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Why do some objects stick to the refrigerator?

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Why do some objects stick to the refrigerator?

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Daily Do

Why do some objects stick to the refrigerator?

1. NSTA

2. Why do some objects stick to the refrigerator?

Welcome to NSTA's Daily Do

Teachers and families across the country are facing a new reality of providing opportunities for students to do science through distance and home learning. The Daily Do is one of the ways NSTA is supporting teachers and families with this endeavor. Each weekday, NSTA will share a sensemaking task teachers and families can use to engage their students inauthentic, relevant science learning.We encourage families to make time for family science learning (science is a social process!) and are dedicated to helping students and their families find balance between learning science and the day-to-day responsibilities they have to stay healthy and safe.

Interested in learning about other ways NSTA is supporting teachers and families? Visit the NSTA homepage.

What is sensemaking?

Sensemaking is actively trying to figure out how the world works (science) or how to design solutions to problems (engineering). Students do science and engineering through the science and engineering practices. Engaging in these practices necessitates students be part of a learning community to be able to share ideas, evaluate competing ideas, give and receive critique, and reach consensus. Whether this community of learners is made up of classmates or family members, students and adults build and refine science and engineering knowledge together.

Grab the magnets from your refrigerator and get ready to explore! In today's task, Why do some objects stick to the refrigerator?, NSTA Press author Patrick Brown uses the strategy of explore-before-explain to engage students and their families in science and engineering practices and the use of patterns as a thinking tool to make sense of science ideas about magnets.

Students can kick off the lesson by considering an assessment probe that asks them to decide which of four different student explanations accurately describes the magnetic forces between magnets and paper clips in the air and in water (Keeley and Tugel 2009, p. 67). Give students independent thinking time to select the best student explanation and to share their thinking using text, pictures and/or symbols.

Next, take advantage of the opportunity to have students engage in "partner talk" and share their ideas. Encourage students to explain why they think one student explanation is the best and why they think the others are not.

The exciting part of the prediction phase (step 2) is that students will have a chance to explore these ideas firsthand. Sometimes the best learning comes from explorations that provide answers different from our initial thinking (i.e., provides a discrepant event). The magnets in water question can easily be tested using the materials in the probe (magnets, paper clips, and water).

Follow-Up Questions for Step 1

As you discuss the probe, ask the following questions (make sure to follow up each question with Why do you say so?

Can magnets work in water?

Can magnets work in air?

Do magnets need to touch the material to work?

Extend the probe by asking students the following questions.

Can magnets work through paper?

Can magnets work through a notebook?

Can magnets work through a tabletop?

Students can make connections between different household investigations and how magnets work. For example, they may mention that a magnet works without touching the object. The goal in the first exploration is to begin to develop the idea that magnetism is a non-contact force.

Step 2: Magnetic or Not Magnetic?

The second exploration also starts with an assessment probe activity. Have students generate a list of objects in their surroundings that they think are magnetic or not magnetic. As students write their lists, engage them in "partner talk," which can spark productive discussions. For instance, have them discuss whether there are similarities and differences between items on their list. Challenge students to state the rule that they used to make their decision. (As a note to parents and teachers, many students believe that all metal materials are magnetic. They use this idea as their rule for making predictions about whether household items are magnetic.)

With these forecasts in mind, have students investigate whether the materials they listed are magnetic. You might ask students to share with a partner how they would conduct the investigation. Then, ask students to share ideas with the class and collaboratively design the investigation. Students will likely agree they should test whether a magnet is attracted to each item on their list and record their findings. Depending on the students' initial lists, you can ask many partner-talk questions that can guide thinking and help develop understanding.

Follow-up questions for Step 2

What pattern(s) do you notice in your data (observations)?

Are all the metal materials magnetic?

Were any nonmetal materials attracted to the magnet?

Step 3: Developing Explanations

After all students have collected data, return to the follow-up questions for Step 1 so students can begin to articulate how magnets work.
When I did this lesson with my students (kids), I also asked whether magnetism can travel through different objects. Students noticed that magnetism (both attraction and repulsion) went through paper (a notebook) and water but not through a wooden tabletop. They said, "We need a more powerful magnet for it to travel through the thick tabletop." In making such a statement, students showed that they were learning that the size of the magnetic force is influenced by different materials.
As you work through step 3, encourage students to make a claim about magnetism that is based on evidence from their data (observations). Ask students, "What pattern(s) do you notice?" to support them in selecting relevant evidence to support their claim.
When I completed this activity at home, my students and I found that (1) most metal objects, except a metal spoon and door handle, were attracted to the magnet, and (2) none of the nonmetals were attracted to the magnet. My students observed from the data they collected that not all metals are magnetic, or as one child put it, "The metal in the spoon must be a type of metal that is not magnetic." I was pleased with this statement because it was a scientific claim based on the evidence from data collected.

Step 4: Magnet and Compass

The next set of investigations allows students to develop a deeper conceptual understanding of magnetism. Using the online simulation " Magnet and Compass ", students can explore how magnetic poles interact and how a compass works. During the activity, have students slowly move a compass around one bar magnet. To their surprise, they will see that the compass needle moves in a full circle as they slowly move the compass all the way around the bar magnet. This demonstration helps students learn how magnetic forces are related to the orientations of the magnetic materials.

Follow-up Questions for Step 4

Step 5: Paper Clips and Magnets

The last set of investigations uses paper clips and magnets of different sizes to answer the following question: Which of three different sizes of magnets (large, medium, and small) will hold the largest number of paper clips?

To investigate this question, ask students make predictions about which magnet will hold the most paper clips and ask them why they think so. Students can connect the paper clips in a chain-link fashion to collect quantitative data about the strength of a magnetic. This challenge works well if one of the magnets is a small neodymium magnetic [dime size]. Students will be in awe of how much a neodymium magnet can hold compared with other household magnets.

Depending on the magnets available to you, students may be able to conclude that when the magnets are made out of the same material, magnetic strength increases as the size of the magnet increases. They may further conclude some materials (neodymium) make stronger magnets than other materials.

Follow-up Questions for Step 5

What pattern(s) do you see in your data (observations)?

Which magnet holds the most paper clips? The least?

One way to see if students are developing ideas about magnetism is to ask them to explain this Floating Ring Magnets demonstration. Students will be amazed to see that when the magnetic rings are let go, they float with a small amount of air between each ring. Based on their experiences, students can explain that the ring magnets are arranged so that their like poles face each other; hence, the magnets repel each other

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Why do some objects stick to the refrigerator? | NSTA

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Daily Do NSTA Why do some objects stick to the refrigerator? Welcome to NSTA's Daily Do Teachers and families across the country are facing a new reality of providing opportunities for students to do science through distance and home learning. The Daily Do is one of the ways NSTA is supporting teachers and families with this endeavor.

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Welcome to NSTA's Daily Do!

Teachers and families across the country are facing a new reality of providing opportunities for students to science through distance and home learning. The Daily Do is one of the ways NSTA is supporting teachers and families with this endeavor. Each weekday, NSTA will share a sensemaking task teachers and families can use to engage their students inauthentic, relevant science learning.We encourage families to make time for family science learning (science is a social process!) and are dedicated to helping students and their families find balance between learning science and the day-to-day responsibilities they have to stay healthy and safe.

Interested in learning about other ways NSTA is supporting teachers and families? Visit the NSTA homepage.

What is Sensemaking?

Sensemaking is actively trying to figure out how the world works (science) or how to design solutions to problems (engineering). Students science and engineering through the science and engineering practices. Engaging in these practices necessitates students be part of a learning community to be able to share ideas, evaluate competing ideas, give and receive critique, and reach consensus. Whether this community of learners is made up of classmates or family members, students and adults build and refine science and engineering knowledge together.

Introduction

The COVID-19 global pandemic has led to major changes in our everyday lives. The biggest changes for young children are likely staying home from school and no longer being able to spend time with extended family and friends.

In this task, Why do we all have to stay home?, students and their families engage in science and engineering practices and use the thinking tools of patterns and cause and effect to figure out how social distancing (and shelter in place) slows the spread of the coronavirus. This task is designed to help young children talk about changes they've seen and heard about, understand how the coronavirus is spread, and take actions to keep themselves and their families healthy and safe.

Discussions play a large role in supporting students' sensemaking in this task. You may want to first introduce or remind students of classroom norms before you begin. OpenSciEd has a set of classroom norms that well-support students in sharing, listening, and respectfully critiquing and building on other's ideas.

A printable version of the Why do we all have to stay home? Elementary Version lesson plan in now available!
Download Lesson Plan

Model representing people playing, hanging out, and going to school together (no social distancing) via Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator/

Tell your students, "We're going to watch what happens when an imaginary germ spreads in a town where people are playing, hanging out, and going to school together."

Ask, "What do you notice or wonder about this model?" Start with the simulation off, and then let it play all the way through.

As students share their noticing, ask them a clarifying or probing question as appropriate to get them to think more deeply about the components (parts) and relationships (what moves?/what changes?) represented in the model. You may want to go back to the simulation and ask each student to follow the journey of one dot from beginning to end if they have difficulty answering the questions.

If you are facilitating this task with two or more students (or family members), you have a wonderful opportunity to bring the group to consensus on the components and interactions represented in the model. See the example consensus discussion below using the questions provided and guidance from OpenSciEd 3 Discussion Types.

Model representing most people staying at home (extreme social distancing) via Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator/

Tell students, "Now we're going to watch what happens when the imaginary germ spreads in a town where people are mostly staying at home. Scientists call keeping close to home social distancing." (Note: Keeping close to home more closely represents shelter in place. If students ask the difference, social distancing is keeping a distance (6 feet recommended) from others and only gathering in groups of 50 or less.)

Ask student how this model is similar to the first model (start with the simulation off, then let it play through while students are making observations). Record the similarities. Play the simulation again, this time asking students to notice differences between the first and second models. Record the differences students observe. You may need to run the simulation 2-3 times.

See image below for examples of similarities and differences.

Ask students to turn and talk to a partner to answer the question, "How do these models help explain why scientists are asking us not to play, hang out, or go to school together?"

To facilitate the conversation, give students the following prompts:

Speaker: I think _____ because ____.

Responder: I heard you say _____. (to honor speaker's ideas) What is your evidence?

As you listen to the partner conversations, remind students to use the models and the similarities and differences list to support their thinking. Make sure each student takes a turn as speaker and responder.

If you have two or more students (or family members), navigate to a building understanding discussion. Start by asking students to share their claims. As each student shares their claim, ask them share evidence from the models that supports their claim.

Some questions you might pose to the class to encourage critique and student-to-student interaction include:

Does any group have evidence to support Group A's claim?

What data do we have that challenges Group B's claim?

______ and ____ made similar claims. Did you have the same evidence?

______, what do you have to say to _____ about her idea? It sounds pretty different from yours.

To conclude the building understanding discussion, consider using the following prompt:

What can we conclude about how these models help explain why scientists are asking us not to play, hang out, or learn together?

NSTA Collection of Resources Today's Daily Do

Check Out Previous Daily Dos from NSTA

The NSTA Daily Do is an open educational resource (OER) and can be used by educators and families providing students distance and home science learning. Access the entire collection of NSTA Daily Dos.

Acknowledgement

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Welcome to NSTA's Daily Do! Teachers and families across the country are facing a new reality of providing opportunities for students to science through distance and home learning. The Daily Do is one of the ways NSTA is supporting teachers and families with this endeavor.

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How Does the Wind Blow? I Wonder Why

Wind is invisible, but watchful students can see how air in motion be detected by movement around them. This simple book introduces the different intensities of the wind, from gentle breezes that make flags flutter to powerful tornadoes that can lift a house. As the book progresses, readers discover how wind intensities can be measured, and they indirectly become acquainted with the Beaufort Wind Scale used by meteorologists. Throughout the book, the text flows like poetry, moving young readers along as easily as the wind makes little boats sail across the water.
How Does the Wind Blow? is part of the I Wonder Why book series, written to ignite the curiosity of children in grades K-6 while encouraging them to become avid readers. These books explore the marvels of geology, land forms, weather, environments, and other phenomena related to science and nature. Included in each volume is a Parent/Teacher Handbook with coordinating activities. The I Wonder Why series is written by an award-winning science educator and published by NSTA Kids, a division of NSTA Press.

Lexile Framework: 630L
Visit www.Lexile.com for more information about Lexile Measures.

Level

Elementary School

Details

Type NSTA Kids Pub Date 7/17/2013 ISBN 978-1-938946-13-4

NSTA Press produces classroom-ready activities, hands-on approaches to inquiry, relevant professional development, the latest scientific education news and research, assessment and standards-based instruction.
Learn More

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How Does the Wind Blow? I Wonder Why | National Science Teaching Association

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How Does the Wind Blow? I Wonder Why Wind is invisible, but watchful students can see how air in motion be detected by movement around them. This simple book introduces the different intensities of the wind, from gentle breezes that make flags flutter to powerful tornadoes that can lift a house.

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Animal Adaptations

From feet to color to teeth, animals have many special structures that help them survive. These physical characteristics help them move, find food, and protect themselves. Animal Adaptations allows children to use their powers of observation to compare the physical characteristics of animals in figure out how the characteristics help the animals survive in their environments. Children also explore how changes to an environment affect the ability of animals to survive. Animal Adaptations is based on the interactive e-book, I Live Where I Live Because.

NSTA Press produces classroom-ready activities, hands-on approaches to inquiry, relevant professional development, the latest scientific education news and research, assessment and standards-based instruction.
Learn More

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Animal Adaptations | National Science Teaching Association

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Animal Adaptations From feet to color to teeth, animals have many special structures that help them survive. These physical characteristics help them move, find food, and protect themselves. Animal Adaptations allows children to use their powers of observation to compare the physical characteristics of animals in figure out how the characteristics help the animals survive in their environments.

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All around us are opportunities to observe forces and interactions between objects. For younger students, two toy cars crashing into one another may simply be a game, but this activity can also be used to help them understand a key physical science concept.

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Plants, Animals, and Earth Processes, Oh My! Changes to the Environment

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Plants, Animals, and Earth Processes, Oh My! Changes to the Environment

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Plants, Animals, and Earth Processes, Oh My! Changes to the Environment | NSTA

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The Earth changes over time. Some of the processes that change the Earth's surface are natural, such as weathering and erosion; other changes can be made by plants and animals, including humans. Organisms have had to evolve over time to adapt to new environments.

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Picture-Perfect Science Online Course, Sep 2020

A Picture-Perfect Science Online Course includes:

10 hours of live and/or pre-recorded training using Video Conferencing

3 two-hour sessions with the authors and 2 two-hour sessions with a trained facilitator

1 ebook of choice from either Picture-Perfect Science STEM Lessons K-2 or Picture-Perfect Science STEM Lessons 3-5

A digital learning packet containing the first 5 chapters of Picture-Perfect Science Lessons, lessons modeled during the webinars, and relevant articles

Graduate credit if purchased separately - information will be available during the first session

Wednesday, September 23, 7:00 p.m. ET
Wednesday, September 30, 7:00 p.m. ET
Wednesday, October 7, 7:00 p.m. ET
Wednesday, October 14, 7:00 p.m. ET
Wednesday, October 28, 7:00 p.m. ET

NSTA Press produces classroom-ready activities, hands-on approaches to inquiry, relevant professional development, the latest scientific education news and research, assessment and standards-based instruction.
Learn More

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Picture-Perfect Science Online Course, Sep 2020 | National Science Teaching Association

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Picture-Perfect Science Online Course, Sep 2020 A Picture-Perfect Science Online Course includes: 10 hours of live and/or pre-recorded training using Video Conferencing 3 two-hour sessions with the authors and 2 two-hour sessions with a trained facilitator 1 ebook of choice from either Picture-Perfect Science STEM Lessons K-2 or Picture-Perfect Science STEM Lessons 3-5 A digital learning packet containing the first 5 chapters of Picture-Perfect Science Lessons, lessons modeled during the webinars, and relevant articles Graduate credit if purchased separately - information will be available during the first session Wednesday, September 23, 7:00 p.m.

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Teaching Students the Science of COVID-19: How Can I Protect Myself and Others?

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Teaching Students the Science of COVID-19: How Can I Protect Myself and Others?

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Archive: Transforming Science Learning: Teaching Students the Science of COVID-19: How Can I Protect Myself and Others?, August 26, 2020

As districts develop plans for their 2020-21 school year, science educators will play an important role in educating students about COVID-19 and the underlying science and social science of the pandemic. At the Smithsonian, we hypothesize that students are more likely to engage in protective behaviors if they understand the science of WHY they are being asked to engage in these behaviors (e.g., wearing face masks, physical distancing, contact tracing, sorting through claims and evidence, etc). To that end, the Smithsonian Science Education Center and its collaborators developed a free hands-on guide for youth and their families, available in 25 languages to support English Learners: https://ssec.si.edu/covid-19.

This web seminar will demonstrate some of the practical hands-on activities science educators and caregivers can use with students to help them better understand how to protect themselves and others from COVID-19.

View the Archive Video
To view the presentation slides from the web seminar and related resources, visit the resource collection. Continue discussing this topic in the community forums.

Below are comments from individuals who attended the seminar:

"I enjoyed learning new strategies to teach the students"

"I really liked the identity map as a way to learn more about students. I thought the video of how droplets are spread was very helpful to demonstrate the importance of masks."

"Love the modules. I will definitely be using them in class. I also really liked the identity map!"

"The sequence of lessons helps to give learners an opportunity to engage in activities that help them to understand some of the important heath and safety impacts of Covid-19. I am grateful to have a great lesson sequence to use."

A certificate of attendance was deposited into participants' account page for completing the evaluation form at the end of the program.

For more information contact: webseminars@nsta.org

NSTA Press produces classroom-ready activities, hands-on approaches to inquiry, relevant professional development, the latest scientific education news and research, assessment and standards-based instruction.
Learn More

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Archive: Transforming Science Learning: Teaching Students the Science of COVID-19: How Can I Protect Myself and Others?, August 26, 2020 | National Science Teaching Association

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Archive: Transforming Science Learning: Teaching Students the Science of COVID-19: How Can I Protect Myself and Others?, August 26, 2020 As districts develop plans for their 2020-21 school year, science educators will play an important role in educating students about COVID-19 and the underlying science and social science of the pandemic.

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The Role of E-Learning in Science Education

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The Role of E-Learning in Science Education

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Download PDF
Introduction

The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) supports and encourages the use of e-learning experiences for preK-16 science students, as well as for science educators engaging in professional learning in the traditional, informal, or online learning environment. NSTA defines e-learning as the effective learning process created by combining digitally delivered content with learning support and services (Waller 2001). E-learning can and should significantly enhance science teaching and learning and may be used in a blended and coherent fashion to extend onsite learning experiences.

NSTA does not limit the definition of e-learning solely to distance-based online courses and instruction where the learner and instructor are separated by place and time, but considers the following experiences to be within the scope of e-learning: traditional classroom instruction that incorporates the planned and effective use of collaborative and/or interactive digital tools and resources, blended learning experiences that incorporate various combinations of technology-mediated and traditional classroom instruction, and distance delivered courses or programs, as well as the rich collaboration and discourse enabled through online learning networks and communities.

E-learning is an increasingly prevalent, viable, and fully recognized method for teaching and learning science (Dede, Brown-L'Bahy, Ketelhut, and Whitehouse 2004). NSTA supports e-learning as a promising way to

more effectively provide access to images of science teaching that embrace three-dimensional learning in a wide range of classrooms with diverse learners (NRC 2012);

give science educators opportunities to experience firsthand the appropriate use of technology in teaching and learning, and increase their confidence in using these tools in their own practice;

meet the needs of diverse student and teacher learners with varied preferences for learning and interacting across learning environments (Dede 2005, DoED 2016, Dede et al. 2016);

reduce the isolation of science educators-especially those in rural areas or teaching specialized science subjects-by providing and expanding access to colleagues and experts; (NASEM 2015)

provide diverse learners-both preK-16 students and educators-with equitable access to high-quality courses, content, learning experiences, and instructors by overcoming barriers of place and time (DoED 2016);

engage a greater number of teachers in ongoing, high quality peer-to-peer and teacher focused professional learning experiences (CSSS 2015);

provide remote access-via computers and smart and mobile devices-to networks, data, and scientific instruments that allows teachers and the students they serve to conduct scientific investigations that might otherwise be unavailable to them (NACOL 2008); and

provide future workers with strong skills and fluency in the convergence of media, which are critical to succeed in the 21st-century workplace (BHEF 2005).

For these reasons, NSTA supports e-learning as a component of everyone's experience in learning science in the 21st century.

Declarations
NSTA considers the following elements key to effective, high-quality e-learning experiences for teachers and students. E-learning experiences should

reflect current research on how people learn and the design of effective learning environments;

be thoughtfully designed and delivered with goals and outcomes clearly stated;

be accurate, interesting, engaging, relevant, and standards-based;

be facilitated or guided by fully accessible teachers or instructors skilled in both science content and pedagogy in an e-learning environment;

incorporate instructional design practices that allow for individual decision making and accommodate differences among learners and their contexts;

strengthen science teaching and learning through digitally accessible content that has the potential to provide active or constructive learning experiences that enable the learner to gather, analyze, and display data (NRC 2000) and fully engage in simulated real-world problem contexts (AAAS 1993);

connect learners-both students and science educators-to experiences that emulate how science is practiced in the real world (NRC 2012);

provide access to meaningful collaborative learning experiences with experts and other learners (CSSS 2015);

promote frequent interaction between teacher and learner to allow continuous monitoring and adjustment of the dynamic learning environment; and

conduct ongoing evaluation and assessment of program effectiveness, learners performance, and academic achievement to ensure the highest possible quality of science education. Both formative and summative evaluations should be used to guide continuous improvement of instruction.

NSTA supports e-learning as an important component of teacher preparation and teacher professional learning.
When designed properly, online courses, programs, and professional learning networks and communities for science educators have the ability to provide high-quality opportunities for them to share and engage with like-minded colleagues through discourse as they learn content and pedagogy. NSTA makes the following declarations regarding e-learning as a component of teacher preparation and professional learning:

Teachers, science supervisors, district leaders, and higher education faculty should be educated consumers of online opportunities, programs, and tools to effectively evaluate their quality and to encourage both preservice and inservice teachers to better understand the value of e-learning.

Science educators should use online tools to promote sharing of information, discourse, critical analysis, and collaboration between students and teachers at various locations throughout the world.

School districts and science supervisors should seek, evaluate, and provide teachers of science with high-quality, meaningful learning experiences employing e-learning technologies.

E-learning experiences should provide teachers of science with accurate, up-to-date information relating to science content and pedagogy.

E-learning experiences should employ three-dimensional teaching and learning strategies and make their use explicit.

E-learning experiences should give educators opportunities to reflect on the implications of what they are learning to their own practice.

NSTA supports e-learning for blended instructional approaches for K-16 students.
Instructional technology accessibility and applications in the traditional classroom, as well as virtual schools and courses, are emerging as viable and effective models for teaching important science content and for meeting diverse student needs. E-learning offers expanded instructional options for science educators when appropriate for the learning goals and the learners. NSTA makes the following declarations regarding e-learning for blended instructional approaches for K-16 students:

Students should have ample opportunities to engage in science and engineering practices experiences, and these opportunities may be increased and enhanced through e-learning (NSTA 2004).

E-learning experiences should provide opportunities for students to develop and use science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts in order to explain phenomena or design solutions to problems. (NRC 2012).

School districts should support e-learning experiences for all students and provide necessary resources.

E-learning experiences and resources, when appropriate, should accurately portray the nature of science.

K-16 schools should support the use of well-designed virtual labs that have the ability to enhance understanding.

Students should use e-learning tools in the classroom in the same ways that they will be expected to effectively use these tools in the workplace.

-Adopted by the NSTA Board of Directors, September 2008
Revised, July 2016
References

Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF). 2005. A commitment to America's future: Responding to the crisis in mathematics and science education. Washington, DC: Business-Higher Education Forum.

Council of State Science Supervisors (CSSS). 2015. Science professional learning standards. Retrieved from Internet: http://www.csss-science.org/SPLS.shtml

Dede, C. 2005. Planning for "neomillennial" learning styles: Implications for investments in technology and faculty. In Educating the net generation, eds. J. Oblinger and D. Oblinger, 226-247. Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Publishers.

Dede, C., T. Brown-L'Bahy, D. Ketelhut, and P. Whitehouse. 2004. Distance learning (virtual learning). In The internet encyclopedia, ed. H. Bidgoli, 549-560. New York: Wiley.

Dede, C., A. Eisencraft, K. Frumin, and A. Hartley, eds. 2016. Teacher learning in the digital age: Online professional development in STEM education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Press.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). 2015. Science teachers' learning: Enhancing opportunities, creating supportive contexts. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

National Research Council. 2000. How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning. eds. John Bransford, Ann Brown, and Rodney Cocking. Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

National Research Council (NRC). 2012. A Framework for K-12 Science Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL). 2008. Goals, Guidelines, and Standards for Student Scientific Investigations.

U.S. Department of Education (DoED). 2016. Future Ready Learning: Reimagining the Role of Technology in Education. Office of Educational Technology. Washington, D.C.

Waller, V., eLearning Network, and J. Wilson, The Forum for Technology in Training. Open and Distance Learning Quality Council (ODLQC). Newsletter. A Definition for E-Learning. October 2001.

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The Role of E-Learning in Science Education

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Download PDF The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) supports and encourages the use of e-learning experiences for preK-16 science students, as well as for science educators engaging in professional learning in the traditional, informal, or online learning environment. NSTA defines e-learning as the effective learning process created by combining digitally delivered content with learning support and services (Waller 2001).

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Introduction

The National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) strongly supports STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education that provides students with an interdisciplinary approach to learning. STEM education makes learning "real" and gives students opportunities to see the connection between the content they are studying and the application of that content in authentic and relevant ways. STEM education is an experiential learning pedagogy in which the application of knowledge and skills are integrated through in-context projects or problems focused on learning outcomes tied to the development of important college and career readiness proficiencies. The research (Renninger 2000; Tai et al 2006) identifies that personal interest, experience, and enthusiasm are critical to supporting children's science learning and can be a catalyst for long-term, sustained interest into adulthood. As described in A Framework for K-12 Science Education, many important decisions in the 21st century will require the abilities of the citizenry to frame scientific questions pertinent to their interests; evaluate complex social, civic, economic, political, and personal issues; seek out relevant data and scientific argument; and communicate their understandings and arguments to others.

The importance of STEM education to our nation's future cannot be overstated. As explained in the National Science Foundation (NSF) report A National Action Plan for Addressing the Critical Needs for U.S. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education System, "In the 21st century, scientific and technological innovations have become increasingly important as we face the benefits and challenges of both globalization and a knowledge-based economy. To succeed in this new information-based and highly technological society, students need to develop their capabilities in STEM to levels much beyond what was considered acceptable in the past." (NSF 2007)

Over the past 25 years, STEM education has been evolving from a convenient clustering of four overlapping disciplines (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) toward a more cohesive knowledge base and skill set critical for the 21st century. It now encompasses areas of computer science, the "designed world," and robotics, as each of these areas reflect the integration of the original four domains of study in which the goals are to resolve problems and create innovative solutions to proposed challenges. These broader categories reveal the opportunities in the current and future workforce. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, employment in STEM occupations grew much faster than employment in non-STEM occupations over the last decade (24.4% versus 4.0%, respectively), and STEM occupations are projected to grow by 8.9% from 2014 to 2024, compared to 6.4% growth for non-STEM occupations (Department of Commerce 2017).

Recent Pew Research Center (Graf et al 2018) data shows that STEM workers earn approximately 25% more than similarly educated non-STEM workers, regardless of the education level attained. Overall, blacks and Hispanics are underrepresented in the STEM workforce relative to their shares in the U.S. workforce as a whole. The number of women in STEM-related jobs has increased in the areas of life and physical sciences, but has actually decreased in one of the highest-paying and fastest-growing STEM clusters: computer occupations. In 1990, 32% of workers in computer occupations were women; today, women's share has dropped to 25%.

A STEM-literate populace and workforce is necessary to sustain the U.S. competitive advantage in the age of globalization: not only as researchers, doctors, and engineers, but also as a hugely technical workforce that can help secure our health and safety, revitalize our utility infrastructures, monitor our food production, and improve our manufacturing efficiencies and capabilities. We must employ all members of the labor pool, especially those who have been overlooked and underrepresented, such as women and minorities. The National Science Board in A Policy Companion Statement to Science and Engineering Indicators 2018 states, "All our people must be armed with the skills and knowledge to meet the future head-on. Among the groups that are underutilized, yet essential to our future competitiveness, are workers who use technical skills in their jobs but who do not have a four-year degree ("skilled technical workers"), and people at all education levels who have been historically underrepresented in STEM. Growing the skilled technical workforce and reducing barriers to participation in STEM will increase individual economic opportunity and support our Nation's leadership in science and technology."

STEM Education Today

Modern STEM education promotes not only skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, higher-order thinking, design, and inference, but also behavioral competencies such as perseverance, adaptability, cooperation, organization, and responsibility (NSTC 2018).

STEM is not a single subject, and it should not replace other subjects. Students need to learn the same concepts and skills in science and mathematics as they did before, and how to solve problems through engineering design challenges. STEM experiences must be connected and support the goals of state science standards, as well as those established in A Framework for K-12 Science Education and articulated in the Next Generation Science Standards ( NGSS),by providing students the opportunity to grasp and experience the relevancy of what they are learning.

STEM is also not a curriculum, but rather a way of organizing and delivering instruction. It is not another "ingredient" in the lesson "soup," but the recipe for helping learners apply their knowledge and skills, collaborate with their peers, and understand the relevance of what they are learning. This does not de-emphasize the teaching of core ideas, but rather gives students the ability to know how they can apply the content they are learning.

Today STEM is identified in many different ways, including in computer science and engineering/robotics. Computer science courses focus on problem solving through coding, as in the coding opportunities presented in the Hour of Code, the global movement spurred by education leaders in computer science, or in Girls Who Code, the national nonprofit organization that aims to close the gender gap in technology by building girls' confidence and expanding their computer experience. Robotic challenges highlight engineering challenges like the FIRST Robotics Competition, which teams students, coaches, and companies. Many corporations, such as Shell, Toyota, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin, also promote these engineering design/problem challenges, which are mainly for middle and high school students.

STEM education leaders must continue to broaden and deepen the scope of STEM education and further transcend the fields of study beyond just a combination of the four disciplines to include the arts and humanities (i.e., STEAM). The ability to think creatively, to communicate ideas in writing and speech with precision and clarity, to formulate and defend arguments based on evidence, and to create visual or digital models that convey evidence clearly and succinctly require students to have a strong foundation in language and creative arts. The ability to fully comprehend global issues requires that students can acknowledge and appreciate important cultural norms, social biases, and historical accomplishments of other countries and peoples. It is the combination of all of these factors that drive our innovations and technological advancements.

To achieve this, educators and other leaders representing the entire educational system should consider redefining what learning success looks like for STEM education. This includes reevaluating how the physical classroom structure could better support inclusion, peer discourse, and ongoing engineering design innovations; making a commitment to advocate for a comprehensive STEM education that begins in preschool and continues post-high school; and actively promoting diversity in STEM education for all students.

Lastly, STEM experiences should provide opportunities to unify communities by engaging multiple stakeholder groups, including teachers, business leaders, parents, policy makers, and most of all, students, in working toward common goals. The engagement of the entire community should play a critical role in shaping the STEM vision, promoting its importance economically, supporting its implementation through active participation like mentoring, and creating an environment of shared values. Such community advocacy can improve opportunities for many community members and raise the standard of living for all citizens.

Declarations

As the leading organization for science teaching and learning, NSTA asserts that educators, administrators, parents, and all stakeholders should consider the following recommendations as they develop and refine STEM education programs.

1. STEM education programs should be grounded in the tenets of constructivism supported by the findings of three decades of cognitive science. Integrated STEM education occurs when

learning is viewed as an active, constructive process, and not a receptive one;

student motivation and beliefs are integral to cognition;

social interaction is fundamental to cognitive development; and

knowledge, strategies, and expertise are contextualized in the learning experience.

2. High-quality K-12 STEM education is an essential, relevant, and continual endeavor for all students. STEM education

enables analytical and critical thinkers;

increases science, mathematics, and technology literacy;

fosters the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs;

provides opportunities for students to engage in 21st-century skills of teamwork, collaboration, problem solving, communication, and creative thinking; and

offers learning experiences in which students apply what they are learning in relevant, meaningful ways.

3. The promotion and advocacy of STEM education should focus on the following:

Teachers, school administrators, school boards, and school and district leaders should identify common goals and pathways to create a shared vision and definition of STEM teaching and learning for their communities.

Teachers of STEM should be provided with resources necessary to implement quality STEM education in their classrooms, including opportunities for professional growth and learning through continual and sustained training, mentoring, and support services, as they plan, develop, and execute their STEM lessons and units.

Schools and districts should continually provide access to technologies, materials, tools, and resources to facilitate the application of integrated STEM teaching and learning.

Schools and districts should recognize that STEM education begins as early as preschool and provide accessible educational experiences that span the preK-16 spectrum. This includes embracing new approaches to STEM teaching, creating new definitions of learning success, and considering new ideas about the physical structure of the educational environment so that it is more inclusive and conducive to exploration, discovery, and design iteration.

Schools and districts should implement models of professional learning and ongoing support to sustain changes in pedagogy, including instructional methods that promote learning for adults that mirror the methods to be used with students.

Schools, districts, employers, the community at large, and all interested stakeholders should seek opportunities to build a capacity for joint learning, job shadowing, and mentoring of students to support students' transition into the workforce.

Schools, districts, employers, the community at large, and all interested stakeholders should help promote, facilitate, and financially support STEM educator training so that all teachers can enhance their cross-disciplinary skills and knowledge, and provide for or increase the necessary collaboration time for educators to plan, learn, share, and improve their integrated STEM instructional units.

-Adopted by the NSTA Board of Directors, February 2020
References

Bybee, R. W. 2018. STEM education now more than ever. Arlington, VA: National Science Teaching Association Press.

Congressional Research Service Report to Congress. 2012. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM): A primer. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service.

Froschauer, L. 2016. Bringing STEM to the elementary classroom. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.

Graf, N., R. Fry, and C. Funk. 2018. 7 facts about the STEM workforce. Pew Research Center. www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/01/09/7-facts-about-the-stem-workforce.

National Research Council (NRC). 2011. Successful K-12 STEM education: Identifying effective approaches in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

National Science Board. 2007. A national action plan for addressing the critical needs for U.S. science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Education System. Washington, DC: National Science Foundation Press.

National Science and Technology Council Committee on STEM Education. 2018. Charting a course for success: American's strategy for STEM education. Washington, DC: White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Renninger, K. A. 2000. Individual interest and its implications for understanding intrinsic motivation; Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: The search for optimal motivation and performance educational psychology. In Intrinsic Motivation: Controversies and New Directions, ed. C. Sansone and J. M. Harackiewicz, 373-404. San Diego: Academic Press.

Tai, R.H., C. Q. Liu, A. V. Maltese, and X. Fan. 2006. Planning early for careers in science. Science 312 (5,777): 1,143-1,144.

U.S. Department of Commerce. 2017. STEM jobs: 2017 update. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Policy and Strategic Planning. Retrieved online: www.commerce.gov/news/reports/2017/03/stem-jobs-2017-update.

Weld, J. 2017. Creating a STEM culture for teaching and learning. Arlington, VA: National Science Teaching Association Press.

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The National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) strongly supports STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education that provides students with an interdisciplinary approach to learning. STEM education makes learning "real" and gives students opportunities to see the connection between the content they are studying and the application of that content in authentic and relevant ways.

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Eureka, Again! K–2 Science Activities and Stories

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Eureka, Again! K–2 Science Activities and Stories

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It's never too early to put a human face on science and engineering! Research shows that a child's ideas about how scientists and engineers look and what they do start to form in the earliest grades. Teachers can help students understand that everyone can do science by introducing inquiry activities in the primary grades. Like its best-selling counterpart for grades 3-5, Eureka, Again! K-2 Science Activities and Stories evokes Archimedes' famous cry. That's because it helps children make discoveries of their own about who scientists and engineers are and what they do. The book is so engaging and easy to use that it will become a resource you'll be excited to teach with every year.

Eureka, Again! is appealing because of its lively lessons, which are grounded in 27 children's trade-book biographies. Some of these individuals are famous, such as Rachel Carson and George Washington Carver. Others are not as well known, such as paleontologist Mary Anning and recycler Isatou Ceesay. All of their stories will help students see scientists and engineers not as stereotypes in lab coats but as real people whose success grows out of their life experiences and character traits. They may even inspire children to consider STEM-related careers.

Each chapter is designed to do the following:

* Focus on science and engineering practices. These include asking questions and defining problems, planning and carrying out investigations, and analyzing and interpreting data.
* Bring the processes to life through the trade books and related lessons. You'll introduce a skill-building, inquiry-based investigation while highlighting the scientists' and engineers' work and the character traits that helped each succeed. You can teach one lesson or all three from each chapter-whatever will enrich your curriculum the most.
* Be easy to use. In addition to supporting the Next Generation Science Standards, each chapter uses a learning-cycle format and begins with a personal story from the authors that provides valuable insights into teaching this exciting grade range.

Authors Donna Farland-Smith and Julie Thomas point out one other big benefit that makes Eureka, Again! a resource you'll keep coming back to. "We like to think of this book as a way to invite scientists and engineers into your classroom," they write, "without the hassle of finding and scheduling guest speakers."

NSTA Press produces classroom-ready activities, hands-on approaches to inquiry, relevant professional development, the latest scientific education news and research, assessment and standards-based instruction.
Learn More

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Eureka, Again! K-2 Science Activities and Stories | National Science Teaching Association

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It's never too early to put a human face on science and engineering! Research shows that a child's ideas about how scientists and engineers look and what they do start to form in the earliest grades. Teachers can help students understand that everyone can do science by introducing inquiry activities in the primary grades.

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Creative Writing in Science: Activities That Inspire

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Creative Writing in Science: Activities That Inspire

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Creative Writing in Science: Activities That Inspire

by: Katie Coppens

Do you ever feel like your science classes could use a shot of imagination? Boost the creativity quotient by assigning a travel blog about the digestive system, a packing list for the planets, or an interview with an atom. You'll inspire students to be better writers while you enjoy new strategies to assess their scientific understanding. That's the idea behind Creative Writing in Science. This classroom resource book featuresactivities that integrate writing with content in life science, Earth and space sciences, and engineering and physical sciences for grades 3-12.

You can tell a teacher wrote the book because it's so flexible and classroom friendly. Each of the 15 science activities comes with strategies for teaching a creative writing style, whether prose or poetry. The assignments work as in-class activities, homework, or final assessments for a unit. Also included are reproducible handouts, graphic organizers, writing models, scoring rubrics, and connections to the Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core State Standards. See for yourself how rewarding it can be to combine two vital subjects into one class. Get your students started on their phytoplankton comic right away!

NSTA Press produces classroom-ready activities, hands-on approaches to inquiry, relevant professional development, the latest scientific education news and research, assessment and standards-based instruction.
Learn More

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Creative Writing in Science: Activities That Inspire | National Science Teaching Association

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
by: Katie Coppens Do you ever feel like your science classes could use a shot of imagination? Boost the creativity quotient by assigning a travel blog about the digestive system, a packing list for the planets, or an interview with an atom.

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Early Childhood Science Education - NSTA 2018

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I really enjoyed exploring NSTA and all of the resources it has to offer. It has many different ways to explore teaching science, doing activities, reading to students, and battling the difficulties we are facing in the classroom amongst the pandemic. I plan to definitely use this site in the future to aid in my learning segments.