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I did find this website valuable, I think it has a lot of great resources that would be so helpful in the classroom. The most beneficial thing I found were the lesson plans, I liked these the most because they provide everything from the actual curriculum to activities which makes it easy to create a lesson. I would definitely use this in my. future classroom if I pay for a subscription; I don't think you can get much out of the website unless you are able to access all the resources on the website.

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As a class we could make healthy versions of popsicles and we can talk about a healthy lifestyle.

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I could preform the water in the glass experiment with my students.

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As you walk around the room, listen for students to share ideas about air being all around the glass, gravity pulling on the water and paper square, and/or balanced forces. Watch for students who are gesturing something pushing up on the paper square.

Give students two or three minutes to change or add to their ideas in their science notebook.

Bring the students back together. Draw the upside down glass of water on poster paper (or whiteboard). Ask students, "What do you think is holding the water in the glass? (The paper square). How is the paper square holding the water in the glass?"

Ask the students you heard talking about gravity and forces to share what force(s) they think are acting on the paper square. Students will likely say gravity or the weight of the water pushing down. Draw an arrow from the paper square pointing downward and label it weight of water.

Ask the class, "Based on the model, what is the motion of the paper square - upward, downward, or not moving? (Downward!) How did the card move when I turned the drinking glass upside down? (It didn't move.) How could we show on our model that the paper square is not moving? (Draw an arrow up.) What size should the arrow be? (The same size as the down arrow)" If students don't agree if there should be an arrow, what direction it should point, or the size of the arrow, ask if it's OK to draw a question mark next to the arrow).

Say, "We seem to agree the forces acting on the paper square are the same size but opposite directions." If students have experience with forces acting on objects at rest, you might remind them of those experiences (a book on a table, students seated in a chair). What forces are acting on this book (gravity pulling the book down and the table pushing the book up)? What forces are acting on you (gravity pulling me down, the chair pushing me up).

Ask, " What is pushing up on the card?" (air, the water makes the paper square stick to the glass). Ask the students your heard talking about air to share their ideas with the class. You might ask where you should draw air on the model. Draw air particles on the model. Students might not agree air is pushing up on the card even if they agree something is pushing up. You might add another question mark to the model next to the up arrow.

You might ask, "How could we figure out if water is making the paper square stick to the drinking glass?" Students will likely say to try turning the glass upside down with a different liquid.

Repeat the the procedure for the upside down glass of water but this time use oil or another liquid like oil. Ask students, "Does our model predict what will happen when we use other liquids? (yes) Do we agree we agree a force is pushing up on the paper square? May I erase this questions mark?"

Tell students you want to show them the upside down glass of water one more time, this time using a cup with a small hole in the bottom. Hold the cup using your finger to cover the hole. Ask a student to fill the cup with water, then place a paper square over the top of the cup.

Before you turn the cup upside down, ask students to predict what will happen. Give students time to independently think and record their ideas. Then, ask student to share their ideas in small groups. You might use the partner conversational supports in the small group as well. Consider asking one group member to be the speaker and the rest of the group to take turns as the responder.

Bring the class back together. Ask for three students to share their predictions. Students can share their own prediction or a group member's prediction. Ask students to explain their prediction using observations from the upside down glass of water or the class model. You might use the talk move, "Would you say a little bit more about that?", to encourage students to elaborate on their ideas.

Turn the glass of water upside down, remove your hand from the card and ask students to make observations. Did their observations match their predictions? Give students time to independently think and record changes or add to their ideas. Ask students to turn and talk with a partner to share why they changed or added to their ideas. Give students one minute to share and then switch roles.

Draw a second model next to the first one, this time representing the cup with the hole. Ask students, "What forces are acting on the paper square? (gravity/weight of water, air) How should I draw the arrow representing the air pushing the card up? (the same as before/air didn't change). How should I draw the arrow representing the weight on the card? (bigger/thicker/longer because the card moved down) Why is the weight greater in the cup with the hole?" Accept all ideas.

If students aren't in agreement that the weight increased because both water and air pushed down on the paper square, ask them if anything else changed besides letting air into the cup. (You might have to go back and do the upside down glass of water demonstration in a plastic cup if you didn't do it the first time.)

Ask students, "What do you think would happen if I made a hole on the side of the cup?" Let students turn and talk with a partner before asking them to share ideas with the class. Repeat the upside down water in glass demonstration one more time, this time using the cup with a hole in the side. Note: Make sure when you turn the glass upside down the hole is above the water line.

Say to students, "Why do you think the water didn't stay in the cup? (air got in again) Are we in agreement that air is all around and pushes on objects in all directions?"

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As you walk around the room, listen for students to share ideas about air being all around the glass, gravity pulling on the water and paper square, and/or balanced forces. Watch for students who are gesturing something pushing up on the paper square.

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Download PDF
Introduction

The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) strongly supports the position that evolution is a major unifying concept in science and should be emphasized in K-12 science education frameworks and curricula. Furthermore, if evolution is not taught, students will not achieve the level of scientific literacy needed to be well-informed citizens and prepared for college and STEM careers. This position is consistent with that of the National Academies, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and many other scientific and educational organizations.

NSTA recognizes that a century of political controversy has prevented evolution from being emphasized in science curricula in a manner commensurate with its importance. This political controversy has been accompanied by anti-evolution policies, the intimidation of science teachers and textbook publishers, and the general public's lack of understanding about evolutionary theory. Teachers face pressure not only to eliminate or de-emphasize the teaching of evolution, but to introduce scientific misinformation and non-science into science classrooms. This pressure comes from overt advocacy of nonscientific views, such as "creation science," "intelligent design," or other forms of creationism, as well as the implicit advancement of those nonscientific views to "teach the controversy" or present "strengths and weaknesses of evolution." Twisting and abusing core pedagogical principles, such as critical thinking and scientific inquiry is another strategy designed to open science classroom doors to non-science.

Declarations
Within this context, NSTA recommends that

Science curricula, state science standards, and teachers should emphasize evolution in a manner commensurate with its importance as a unifying concept in science and its overall explanatory power.

Science teachers should not advocate any religious interpretations of the natural world and should be nonjudgmental about the personal beliefs of students.

Policy makers and administrators should not mandate policies requiring the teaching of "creation science" or related concepts, such as so-called "intelligent design," "abrupt appearance," and "arguments against evolution." Administrators also should support teachers in resisting pressures to promote nonscientific views, to deemphasize or eliminate the study of evolution, or to misrepresent the nature of science and how questions in science are answered by asking students to consider the validity of evolution through a classroom debate.

Administrators and school boards should provide support to teachers as they review, adopt, and implement curricula that emphasize evolution. Professional development designed to assist teachers in teaching evolution in a comprehensive and informed manner is an essential part of this support.

Parental and community involvement in establishing and supporting the goals of science education and the curriculum development process should be encouraged and nurtured in our democratic society. However, the professional responsibility of science teachers and curriculum specialists to provide students with quality science education should not be compromised by censorship, pseudoscience, inconsistencies, faulty scholarship, political influences, or unconstitutional mandates.

Science textbooks should emphasize evolution as a unifying concept. Publishers should not be required or volunteer to include disclaimers in textbooks that distort or misrepresent the methodology of science and the current body of knowledge concerning the nature and study of evolution.

-Adopted by the NSTA Board of Directors, July 2013
NSTA Offers the Following Background Information:

The Nature of Science and Scientific Theories

Science is a method of testing natural explanations for natural objects and events. Phenomena that can be observed or measured are amenable to scientific investigation. Science also is based on the observation that the universe operates according to regularities that can be discovered and understood through scientific investigations. Explanations that are not consistent with empirical evidence or that cannot be tested empirically are not a part of science. As a result, explanations of natural phenomena that are not derived from evidence but from myths, personal beliefs, religious values, philosophical axioms, and superstitions are not scientific. Furthermore, because science is limited to explaining natural phenomena through testing based on the use of empirical evidence, it cannot provide religious or ultimate explanations.

The most important scientific explanations are called "theories." In science a theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that can incorporate facts, laws, inferences, and tested hypotheses (NAS 1998). Theories are powerful tools. Scientists seek to develop theories that

are firmly grounded in and based upon evidence;

are logically consistent with other well-established principles;

have been tested in diverse settings and against diverse data;

explain more than rival theories; and

have the potential to lead to new knowledge.

The body of scientific knowledge changes as new observations and discoveries are made. Theories and other explanations change. New theories emerge, and other theories are modified or discarded. Throughout this process, theories are formulated and tested on the basis of evidence, internal consistency, and their explanatory power.

Evolution as a Unifying Concept

Evolution in the broadest sense leads to an understanding that the natural world has a history and that cumulative change through time has occurred and continues to occur. If we look today at the galaxies, stars, the planet Earth, and the life on planet Earth, we see that the natural world today is different than in the past: galaxies, stars, planets, and life forms have evolved. Biological evolution refers to the scientific theory that living things share ancestors from which they have diverged; it is sometimes called "descent with modification." Biological evolution also encompasses a range of mechanisms that cause populations to change and diverge over time, and include natural selection, migration, and genetic drift. There is abundant and consistent evidence from astronomy, physics, biochemistry, geochronology, geology, biology, anthropology, and other sciences that evolution has taken place.

As such, evolution is a unifying concept for science. The National Research Council's Framework for K-12 Science Educationrecognizes that there are crucial core ideas in the sciences that "have application across all domains of science" and that should be emphasized in classrooms to "prepare students with sufficient core knowledge so that they can later acquire additional information on their own" (NRC 2012, pp. 30-31). This report concludes that "the core ideas in the life sciences culminate with the principle that evolution can explain how the diversity that is observed within species has led to the diversity of life across species through a process of descent with adaptive modification" (NRC 2012, p. 140). The Next Generation Science Standards(NGSS) is based on the Framework and also emphasizes evolution as a unifying concept because of its importance across the disciplines of science. Scientific disciplines with a historical component, such as astronomy, geology, biology, and anthropology, cannot be taught with integrity if evolution is not emphasized.

There is no longer a debate among scientists about whether evolution has and is occurring. There is debate, however, about how evolution has taken place: What are the processes and mechanisms producing change, and what has happened specifically during the history of the universe? Scientists often disagree about their explanations. In any science, disagreements are subject to rules of evaluation. Scientific conclusions are tested by experiment and observation, and evolution, as with any aspect of science, is continually open to and subject to experimental and observational testing.

The importance of evolution is summarized as follows in the National Academy of Sciences publication Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science: "Few other ideas in science have had such a far-reaching impact on our thinking about ourselves and how we relate to the world" (NAS 1998, p. 21).

Creationism and Other Non-Scientific Views

The National Academy of Sciences observes in Science, Evolution, and Creationism that "arguments of creationists reverse the scientific process. They begin with an explanation that they are unwilling to alter-that supernatural forces have shaped biological or Earth systems-rejecting the basic requirements of science that hypotheses must be restricted to testable natural explanations. Their beliefs cannot be tested, modified, or rejected by scientific means and thus cannot be a part of the processes of science" (NAS 2008, p. 43). Because science limits itself to natural explanations and not religious or ultimate ones, science teachers should neither advocate any religious interpretation of nature nor assert that religious interpretations of nature are not possible.

The word creationism has many meanings. In its broadest meaning, creationism is the idea that the universe is the consequence of something transcendent. Thus to Christians, Jews, and Muslims, God created; to the Navajo, the Hero Twins created; for Hindu Shaivites, the universe comes to exist as Shiva dances. In a narrower sense creationism has come to mean "special creation": the doctrine that the universe and all that is in it was created by God in essentially its present form, at one time. The most common variety of special creationism asserts that

the Earth is very young;

life was created by God;

life appeared suddenly;

kinds of organisms have not changed since the creation; and

different life forms were designed to function in particular settings.

This version of special creation is derived from a particular interpretation of Biblical Genesis. It is a specific, sectarian religious belief that is not held by all religious people. Many Christians and Jews believe that God created through the process of evolution. Pope John Paul II, for example, issued a statement in 1996 that reiterated the Catholic position that God created while simultaneously affirming that the evidence for evolution from many scientific fields is very strong.

"Creation science" is a religious effort to support special creationism through a semblance of the methods of science. Teachers may be pressured to include it or other related nonscientific views such as "abrupt appearance theory," "initial complexity theory," "arguments against evolution," or "intelligent design theory" when they teach evolution. Claims by proponents of these views have been evaluated and discredited based on scientific evidence. These claims have no empirical power to explain the natural world and its diverse phenomena. Instead, creationists seek out supposed anomalies among many existing theories and accepted facts. Furthermore, "creation science" and these other claims do not lead to new discoveries of scientific knowledge. As such, these creationist perspectives cannot be considered science, and have no place in science classrooms.

Legal Issues

Several judicial decisions have ruled on issues associated with the teaching of evolution and the imposition of mandates that "creation science" be taught when evolution is taught. The First Amendment of the Constitution requires that public institutions such as schools be religiously neutral. Because "creation science" asserts a specific, sectarian religious view, it cannot be advocated in the public schools.

When Arkansas passed a law requiring "equal time" for "creation science" and evolution, the law was challenged in Federal District Court. Opponents of the bill included the religious leaders of the United Methodist, Episcopalian, Roman Catholic, African Methodist Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Southern Baptist churches, along with several educational organizations. After a full trial, the judge ruled that "creation science" did not qualify as a scientific theory ( McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education, 529 F. Supp. 1255 [ED Ark. 1982]).

Louisiana's equal time law was challenged in court, and eventually reached the Supreme Court. In Edwards v. Aguillard[482 U.S. 578 (1987)], the court determined that "creation science" was inherently a religious idea and to mandate or advocate it in the public schools would be unconstitutional. Other court decisions have upheld the right of a district to require that a teacher teach evolution and not teach "creation science" ( Webster v. New Lennox School District #122, 917 F.2d 1003 [7th Cir. 1990]; Peloza v. Capistrano Unified School District, 37 F.3d 517 [9th Cir. 1994]).

Courts have applied that same body of law to claims about "intelligent design" ( Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, 400 F. Supp. 2d 707 [M.D. Pa.2005]) and efforts to deviate from a district's approved curriculum to present "the difficulties and inconsistencies of the theory" ( LeVake v. Independent School District #656, 625 N.W. 2d 502 [Minn. Ct. App. 2001]). Courts have also found efforts to single out evolution for special scrutiny to be inherently suspect, finding that isolating evolution in that way "sends an impermissible message of [religious] endorsement ( Selman v. Cobb County School District, 390 F. Supp. 2d 1286 [N.D. Ga., 2005] [reversed and remanded for procedural reasons], citing similar statements from Epperson v. Arkansas, 393 U.S. 97 [1968], and Edwards).

Some legislators and policy makers continue attempts to distort the teaching of evolution through mandates that would require teachers to teach evolution as "only a theory" or that would require a textbook or lesson on evolution to be preceded by a disclaimer. Regardless of the legal status of these mandates, they are bad educational policy. Such policies have the effect of intimidating teachers, which may result in the de-emphasis or omission of evolution. As a consequence, the public will only be further confused about the nature of scientific theories. Furthermore, if students learn less about evolution, science literacy itself will suffer.

References

Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 U.S. 578 (1987).

Epperson v. Arkansas, 393 U.S. 97 (1968).

Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, 400 F. Supp. 2d 707 (M.D. Pa. 2005).

LeVake v. Independent School District #656, 625 N.W. 2d 502 (Minn. Ct. App. 2001).

McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education, 529 F. Supp. 1255 (ED Ark. 1982).

National Academy of Sciences (NAS). 1998. Teaching about evolution and the nature of science. Washington, DC. The National Academies Press.

National Academy of Sciences (NAS). 2008. Science, evolution, and creationism. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

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

Peloza v. Capistrano Unified School District, 37 F.3d 517 (9th Cir. 1994).

Selman v. Cobb County School District, 390 F. Supp. 2d 1286 (N.D. Ga., 2005) (reversed and remanded for procedural reasons).

Webster v. New Lennox School District #122, 917 F.2d 1003 (7th Cir. 1990).

Additional Resources

Berkman, M., and E. Plutzer. 2010. Evolution, creationism and the battle to control America's classrooms. New York: Cambridge Press.

Laudan, L. 1996. Beyond positivism and relativism: Theory, method, and evidence. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

National Academy of Sciences (NAS). 1999. Science and creationism: A view from the National Academy of Sciences, 2nd ed. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Pennock, R., and M. Ruse. 2008. But is it science: The philosophical question in the creation/evolution controversy, updated edition. Amherst, NY: Prometheus.

Scott, E.C. 2009. Evolution vs. creationism: An introduction. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Skehan, J.W., and C.E. Nelson. 1993. The creation controversy and the science classroom. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.

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Download PDF The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) strongly supports the position that evolution is a major unifying concept in science and should be emphasized in K-12 science education frameworks and curricula. Furthermore, if evolution is not taught, students will not achieve the level of scientific literacy needed to be well-informed citizens and prepared for college and STEM careers.

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Introduction

High-quality elementary science education is essential for establishing a sound foundation of learning in later grades, instilling a wonder of and enthusiasm for science that lasts a lifetime, and in addressing the critical need for a well-informed citizenry and society. The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) recognizes the importance of effective elementary science education and recommends the involvement of all education stakeholders to provide effective and equitable instruction, materials, environment, and opportunities so that allstudents may succeed. This document is part of a continuum of school science learning beginning with the NSTA position statement, Early Childhood Science Education(NSTA 2014), and continuing with the NSTA position statement, Science Education for Middle Level Students(NSTA 2016a).

Science learning begins long before children enter formal education. Their innate curiosity about the world and how it works prompts them to independently develop rudimentary forms of scientific investigations and design activities to find answers to their questions and solutions to their problems (NRC 2007). Effective elementary education recognizes and capitalizes on children's intrinsic interest in science and engineering, builds upon the initial concepts and strategies children have acquired, and provides an educational environment that allows those concepts and strategies to expand and deepen.

In many schools and districts, however, elementary science instruction often takes a back seat to math and reading and receives little time in the school day. Many elementary educators do not receive an adequate amount of professional learning to gain the confidence needed to teach science (Horizon Research 2013; McClure et al. 2017).

The release of A Framework for K-12 Science Education( Framework;NRC 2012) provides a new vision for science teaching and learning, and recommends important conceptual shifts in science instruction. NSTA supports this new vision-and its application in the Next Generation Science Standards( NGSS)-and recommends all educators make the transition to three-dimensional teaching and learning (NSTA 2016b, 2018).

NSTA identifies the following key principles to guide effective science learning in the elementary grades:

The elementary educational environment plays a key role in student learning.Students thrive with teachers who consider all aspects of space (physical, socio-emotional, gallery, and intellectual) for creative and in-depth learning (DeVries and Zan 2012). Such an environment provides children with opportunities to engage in the practices of science, engineering, and mathematics daily through real-world applications during the course of exploring topics of interest and relevance.

Elementary students have the capacity to engage in scientific and engineering practices as they develop conceptual understandings over time.High-quality science instruction moves students from curiosity to interest to reasoning (Moulding, Bybee, and Paulson 2015). The progression of learning occurs with each science and engineering experience and is magnified by frequency and intentionality. As noted in the NSTA position statement,Early Childhood Science Education, children have the capacity to engage in scientific practices and develop understanding at a conceptual level (NSTA 2014), and early in their science education, they need opportunities to observe phenomena, engage in problem solving, and provide explanations of their thinking (Katz 2010). Over time and through multiple and varied experiences, children develop skills in scientific discourse. They construct more detailed models and explanations, and listen to and critique the explanations of others. Children enter the realm of scientists as they plan and carry out investigations, solve problems, create models, analyze and interpret data, construct explanations, and design solutions. These opportunities allow them to deepen their understandings of fundamental concepts over time.

Elementary students can and should engage in science within the broader community of science.There are numerous possibilities to support students' science engagement in the community and this can occur both in and out of the classroom. Tapping into the broader scientific community allows children to become active participants within diverse cultures of practicing scientists and engineers. Out-of-school settings can provide additional learning experiences for students within the context of their daily lives, as outlined in the NSTA position statement,Learning Science in Informal Environments(NSTA 2012).

There must be adequate time in every school day to engage elementary students in high-quality science instruction that actively involves them in the processes of science.NSTA does not find a research basis for recommending a specific number of minutes for teaching core content, including science. However, most states, districts, and schools currently prescribe a set number of minutes-either by day, week, or year. As a result of this practice, science receives far less instruction time than other core subjects (Horizon Research 2013). NSTA recommends that science be given equal priority as other core subjects, so schools should strive for at least 60 minutes of science instruction a day, including significant science investigations.

Declarations

NSTA provides the following recommendations to support high-quality science education in elementary classrooms.
To support high-quality elementary science learning, NSTA recommends that science educators

use science and engineering practices to actively engage students in science learning, embed the learning of science concepts within scientific and engineering practices and through crosscutting concepts, and use real-world application of interest and relevance to engage students in three-dimensional instruction (NSTA 2018);

build on students' embodied knowledge and understanding of the world and help them confront their misconceptions (NRC 2008, p. 38);

give students time and space to structure their own investigations in a familiar domain as a way to encourage their investment in learning and engagement in reasoning (Metz 2011);

consider development and learning, individuality, and social and cultural contexts as children mature, while also introducing experiences outside of children's own life experiences as they move towards more abstract concepts;

provide authentic formative and summative assessments to guide and assist development of conceptual understandings;

practice science as a social endeavor in which knowledge is based on empirical evidence;

explicitly integrate discussions and a variety of lessons to support an understanding of the Nature of Science (Lederman 2014);

involve students in scientific discourse to help them make evidence-based conclusions and decisions, and communicate those conclusions and decisions effectively through speaking and writing;

immerse students in a variety of scientific text and literature genres to develop an understanding of the different purposes for which each is used;

embed authentic mathematical applications within scientific and technological investigations and engineering designs providing deeper understanding of content and processes in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM);

promote science learning for all children regardless of language, gender, race, ethnicity, age, skill, cognitive and physical abilities, or economic status;

help students understand the difference between scientific data, beliefs, and opinions;

work to integrate all the disciplines in the elementary curriculum with science;

adhere to professional practices and legal safety standards outlined in NSTA's position statementSafety and School Science Instruction(NSTA 2015) and be proactive in ensuring that school and school district leaders know and are adhering to these safety expectations; and

encourage and engage families to support children's interest and investigation in science and other STEM activities through communication including sharing of community resources.

To support high-quality elementary science learning, NSTA recommends that administrators and/or curriculum specialists

continually develop knowledge of child development and learning progressions within science, engineering, and mathematics to design appropriate and engaging science experiences for elementary children;

ensure teachers have adequate time to engage students every day in high-quality science instruction that actively involves students in the processes of science;

provide research-based, developmentally appropriate, high-quality science resources and materials for teachers with adequate time to engage in the same hands-on, engaging learning environments and practices they provide to children (McClure et al. 2017);

provide ongoing research-based opportunities within professional learning communities for teachers that meaningfully integrate the processes of reading, writing, and mathematics within scientific investigation and engineering design;

support community and school partnerships that provide real-world science education experiences for students and teachers, such as offering regular opportunities for teachers to collaborate with and learn from experienced science and engineering professionals in a variety of settings; and

ensure that student learning opportunities are implemented through research-based best practices that integrate reading, writing, and mathematics with science instruction in ways shown to measurably improve skills and knowledge (Cervetti et al. 2012; Satchwell and Loepp 2002).

To support high-quality elementary science learning, NSTA recommends that policy makers

align district and state policies to support the recommendations of theFramework, and theNGSSif adopted, including teacher professional learning;

work with all levels of government (federal, state, and local) to apply existing and new funding resources to improve general science teaching;

serve as advocates for policies that provide equitable science education for all; and

support community and school partnerships that provide authentic science education experiences for students and teachers.

To support high-quality elementary science learning, NSTA recommends that professional development for classroom teachers and preparation for future elementary teachers

counter pre-existing anxiety and attitudes about science through opportunities to experience the same hands-on, engaging learning environments and research-based best practices that support deeper, conceptual understandings in children;

involve participants in experiential activities to develop an understanding of the learning progressions within both the content and processes of science, including the ability to diagnose and address common misconceptions, and to provide appropriate differentiation strategies;

require specific coursework in the areas of physical science, life science, and Earth science designed to model the three-dimensional integration of the practices of science and engineering while reinforcing the nature of science in a developmentally appropriate context;

include regular opportunities to develop, use, and reflect upon authentic formative and summative assessment to uncover student thinking, detect possible misconceptions, and modify learning experiences accordingly, both as an individual and within a professional learning community;

engage in meaningful discussion of methods for embedding reading, writing, and mathematics within the context of active science learning; and

advocate for and schedule regular meetings with experienced elementary science mentors within and across grade levels to analyze assessment data, reflect on the lesson design, and develop confidence in providing instruction for children of all ages.

To support high-quality elementary science learning, NSTA recommends families support their children's science learning as outlined in the NSTA position statement,Parent Involvement in Science Education(NSTA 2009). This broadly includes

nurturing the wonder, enthusiasm, and curiosity in children of all ages by creating a positive and safe environment at home for exploration and discovery;

being actively engaged in children's schooling; and

encouraging children to consider and pursue a science- or technology-related career and obtaining the necessary knowledge and skills that will allow them access to and success in such a career.

- Adopted by the NSTA Board of Directors, October 2018

References

Cervetti, G. N., J. Barber, R. Dorph, P. D. Pearson, and P. G. Goldschmidt. 2012. The impact of an integrated approach to science and literacy in elementary school classrooms. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 49(5): 631-658.

DeVries, R., and B. Zan. 2012. Moral classrooms, moral children: Creating a constructivist atmosphere in early education. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Horizon Research, Inc. 2013. 2012 National survey of science and mathematics education: Highlights Report. Chapel Hill, NC.

Katz, L. G. 2010. STEM in the early years. Collected Papers from the SEED Conference, Fall 2010. Retrieved from 5/1/17.

Lederman, N. 2014. Guest Editorial: Nature of Science and Its Fundamental Importance to the Vision of the Next Generation Science Standards. Science and Children 52 (1): 8-10.

McClure, E. R., L. Guernsey, D. H. Clements, S. N. Bales, J. Nichols, N. Kendall-Taylor, and M. H. Levine. 2017. STEM starts early: Grounding science, technology, engineering, and math education in early childhood. New York: The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop.

Metz, K. E. 2011. Disentangling robust developmental constraints from the instructionally mutable: Young children's epistemic reasoning about a study of their own design. The Journal of the Learning Sciences 20(1): 50-110.

Moulding, B., R. Bybee, and N. Paulson. 2015. A vision and plan for science teaching and learning. Essential Teaching and Learning Publications.

National Research Council (NRC). 2007. Taking science to school: Learning and teaching science in grades K-8. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

National Research Council (NRC). 2008. Ready, set, SCIENCE!: Putting research to work in K-8 science classrooms. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

National Research Council (NRC). 2012. A framework for K-12 science education: Practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). 2009. Parent Involvement in Science Learning. Arlington, VA: NSTA.

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). 2012. Learning Science in Informal Environments. Arlington, VA: NSTA.

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). 2014. Early Childhood Science Education. Arlington, VA: NSTA.

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). 2015. Safety and School Science Instruction. Arlington, VA: NSTA.

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). 2016a. Science Education for Middle Level Students. Arlington, VA: NSTA.

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). 2016b. The Next Generation Science Standards. Arlington, VA: NSTA.

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). 2018. Transitioning from Scientific Inquiry to Three-Dimensional Teaching and Learning. Arlington, VA: NSTA.

Satchwell, R. E., and F. L. Loepp. 2002. Designing and Implementing an Integrated Mathematics, Science, and Technology Curriculum for the Middle School. Journal of Industrial Teacher Education 39(3).

Additional Resources

National Research Council (NRC). 2014. Developing assessments for the next generation science standards. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

Stohr-Hunt, P. M. 1996. An analysis of frequency of hands-on experience and science achievement. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 33 (1): 101-109.

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High-quality elementary science education is essential for establishing a sound foundation of learning in later grades, instilling a wonder of and enthusiasm for science that lasts a lifetime, and in addressing the critical need for a well-informed citizenry and society.

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"Cases are stories with a message. They are not simply narratives for entertainment. They are stories to educate" ( Herreid, 1997, p. 92). By this definition, a case study is two things: a story and a strategy to drive learning. Although the story typically comes from a narrative purposefully written for the classroom, such as the case studies in the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science collection, other types of stories could be used, including newspaper articles, news broadcasts, oral stories, songs and poems, and online videos.

Current students are often digital natives who find videos engaging and intuitive to use ( Eick & King, 2012; Moghavvemi, Sulaiman, Ismawati Jaafar, & Kasem, 2018; Prensky, 2001). A recent survey ( n = 2,587) conducted by the global market research firm Harris Poll, found 59% of Generation Z (ages 14-23 years old in 2018) and 55% of Millennials (ages 24-40) said that they prefer YouTube over books or printed materials to learn ( Pearson, 2018).

Given that a large proportion of current students report enjoying learning via digital media, educators must embrace the many sources of science stories available online ( Table 1). A recent paper in the journal Nature encouraged scientists to create videos to accompany the release of their papers to make their science accessible to the public ( Smith, 2018). Videos that tell authentic stories of scientists and show them working in their research environment expose students to the diversity of researchers and environments involved in the science enterprise. That's something that students can rarely glean from a textbook.

Sources of narrative science videos.

The weakness of using video as a pedagogical tool is that it's usually a complete story that may pique their interest in a topic but doesn't allow students the opportunity to pause and consider how they might have investigated a problem if they were in the shoes of the scientist. In other words, it doesn't encourage them to practice the skills of thinking like a scientist.

However, this can be remedied by identifying strategic points along the narrative where taking the time to pause and ask students carefully crafted questions will invite them to think scientifically. In other words, instructors can transform a video into a case study. Several studies have confirmed that asking students to answer questions while watching an educational video leads to higher cognitive gains than watching the video without questions or simply taking notes ( Lawson, Bodle, Houlette, & Haubner, 2006; Lawson, Bodle, McDonough, 2007). Indeed, a recent review of the literature found that strategies that reduce cognitive load when watching a video, such as using short clips and chunking information, and those that facilitate active student engagement with the content were more effective for learning ( Brame, 2016). Thus, a video case study that segments a video using questions to cue student attention and encourage critical thinking would be an effective learning strategy.

Creating a case study in this manner is quicker and easier than writing a case study from scratch because it capitalizes on an instructor's existing skills of fostering inquiry in students rather than asking them to engage in the novel skill of storytelling. Once an instructor becomes familiar with the format, he or she will be able to transform a short online video (less than 10 minutes) into an approximately 60-minute, student-centered activity.

In an article published in 2014, Pai advocated for the inclusion of videos in the classroom when doing case-based instruction. The article provided strategies for doing so, along with online sources and suggestions for how to select the best ones for the classroom. The present article picks up where Pai's article left off, focusing on the creation of effective questions that supplement a video and, in so doing, describing how to create a video case study.

A video case example

An example of a video case study, the "bee video," was developed using HHMI BioInteractive's video Scientist at Work: Effect of Fungicides on Bumble Bee Colonies. The video case study is presented in Table 2. The objectives of this video case study are to develop students' abilities to think like a scientist and practice experimental design while learning about course-related concepts (the effect of fungicides on some bee species).

Example of a video case study that accompanies the video Scientist at Work: Effect of Fungicides on Bumble Bee Colonies, which is available on the HHMI BioInteractive website ().

Articulating learning objective(s)

When developing questions to accompany a video, it is essential to keep the learning objective(s) in the forefront of the activity design. For example, the bee video ( Table 2) could be used to teach about bee biology, ecology, microbes, experimental design and methodology, and/or about how research can impact policy. Starting with the learning objective(s) in mind, the instructor can design a series of questions to push students to investigate that topic. This backward design approach ensures that students going through the video case study are led to the desired outcome ( Wiggins & McTighe, 2005).

Bloom's taxonomy should be considered in identifying and articulating the learning objective(s) of the case study ( Krathwohl, 2002). As an initial step, the case developer must decide which one of Bloom's four knowledge dimensions (Factual-knowing terms and facts; Procedural-knowing procedures, methods, and skills; Conceptual-knowing principles, theories, and models; or Metacognitive-knowing about one's thinking) will be the goal of the case.

Next, one should determine which of Bloom's cognitive process dimensions will be the focus of students engaged in the case study. As a reminder, Bloom's cognitive process dimensions are: Remember-recognize and recall; Understand-interpret and explain; Apply-use and implement; Analyze-differentiate and dissect; Evaluate-judge and rank; and Create-produce and form. These cognitive dimensions build on one another so that to analyze a concept, a student would need to be able to remember some ideas, understand them, and be able to apply them as prerequisite steps.

Once these two intentions are articulated, the learning objective(s) can be written down in the form of "At the end of this video case study, students will be able to ..." Formulating the learning objective in this way ensures that they are focused on observable student behaviors. All the questions of the video case should be designed to help students achieve the learning objective(s).

For example, if the learning objective of the bee video case study was "At the end of this video case study, students will be able to read a bar graph," that learning objective falls at the intersection of the procedural dimension (how to do something) and the apply process dimension (how and when to use a particular skill). To achieve this objective, the case study should include questions that get students to access lower level (below the skill that is being developed) Bloom's cognitive domains in addition to the level that is developed within the lesson. This may include questions to remember (retrieve from memory the parts of a bar graph), understand (articulate the utility of the different parts of the graph), and apply (practice reading bar graphs).

Identifying pause points

After identifying the learning objective(s) for the video case, the second task is to identify when to pause and integrate questions into the video. In the bee video case example shared in Table 2, students are asked the first two questions of the case before they view the video. At this point, students may have preexisting knowledge that they can bring to bear on the question, but they are not expected to know the answer. It has been documented that predicting answers is a powerful tool for learning. In fact, students who engage in pretesting typically perform 10% better at the end of the lesson than students who have not ( Lang, 2016). What is surprising is that the questions can be different in the pretest and posttest. Students are not simply memorizing the answer to a previously studied question, but performing better with novel questions on the concept. Pretesting makes students learn more robustly.

Carpenter (2009) proposed that pretesting activates existing schema in the students' brain associated with the topic and therefore makes them more accessible for later retrieval. But it is also possible that the act of predicting an outcome on the pretest increases motivation (the students have a stake in the answer because they want to know if they were correct), which is linked to better learning. Weinstein, Gilmore, Szpunar, and McDermott (2014) thought the questions serve as cues that focus the students' mind to what will be important. It's also possible that pretesting serves as a "fluency vaccine" that makes students realize that they may not already know the materials.

It's unclear what mechanism causes the testing effect, but it is clear that asking students a few questions about key aspects of a topic ahead of teaching improves learning. It therefore seems worthwhile to include a couple of engagement questions before beginning the video.

Once students have interacted with the precase questions, begin the video. "When" to include a question in the video requires a bit more thought. The purpose of pausing the video and asking questions is to give students the time to think of what they would do in the shoes of the scientist. It's an opportunity to think like a scientist. Therefore, whenever the video is about to reveal information about what the scientist did or thought, a learning opportunity is presented, and the video should be paused to ask students to predict the next step.

In the bee video case example, the video is paused before it reveals the experimental design that the scientist used, and students are given the opportunity to design the experiment. Novice students are encouraged to think conceptually and to focus on what they want to accomplish with their experiment rather than the specific methods used (e.g., in a biochemistry experiment they might say they want to separate the cell's proteins rather than using the tool fast protein liquid chromatography [FPLC], which they may not know). Once students have the time to plan the experiment for themselves, the different proposals should be discussed among peers. The video should then be resumed to reveal what the scientist did. Often, novice students come up with the same experiment as the researcher, boosting confidence in their abilities to think scientifically. Differences in what students propose and what the researcher did can be used to discuss why the scientists may have chosen one strategy over another (e.g., a student's proposal may be a better approach but would depend on access to an expensive tool that the researcher could not access). This is a rich opportunity to explore science as it is done in the real world and in a way that textbooks rarely allow.

In the bee video example, by selecting pause points that give students the ability to predict the next step, students practice the skills of hypothesizing, designing an experiment, predicting results, and analyzing those results-that is, thinking like a scientist, which is the learning objective of the case study.

A pause point for questions is recommended for approximately every minute in the video. In our experience, a 5- to 7-minute video containing six questions gives students the opportunity to explore the content in depth while maintaining focus on the task at hand. A 5- to 7-minute video, with six questions where students work collaboratively on each prompt, takes about 60 minutes of class time to implement.

A video case study planning tool is provided in Table 3. Case designers can use this tool to indicate the learning objective(s) of the activity, the timing of each pause point, and the question to ask students at that pause point. The Bloom and risk score of each question will be discussed next.

Blooming the questions

As with identifying learning outcomes, Bloom's taxonomy can be used to evaluate the suite of questions used in the case study. Crowe, Dirks, and Wenderoth (2008) developed a method of assessing the level of Bloom's cognitive process dimension accessed by a question. The method evaluates which levels are needed to answer a question. For example, a question asking students to recall the definition of a pesticide would be rated "1" because it only requires students to remember the first level of Bloom's taxonomy. A question asking students to design the experiment in the video would be rated as "5" because it requires students to engage in activities that touch on five of Bloom's taxonomy levels: remember the steps of experimental design, understand how each one contributes to an experiment, apply the appropriate skills of experimental design, analyze how effectively the results will address the question and hypothesis, and evaluate how the results from the proposed experiment will build on the results of the preceding experiment. In other words, students must engage in five of the six levels of Bloom's taxonomy to design an experiment. A combination of several low-rated questions and one or two higher rated questions can help students learn the basic content within the case study and provide the challenge to think deeply ( Figure 1).

Scaffolding the risk

Classrooms that are supportive and respectful elicit greater student participation ( Fassinger, 2000; Frisby & Martin, 2010; Hirschy & Wilson, 2002), leading to improved learning outcomes ( Rocca, 2010). Creating these cooperative environments must be intentional. For this reason, in developing questions for a video case study, instructors should carefully consider the format of the questions and how students are expected to provide their response. Tanner (2013) encouraged instructors to consider not just what is being asked, but also how it is being asked and who is invited to the discussion. There are a variety of methods for collecting student responses, and each one will expose students to different amounts of social risk (e.g., risk of being wrong in front of peers). The recommendation is to start the video case with low-risk questions and to end the case with higher risk questions. The riskier questions tend to be ones that push students to higher levels of the cognitive processes (higher level of Bloom's taxonomy), but to get there, students must warm up to the group and be comfortable enough to take the risks. This progression gives students the opportunity to develop confidence in their ability to tackle the case and to build trust and rapport with their peers and the instructor.

We propose that the risk to the student in answering a case question can be analyzed along four axes. The first axis is the possibility of being wrong. Some questions, particularly factual questions, have a right or wrong answer. Providing an answer to these questions places the student at high risk because they may be embarrassed in front of their peers. These should be avoided at the beginning of a video case. Rather, the first few questions of a case should serve to explore the background that students bring to the topic. Pooling past experiences or knowledge in this way can create a whole-class word cloud that makes every learner feel valued and that can be used to structure new information as the case proceeds.

The second axis along which the risk to the student can be analyzed is the openness of the question. Some questions are lower stakes, such as true/false and multiple-choice questions that provide a restricted choice of solutions (students select an answer among the given options). This is our preference for the first few questions of the video case. Once students have warmed up, the questions can become less guided. The goal is to build toward questions where students are provided little structure and must come up with their own response. This includes questions such as "Design an experiment" or "What are the ethical implications of this work?" Typically, the answers to these questions are more nuanced and the instructor can use different student answers to explore the reasoning and arguments that led each student to their conclusion.

The third axis of social risk stems from how visible a student's answer is to peers. At the beginning of a case, it may be helpful to seek ways of collecting answers anonymously, for example, through the use of a clicker system. As students develop trust in their peers and instructors, their answers may become more visible to peers, for example, by sharing their predictions on a graph on a whiteboard in front of the class.

Finally, the fourth type of risk comes from the level of ownership that a student is asked to demonstrate in answering a question. Initially, students should be able to make their pronouncements within the safety of a small group or team. The group might discuss a multiple-choice question and hold up a colored index card to indicate the team's unified answer, giving the group ownership over the answer rather than an individual student. If the answer is wrong, no single student is singled out to the class. As the video case progresses, instructors may wish to make individual students accountable for their response, forcing each student to engage and take ownership for their thinking. This is a higher level of social risk and should only come after trust has been developed in the class. To scaffold it, students should first be given the opportunity to test their ideas on a peer and receive feedback (i.e., engage in think-pair-share) before sharing their answer with the class.

The questions in a video case study should be scaffolded such that the social risk to the student starts low and builds during the activity, ensuring maximal participation as it gives students the opportunity to warm up and build trust and rapport. Figure 2 proposes a scoring system that analyzes a question along the four axes and provides a risk score. Using this tool, instructors can rapidly assess the risk level of each question in their video and modify the type of question and how the responses are collected to scaffold the progression of risk during the video case study. The risk score of the questions should start low and increase during the activity. This tool should not be thought of as rigidly prescriptive, but rather as a quick way to assess risk progression. Instructors should gauge the level of trust in their class and determine how best to use this tool. It is far more important to scaffold the risk at the beginning of a course while the students don't know one another than it is at the end of the semester when the class rapport is well developed.

Video case studies as homework

Video cases have the flexibility to be assigned as homework for flipped learning or within a distance learning environment. Video case studies can be crafted using tools that pause the video and question the students at locations determined by the instructor. These tools solicit an answer to a question from the viewer and then record each student's response for the instructor to access. EdPuzzle () and PlayPosit () are two examples of such tools.

Instructors can also encourage classroom discussion on the video case study out of class. Discussion boards embedded in a course management system, or tools such as FlipGrid (), which allows students to post a video response, may facilitate the exchange of ideas among students.

By virtue of the fact that the video used in a video case study is short (under 10 minutes), videos are less detailed than a scientific article in presenting the methods, data, and nuances of their interpretation. Furthermore, by watching a video, students are not becoming accustomed to reading the scientific literature and are not familiarizing themselves with the way in which scientists write and present their work. However, a video case study can serve to introduce and guide students-particularly novices-to understand the concepts of an experiment which then prepares them to tackle a related scientific article. Thus, as a follow-up activity, instructors should consider assigning the original paper to provide fuller knowledge of the scientific method, other results of the study, and broader conclusions reached by the researcher.

References

Brame C. J. (2016). Effective educational videos: Principles and guidelines for maximizing student learning from video content. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 15(4), es6.

Carpenter S. K. (2009). Cue strength as a moderator of the testing effect: The benefits of elaborative retrieval. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 35, 1563-1569.

Crowe A., Dirks C., & Wenderoth M. P. (2008). Biology in bloom: Implementing Bloom's Taxonomy to enhance student learning in biology. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 7, 368-381.

Eick C. J., & King D. T.Jr. (2012). Nonscience majors' perception on the use of YouTube video to support learning in an integrated science lecture. Journal of College Science Teaching, 42(1), 26-30.

Fassinger P. A. (2000). How classes influence students' participation in college classrooms. Journal of Classroom Interaction, 35(2), 38-47.

Frisby B. N., & Martin M. M. (2010). Instructor-student and student-student rapport in the classroom. Communication Education, 59, 146-164.

Herreid C. F. (1997). What is a case? Journal of College Science Teaching, 27(2), 92-94.

Hirschy A. S., & Wilson M. E. (2002). The sociology of the classroom and its influence on student learning. Peabody Journal of Education, 77, 85-100.

Krathwohl D. R. (2002). A revision of Bloom's taxonomy: An overview. Theory Into Practice, 41, 212-218.

Lang J. M. (2016). Predicting. In Small teaching: Everyday lessons from the science of learning (pp. 41-62). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Lawson T. J., Bodle J. H., Houlette M. A., & Haubner R. R. (2006). Guiding questions enhance student learning from educational videos. Teaching of Psychology, 33, 31-33.

Lawson T. J., Bodle J. H., & McDonough T. A. (2007). Techniques for increasing student learning from educational videos: Notes versus guiding questions. Teaching of Psychology, 34, 90-93.

Moghavvemi S., Sulaiman A., Ismawati Jaafar N., & Kasem N. (2018). Social media as a complementary learning tool for teaching and learning: The case of YouTube. The International Journal of Management Education, 16, 37-42.

Pai A. (2014). A picture worth a thousand words? Making a case for video case studies. Journal of College Science Teaching, 43(4), 63-67.

Pearson. (2018). Beyond millennials: The next generation of learners. Global Research & Insights. Retrieved from

Prensky M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon 9(5), 1-6. Retrieved from

Rocca K. A. (2010). Student participation in the college classroom: An extended multidisciplinary literature review. Communication Education, 59, 185-213.

Smith A. A. (2018). YouTube your science. Nature, 556, 397-398.

Tanner K. D. (2013). Structure matters: Twenty-one teaching strategies to promote student engagement and cultivate classroom equity. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 12, 322-331.

Weinstein Y., Gilmore A. W., Szpunar K. K., & McDermott K. B. (2014). The role of test expectancy in the build-up of proactive interference in long-term memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 40, 1039-1048.

Wiggins G. P., & McTighe J. (2005). Understanding by design (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

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Creating a Video Case Study By Annie Prud'homme-Généreux, J. Phil Gibson, and Melissa Csikari This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. This issue describes how to create a video case study. "Cases are stories with a message.

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Students use handheld digital video cameras to support evidence-based reasoning as they design model rock-and-mortar walls.

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Groundbreaking research on learning and cognition has produced many new insights into how people learn. These findings conclusively dispel the idea that short-term and isolated learning experiences can produce powerful learning. This is especially true for teacher learning, given the complexity of teaching and the multifaceted role expert teachers must play. Teacher learning programs must become more collegial, in-depth, and longer in duration and must be tailored to the experience levels of the learners, be they novice or expert teachers.

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.
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Professional Development and How Teachers Learn: Developing Expert Science Teachers | National Science Teaching Association

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Groundbreaking research on learning and cognition has produced many new insights into how people learn. These findings conclusively dispel the idea that short-term and isolated learning experiences can produce powerful learning. This is especially true for teacher learning, given the complexity of teaching and the multifaceted role expert teachers must play.

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"If you are going to be a teacher, you should always be a student." This quote has directed my entire career in education, and continues to drive my actions today. I share it with every single new teacher that I meet in the hopes that it translates into experiences and efforts that benefit the teacher and his or her students. The importance of professional development not only impacts you as a new teacher, but it can translate into a culture of growth and change that supports your continued development as you move from new teacher to veteran teacher (and beyond). This chapter highlights how to find professional development, make good use of it, and how to pass it along to others back in your school environment.

Level

Elementary School Middle School High School

Topics

Address teachers' needs as learners and build on their current knowledge of science content, teaching, and learning. (NSES)Applies knowledge about human learning and change. (NSDC)Build on the teacher's current science understanding, ability, and attitudes. (NSES)Clear, shared goals based on a vision of science learning, teaching, and teacher development congruent with the National Science Education Standards . (NSES)Collaboration Collaboration among the people involved in programs, with clear respect for the perspectives and expertise of each. (NSES)Communicating Evaluation Experimenting Leadership Learning Observing Options that recognize the developmental nature of teacher professional growth and individual and group interests, as well as the needs of teachers who have varying degrees of experience, professional expertise, and proficiency. (NSES)Science process skills Scientific habits of mind Support the sharing of teacher expertise by preparing and using mentors, teacher advisers, coaches, lead teachers, and resource teachers to provide professional development opportunities. (NSES)Uses learning strategies appropriate to the intended goal. (NSDC)

Details

Type Book Chapter Pub Date 9/15/2013 ISBN 978-1-936959-49-5

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.
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Professional Development: Learning to Always Be a Student | National Science Teaching Association

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"If you are going to be a teacher, you should always be a student." This quote has directed my entire career in education, and continues to drive my actions today. I share it with every single new teacher that I meet in the hopes that it translates into experiences and efforts that benefit the teacher and his or her students.

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Look and See: I Wonder Why

This lively book's title makes the perfect motto for young scientists: Look and see! With the help of charming text and bright pictures, you learn just how much you can use your sense of sight. Toys and tools, birds and bugs, flowers and fish, and alligators and apple trees all invite you to look carefully. Soon you'll be comparing objects around you and looking for patterns. Before you know it, you'll be gazing beyond this delightful book to see more details in the world around you.

*****

Look and See is part of a set about the senses in the I Wonder Why book series, written to ignite the curiosity of children in grades K-3 while encouraging them to become avid readers. The books in this set explore the marvels of the senses of sight, hearing, smell, and related phenomena. 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.

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.
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Look and See: I Wonder Why | National Science Teaching Association

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Look and See: I Wonder Why This lively book's title makes the perfect motto for young scientists: Look and see! With the help of charming text and bright pictures, you learn just how much you can use your sense of sight.

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Never Stop Wondering

Never stop wondering, never stop questioning.
Never stop trying to figure things out.

Always keep searching, always keep asking.
That's what science is all about.

This colorful book celebrates our sense of wonder and shows how curiosity is key to cracking the mysteries of the universe. Packed with lively rhymes and fun illustrations, Never Stop Wondering demonstrates how the need to know can lead to great scientific discoveries. And the activities at the end of the book will prompt readers to do exactly what scientists do: study their surroundings, come up with questions, test ideas, and then question some more. Ready, set, wonder!

***

Author Emily Morgan is a former teacher who is also the author of the bestselling Next Time You See NSTA Kids series. She believes that both children and adults should never stop trying to explore the "whys" of the world!
Lexile: 790L

Also available in Library Binding

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.
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Never Stop Wondering | National Science Teaching Association

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Never Stop Wondering Never stop wondering, never stop questioning. Never stop trying to figure things out. Always keep searching, always keep asking. That's what science is all about. This colorful book celebrates our sense of wonder and shows how curiosity is key to cracking the mysteries of the universe.

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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 that 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

In today's Daily Do, How can containers keep stuff cool?, students investigate which properties of thermal cups are most successful in keeping drinks cold. This task has been modified from its original design to be used by students, families, and teachers in distance learning. While students could complete this task independently, we encourage students to work virtually with peers or in the home with family members.

Before you begin the task, you may want to access the accompanying How can containers keep stuff cool? Google slide presentation.

What Phenomenon Am I Exploring Today?

Cups designed for keeping drinks cold have many different features. Which particular cup feature(s) are important for keeping a drink cold? Present students with a variety of cups designed to hold cold drinks. Have students discuss their initial ideas using the following questions (slide 1):

Which cup do you think will keep the water cold the longest? Why?

Which cup do you think will cause the water to warm up fastest? Why?

These questions will help identify students' prior knowledge about how thermal energy is transferred (heat). Depending on the cups being used, students might say liquid will stay colder in cups with insulation, thicker walls, and/or lids. Students may have ideas about insulating materials, like air or plastic, that "trap cold" or "keep out heat" and conducting materials, like metal, that "let cold out faster" or "transfer heat."

Planning and Carrying Out Our Investigation

Show slide 3. Ask students which cup features they think are most important for keeping a drink cold and how they might test their ideas. Students can share their ideas on a class Google doc or on an interactive posting site such as Padlet or Jamboard. Features students identify may vary based on the cups available, but will likely include these:

absence or presence of a lid

absence or presence of a straw

number of walls

thickness of walls

cup material

Use the shared ideas to transition students to planning an investigation.

(Show slide 4) Tell students they will plan an investigation to determine which cup features are important for keeping a drink cold.

If thermometers are not available, ask students to find a partner to discuss the following questions:

What could we add to the liquid that would indicate the temperature is changing without using a thermometer?

How could we measure the rate of temperature change in the liquid without a thermometer?

Listen for students sharing ideas about adding ice to the liquid, using melting ice as an indicator of temperature change, and timing how long it takes the ice to melt to measure the rate of temperature change. Ask these students to share their ideas with the whole class.

(Show slide 5) Remind students

Show slide 6. Work as a group to determine independent variables such as amount of water, amount of ice, location of the cup, and how often to check the cup. Have students record the agreed-upon variables in their student handout.

Show slide 5 and allow students to work independently to develop the remainder of their investigation, identifying which variable of the cup they wish to test. Students may wish to run several tests to determine which part of their cup was most important in keeping a liquid cold.

Show slide 6 and give students time to conduct their investigations. Encourage them to set up their data tables prior to conducting their investigation. If students need support in building a data table, work collaboratively to develop the data table.
Note for home- and distance-learning: Have students identify how testing remotely may lead to issues with comparing test results among the group. Have students record the possible issues on their student handout. Students should identify that they won't be using the same cups, houses might have different temperatures, and not having thermometers.

What Does Our Data Tell Us?

After students have had time to carry out their investigations, allow them to share what they noticed in their data. If students are working asynchronously, consider having them share data using a shared Google Doc or other online platform. Have students answer questions 4 and 5 in their student handout, and show slide 8.

Students should identify patterns such as these:

Double-walled cups work better than single-walled ones.

Cups with lids work better than cups without lids.

Look for students to use evidence from the investigation and reasoning to support their claim. While students may develop different claims because of variations in the cups available to use in their home, the focus should be on students' use of evidence and reasoning to support their claim.

Connecting to Other Containers That Keep Stuff Cool

Have students think about related phenomena by using the following prompts found on slide 9:

What other types of systems help objects maintain the same temperature without electricity?

How do you think these systems work?

Do they work the same way if the objects are hot or cold inside?

Students may identify hot or cold packs, clothing, blankets, lunch boxes, or coolers. They should try to identify how these systems work to keep objects hot or cold by the types of materials they use or how they trap heat.

NSTA Collection of Resources for Today's Daily Do

NSTA has created a How can containers keep stuff cool? collection of resources to support teachers and families using this task. If you're an NSTA member, you can add this collection to your library by clicking Add to My Library, located near the top of the page (at right in the blue box).

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.

Acknowledgments

This Daily Do is inspired and uses materials from the How can containers keep stuff from warming up or cooling down? storyline created by OpenSciEd. OpenSciEd is an open-source resource that can be used by parents and teachers to implement student-driven learning.

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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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In this lesson, students continue to explore the forces acting on swing set equipment and the motion that results. Science activities focus on balanced and unbalanced forces as demonstrated by pendulums. Lessons learned from measuring pendulum motion are applied to observations of swings. These observations will, in turn, be used to design the swing component of the swing set. Mathematics activities include measuring pendulum motion as well as ranking design alternatives. English language arts (ELA) activities focus on preparing and evaluating arguments for proposed designs. A materials list, teacher background information, safety practices, Internet resources, and outcomes are provided. This book selection includes the Table of Contents, About the Editors and Authors, Acknowledgments, and Index.

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Lesson Plan 3: Swinging Pendulums | National Science Teaching Association

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In this lesson, students continue to explore the forces acting on swing set equipment and the motion that results. Science activities focus on balanced and unbalanced forces as demonstrated by pendulums. Lessons learned from measuring pendulum motion are applied to observations of swings.