unique opportunity to collaborate with science education leaders and your peers. Each year NSTA hosts a national conference on science education and three area conferences on science education. Visit <a href="http://www.nsta.org/conferences">http://www.nsta.org/conferences</a> for more information about NSTA Conferences on Science Education. Topics include: Life Science, Physical Science, and Earth and space Science. Presentations also include pedagogical topics such as: Assessment, science safety, classroom management, educational research, online learning, and professional development.

Conferences and Sessions: NSTA Area Conference on Science Education: Science: Passport for Success, Atlanta, 2012

5/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

Take a trip to the NSTA Atlanta Area Conference on Science Education and discover how science can be a passport for success in your teaching. Conference strands include: - Providing Access for All Students to the Science in STEM - Effective and Engaging K-8 Science - No Student or Teacher Left Inside The conference will begin with concurrent sessions on Thursday, November 1, at 8:00 AM and end on Saturday, November 3, at 12 Noon. Visit <a href="http://www.nsta.org/conferences/2012ata">http://www.nsta.org/conferences/2012ata</a> for more information about the NSTA Area Conference in Atlanta, GA, 2012. Open to member and nonmember science educators, NSTA conferences offer the latest in science content, teaching strategy, and research to enhance and expand your professional growth. Take advantage of this unique opportunity to collaborate with science education leaders and your peers. Each year NSTA hosts a national conference on science education and three area conferences on science education. Visit <a href="http://www.nsta.org/conferences">http://www.nsta.org/conferences</a> for more information about NSTA Conferences on Science Education. Topics include: Life Science, Physical Science, and Earth and space Science. Presentations also include pedagogical topics such as: Assessment, science safety, classroom management, educational research, online learning, and professional development.

Conferences and Sessions: NSTA STEM Forum & Expo, Atlantic City, 2012

5/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

Tools for STEM Education…Preparations and Applications for Elementary and Middle School EducatorsElementary and middle school educators face unique challenges and extraordinary opportunities to build foundational skills and inspire interest in STEM. The main focus of the STEM Forum & Expo is geared toward the elementary and middle school levels, where it all begins! However, input and considerations from high school, preservice, college, and university educators, and administrators are essential. The STEM Forum & Expo will kick off with an exclusive three-hour sneak preview of the Exhibit Hall on Wednesday, May 16, including a reception featuring light refreshments. Cap off your days of educator sessions and exhibitor workshops by returning to the Exhibit Hall Thursday, May 17 from 3:00 - 6:00 pm and Friday, May 18 from 2:00 - 5:00 pm. A poster session will be available on Saturday, May 19. Visit <a href="http://www.nsta.org/conferences/2012atl">http://www.nsta.org/conferences/2012atl</a> for more information about the NSTA STEM Forum & Expo, Atlantic City, 2012. Open to member and nonmember science educators, NSTA conferences offer the latest in science content, teaching strategy, and research to enhance and expand your professional growth. Take advantage of this unique opportunity to collaborate with STEM education leaders and your peers. Topics include: STEM, Engineering, Technology, Mathematics, Science, Life Science, Physical Science, and Earth and space Science. Presentations also include pedagogical topics such as: Assessment, science safety, classroom management, educational research, online learning, professional learning, and professional development.

Conferences and Sessions: NSTA Area Conference on Science Education: Honor the Past; Prepare the Future, Phoenix, 2012

5/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

Honor the past and prepare for the future of science education at the NSTA Phoenix Area Conference on Science Education. Conference strands include: - The STEM Puzzle-Putting It Together - Sustainability: Growing, Nurturing, and Ensuring Our Future - Literacy: Communicating and Understanding Science The conference will begin with concurrent sessions on Thursday, December 6, at 8:00 AM and end on Saturday, December 8, at 12 Noon. Visit <a href="http://www.nsta.org/conferences/2012pho">http://www.nsta.org/conferences/2012pho</a> for more information about the NSTA Area Conference in Phoenix, AZ, 2012. Open to member and nonmember science educators, NSTA conferences offer the latest in science content, teaching strategy, and research to enhance and expand your professional growth. Take advantage of this unique opportunity to collaborate with science education leaders and your peers. Each year NSTA hosts a national conference on science education and three area conferences on science education. Visit <a href="http://www.nsta.org/conferences">http://www.nsta.org/conferences</a> for more information about NSTA Conferences on Science Education. Topics include: Life Science, Physical Science, and Earth and space Science. Presentations also include pedagogical topics such as: Assessment, science safety, classroom management, educational research, online learning, and professional development.

Engaging Science Teachers in the Wider World of Science

5/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

This chapter focuses on how secondary science teachers can remain connected-as professionals-to science and scientists. It features four programs designed to do this, all based on a similar rationale, namely, that secondary science teachers need to experience real science, working at the bench, at the computer, and in a structured collaboration with other scientists.

Science Teaching Elsewhere: Spotlight on Finland

5/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

The United States competes with graduates from other countries. In this chapter, the authors pose the question: What can we learn from their systems, particularly with regard to science teaching as a profession? The chapter focuses on one European country-Finland-that has made teacher status and satisfaction a top priority, and features the result of its efforts.

Everyday Engineering: Putting the E in STEM Teaching and Learning (e-book)

4/30/2012 12:00:00 AM

"The idea for Everyday Engineering began with our interest in design and production issues related to the simple ballpoint pen. We were struck by the elegance of the means for retracting the reservoir and transferring the ink to paper …. For some months, we found ourselves taking a number of things apart-becoming more and more intrigued with the design of the seemingly simple. When thought about in this light, paper clips and pump soap dispensers become fascinating; so, too, is learning the history of how these everyday objects were developed." -From the Introduction to Everyday Engineering Here's an ideal way to spark students' fascination with the marvels of engineering behind the seemingly simple. This book is a compilation of popular "Everyday Engineering" columns from NSTA's middle school journal, Science Scope. The collection is made up of 14 activities that explore engineering's role in five areas: the office, the kitchen, the bathroom, electricity, and outdoor recreation. Students can perform hands-on investigations of objects they use all the time, asking questions such as: - What makes a Bic click? - Why do squirt guns squirt? - What makes a better cereal box? Each activity includes a clear explanation of the science and history behind the object's development plus a material's list, student data sheets, and safety suggestions. The collection is useful to classroom teachers as well as scout leaders, engineers leading outreach activities, after-school and summer enrichment program staff, and parents. Everyday Engineering may soon have your students taking a number of things apart-and putting together a lifelong interest in engineering.

Everyday Engineering: Putting the E in STEM Teaching and Learning (Print and e-Book Set)

4/30/2012 12:00:00 AM

Scale Measurements

4/30/2012 12:00:00 AM

Measuring parallax and angular diameters are two indirect methods of measuring size and distance in the solar system. The scale model is another indirect method of measurement that also allows us to explore the relationships between multiple components in a system. This Reading provides background information on the underlying concepts in the Activities included in the book, Project Earth Science: Astronomy, Revised 2nd Edition. The Readings go beyond what is found in the background information in the Activities. They can be used as supplementary information for the teacher, or to enhance classroom discussions.

The Goldilocks Effect: Earth Is Just Right

4/30/2012 12:00:00 AM

Complex life forms require certain conditions to thrive. The distance from a star at which an Earth-like planet could sustain life is known as the habitable zone-not too close, not too far, but just right. This Reading provides background information on the underlying concepts in the Activities included in the book, Project Earth Science: Astronomy, Revised 2nd Edition. The Readings go beyond what is found in the background information in the Activities. They can be used as supplementary information for the teacher, or to enhance classroom discussions.

How Did Teaching First Gain and Then Lose Its Professional Status?

4/30/2012 12:00:00 AM

There is widespread agreement that science teaching is more than a career-it's a "calling," and it's the "discovery" that hooks teachers into doing science. This chapter presents "The Elements of the Profession" sidebar, and if one identifies the 12 critical elements of professional life, as the authors do, some positive changes can be made in teachers' work lives, and in their status as professionals.

The Long Shadow of No Child Left Behind

4/30/2012 12:00:00 AM

The No Child Left Behind Act was signed into law January 2002, and started a multistate effort to push for "accountability" in the nation's locally controlled schools-all U.S. students needed to achieve grade-level reading and math proficiency by 2014. This chapter focuses on the fact that measuring science proficiency was not in the mix which made it more difficult to get state departments of education, school boards, and school administrators to support the science curriculum.

Ongoing Efforts to Elevate Teachers' Capability and Status

4/30/2012 12:00:00 AM

The publication of A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform in 1983, was more than just another report on the need for school reform. In this chapter, the authors examine the impact on teachers and teaching of some reforms, that, unlike high-stakes testing, are designed to elevate teachers' status-the National Board Certification and Professional Learning Communities (PLCs).

Angular Diameters

4/30/2012 12:00:00 AM

Measuring diameters of objects in the solar system is difficult due to their vast distances and huge sizes. If the distance to an object is known, we can use a method of indirect measurement in which we measure the angular diameter, and then apply a geometric principle called similar triangles. This Reading provides background information on the underlying concepts in the Activities included in the book, Project Earth Science: Astronomy, Revised 2nd Edition. The Readings go beyond what is found in the background information in the Activities. They can be used as supplementary information for the teacher, or to enhance classroom discussions.

What Is a Light Year?

4/30/2012 12:00:00 AM

Distances to stars and galaxies are so great that communicating the measurement in kilometers is cumbersome and difficult to comprehend. So, astronomers use a larger unit of measure called the "light year." It is the distance that light travels in one year. This Reading provides background information on the underlying concepts in the Activities included in the book, Project Earth Science: Astronomy, Revised 2nd Edition. The Readings go beyond what is found in the background information in the Activities. They can be used as supplementary information for the teacher, or to enhance classroom discussions.

Hubble Space Telescope

4/30/2012 12:00:00 AM

For the past 400 years, astronomers have explored the universe with telescopes. Telescopes gather light from distant objects and funnel the light into our eyes, or into a camera. But, Earth's atmosphere absorbs some of the light coming from those distant objects. Space telescopes, positioned above the atmosphere, have become extremely valuable tools for exploration, and the Hubble Space Telescope is arguably at the top of the list. This Reading provides background information on the underlying concepts in the Activities included in the book, Project Earth Science: Astronomy, Revised 2nd Edition. The Readings go beyond what is found in the background information in the Activities. They can be used as supplementary information for the teacher, or to enhance classroom discussions.

Flow of Matter and Energy in Ecosystems

4/30/2012 12:00:00 AM

A Science Guide is a valuable classroom resource for science teachers interested in integrating the web into their teaching. Each guide consists of approximately 100 web-accessible resources (URLs) that have been aligned to the National Science Education Standards (NSES) and vetted across eight educational rubrics, such as Inquiry, Interactivity, Communication/ Collaboration, How Scientists Learn, etc. These URL resources have been assembled in a thematic drill-down structure with linked lesson plans, vignettes, samples of student work and MP3 files that demonstrate how the Guide's URLs can be utilized in a classroom. Ultimately, a Science Guide is a resource that saves educators time by providing exemplary web resources that have been pre-evaluated and aligned to the National Science Education Standards. The Cells and Chemical Reactions SciGuide includes a variety of resources that explore the relationships and interactive on matter and energy in ecosystem as well as concentrating on carbon and it's role in ecosystems.

Half a Life is Better Than None

4/28/2012 12:00:00 AM

Most of chemistry deals with chemical reactions and, hence, with how electrons in atoms behave either in single atoms or when those atoms get together with other atoms. There is a branch, though, that deals with the nuclei of atoms-and that's what this chapter is about.

A Little Organic

4/28/2012 12:00:00 AM

It would be impossible to investigate even a fraction of organic chemistry in this book, so in this chapter the author goes over a few things that will complement the limited organic chemistry in the first book. This is not a comprehensive chapter on organic chemistry but a chance to find out a bit more about all things organic. This chapter can certainly be used as an application of how hybrid orbitals behave.

An Overview

4/28/2012 12:00:00 AM

The authors argue throughout this book, meaningful, lasting change in the quality of secondary science is going to depend on what teachers do for themselves. This book, thanks to the amount of formal and informal input we have had from secondary science teachers themselves, is meant to be a resource for just that self-empowerment.

Attrition: Why It Matters

4/28/2012 12:00:00 AM

The impetus for this book and for much of the nation's conversation during recent years about the impending "shortfall" of science teachers was the publication in 2007 of a National Academy of Sciences study, provocatively titled Rising Above the Gathering Storm. Basing the analysis on the numbers of existing and available science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers, the authors called for an increase of 10,000 new science and math teachers per year for the next decade. This chapter focuses on how this study was taken seriously and led many of the nation's schools of education and supportive foundations to set about trying to figure out how to recruit, train, induct, and deliver the numbers.

Electro-Luminescence

4/27/2012 12:00:00 AM

The title of this chapter is a compact way of saying that it covers two separate branches of chemistry. The first is electrochemistry and the second is the interaction of light with matter. An entire chapter could be spent on each of these areas, but this would work against the purpose of the book-to increase your understanding so that you can tackle regular textbooks, not create a new textbook.

The Name's Bond ... Pi Bond

4/27/2012 12:00:00 AM

To begin this chapter, you need to picture electrons in atoms as residing in orbitals-those fuzzy things that can be spherical, dumbbell-shaped, or even ring-shaped. The author addresses orbitals and why they're fuzzy and then deals with how the shapes of orbitals determine the kinds of bonds that form between atoms. Finally, this chapter covers how the location of orbitals and the electrons in them determine the shapes of molecules. You'll understand the title of this chapter once you've finished it.

Dynamic Atoms

4/26/2012 12:00:00 AM

This chapter is about states of matter and a section of chemistry called thermodynamics which is the inspiration (or lack thereof) for the chapter title. The chapter might seem just a bit disconnected from the content in the rest of the book, but it's an important part of chemistry and helps introduce the equally important concepts of moles and molarity.

Archive: Climate Change Here and Now: U.S. Forest Service Research Websites Which Model Potential Future Climate Change and Changes to Bird and Tree Species Distribution, April 26,2012

4/26/2012 12:00:00 AM

This Web Seminar took place on April 26, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Vicki Arthur, Conservation Education Specialist at the U.S. Forest Service Conservation Education Office. In this Seminar, Ms. Arthur discussed three web-based research tools that teachers can use to engage students with local climate change issues. For more information about this web seminar, its presenter(s), read what participants said about it, and to see and download its PowerPoint slides <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/indy2012/webseminar1.aspx" target=_Blank">go here</a>.

Habitable Zone: How Distance and Temperature Are Related

4/26/2012 12:00:00 AM

Earth is the only planet we know of in the solar system that supports life. In this activity, students will investigate the way distance from a light source affects temperature-one of the many reasons why Earth is "just right" in its ability to support life. Students will measure temperature over time at different distances from a lamp. They also will guess the distance that will give them a target temperature, and then interpolate the distance from their graphed data. Finally, they will test their interpolated distance.

Creature Feature: Comparing Earth to Mars and Venus

4/26/2012 12:00:00 AM

Mars and Venus are Earth's closest neighbors. The differences between them are striking. In many ways, Earth can be thought of as the happy medium between the two extremes that Mars and Venus represent. In this activity, students create Martians and Venusians based on a comparison of the physical, orbital, and atmospheric properties of Mars, Venus, and Earth.

Reasons for the Seasons

4/26/2012 12:00:00 AM

Students, in this activity, use a globe and lamp to model Earth's orbit. From this concrete model, they see and understand that the cause of Earth's seasons is the tilt of its rotational axis.

Phases of the Moon

4/26/2012 12:00:00 AM

Every 29.5 days, the Moon's shape appears to change in a predictable cycle. We call the shapes phases of the Moon. This activity will show how the Moon's orbit causes the Moon's phases. Students use Ping-Pong or Styrofoam balls to model the way the Sun illuminates the Moon as the Moon orbits Earth. Then they model the orbit of the Moon around Earth using a painted ball to understand why the Moon shows phases.

Dèjà Review

4/25/2012 12:00:00 AM

This is the second chemistry book in the Stop Faking It! series-the first one is Chemistry Basics. This book introduces new concepts and expands on many of the concepts presented in the first book, hence the author felt it would be helpful to begin the book with a chapter that reviews the content of Chemistry Basics.

The Formation of the Solar System

4/25/2012 12:00:00 AM

Over the last four centuries, people have developed many theories to explain the origin and evolution of the solar system. Today, the theory most commonly held by scientists is known as the solar nebula theory. In this activity, students create, observe, and analyze a vortex of vermiculite in a bucket of water to model the Solar Nebular Disk Model.

Archive: Microbial Habitats Below Ice, April 25, 2012

4/25/2012 12:00:00 AM

This Web Seminar took place on April 25, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Dr. Jill Mikucki from the Department of Microbiology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. In this Seminar, Dr. Mikucki talked about her research on the microbiological communities found in Antarctica's subice ecosystems. For more information about this web seminar, its presenter(s), read what participants said about it, and to see and download its PowerPoint slides <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NSF/webseminar2.aspx" target=_Blank">go here</a>.

How Far to the Star? The Parallax Effect

4/25/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students conduct two experiments with parallax by viewing a pencil against a backdrop marked with equally spaced lines. In the first experiment, students note the shift in the apparent position of the pencil by viewing it with each eye at various distances. In the second experiment, they discover the effect of changing the length of the baseline.

Herp, Herp, Hooray

4/24/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this lesson, students work in teams to create their own amphibian conservation plans. The objective is for students to develop and explain their own conservation ideas.

Frog Pond Choices

4/24/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this lesson, students discuss and evaluate complicated decisions that take place around a frog pond habitat. The objective is for students to examine and discuss their own values around real-life environmental scenarios that involve amphibians.

Frogville Town Meeting

4/24/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this lesson, students take on the roles of various stakeholders in a town meeting. The objectives are for students to identify and describe the points of view of different stakeholders in a fictitious community dilemma, as well as develop an understanding of how communities are able to solve problems despite citizens with different points of view.

Amphibian Art

4/24/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this lesson, students create art based on amphibian species and analyze how art can impact culture and how artists use issues as subjects for their work. The objectives are for students to create art that depicts amphibians and then research and write or present about the amphibian they chose to depict.

Measuring the Moon Indirectly

4/24/2012 12:00:00 AM

It is difficult to measure objects in the solar system because it is so massive. In this activity, students use a cross-staff to measure the angular diameter of a paper plate 4 m away. From this, they learn to measure the actual or true diameter of distant objects, such as the Moon, that can only be measured indirectly

Light Year as Distance

4/24/2012 12:00:00 AM

Students, in this activity, measure distances by walking heel-to-toe in the unit "student minute." This is to gain an intuitive under¬standing of light years, a unit in which time represents distance.

Solar System Scale

4/24/2012 12:00:00 AM

Sizes and distances in the solar system are difficult to visualize. In this activity, students calculate scaled distances and planetary diameters to planets in our solar system. They then make a model in a large open space, using their scaled measurements.

The Speed of Light

4/24/2012 12:00:00 AM

This activity is designed to help students understand that light does have a finite speed and that this has consequences for us. In order to grasp the meaning of the activity, it is important for students to understand that light acts as a messenger in the same way that a person can. Students carry messages within a scale model of our solar system from Earth to Mercury, Venus, and Mars (perhaps to Jupiter, too) and back, exploring the consequences of light traveling at a finite speed.

Cold Water, Warm Ice?

4/23/2012 12:00:00 AM

This article describes engaging students in two simple observations to address the concepts of changes of states, heat, temperature, and molecular potential and kinetic energy.

A Case of Reform: The Undergraduate Research Collaboratives

4/23/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this report the authors include brief descriptions of five undergraduate research collaboratives and discuss their common components and the variety of implementation strategies. They also examine the impacts of early research on students, faculty members, and institutions and the potential for these research experiences to drive change in science education.

Challenging Disciplinary Boundaries in the First Year: A New Introductory Integrated Science Course for STEM Majors

4/23/2012 12:00:00 AM

This article describes the mobilization, planning, and implementation of a first-year interdiciplinary course for STEM majors that integrates key concepts found in traditional first-semester biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, and physics courses.

Who Benefits From Peer Conversation? Examining Correlations of Clicker Question Correctness and Course Performance

4/23/2012 12:00:00 AM

The authors implemented peer instruction in an introductory level conceptual physics course for nonscience majors and found no correlation with course grade. They did notice moderate correlation between answering a conceptual question correctly prior to peer conversation and course grade, indicating that although peer conversation improves the interactivity of a lecture course, interaction may be more important than arriving at the correct answer.

Point of View: Biology Departments Need to Increase the Integration of Physiology Into Their Core Curriculum

4/23/2012 12:00:00 AM

This column shares reflections or thoughtful opinions on issues of broad interest to the community. This month's issue discusses the importance of physiology education.

Case Study: Resistance Is Futile ... or Is it? The Immunity System and HIV Infection

4/23/2012 12:00:00 AM

This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. In this month's issue the case study uses an interrupted progressive disclosure format, during which students make hypotheses, predict the outcome of experiments, and compare their predictions with real data. This case is appropriate for first-year biology students with knowledge of the immune system and HIV infection.

Research and Teaching: Mandatory Climate Change Discussions in Online Classrooms: Promoting Students' Climate Literacy and Understanding of the Nature of Science

4/23/2012 12:00:00 AM

To expose students to critical analysis of media and emphasize the nature of science, we required them to access scientific reports and participate in mandatory peer discussions. The vast majority of students indicated that online peer-discussion forums promoted greater scientific understanding of the climate change issue.

Personal Response Systems and Learning: It Is the Pedagogy That Matters, Not the Technology

4/23/2012 12:00:00 AM

This study investigated whether using clickers in conjunction with lecture tutorials yields higher student learning gains than using only lecture tutorials. The results suggest that the clickers do not lead to additional learning gains.

How to Identify an Amphibian

4/23/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this lesson, students in grades K-2 will observe and discuss the characteristics of an amphibian and students in grades 3-4 will also collect and analyze data based on their observations. The objectives are to help students identify the physical characteristics of an amphibian and explain that amphibians come in a variety of forms, colors, and adaptations.

Archive: Heat Transfer: MESSENGER--My Angle on Cooling, April 23, 2012

4/23/2012 12:00:00 AM

This Web Seminar took place on April 23, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Rudo Kashiri, NASA Explorer Schools Education Specialist at Langley Research Center. In this Seminar, Ms. Kashiri talked about the MESSENGER mission to Mercury and related activities that teachers can do with students. For more information about this web seminar, its presenter(s), read what participants said about it, and to see and download its PowerPoint slides <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NES2/webseminar22-2.aspx" target=_Blank">go here</a>.

Seasonal Discoveries Journal

4/23/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this lesson, students act as naturalists spending time documenting their observations by writing and sketching in journals over repeated sessions that span changing seasons. The objective is for students to observe broadly and focus closely to discover seasonal changes.

The C-More Scholars Program: Motivations for an Academic-Year Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program

4/23/2012 12:00:00 AM

This article describes an academic-year Research Experiences for Undergraduates program targeted at underrepresented students within the University of Hawaii system, shows how it is aligned with best practices for broadening participation, and presents evaluation results.

Assessing General Education Science Courses: A Portfolio Approach

4/23/2012 12:00:00 AM

The work presented in this article represents one in-depth example of the integration of portfolio assessment into the standard assessment practices of a general education course for nonscience majors.

Self-Monitoring Tools and Student Academic Success: When Perception Matches Reality

4/23/2012 12:00:00 AM

This study investigates the effectiveness of use of self-assessment and post-exam reflection forms as cognitive feedback and additional self-regulated learning strategies students can use to achieve a positive outcome on exams.

Journal of College Science Teaching-May/June 2012

4/23/2012 12:00:00 AM

Read about the success of a unique Research for Undergraduates program targeted at underrepresented students in the ocean and Earth sciences. Explore the relationship between accurate self-monitoring of one's mastery of material and improved exam performance. Find out how online peer-discussion forums can be used to promote greater scientific understanding of climate change. Find out all this and more in this month's issue of the Journal of College Science Teaching.

Frog Pond Web

4/22/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this lesson, students create a list of living and nonliving things found within a frog pond habitat and discuss their relationships to each other through the creation of a simulated web using a ball of yarn. The objective is for students to be able to describe the living and nonliving components of a pond and the relationships between them.

Frog Pond Lifeguard

4/22/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this lesson, students analyze the health of a pond through physical and biological analysis. The objectives are for students to be able to determine the health of a frog pond through investigation and inquiry and to describe macroscopic organisms found in pond water.

Audible Amphibian

4/22/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this lesson, students listen, imitate, and identify the calls of frogs and toads. The objectives are for students to be able to recognize and identify the calls and to explain that frogs and toads call to communicate.

Feeding Frenzy

4/22/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this lesson, students simulate the feeding behaviors of amphibians by collecting "prey." The objective is to identify the different feeding strategies of frogs.

Salamander Smell

4/22/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this lesson, students use film canisters to follow scent trails that end at a pond or alternative final destination. The objective is for students to be able to describe how and why amphibians use their sense of small for odor communication.

Frog Pond Poetry

4/22/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this lesson, students create poetry using descriptive words from their observations. The objective is for students to be able to write poetry about amphibians.

Ribbiting Discoveries in the Lily Pad Paper

4/22/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this lesson, students research interesting things about amphibians or things found around a frog pond to create a news article for the Lily Pad Paper. The objective is for students to write a journalism-style story describing the events at a frog pond.

Frog Pond Soup

4/21/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this lesson, students discuss the ingredients that make up a healthy frog pond. The objective is for students to be able to describe the components of a frog pond to include living parts-plants and animals-and nonliving parts-water, air, soil, and sunlight.

Amazing Amphibian Migration

4/21/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this lesson, students move through an outside area or school hallway to discover picture cards with messages that describe migration challenges. The objectives are for students to be able to describe migration as a regular seasonal movement and identify the obstacles amphibians face through natural phenomenon and human behavior as they move through their habitats.

Amphibian Metamorphosis

4/20/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this lesson, students learn the life cycle of a frog through discussing and acting out their growing stages. The objective is to identify the stages of amphibians from egg to adult.

Frog Hop Relay Race

4/20/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this lesson, students describe and demonstrate the movement of amphibians and reptiles through a relay race. The objective is for students to be able to describe the characteristic movements of amphibians.

Camouflaged Critters

4/20/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this lesson, students will color and hide amphibians to learn about camouflage and use their sense of sight to search them out. The objective is for students to be able to demonstrate their knowledge of how camouflage and bright coloration are used for protection and survival of amphibians.

Podcast: Access to Experts

4/20/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: Access to Experts is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NLC/webseminarXVII.aspx">Enhance and Extend your PD with the NSTA Learning Center, February 28, 2012</a>. The podcast is 2 minutes 47 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNLC12_Feb28">Enhance and Extend your PD with the NSTA Learning Center</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on February 28, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Flavio Mendez, Senior Director, NSTA Learning Center. In this Seminar, Mr. Mendez showed educators how to boost their professional development by accessing free online resources in the NSTA Learning Center, including simulations, journal articles, podcasts, and more.

Podcast: Lesson Plans

4/20/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: Lesson Plans is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NLC/webseminarXVII.aspx">Enhance and Extend your PD with the NSTA Learning Center, February 28, 2012</a>. The podcast is 3 minutes 7 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNLC12_Feb28">Enhance and Extend your PD with the NSTA Learning Center</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on February 28, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Flavio Mendez, Senior Director, NSTA Learning Center. In this Seminar, Mr. Mendez showed educators how to boost their professional development by accessing free online resources in the NSTA Learning Center, including simulations, journal articles, podcasts, and more.

Podcast: Learning Center's PD tools

4/20/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: Learning Center's PD tools is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NLC/webseminarXVII.aspx">Enhance and Extend your PD with the NSTA Learning Center, February 28, 2012</a>. The podcast is 4 minutes 16 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNLC12_Feb28">Enhance and Extend your PD with the NSTA Learning Center</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on February 28, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Flavio Mendez, Senior Director, NSTA Learning Center. In this Seminar, Mr. Mendez showed educators how to boost their professional development by accessing free online resources in the NSTA Learning Center, including simulations, journal articles, podcasts, and more.

Podcast: Learning Center Community

4/20/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: Learning Center Community is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NLC/webseminarXVII.aspx">Enhance and Extend your PD with the NSTA Learning Center, February 28, 2012</a>. The podcast is 5 minutes 22 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNLC12_Feb28">Enhance and Extend your PD with the NSTA Learning Center</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on February 28, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Flavio Mendez, Senior Director, NSTA Learning Center. In this Seminar, Mr. Mendez showed educators how to boost their professional development by accessing free online resources in the NSTA Learning Center, including simulations, journal articles, podcasts, and more.

Podcast: What's Free in the Learning Center

4/20/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: What's Free in the Learning Center is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NLC/webseminarXVII.aspx">Enhance and Extend your PD with the NSTA Learning Center, February 28, 2012</a>. The podcast is 3 minutes 31 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNLC12_Feb28">Enhance and Extend your PD with the NSTA Learning Center</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on February 28, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Flavio Mendez, Senior Director, NSTA Learning Center. In this Seminar, Mr. Mendez showed educators how to boost their professional development by accessing free online resources in the NSTA Learning Center, including simulations, journal articles, podcasts, and more.

Podcast: Add Free Science Objects to Your Library

4/20/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: Add Free Science Objects to Your Library is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NLC/webseminarXVII.aspx">Enhance and Extend your PD with the NSTA Learning Center, February 28, 2012</a>. The podcast is 4 minutes 52 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNLC12_Feb28">Enhance and Extend your PD with the NSTA Learning Center</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on February 28, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Flavio Mendez, Senior Director, NSTA Learning Center. In this Seminar, Mr. Mendez showed educators how to boost their professional development by accessing free online resources in the NSTA Learning Center, including simulations, journal articles, podcasts, and more.

Amphibian Encounter

4/20/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this lesson, students explore an amphibian habitat to observe and collect data about amphibian behaviors. The objective is to identify the behaviors of amphibians in their natural habitat.

Podcast: The Search for Other Earths

4/19/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: The Search for Other Earths is a production of the entire Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NASAk12/webseminar8.aspx">The Search for Other Earths, March 12, 2012</a>. The podcast is 1 hour 25 minutes in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNASA12_Mar12">The Search for Other Earths</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on March 12, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Dr. Steve Bryson, Target Scientist for the Kepler Mission. In this Seminar, Dr. Bryson discussed NASA's search for extra-solar planets and the methods for determining whether those planets can support life.

Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Why Look for Other Earths?

4/19/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Why Look for Other Earths? is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NASAk12/webseminar8.aspx">The Search for Other Earths, March 12, 2012</a>. The podcast is 2 minutes 11 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNASA12_Mar12">The Search for Other Earths</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on March 12, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Dr. Steve Bryson, Target Scientist for the Kepler Mission. In this Seminar, Dr. Bryson discussed NASA's search for extra-solar planets and the methods for determining whether those planets can support life.

Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Planets in Our Solar System

4/19/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Planets in Our Solar System is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NASAk12/webseminar8.aspx">The Search for Other Earths, March 12, 2012</a>. The podcast is 2 minutes 44 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNASA12_Mar12">The Search for Other Earths</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on March 12, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Dr. Steve Bryson, Target Scientist for the Kepler Mission. In this Seminar, Dr. Bryson discussed NASA's search for extra-solar planets and the methods for determining whether those planets can support life.

Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: What Is "Another Earth"?

4/19/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: What Is "Another Earth"? is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NASAk12/webseminar8.aspx">The Search for Other Earths, March 12, 2012</a>. The podcast is 3 minutes 15 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNASA12_Mar12">The Search for Other Earths</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on March 12, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Dr. Steve Bryson, Target Scientist for the Kepler Mission. In this Seminar, Dr. Bryson discussed NASA's search for extra-solar planets and the methods for determining whether those planets can support life.

Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Detecting Earth-size Planets

4/19/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Detecting Earth-size Planets is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NASAk12/webseminar8.aspx">The Search for Other Earths, March 12, 2012</a>. The podcast is 16 minutes 11 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNASA12_Mar12">The Search for Other Earths</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on March 12, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Dr. Steve Bryson, Target Scientist for the Kepler Mission. In this Seminar, Dr. Bryson discussed NASA's search for extra-solar planets and the methods for determining whether those planets can support life.

Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Finding Planets in Bulk via Transits--The Kepler Mission

4/19/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Finding Planets in Bulk via Transits--The Kepler Mission is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NASAk12/webseminar8.aspx">The Search for Other Earths, March 12, 2012</a>. The podcast is 5 minutes 53 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNASA12_Mar12">The Search for Other Earths</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on March 12, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Dr. Steve Bryson, Target Scientist for the Kepler Mission. In this Seminar, Dr. Bryson discussed NASA's search for extra-solar planets and the methods for determining whether those planets can support life.

Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Where to Look?

4/19/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Where to Look? is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NASAk12/webseminar8.aspx">The Search for Other Earths, March 12, 2012</a>. The podcast is 7 minutes 41 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNASA12_Mar12">The Search for Other Earths</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on March 12, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Dr. Steve Bryson, Target Scientist for the Kepler Mission. In this Seminar, Dr. Bryson discussed NASA's search for extra-solar planets and the methods for determining whether those planets can support life.

Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Wrapped and Ready to Go!

4/19/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Wrapped and Ready to Go! is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NASAk12/webseminar8.aspx">The Search for Other Earths, March 12, 2012</a>. The podcast is 3 minutes 38 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNASA12_Mar12">The Search for Other Earths</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on March 12, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Dr. Steve Bryson, Target Scientist for the Kepler Mission. In this Seminar, Dr. Bryson discussed NASA's search for extra-solar planets and the methods for determining whether those planets can support life.

Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: What a Large Transit Looks Like

4/19/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: What a Large Transit Looks Like is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NASAk12/webseminar8.aspx">The Search for Other Earths, March 12, 2012</a>. The podcast is 5 minutes 44 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNASA12_Mar12">The Search for Other Earths</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on March 12, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Dr. Steve Bryson, Target Scientist for the Kepler Mission. In this Seminar, Dr. Bryson discussed NASA's search for extra-solar planets and the methods for determining whether those planets can support life.

Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Kepler Precision

4/19/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Kepler Precision is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NASAk12/webseminar8.aspx">The Search for Other Earths, March 12, 2012</a>. The podcast is 2 minutes 49 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNASA12_Mar12">The Search for Other Earths</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on March 12, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Dr. Steve Bryson, Target Scientist for the Kepler Mission. In this Seminar, Dr. Bryson discussed NASA's search for extra-solar planets and the methods for determining whether those planets can support life.

Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Is it an Earth-size Planet in the Habitable Zone?

4/19/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Is it an Earth-size Planet in the Habitable Zone? is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NASAk12/webseminar8.aspx">The Search for Other Earths, March 12, 2012</a>. The podcast is 3 minutes 13 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNASA12_Mar12">The Search for Other Earths</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on March 12, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Dr. Steve Bryson, Target Scientist for the Kepler Mission. In this Seminar, Dr. Bryson discussed NASA's search for extra-solar planets and the methods for determining whether those planets can support life.

Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: How to Measure the Planet's Size

4/19/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: How to Measure the Planet's Size is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NASAk12/webseminar8.aspx">The Search for Other Earths, March 12, 2012</a>. The podcast is 6 minutes 40 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNASA12_Mar12">The Search for Other Earths</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on March 12, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Dr. Steve Bryson, Target Scientist for the Kepler Mission. In this Seminar, Dr. Bryson discussed NASA's search for extra-solar planets and the methods for determining whether those planets can support life.

Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: How to Measure the Planet's Temperature

4/19/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: How to Measure the Planet's Temperature is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NASAk12/webseminar8.aspx">The Search for Other Earths, March 12, 2012</a>. The podcast is 2 minutes 22 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNASA12_Mar12">The Search for Other Earths</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on March 12, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Dr. Steve Bryson, Target Scientist for the Kepler Mission. In this Seminar, Dr. Bryson discussed NASA's search for extra-solar planets and the methods for determining whether those planets can support life.

Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Other Things That Look Like Transiting Planets

4/19/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Other Things That Look Like Transiting Planets is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NASAk12/webseminar8.aspx">The Search for Other Earths, March 12, 2012</a>. The podcast is 4 minutes 52 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNASA12_Mar12">The Search for Other Earths</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on March 12, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Dr. Steve Bryson, Target Scientist for the Kepler Mission. In this Seminar, Dr. Bryson discussed NASA's search for extra-solar planets and the methods for determining whether those planets can support life.

Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Candidate Planets

4/19/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Candidate Planets is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NASAk12/webseminar8.aspx">The Search for Other Earths, March 12, 2012</a>. The podcast is 1 minute 33 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNASA12_Mar12">The Search for Other Earths</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on March 12, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Dr. Steve Bryson, Target Scientist for the Kepler Mission. In this Seminar, Dr. Bryson discussed NASA's search for extra-solar planets and the methods for determining whether those planets can support life.

Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: The Kepler Numbers So Far

4/19/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: The Kepler Numbers So Far is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NASAk12/webseminar8.aspx">The Search for Other Earths, March 12, 2012</a>. The podcast is 1 minute 56 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNASA12_Mar12">The Search for Other Earths</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on March 12, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Dr. Steve Bryson, Target Scientist for the Kepler Mission. In this Seminar, Dr. Bryson discussed NASA's search for extra-solar planets and the methods for determining whether those planets can support life.

Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: The Transiting Stars

4/19/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: The Transiting Stars is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NASAk12/webseminar8.aspx">The Search for Other Earths, March 12, 2012</a>. The podcast is 1 minute 34 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNASA12_Mar12">The Search for Other Earths</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on March 12, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Dr. Steve Bryson, Target Scientist for the Kepler Mission. In this Seminar, Dr. Bryson discussed NASA's search for extra-solar planets and the methods for determining whether those planets can support life.

Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Kepler Results

4/19/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Kepler Results is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NASAk12/webseminar8.aspx">The Search for Other Earths, March 12, 2012</a>. The podcast is 6 minutes 26 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNASA12_Mar12">The Search for Other Earths</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on March 12, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Dr. Steve Bryson, Target Scientist for the Kepler Mission. In this Seminar, Dr. Bryson discussed NASA's search for extra-solar planets and the methods for determining whether those planets can support life.

Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: What Next?

4/19/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: What Next? is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NASAk12/webseminar8.aspx">The Search for Other Earths, March 12, 2012</a>. The podcast is 2 minutes 42 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNASA12_Mar12">The Search for Other Earths</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on March 12, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Dr. Steve Bryson, Target Scientist for the Kepler Mission. In this Seminar, Dr. Bryson discussed NASA's search for extra-solar planets and the methods for determining whether those planets can support life.

Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Introduction

4/19/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Introduction is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NASAk12/webseminar8.aspx">The Search for Other Earths, March 12, 2012</a>. The podcast is 3 minutes 23 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNASA12_Mar12">The Search for Other Earths</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on March 12, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Dr. Steve Bryson, Target Scientist for the Kepler Mission. In this Seminar, Dr. Bryson discussed NASA's search for extra-solar planets and the methods for determining whether those planets can support life.

Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Are We Alone?

4/19/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: The Search for Other Earths: Are We Alone? is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NASAk12/webseminar8.aspx">The Search for Other Earths, March 12, 2012</a>. The podcast is 3 minutes 29 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSNASA12_Mar12">The Search for Other Earths</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar took place on March 12, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Dr. Steve Bryson, Target Scientist for the Kepler Mission. In this Seminar, Dr. Bryson discussed NASA's search for extra-solar planets and the methods for determining whether those planets can support life.

Convection: Transfer of Heat From Earth's Interior

4/18/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students conduct experimental trials involving a drop of food coloring moved by convection in a pan of water to observe convection cells. Students record their observations on this model and relate what is observed in the pan to what might be happening in Earth's asthenosphere.

A Voyage Through Time: Pangaea Breakup and Continent/Plate Movement

4/18/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will follow the movement of continents over the past 200 million years, beginning with the breakup of Pangaea. Students analyze the consequences of plate tectonics on continents by modeling the breakup of Pangaea via a flip book.

Magma and Volcanoes: Model of a Volcano

4/18/2012 12:00:00 AM

Students, in this activity, model a volcanic eruption by melting crayons inside a plaster of paris model. They use a hot water bath to melt the wax, which rises through a tube they made with string in the plaster of paris

Shake It Up: Earthquakes and Damage to Buildings

4/18/2012 12:00:00 AM

Nearly all locations on Earth experience occasional earthquakes, although most of them are not large enough to cause significant damage. In this activity, students will use sugar cubes to investigate and compare the effects of an earthquake on different construction designs. They also will learn some of the things that people need to consider when constructing buildings in areas where there are frequent earthquakes.

Study Your Sandwich: Sedimentary Rock Layers, Structures, and Relative Ages

4/18/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students make a triple-decker, soy butter with raisins and jelly sandwich to model sedimentary rock formations. They take core samples with a straw, fold the sandwich into synclines and anticlines, and cut it to simulate faulting. From this activity, students learn about the practice of sampling and the logic of deciphering a geological history.

Plate Tectonics

4/18/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Reading on Plate Tectonics elaborates on the concepts presented in the Activities section of Project Earth Science: Geology, Revised 2nd Edition. This Reading was written especially for this volume with the teacher in mind. The outer part of Earth is made of huge plates of rock that slowly move. Movement and interactions between plates where they are in contact result in earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, volcanoes and mountain ranges, and igneous and metamorphic rocks. The theory of plate tectonics provides a unifying explanation for geological phenomena.

Volcanoes

4/18/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Reading on Volcanoes elaborates on the concepts presented in the Activities section of Project Earth Science: Geology, Revised 2nd Edition. This Reading was written especially for this volume with the teacher in mind. Volcanic activity occurs mainly at and near plate boundaries, but also can occur above hot spots. During Earth's history, volcanic activity has contributed to or caused the formation of our atmosphere and oceans, and created Earth's crust and lithospheric plates. Volcanoes can be explosive, spectacular, and hazardous.

Earthquakes

4/18/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Reading on Earthquakes elaborates on the concepts presented in the Activities section of Project Earth Science: Geology, Revised 2nd Edition. This Reading was written especially for this volume with the teacher in mind. Most earthquakes occur when interactions between moving lithospheric plates deform rock, causing it to break or suddenly change position. About 95% of earthquakes occur at and near plate boundaries, but earthquakes can happen anywhere. Earthquakes can be hazardous, but structures can be made resistant to earthquake damage.

Rocks and Minerals

4/18/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Reading on Rocks and Minerals elaborates on the concepts presented in the Activities section of Project Earth Science: Geology, Revised 2nd Edition. This Reading was written especially for this volume with the teacher in mind. Typical rocks are composed of minerals. Igneous rocks form from molten rock, sedimentary rocks usually form from fragments of rocks, and metamorphic rocks form when rocks are altered by heat or pressure. Interactions between rock types are described by the rock cycle. Specific minerals and rocks indicate past environmental conditions.

Careers in Geology and Geosciences

4/18/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Reading on Careers in Geology and Geosciences provides a resource for teachers to help students know what geologists do and how to become one. The Readings were written especially for Project Earth Science: Geology, Revised 2nd Edition. with the teacher in mind. Geologists and geoscientists work with Earth's materials and processes that change those materials. These professions include environmental science, hydrology, geophysics, paleontology, mineralogy, geochemistry, oceanography, and mineral resources (including oil and gas). There can be opportunities to work in or visit many geographic areas.

Understanding Chemical Changes

4/18/2012 12:00:00 AM

Predict, Observe, Explain (POE) sequences provide an important way to enhance students' understanding of important scientific ideas. In this chapter, the series of experiments help students understand chemical changes. The experiments include concepts such as recognition of chemical changes, decomposition by heating, oxidation of metals, oxygen and combustion, and chemical changes and the conservation of mass and matter.

Understanding Living Things

4/18/2012 12:00:00 AM

Predict, Observe, Explain (POE) sequences provide an important way to enhance students' understanding of important scientific ideas. In this chapter, the series of experiments help students understand living things. The experiments include concepts such as light and plant growth, the geotropic effect, patterns of leg movements in insects, stimulus and response in earthworms, and heat transfer in living things.

Understanding Life Processes in Plants

4/18/2012 12:00:00 AM

Predict, Observe, Explain (POE) sequences provide an important way to enhance students' understanding of important scientific ideas. In this chapter, the series of experiments help students understand life processes in plants. The experiments include concepts such as how seed germination requires oxygen, plant growth and nutrition, light and plant growth, conditions for plant growth, water loss through the leaves, and how water travels through the veins of plants.

Understanding Interactions of Living Things

4/18/2012 12:00:00 AM

Predict, Observe, Explain (POE) sequences provide an important way to enhance students' understanding of important scientific ideas. In this chapter, the series of experiments help students understand interactions of living things. The experiments include concepts such as habitats, food webs, the effects of food supply and space on population, and predator-prey interaction.

Archiver: Algebraic Equations: Calculator Controlled Robots, April 18, 2012

4/18/2012 12:00:00 AM

This Web Seminar took place on April 18, 2012, from 8:15 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Marti Phipps, NASA Explorer Schools Specialist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In this Seminar, Ms. Phipps provided an in-depth look at a series of lessons that give students the chance to program and experiment with calculator-controlled robots. For more information about this web seminar, its presenter(s), read what participants said about it, and to see and download its PowerPoint slides <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NES2/webseminar8-4.aspx" target=_Blank">go here</a>.

The Rock Cycle: Rock Formation and Change

4/17/2012 12:00:00 AM

A single rock could provide an example of how slowly most geological changes occur on Earth. If you picked up a rock and kept it for the rest of your life, you would probably notice that it changes little, if at all. Yet, rocks can and do change; it often just takes quite a long time. Many factors cause rocks to change, but what is important to understand is that change does occur. This activity allows students to explore the rock cycle with a physical model made from colored crayon shavings. They form the shavings into layers, compress them, and ultimately melt them, replicating pathways a rock can take in the rock cycle.

Edible Plate Tectonics: Plates Move and Interact

4/17/2012 12:00:00 AM

Plate tectonics is geology's central theory and one of the most important in science. It provides explanations for many of Earth's major geological processes and physical features. This Activity uses an unusual physical model to introduce some of the interactions and features that occur at plate boundaries. Students study properties of Earth's tectonic plates and the ways they interact atop the asthenosphere using a physical model-a Milky Way candy bar

Understanding Light

4/17/2012 12:00:00 AM

Understanding Sound

4/17/2012 12:00:00 AM

Predict, Observe, Explain (POE) sequences provide an important way to enhance students' understanding of important scientific ideas. In this chapter, the series of experiments help students understand sound. The experiments include concepts such as producing sound when an object or matter vibrates, how sound travels through air, solids, and water, and sound production by a closed pipe.

Understanding Floating and Sinking

4/17/2012 12:00:00 AM

Predict, Observe, Explain (POE) sequences provide an important way to enhance students' understanding of important scientific ideas. In this chapter, the series of experiments help students understand floating and sinking. The experiments include concepts such as buoyancy and surface tension, density and floating, upward push on an object when it is lowered into a liquid (Newton's third law of motion), Archimedes's principle, and application of the principle of flotation.

Understanding Solutions

4/17/2012 12:00:00 AM

Predict, Observe, Explain (POE) sequences provide an important way to enhance students' understanding of important scientific ideas. In this chapter, the series of experiments help students understand solutions. The experiments include concepts such as the distinction between dissolving, reacting, and melting, conservation of mass on dissolving, the size of particles, and how change of volume on dissolving provides evidence for the particulate theory of matter.

Understanding Heat Travel

4/16/2012 12:00:00 AM

Predict, Observe, Explain (POE) sequences provide an important way to enhance students' understanding of important scientific ideas. In this chapter, the series of experiments help students understand heat travel. The experiments include concepts such as good and bad conductors of heat, convection in air and liquids, and how darker colors absorb and radiate more heat.

Rocks Tell a Story: Rock Characteristics and Environmental Clues

4/16/2012 12:00:00 AM

Identifying rocks can be difficult, even for geologists. Proper rock identification depends on the quality of the specimen and on the clarity of its significant characteristics. In this activity, students observe and compare pairs of related rocks and learn about the conditions in which they formed.

Understanding Static Electricity and Magnetism

4/16/2012 12:00:00 AM

Predict, Observe, Explain (POE) sequences provide an important way to enhance students' understanding of important scientific ideas. In this chapter, the series of experiments help students understand static electricity and magnetism. The experiments include concepts such as how like charges repel, magnetic lines of force and magnetic fields, magnetic shielding, and the particle theory of magnetism.

Understanding Current Electricity

4/16/2012 12:00:00 AM

Predict, Observe, Explain (POE) sequences provide an important way to enhance students' understanding of important scientific ideas. In this chapter, the series of experiments help students understand current electricity. The experiments include concepts such as the complete electrical circuit, flow of electrical charge through a circuit, current in series and parallel circuits, batteries in series, and variation of resistance with length and thickness of a wire.

Understanding Pressure

4/16/2012 12:00:00 AM

Predict, Observe, Explain (POE) sequences provide an important way to enhance students' understanding of important scientific ideas. In this chapter, the series of experiments help students understand pressure. The experiments include concepts such as how both air and a column of water can exert pressure, balancing air pressures, atmospheric pressure, the siphon, and Bernoulli's principle.

Understanding Work and Energy

4/16/2012 12:00:00 AM

Predict, Observe, Explain (POE) sequences provide an important way to enhance students' understanding of important scientific ideas. In this chapter, the series of experiments help students understand work and energy. The experiments include concepts such as how pulley systems work, converting potential energy to kinetic energy, and work done against friction.

Toothbrush Design-Is There A Better Bristle?

4/16/2012 12:00:00 AM

What kind of toothbrush do you use-manual or electric? What is the shape of the head and the handle? Could you describe the firmness and the layout of the bristles? Or count the number of bristles? In this 5E Model lesson, students explore various manual toothbrush designs. This free sample chapter also includes the Table of Contents, Preface, and Index.

Archive: Exploring Beneath the Antarctica Ice with Waves - Finding a Lake and a Passage to the Ocean, April 16, 2012

4/16/2012 12:00:00 AM

This Web Seminar took place on April 16, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenters were Dr. Robert Jacobel and Dr. Knut Christianson from the Center for Geophysical Studies of Ice and Climate (CEGSIC) at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. In this Seminar, Dr. Jacobel and Dr. Christianson talked about their climate-related research in Antarctica. For more information about this web seminar, its presenter(s), read what participants said about it, and to see and download its PowerPoint slides <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NSF/webseminar1.aspx" target=_Blank">go here</a>.

PD Opportunities: USELA 2012: Developing Elementary and Middle School Leaders in Urban Districts to Improve Teaching and Learning of Science

4/16/2012 12:00:00 AM

The purpose of the 2012 Urban Science Education Leadership Academy (USELA) is to positively affect student achievement through the development of leaders who will help guide reform of the learning, teaching, and assessing of science in elementary/middle schools. Teams will establish a distributed leadership model to guide a district plan, create or modify a district strategic plan to improve science education, improve on best practices based on data and research collected in the districts, and develop as experienced practitioners to lead science improvement. This exciting and powerful academy will be facilitated by Anne Tweed, author of Designing Effective Science Instruction: What works in Science Classrooms. The featured guest speaker will be Larry Bell, former Supervisor of Multicultural Education for Prince William County. He is also the recipient of the Mary Hatwood Futrell Award given by the Virginia Education Association to honor Distinguished Leadership in Education.. For more information please e-mail <a href="mailto:urbanscience@nsta.org">urbanscience@nsta.org</a>.

GeoPatterns: Global Earthquake Distribution

4/15/2012 12:00:00 AM

Do earthquakes occur randomly, or are there patterns to their distribution? Does where earthquakes occur shed light on why they occur? What causes earthquakes? What determines where an earthquake will occur? In this Activity, students will look for patterns-or the absence of patterns-in the distribution of earthquakes around the world.

Volcanoes and Plates: Volcanic Activity and Plate Boundaries

4/15/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students compare locations of volcanoes to the types of rocks erupted and tie this in to the motions of lithospheric plates. They will map rocks by their main chemical components. Students then discern plate boundaries from their maps plus other sources and relate rock types to types of plate boundaries.

Volcanoes and Hot Spots: Formation of Hawaiian Islands

4/15/2012 12:00:00 AM

Students, in this activity, relate plate movement to trails of volcanoes by modeling a hot spot with hot colored water rising under a floating Styrofoam plate. Questions guide students to connecting their model to Hawaiian volcanoes and the Emperor Seamounts.

All Cracked Up: Model of Earth's Layers

4/15/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this Activity, students will learn more about the structure or layering of Earth. Students analyze a hard-boiled egg as a model for Earth's interior structure. They then scrutinize and evaluate other objects as models for Earth.

Seafloor Spreading: Divergent Plate Boundaries

4/15/2012 12:00:00 AM

Students, in this activity, will make and use a paper model to understand seafloor spreading. By doing so, they explore patterns of rock ages and rock magnetism parallel to mid-ocean ridges.

Mapping the Seafloor

4/15/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will experiment with the old but still useful technique of using sounding lines to make seafloor maps. As is done often in science and in other fields, students will work in teams. They should observe that the number of measurements or the amount of data that they collect will have a huge effect on the success of a project, as can the cost of gathering that information.

Understanding Temperature and Heat

4/14/2012 12:00:00 AM

Predict, Observe, Explain (POE) sequences provide an important way to enhance students' understanding of important scientific ideas. In this chapter, the series of experiments help students understand temperature and heat. The experiments include concepts such as freezing and boiling point of water, how air and metal expand when heated, and heat capacities of different liquids and substances.

Podcast: Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies

4/13/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies is a production of the entire Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/fall09/NASA/webseminar1.aspx">Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies November 12, 2009</a>. The podcast is 1 hour 4 minutes in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSAME09_Nov12">Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar is the first, of four, Web Seminars sponsored by NASA that promote the International Year of Astronomy. In this program, Dr. Cominsky presented information on the observations of Fermi and some general education about the electromagnetic spectrum. She also gave an overview of some high energy physics with explanations about anti-matter and pair conversion, and illuminating topics such as locating pulsars and the search for dark matter.

Podcast: Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies: Classroom Connections

4/13/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies: Classroom Connections is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/fall09/NASA/webseminar1.aspx">Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies November 12, 2009</a>. The podcast is 1 minute 32 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSAME09_Nov12">Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar is the first, of four, Web Seminars sponsored by NASA that promote the International Year of Astronomy. In this program, Dr. Cominsky presented information on the observations of Fermi and some general education about the electromagnetic spectrum. She also gave an overview of some high energy physics with explanations about anti-matter and pair conversion, and illuminating topics such as locating pulsars and the search for dark matter.

Podcast: Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies: Epos Chronicles

4/13/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies: Epos Chronicles is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/fall09/NASA/webseminar1.aspx">Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies November 12, 2009</a>. The podcast is 2 minutes 39 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSAME09_Nov12">Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar is the first, of four, Web Seminars sponsored by NASA that promote the International Year of Astronomy. In this program, Dr. Cominsky presented information on the observations of Fermi and some general education about the electromagnetic spectrum. She also gave an overview of some high energy physics with explanations about anti-matter and pair conversion, and illuminating topics such as locating pulsars and the search for dark matter.

Podcast: Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies: Gamma-rays

4/13/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies: Gamma-rays is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/fall09/NASA/webseminar1.aspx">Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies November 12, 2009</a>. The podcast is 4 minutes 25 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSAME09_Nov12">Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar is the first, of four, Web Seminars sponsored by NASA that promote the International Year of Astronomy. In this program, Dr. Cominsky presented information on the observations of Fermi and some general education about the electromagnetic spectrum. She also gave an overview of some high energy physics with explanations about anti-matter and pair conversion, and illuminating topics such as locating pulsars and the search for dark matter.

Podcast: Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies: How to study gamma rays

4/13/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies: How to study gamma rays is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/fall09/NASA/webseminar1.aspx">Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies November 12, 2009</a>. The podcast is 12 minutes 52 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSAME09_Nov12">Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar is the first, of four, Web Seminars sponsored by NASA that promote the International Year of Astronomy. In this program, Dr. Cominsky presented information on the observations of Fermi and some general education about the electromagnetic spectrum. She also gave an overview of some high energy physics with explanations about anti-matter and pair conversion, and illuminating topics such as locating pulsars and the search for dark matter.

Podcast: Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies: Introduction Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies

4/13/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies: Introduction Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/fall09/NASA/webseminar1.aspx">Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies November 12, 2009</a>. The podcast is 1 minute 23 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSAME09_Nov12">Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar is the first, of four, Web Seminars sponsored by NASA that promote the International Year of Astronomy. In this program, Dr. Cominsky presented information on the observations of Fermi and some general education about the electromagnetic spectrum. She also gave an overview of some high energy physics with explanations about anti-matter and pair conversion, and illuminating topics such as locating pulsars and the search for dark matter.

Podcast: Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies: Launched!

4/13/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies: Launched! is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/fall09/NASA/webseminar1.aspx">Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies November 12, 2009</a>. The podcast is 3 minutes 45 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSAME09_Nov12">Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar is the first, of four, Web Seminars sponsored by NASA that promote the International Year of Astronomy. In this program, Dr. Cominsky presented information on the observations of Fermi and some general education about the electromagnetic spectrum. She also gave an overview of some high energy physics with explanations about anti-matter and pair conversion, and illuminating topics such as locating pulsars and the search for dark matter.

Podcast: Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies: Pulsars

4/13/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies: Pulsars is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/fall09/NASA/webseminar1.aspx">Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies November 12, 2009</a>. The podcast is 19 minutes 14 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSAME09_Nov12">Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar is the first, of four, Web Seminars sponsored by NASA that promote the International Year of Astronomy. In this program, Dr. Cominsky presented information on the observations of Fermi and some general education about the electromagnetic spectrum. She also gave an overview of some high energy physics with explanations about anti-matter and pair conversion, and illuminating topics such as locating pulsars and the search for dark matter.

Podcast: Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies: Reasons for Studying Gamma-rays

4/13/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies: Reasons for Studying Gamma-rays is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/fall09/NASA/webseminar1.aspx">Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies November 12, 2009</a>. The podcast is 21 minutes 59 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSAME09_Nov12">Anti-matter Eyes on the Gamma-ray Skies</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar is the first, of four, Web Seminars sponsored by NASA that promote the International Year of Astronomy. In this program, Dr. Cominsky presented information on the observations of Fermi and some general education about the electromagnetic spectrum. She also gave an overview of some high energy physics with explanations about anti-matter and pair conversion, and illuminating topics such as locating pulsars and the search for dark matter.

Podcast: Imagine Mars: How Do I Do This Project With My Students?

4/13/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: Imagine Mars: How Do I Do This Project With My Students? is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/JPL2/webseminar11.aspx">Imagine Mars, April 29, 2008</a>. The podcast is 2 minutes 37 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSIM08_Apr29">Imagine Mars</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar was developed in collaboration with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Arizona State University's (ASU) Mars Education Program. The event took place on April 29, 2008 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenters were Stephenie Lievense, Imagine Mars Project Lead, and David Delgado, Outreach Coordinator for NASA's Mars Public Engagement Team. The presenters talked about the Imagine Mars project, providing examples of how teachers can use it with students in the classroom and in after school programs.

Podcast: Imagine Mars: What is Imagine Mars

4/13/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: Imagine Mars: What is Imagine Mars is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/JPL2/webseminar11.aspx">Imagine Mars, April 29, 2008</a>. The podcast is 7 minutes 3 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSIM08_Apr29">Imagine Mars</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar was developed in collaboration with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Arizona State University's (ASU) Mars Education Program. The event took place on April 29, 2008 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenters were Stephenie Lievense, Imagine Mars Project Lead, and David Delgado, Outreach Coordinator for NASA's Mars Public Engagement Team. The presenters talked about the Imagine Mars project, providing examples of how teachers can use it with students in the classroom and in after school programs.

Podcast: Imagine Mars: 5 Steps to Imagine Mars - Reflect

4/13/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: Imagine Mars: 5 Steps to Imagine Mars - Reflect is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/JPL2/webseminar11.aspx">Imagine Mars, April 29, 2008</a>. The podcast is 7 minutes 20 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSIM08_Apr29">Imagine Mars</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar was developed in collaboration with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Arizona State University's (ASU) Mars Education Program. The event took place on April 29, 2008 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenters were Stephenie Lievense, Imagine Mars Project Lead, and David Delgado, Outreach Coordinator for NASA's Mars Public Engagement Team. The presenters talked about the Imagine Mars project, providing examples of how teachers can use it with students in the classroom and in after school programs.

Podcast: Imagine Mars: 5 Steps to Imagine Mars - Discover

4/13/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: Imagine Mars: 5 Steps to Imagine Mars - Discover is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/JPL2/webseminar11.aspx">Imagine Mars, April 29, 2008</a>. The podcast is 19 minutes 37 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSIM08_Apr29">Imagine Mars</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar was developed in collaboration with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Arizona State University's (ASU) Mars Education Program. The event took place on April 29, 2008 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenters were Stephenie Lievense, Imagine Mars Project Lead, and David Delgado, Outreach Coordinator for NASA's Mars Public Engagement Team. The presenters talked about the Imagine Mars project, providing examples of how teachers can use it with students in the classroom and in after school programs.

Podcast: Imagine Mars: 5 Steps to Imagine Mars - Imagine

4/13/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: Imagine Mars: 5 Steps to Imagine Mars - Imagine is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/JPL2/webseminar11.aspx">Imagine Mars, April 29, 2008</a>. The podcast is 9 minutes 40 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSIM08_Apr29">Imagine Mars</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar was developed in collaboration with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Arizona State University's (ASU) Mars Education Program. The event took place on April 29, 2008 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenters were Stephenie Lievense, Imagine Mars Project Lead, and David Delgado, Outreach Coordinator for NASA's Mars Public Engagement Team. The presenters talked about the Imagine Mars project, providing examples of how teachers can use it with students in the classroom and in after school programs.

Podcast: Imagine Mars: 5 Steps to Imagine Mars - Create

4/13/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: Imagine Mars: 5 Steps to Imagine Mars - Create is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/JPL2/webseminar11.aspx">Imagine Mars, April 29, 2008</a>. The podcast is 15 minutes 52 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSIM08_Apr29">Imagine Mars</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar was developed in collaboration with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Arizona State University's (ASU) Mars Education Program. The event took place on April 29, 2008 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenters were Stephenie Lievense, Imagine Mars Project Lead, and David Delgado, Outreach Coordinator for NASA's Mars Public Engagement Team. The presenters talked about the Imagine Mars project, providing examples of how teachers can use it with students in the classroom and in after school programs.

Podcast: Imagine Mars: 5 Steps to Imagine Mars - Share

4/13/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Podcast: Imagine Mars: 5 Steps to Imagine Mars - Share is a segment of the Web Seminar: <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/JPL2/webseminar11.aspx">Imagine Mars, April 29, 2008</a>. The podcast is 3 minutes 39 seconds in duration. Click, <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9/WSIM08_Apr29">Imagine Mars</a> to place this web seminar archive in your Learning Center Library now. The source Web Seminar was developed in collaboration with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Arizona State University's (ASU) Mars Education Program. The event took place on April 29, 2008 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenters were Stephenie Lievense, Imagine Mars Project Lead, and David Delgado, Outreach Coordinator for NASA's Mars Public Engagement Team. The presenters talked about the Imagine Mars project, providing examples of how teachers can use it with students in the classroom and in after school programs.

Web Seminar: Engineering Design Challenge: Forces and Motion -- The Great Boomerang Challenge, June 04, 2012

4/12/2012 12:00:00 AM

During the professional development Web seminar for educators, you will be introduced to the Great Boomerang Design Challenge and find out how to incorporate this challenge into your physical science classes. Find out how aerodynamics research has been applied to boomerang design changes and increased boomerang performance, which led to the creation of international boomerang flight competitions. Please visit the main <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NES2/webseminar24.aspx" target="_blank">web page</a> of this program to see the description and find links to the biographical information about the presenter(s).

Archive: Engineering Design Challenge: Forces and Motion -- The Great Boomerang Challenge, April 11, 2012

4/11/2012 12:00:00 AM

is Web Seminar took place on April 11, 2012, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Rudo Kashiri, NASA Explorer Schools Specialist at Langley Research Center. In this Seminar, Ms. Kashiri introduced a new lesson that shows how aerodynamic forces influence flight characteristics by engaging students in the process of designing boomerangs. For more information about this web seminar, its presenter(s), read what participants said about it, and to see and download its PowerPoint slides <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NES2/webseminar24-2.aspx" target=_Blank">go here</a>.

Expansion and Contraction

4/11/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will measure the expansion and contraction of a balloon as it is cooled and heated.

pH paper Lab

4/11/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will use homemade pH paper to test a number of chemicals around the house.

Titration Lab

4/11/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will titrate a known concentration of baking soda with vinegar to find out the concentration of the vinegar

Redox Reaction Lab

4/11/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, Students will allow steel wool to rust overnight and measure approximately how much oxygen is consumed.

Adhesion and Cohesion Lab

4/11/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will put drops of liquids on different surfaces and see if they bead up or wet the surface.

Web Seminar: How to Become a Planet Hunter: Careers in Space Science, May 24, 2012

4/11/2012 12:00:00 AM

Many different pathways lead to careers in space sciences, the exploration of the universe. NASA's Kepler Mission is hunting for Earth-like planets orbiting Sun-like stars using a space-based telescope. Please visit the main <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NASAk12/webseminar9.aspx" target="_Blank">web page</a> of this program to see the description and find links to the biographical information about the presenter(s).

Teaching Science as Inquiry

4/11/2012 12:00:00 AM

The 2008 Robert H. Carleton Lecture provides the content for Chapter 4. The chapter centers on the themes of teaching science as inquiry. After a brief introduction to the history of inquiry in science education, the national standards are used as the basis for a detailed discussion of inquiry as learning outcomes and teaching strategies. The concluding sections discuss the role of inquiry and preparation of 21st-century skills.

Science Teaching and Assessing Students' Scientific Literacy

4/11/2012 12:00:00 AM

This chapter introduces some dimensions of scientific literacy and describes PISA, the Program for International Student Assessment, as the basis for understanding scientific literacy from both teaching and assessment perspectives. Most science educators agree that the purpose of school science is to help students achieve levels of scientific literacy. The following discussion answers these questions: What do we mean by scientific literacy? What does scientific literacy imply for curriculum and instruction? What counts as achieving scientific literacy?

Fulfilling National Aspirations Through Curriculum Reform

4/11/2012 12:00:00 AM

This chapter and chapter 7 provide contemporary perspectives on the response of science education to national priorities and goals. This theme is explored with reflections from the Sputnik era of curriculum reform. Reflecting on the Sputnik era provides insights about the ways and means in which the science education community responds to national goals. Insights from this exploration are used to make recommendations that will help science teachers respond to aspirations for 21st-century science education.

Teaching Science as Inquiry and Developing 21st-Century Skills

4/11/2012 12:00:00 AM

Contemporary national aspirations also include maintaining economic competitiveness. The economic theme is a relatively short-term goal, and for science education it implies preparation of a 21st-century workforce. For the science teacher, this aspiration translates to skills and abilities that can be developed within the theme-teaching science as inquiry. This chapter directly relates to instruction and the need to reform instructional strategies, particularly those associated with scientific inquiry, so they enhance students' development of 21st-century workforce skills..

The Teaching of Science Content

4/10/2012 12:00:00 AM

This chapter presents the ideals and spirit of Paul F-Brandwein. In particular, it brings contemporary ideas to themes that he presented almost 50 years ago. Those themes include the substance of science education, curricular structure, and the style of science teaching that emphasized inquiry as a fundamental aspect of science. Two of Brandwein's essays-"Elements in a Strategy for Teaching Science in the Elementary School" and "Substance, Structure, and Style in the Teaching of Science"-are the basis for the chapter. Consistent with these essays, this chapter emphasizes elementary school science as a focus, and honors Brandwein's lifelong interest in the environment and conservation by using examples from the environmental sciences.

The Science Curriculum and Classroom Instruction

4/10/2012 12:00:00 AM

This chapter uses the major contributions of Bob Karplus to develop several important themes that have emerged in the past five decades of curriculum and instruction in science. The chapter begins with a perspective on curriculum development and curriculum developers. A second theme is the importance of identifying major scientific concepts as a foundation for the curriculum. A third theme addresses the importance of incorporating research on learning theory into designs for curriculum and instruction. Finally, there is a theme of curricular reform and the professional development of science teachers.

Finger Thermometer

4/10/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will attempt to estimate the temperature of objects by touching them.

Oxidation Lab

4/10/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will put two different types of nails (galvanized and nongalvanized) into different conditions to see how the rate of rusting is affected.

Synthesis Reaction

4/10/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will put a penny in ammonia and observe it for several days.

Single Displacement Reaction

4/10/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will use steel wool and vinegar to form iron (II) acetate.

Double Displacement Reaction: Precipitate Lab

4/10/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will mix ammonia with the iron (II) acetate from Activity 40 to make a precipitate.

Cartesian Diver Lab

4/10/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will make a Cartesian diver out of a mustard packet and paper clip.

Pressure Lab

4/10/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will see a card held up by atmospheric pressure when water and a partial vacuum are above it.

Boyle's Law Lab

4/10/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will see how different objects act when placed under pressures higher and lower than atmospheric pressure.

Archive: Meteorology: How Clouds Form, April 9, 2012

4/9/2012 12:00:00 AM

This Web Seminar took place on April 9, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Rudo Kashiri, NASA Explorer Schools Education Specialist at Langley Research Center. In this Seminar, Ms. Kashiri discussed a wealth of cloud-related resources for teachers, including lessons, activities, and simulations. For more information about this web seminar, its presenter(s), read what participants said about it, and to see and download its PowerPoint slides <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NES2/webseminar2-4.aspx" target=_Blank">go here</a>.

The Teaching of Science: Contemporary Challenges

4/9/2012 12:00:00 AM

This chapter introduces the subsequent chapters with major themes and an emphasis for the book. It also sets forth the themes of curriculum and instruction as they relate to science teachers.

Engaging Students in Content Learning and Scientific Critique Through a Nanoscience Context

4/6/2012 12:00:00 AM

Nanoscience is increasingly visible in scientific endeavors, new technologies, and engineered products. Citizens and students must develop a sense of what constitutes scientific evidence of the positive and negative effects as well as side effects of nanotechnology on human health and wellbeing, the environment, and technological products. As such, nanotechnology provides a rich and rigorous context for the development of scientific literacy, one that is especially exciting because it can offer insights into the nature of science as new discoveries are made. In this chapter, the authors present a curriculum focused on helping middle school students build conceptual understanding of topics essential to nanoscale science through engagement in the evaluation of scientific claims.

Issues-Based Learning and Inquiry in Environmental Science: Meeting the Third Goal of the National Science Education Standards

4/6/2012 12:00:00 AM

As in many other education jurisdictions, environmental education in Ontario is infused throughout the science curriculum. This infusion requires students to not only understand the science behind environmental issues, but also be provided with "meaningful contexts for applying what has been learned about the environment, for thinking critically about issues related to the environment, and for considering personal action that can be taken to protect the environment" (Ontario Ministry of Education 2008, p. 38). In this chapter, the authors share the experiences of one secondary school and its community in developing these "meaningful contexts."

An "HOLA" Approach to Learning Science

4/6/2012 12:00:00 AM

Implementing classroom instructional strategies that lend themselves to both unidimensional assessments and alternative assessments provide evidence of proficiency that can satisfy both school and student learning evaluations. Barnard Environmental Magnet School's collaboration with Solar Youth offers one such learning and assessment opportunity. Solar Youth's Hands-On Outdoor Learning Adventure (HOLA) method of instruction uses hands-on inquiry strategies in combination with kinesthetic-based cognitive questioning and is the basis for this chapter. The HOLA approach is an example of how kinesthetic assessment can help improve student experiences with multiple-choice test-taking skills while also engaging students with socially important scientific issues. This learning strategy retains student engagement inasmuch as the student is actively presenting and thinking about what is being discussed.

Archive: Properties of Living Things: Searching for Life on Mars, April 5, 2012

4/5/2012 12:00:00 AM

This Web Seminar took place on April 5, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Marti Phipps, NASA Explorer Schools Education Specialist at Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In this Seminar, Ms. Phipps talked about NASA's missions to Mars and shared a hands-on activity that reinforces student understanding of the properties of living things and the environmental conditions for life. For more information about this web seminar, its presenter(s), read what participants said about it, and to see and download its PowerPoint slides <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NES2/webseminar7-4.aspx" target=_Blank">go here</a>.

Growing Crystals

4/5/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will grow crystals of sugar, sodium chloride, and Epsom salts.

Decomposition of Water Lab

4/5/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will decompose water by running electricity through inert conductors.

Solubility Lab

4/5/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will judge the solubility of three solids and three liquids.

Sea Ice Lab

4/5/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will learn whether or not ice formed on the surface of ice water is salty.

Invisible Ink Lab

4/5/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will create an "invisible ink" and then test to see which chemical may be responsible for making it invisible

Differentiated Science Inquiry

4/5/2012 12:00:00 AM

Ignite science learning with differentiated instruction Given that each child learns differently, it makes sense that one type of science instruction does not fit all. Best-selling author Douglas Llewellyn gives teachers standards-based strategies for differentiating inquiry-based science instruction to more effectively meet the needs of all students. This book takes the concept of inquiry-based science education to a deeper level with the author's unique model, including fresh ideas for engaging students and practical tools for differentiating inquiry instruction. The text demonstrates: - Methods for determining when and how to provide students with more choices, thereby increasing their ownership and motivation - Ways to implement differentiated science inquiry in the main areas of science instruction - Strategies for successfully managing the classroom Differentiated Science Inquiry offers compelling examples and is filled with helpful how-to's for modifying existing activities and labs for effective instruction.

The CHANCE Program: Transitioning From Simple Inquiry-Based Learning to Professional Science Practice

4/5/2012 12:00:00 AM

Two settings build the premise for this chapter and comprise the Connecting Humans and Nature through Conservation Experiences (CHANCE) program. The first setting is a summer field course in Costa Rica and the second is the regular school classroom during the academic year. The first setting builds the foundation for the second. Both elements of the CHANCE program, the field course and the modules, offer teachers an up-to-date alternative to traditional professional development and curriculum opportunities. Based upon ongoing research and evaluation findings, the CHANCE program continues to evolve. The program supports the learning of scientific inquiry skills and the vision of the National Science Education Standards (NSES).

Securing a "Voice": The Environmental Science Summer Research Experience for Young Women

4/4/2012 12:00:00 AM

Roland Park Country School is an urban college preparatory school for students in grades K-12 located in Baltimore, Maryland. An independent all-girls school, the institution maintains a commitment to community outreach to address issues of equity and social justice, and as part of this investment, environmental education and stewardship is a central part of the school mission. The Environmental Science Summer Research Experience (E.S.S.R.E.) for Young Women has now played a positive role in the lives of young women from Baltimore for nine years. Providing the target audience the rare opportunity as high school students to work on the frontier of a relatively nascent scientific field, the program has received national recognition, and is changing lives for the better in Baltimore and beyond.

Chemical Formula Simulations

4/4/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will construct molecules out of papers they cut out to determine the chemical formula and the method for writing chemical formulas.

Chemical Reaction Simulation

4/4/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will use their ion pieces to simulate the finishing and balancing of chemical equations.

Balancing Chemical Equations Simulation

4/4/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will use paper cutouts to simulate chemical reactions and balancing products and reactants

Molecular Shape

4/4/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will determine whether the shape of a water molecule is linear or bent

Identifying Types of Streetlights Lab

4/4/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will build an apparatus that will allow them to see the spectrum created by different streetlights.

Archive: Creating and Sharing Collections in the Learning Center, April 4, 2012

4/4/2012 12:00:00 AM

This Web Seminar took place on April 4, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Flavio Mendez, Senior Director, NSTA Learning Center. In this Seminar, Mr. Mendez reviewed the wealth of resources available in the Learning Center, then showed participants how to gather and use these resources by organizing them into collections. For more information about this web seminar, its presenter(s), read what participants said about it, and to see and download its PowerPoint slides <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NLC/webseminarXVIII.aspx" target=_Blank">go here</a>.

Using Socioscientific Issues as Contexts for Teaching Concepts and Content

4/4/2012 12:00:00 AM

This chapter focuses upon the conceptual development and implementation of a socioscientific issues (SSI) curriculum in two high school science classrooms. The scenarios and perspectives described in this chapter exemplify fundamental examples of best practices in the SSI tradition. Teachers enter the science education program at the University of South Florida for several reasons, including satisfaction of certification requirements and job performance improvement. As expected, students in master and doctoral programs enter the science education programs with differing personal views about education in general, and science teaching in particular. A look at these differences and their effects on teaching are explored.

Archive: Electromagnetic Spectrum: Remote Sensing Ices on Mars, April 3, 2012

4/3/2012 12:00:00 AM

This Web Seminar took place on April 3, 2012 from 8:15 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. Eastern Time. The presenter was Rudo Kashiri, NASA Explorer Schools Education Specialist at Langley Research Center. In this Seminar, Ms. Kashiri shared a classroom activity that allows middle school and high school students to collect data and draw conclusions about buried water ice on Mars. For more information about this web seminar, its presenter(s), read what participants said about it, and to see and download its PowerPoint slides <a href="http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NES2/webseminar1-4.aspx" target=_Blank">go here</a>.

Average Atomic Mass Simulation

4/3/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will use a large number of small objects to find the average mass of the objects.

Reaction Rate

4/3/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will dissolve pieces of Alka-Seltzer tablets in water after crushing them and heating the water, and then time how long the reaction takes to complete.

Molecular Motion and Temperature

4/3/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will see how the rate of diffusion varies in cold, room temperature, and hot water.

Boiling Water in a Syringe

4/3/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will make warm water boil by reducing the pressure inside a syringe

Lifting an Ice Cube With a String

4/3/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will lift an ice cube by sprinkling salt over a string on the ice.

Communic-Able: Writing to Learn About Emerging Diseases

4/3/2012 12:00:00 AM

High school students in a seven-week writing-intensive project at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health serve as research apprentices. This project focuses on students in need of additional development in communication, computation, or scientific background, and creates a research group that carries out original research on a mock epidemic. The project uses a problem-based learning (PBL) approach (Chin and Chia 2008; Massa 2008), applying research and writing skills to the problem of the emergence of a mock communicable disease on the University of Wisconsin campus. Students in this project form an epidemiological task force called U-WHO (University of Wisconsin Health Organization) and design their own projects to study the spread of this imaginary disease, based on research approaches that they have explored in the scientific literature.

Tahoma Outdoor Academy: Learning About Science and the Environment Inside and Outside the Classroom

4/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

Taking students outside of the classroom is recognized as a valid and important pedagogical practice; however, teachers at all levels feel challenged when faced with integrating informal, outdoor, and community settings with subject-specific curricula and mandated learning outcomes (Falk and Balling 2001; Michie 1998; Price and Hein 1991; Simmons 1998; Smith and Williams 1999). There is a need for models of integration that also address engaging students in field investigations and civic participation. In this chapter, the authors describe a high school program that uses the environment as an integrating context for science, language arts, health and fitness, and service-learning. They explore how the program influences students' understanding of science, environmental concepts, and inquiry skills,and inquiry skills.

Developing Students' Sense of Purpose With a Driving Question Board

4/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Driving Question Board (DQB) is an organizing tool used in the project-based curriculum described in this study, which serves as a visual organizer for all the curriculum's contextualizing features. In this chapter, the authors report on the pilot of a sixth-grade project-based unit on light at three different schools-urban, suburban, and rural-and follow the use of the DQB by students and teachers at three sites. It was found to foster students' learning of both content and processes. The results provide strong evidence for improving student content knowledge in all the classes, regardless of social and economic conditions, as well as teacher instruction.

Half-Life Simulation

4/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will simulate the decay of radioactive isotopes by flipping papers and removing face-up papers.

Rutherford's Gold Foil Simulation

4/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will simulate Rutherford's gold foil simulation by rolling a marble (alpha particle) at a series of target marbles (gold atoms

Mean Free Path Activity

4/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will calculate the mean free path of a simulated gas sample.

Freezing Water

4/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will see if the volume of an ice and water mixture goes up or down when the ice melts.

Surface Tension Lab

4/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will count how many drops of water they can put on the face of a penny with and without dishwashing liquid in the water.

Density of Oil Lab

4/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will estimate the density of cooking oil by comparing it to water

Chromatography Lab

4/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will perform paper chromatography on different inks to find the source of the ink.

Mechanoluminescence: Making Things Light Up

4/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will see how applying a force to a Wint-O-Green Life Saver causes it to light up.

Intensive and Extensive Properties

4/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will split colored water into different cups and observe the properties

Creating a Colloid

4/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this activity, students will create a substance that does not clearly fall into the categories of solid, liquid, gas, or plasma.

Engaging Students in the Scientific Practices of Explanation and Argumentation

4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

This article examines the sixth and seventh practices concerning explanation and argumentation, found in A Framework for K-12 Science Education.

A Change for Chemistry

4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

By using a preassessment of chemical and physical change, teachers can become better equipped to bridge conceptual gaps through instruction.

Editor's Roundtable: Puzzled by Assessment?

4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

Science Scope's editor shares thoughts regarding the current issue.

Guest Editorial: Misunderstanding Misconceptions

4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

An opinion piece about the different ways teachers view misconceptions.

Everyday Engineering: It's Stuck on You

4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

This column provides an inside look at the marvels of engineering in everyday life. This month's issue takes a closer look at adhesive bandages.

An Integrated Instructional Approach to Facilitate Inquiry in the Classroom

4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

In this article we provide an approach that integrates the Know-Learn-Evidcence-Wonder (KLEW) instructional teaching strategy within the 7E learning-cycle model to help teachers immerse students in a range of inquiry-based science experiences-particularly open inquiry-and demonstrate evidence of student reflection, learning, and understanding of a science topic.

Tech Trek: A Coruscating Star in the Calvalcade of Electronic Devices: The iPad

4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

This column provides a look at the latest technology for science educators. This month's issue focuses on the iPad.

Scope on Safety: OSHA's Newest Lab Resources

4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

This column shares safety information for your classroom. This month's issue discusses OSHA's new publication Laboratory Safety Guidance.

Scope on the Skies: "I'm Your Venus"

4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

This column focuses on astronomy throughout the year. This month's issue centers on Venus, the Kepler Mission, and the annular solar eclipse.

Engaging Students in the Scientific Practices of Explanation and Argumentation

4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

This article examines the sixth and seventh practices concerning explanation and argumentation, found in A Framework for K-12 Science Education.

Career of the Month: Isotope Geochemist

4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

This column shares interviews with professionals using science in the workplace. This month's issue highlights the work of an isotope geochemist.

Taking the Leap

4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

A classroom bungee jump activity helps students understand physics concepts.

The Green Room: Tap Local Resources for Environmental Education

4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

This column focuses on making your teaching more environmentally friendly. This month's issue discusses local, state, and regional resources available for sustainability education inside the classroom.

Safer Science: OSHA's Newest Lab Resource

4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

This column provides best safety practices for the science classroom and laboratory. This month's issue discusses a new OSHA publication Laboratory Safety Guidance.

Editor's Corner: Science for All

4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Science Teacher's editor shares thoughts on the current issue.

The New Teacher's Toolbox: Accommodating Differences

4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

This column shares tips for teachers just beginning their career. This month's issue discusses teaching a class of students with varying levels of ability and motivation.

Idea Bank: The Snowball Questioning Method

4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

The Idea Bank provides tips and techniques for creative teaching, in about 1,000 words. This month's Idea Bank highlights an efficient method of questioning students that brings quick feedback, revealing how well they understand a topic.

Striking a Balance

4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

This article describes using learning centers to advance English language learners' linguistic fluency.

Hands-On Hydroponics

4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

This article highlights a long-term inquiry lesson on sustainability and plant biology.

Las Rocas Nos Cuentan (Rocks Tell Their Stories)

4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

Through inquiry learning, students understand the Earth processes that form rocks and minerals.

Every Word You Speak

4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

This article shows how teachers can use common instructional methods to ensure that students, including ELLs, understand the language of science, construct new concepts, and simultaneously develop academic English abilities.

Science and Children-April/May 2012

4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

Learning does not have to stop over the break. This issue features ways to extend science into summer.

The Science Teacher-April/May 2012

4/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

The ideal of education for all is at the core of the American experience. Improving schools and providing equitable education for all students must be among our nation's highest priorities. This issue of The Science Teacher marks our 17th annual issue devoted to providing support and teaching suggestions to help close student achievement gaps.