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Caillou Can Compost (Ecology Club: Earth Month!) | Cartoon for Kids - YouTube

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Caillou Can Compost (Ecology Club: Earth Month!) | Cartoon for Kids - YouTube

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Caillou Can Compost (Ecology Club: Earth Month!) | Cartoon for Kids

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Worms cause major changes to ecosystems, but those changes aren’t ... Thanks to the University of Minnesota for sponsoring this video!

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Soil experiment: Summon the worms! | Natural History Museum

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Soil experiment: Summon the worms! | Natural History Museum

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Running the activity

1. Watch the video above. Afterwards, discuss with your class that earthworms eat organic matter (the dead parts of plants and animals) such as leaves and food waste. This provides nutrients in the soil that plants can use to grow. For more in-depth information see the background science section below.

2. Practical: go looking for earthworms.

Following the video instructions, mix water with mustard or washing up liquid (1 large tablespoon of mustard per 1.5 litre bottle of water).

Have groups of students pour on patches of soil in different locations. Give a name for each location and keep track of how many worms appear after a couple of minutes.

Once finshed, wash off the worms and the sample area with clean water. If possible, put the worms back under cover in nearby soil so they don't get accidentally stepped on or eaten.

3. Once eveyone has collected the data, return to the classroom and display/present it to the whole class. Discuss why earthworms may prefer some soil types to others. Questions to dicuss:

Which soil locations had a lot of earthworms in them?

Which locations only had a few?

Why might there be different numbers at different locations?

What might earthworms like in a particular soil? (easy to move in, not too rocky, wetter so they don't dry out, organic matter to eat)

Based on the number of earthworms found, which location might you expect to see more plants in?

How might earthworms (unintentionally) help plants?

The key to successful discussion here is the scientific reasoning behind responses. Even if suggestions may not seem 'correct' if they are well reasoned with evidence from this experiment this should be considered successful.

See extension activities below for further ways to explore this topic.

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Soil experiment: Summon the worms! | Natural History Museum

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1. Watch the video above. Afterwards, discuss with your class that earthworms eat organic matter (the dead parts of plants and animals) such as leaves and food waste. This provides nutrients in the soil that plants can use to grow. For more in-depth information see the background science section below.

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What Do #Earthworms Eat? How Do Earthworms Help The Soil | Educational Video for Kids wit Aneeshwar| - YouTube

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What Do #Earthworms Eat? How Do Earthworms Help The Soil | Educational Video for Kids wit Aneeshwar| - YouTube

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What Do #Earthworms Eat? How Do Earthworms Help The Soil | Educational Video for Kids wit Aneeshwar|

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Worms - Invertebrate animals for kids - Natural Science for kids - YouTube

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Worms - Invertebrate animals for kids - Natural Science for kids - YouTube

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Worms - Invertebrate animals for kids - Natural Science for kids

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Showcasing Climate Science Research to Spark Curiosity and Increase Student Understanding of How the World Works

The Community Activity and Discussion Guides accompanying the Our Beautiful Planet films are provided by the The Climate Initiative to facilitate conversations about climate change, inspire curiosity and galvanize grassroots action. The content of the guides was created by the The Climate Initiative. NSTA was not involved in the development of these guides. Posting of these materials on the NSTA website is for informational purposes and is not an endorsement by NSTA for their use in schools or school programs.

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Showcasing Climate Science Research to Spark Curiosity and Increase Student Understanding of How the World Works The Community Activity and Discussion Guides accompanying the Our Beautiful Planet films are provided by the The Climate Initiative to facilitate conversations about climate change, inspire curiosity and galvanize grassroots action.

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The Weather's Bet: Young, Ed, Young, Ed: 9780525513827: Amazon.com: Books

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The Weather's Bet: Young, Ed, Young, Ed: 9780525513827: Amazon.com: Books

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The Weather's Bet [Young, Ed, Young, Ed] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Weather's Bet

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This Beautiful Day: Jackson, Richard, Lee, Suzy: 9781481441391: Amazon.com: Books

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This Beautiful Day: Jackson, Richard, Lee, Suzy: 9781481441391: Amazon.com: Books

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This Beautiful Day [Jackson, Richard, Lee, Suzy] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. This Beautiful Day

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The Sun Shines Everywhere: Hoberman, Mary Ann, Lozano, Luciano: 9780316523844: Amazon.com: Books

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The Sun Shines Everywhere: Hoberman, Mary Ann, Lozano, Luciano: 9780316523844: Amazon.com: Books

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The Sun Shines Everywhere [Hoberman, Mary Ann, Lozano, Luciano] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Sun Shines Everywhere

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Pre-K Curriculum for 4 Year Olds | Frog Street

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Pre-K Curriculum for 4 Year Olds | Frog Street

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PRODUCT OVERVIEW

FROG STREET PRE-K CURRICULUM ENSURES TEACHERS AND CHILDREN THRIVE IN THE CLASSROOM

Key learning domains are woven into every aspect of Frog Street's curriculum for pre-k, and weekly instructional plans are easy to follow and implement with fidelity. Integrated STEAM projects promote problem-solving and beginning coding skills. Interactive digital programs support virtual learning and families at home. An exclusive partnership with the Conscious Discipline® program provides the tools for a strong social-emotional foundation.

Learn More

Our pre-kindergarten curriculum includes a research-based scope & sequence for literacy, math, and content domains. Acknowledging the individual needs of ALL learners, the pre-k curriculum includes strategies for differentiated instruction, and adaptations for special needs and English Language Learners, and more. Cultural responsiveness strategies are also included at point-of-use, with prompts and reminders to help teachers maintain an anti-bias mindset. A fully integrated digital assessment tool informs instruction, and professional development tips at point-of-use help to build teacher capacity.

Frog Street's curriculum for pre-k is available in English, Spanish, and dual-language.

Components

Frog Street's pre-kindergarten curriculum includes all the components needed to ensure kindergarten readiness and is available in English, Spanish, and dual language. Components include:

9 Thematic Teacher Guides

Welcome Guide

Conscious Discipline® Manual

Songs and Stories Resource Guide

Extensive Literature Library

Little Books

Listening Library

Posters

Programmable Frog-E Robot & Mat

Fanny Frog with Clothing Changes & House

Balance Scale

Letter Builder Set

Tabletop Pocket Chart

Math & Science Manipulatives

Other Manipulatives for Literacy and Social Emotional Development

Digital Resources (Teacher Portal, AIM Assessment, and Pre-K at Home)

Extensive Card Sets: Letter Cards, Cut-Apart Cards, Sound Cards, Syllable Cards, Compound Word Cards, Letter Wall Cards, Vocabulary Cards, Photo Cards, and Strategy Cards

Guides

The Frog Street pre-k curriculum is organized around thematic Teacher Guides. Each guide offers four weeks of instruction. Highlights include:

Easy-to-use weekly format for whole groups, small groups & learning centers

Charts, organizers, photos, and action shots for seamless implementation

Point-of-use tips to apply Conscious Discipline® strategies throughout the day

Language acquisition support for ELLs and children with special needs

Cultural Responsiveness tips to develop inclusive, anti-bias habits

Read-Aloud tips and questions to encourage higher order thinking skills

Brain Boosters throughout to boost brain function and optimize learning

AIM Assessment prompts to measure learning progressions

Digital

Frog Street's pre-k learning curriculum includes four digital resources to support teachers and children in the classroom and families at home:

1. Frog Street Teacher Portal offers engaging online resources to support instruction, including teacher guides, literature, lesson plans, family letters, listening library, digital images, music, and more.

2. Frog Street Pre-K at Home is an interactive, hands-on program that provides daily, intentional lessons that are fun and easy to use! The activities are designed to deliver instruction to children and families online and children using a distance-learning format. All the content is aligned with the Frog Street in-class curriculum for pre-k and families at home.

3. AIM Observational Assessment provides teachers with an authentic assessment process to collect evidence and data in order to show progress and make developmentally-appropriate instructional decisions. AIM measures 60 Learning Progressions and indicators of kindergarten readiness across four developmental domains.

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"I choose Frog Street over the competitors because it is accessible to teachers and Conscious Discipline® is integrated into the curriculum. Those are the same reasons I would recommend it to colleagues."

"Frog Street provides the whole foundation of your classroom and touches each subject and even helps with adaptations for children with learning disabilities. I also love that it lays out each week so at the end of every week I am able to set up my classroom for the following week!!!!"

"As a Program Director I consider the cost and return we get from the Frog Street curriculum and I think it's definitely an investment worth making in your program. The materials are high quality and hold up well in the classroom and the teachers and children both think it's fun and engaging. As a result it helps reduce teacher burnout and turnover. Finally, our student outcomes and scores have risen as a result of moving to Frog Street."

"It's the best curriculum for pre-K!"

"We serve children of all ages in an agricultural area, including children with special needs and at different levels of learning. Frog Street offers curriculum for all ages of children and it provides the opportunity for children to learn at their own rate. We also love that support for our special needs children is integrated into the curriculum."

Teacher, Early Head Start

Teacher, Public School District

Program Officer, Head Start Programs

Teacher, Head Start

Owner, Child Care Program

BEGIN YOUR JOURNEY WITH FROG STREET

To learn more about our pre-k curriculum products and professional development services, talk to your Frog Street Account Executive today.

FROG STREET PRODUCTS

CURRICULUM BASED ON EARLY BRAIN RESEARCH THAT PROVIDES INTENTIONAL, AGE-APPROPRIATE INSTRUCTION.

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Pre-K Curriculum for 4-Year Olds | Frog Street

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Our research-based, dual-language, pre-k curriculum is designed to be engaging & celebrate the joy of learning. Learn about our pre-kindergarten curriculum.

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Use a 5-step engineering design process to introduce kindergartners to hands-on engineering STEM education challenges that develop critical thinking skills.

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STEM Activities Delivered

Get great educational resources for your classroom, home, and beyond to your inbox each month.

K-12 Education Newsletter Beyond the Classroom Newsletter

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Science Friday Educate creates free science and STEM activities, lessons, and resources for caregivers and educators.

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Energy explained: Where does it come from and how much do we use?

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Energy explained: Where does it come from and how much do we use?

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Nothing in our world - cars, coffee, cat videos, even canned pineapple - would exist without energy. But although energy makes everything work, most of us don't know the answers to even the most fundamental questions:

How much energy do we use?

And where does our energy come from?

These questions are simple, but the answers lay the foundation for all of the more complex issues we cover here on Inside Energy, from pipelines to land use to grid infrastructure. We've covered the basics in this video.

For a deeper look, let's put on our data goggles.
How much energy do we use?
Worldwide, humans used about 575 quadrillion Btu of energy in 2015, according to estimates from the U.S. Energy Information Agency. With a global population of 7.3 billion, that works out to 78 million Btu per person, per year. Having trouble intuiting how big that is? Us too. Here's one way to wrap your head around it: A Btu is roughly the energy released in a single match. So if you wanted to consume all of your energy in the form of matches, you'd have to strike 2.5 every second. We don't recommend trying it.

Worldwide, our per person energy use is equivalent to each person lighting 2.5 matches every second.

Americans are heavy energy users, accounting for roughly one-sixth of world energy consumption. That's 303 million Btu a year per American. Using our match analogy, you'd need to light nearly 10 matches a second to keep up with the energy appetite of the average American human.

In the U.S., our per person energy use is equivalent to each person lighting 10 matches every second.

And how has the amount of energy we use changed over time? Americans today use roughly three times the amount of energy our great-grandparents used 100 years ago. And back then, they used more wood than oil.

Inside Energy matched up (ha!) energy use data from the EIA with population data from the U.S. Census Bureau to get a picture of how our per person energy use has changed over time, going back to 1790:
Get the data, source and notes on Github
Energy use skyrocketed in the 20th century, but has been declining in recent years.
Where does the energy we use come from?
The U.S. ranked eleventh, worldwide, in terms of energy use per person, according to 2013 data from the World Bank. Per person, the average American uses three times as much energy as someone in China. But Americans only use a third of the energy, per person, as Icelanders. (Why does Iceland use so much energy? Short answer: Their main energy sources, hydroelectric and geothermal power, can't easily be stored. So they must use it or lose it. Iceland has a huge aluminum industry, which is energy intensive. So essentially, they export their abundant energy supply in the form of aluminum.)

The biggest single source of energy humans use, worldwide, is petroleum. That's true in the U.S. as well, and has been since 1950. Petroleum is primarily used for transportation: We turn it into gasoline and diesel that fuels cars, trucks, boats, and other equipment.

But transportation isn't our top energy need - electricity is. Nearly 40 percent of the energy we use globally goes to making electricity. We generate electricity in all kinds of ways: burning fossil fuels like coal, natural gas or petroleum; splitting atoms in nuclear reactors; harnessing the power of rivers with dams; converting wind and sunlight directly into electricity with turbines and solar panels.

In the U.S., coal-fired power plants have been our top source of electricity for decades. But in the past few years, natural gas has been cheap due to the rise of the still controversial process of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. As a result, natural gas-fired power plants are poised to be our top electricity source.

That electricity mix varies widely state to state.

Note the expansion of natural gas and the retraction of coal and nuclear power. Keep in mind that this is just the electricity generated in each state. Electricity often crosses state lines. To see a map of which states are importers and exporters of electricity, check out Inside Energy's past analysis.

Coal accounts for 41 percent of global electricity generation; 17 countries get more than half of their electricity from it, including Mongolia, Poland, China, India and Australia.

Natural gas accounts for 22 percent of global electricity generation; 31 countries get more than half of their electricity from it, including Qatar, Belarus, Tunisia, Singapore, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Mexico and The Netherlands.

Nuclear accounts for 11 percent of global electricity generation; four countries get more than half of their electricity from it, France, Slovak Republic, Belgium and Hungary.

Hydro accounts for 16 percent of global electricity generation; 37 countries get more than half of their electricity from it, including Nepal, Norway, Ethiopia, Georgia, Brazil and Canada.

Renewables, like wind, solar and geothermal, account for 5 percent of global electricity generation. As of 2013, no country got more than half of its electricity from non-hydro renewables, although Denmark was very close, at 46 percent.

How does the electricity mix vary from country to country? The World Bank publishes data on the percent of electricity generated from various fuel sources (as of 2013):
http://insideenergy.org/2017/01/12/energy-explained/
Regardless of where you live, our energy sources and uses are changing in major ways. Our great-grandkids' energy profile will likely be just as unrecognizable to us as our great-grandparents'. Some trends Inside Energy will be keeping an eye on are whether electric cars will ever edge out the combustion engine, the expansion of renewables, and the increasing role data and information play in how we use energy.

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Energy explained: Where does it come from and how much do we use?

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Nothing in our world - cars, coffee, cat videos, even canned pineapple - would exist without energy. But although energy makes everything work, most of us don't know the answers to even the most fundamental questions: How much energy do we use? And where does our energy come from?

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All content copyright Ruth Spiro. No use without permission.

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Math by the Book, Through Stories, Math Comes to Life

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Math by the Book, Through Stories, Math Comes to Life

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Through Stories, Math Comes to Life

Stories create a space where students can explore their mathematical thinking and understanding in unique ways. Children's literature offers memorable opportunities to discuss mathematical ideas and connect those ideas to meaningful contexts. The Math by the Book series is dedicated to teaching mathematics strategically through literature. Real learning comes from authentically and purposefully linking a story to important mathematical concepts.

A Closer Look at Math by the Book

Every Math by the Book grade-level package includes:
Connecting Literacy to Math
Listen to Sue O'Connell talk about the value of math literacy integration.

A Math Resource that Makes the Grade

Math by the Book is a grade-by-grade resource (K-5). Each book features children's literature and a collection of activities and teaching strategies that uniquely address critical grade-specific skills and content.

You can preview the full list of children's books that are highlighted at each grade level.

A Library of Lessons, Strategies, Activities, and More!

Every children's book highlighted in Math by the Book includes a menu of tasks, tips, and strategies, including questions to pose, investigations to explore, problems to solve, questions to spur discussions, and projects to extend students' thinking. You'll find examples of student work and have access to online resources to allow you to easily replicate the tasks with students.

Now Featuring: Great Children's Literature

Each grade-level package comes with a featured text, one of the children's books highlighted at each grade. To support the use of children's literature in math, there are additional coaching notes, features, and online resources related to the featured text.

These are the featured texts at each grade level:

Kindergarten: Grandma's Purse by Vanessa Brantley-Newton

First Grade: Thanking the Moon: Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival by Grace Lin

Second Grade: Max's Words by Kate Banks

Third Grade: Bilal Cooks Daal by Aisha Saeed

Fourth Grade: Sweet Potato Pie by Kathleen D. Lindsey

Fifth Grade: Tía Isa Wants a Car by Meg Medina

Video Coaching on Your Schedule

Math by the Book includes access to on-demand video coaching from Sue O'Connell. These coaching sessions can be viewed on your own or with colleagues as part of a professional learning experience. Topics include book selection, choosing a math focus, and developing related lessons and activities.

A Perfect Summer School Pairing

Math by the Book is also an effective resource for reteaching or reinforcing important math concepts and skills as part of a summer learning program. The lessons and activities built around the context of great children's literature are perfect for helping learning stick in ways that worksheets don't.

Series

Meet the Authors

Sue O'Connell has decades of experience supporting teachers in making sense of mathematics and effectively shifting how they teach. A former elementary teacher, reading specialist, and math coach, she is also a nationally known speaker and education consultant who currently directs Quality Teacher Development, an organization providing math professional development for schools and districts across the country. Sue is also the lead author of the Math in Practice series. Connect with Sue on Twitter @SueOConnellMath.

Sue and her Math by the Book coauthors ( Jonelle Bell, Laura Connell, Marcy Myers, Georgina Rivera, Dawn Jacobs, Brandi Moore, T.J. Jemison, Gabr'l Stackhouse, Donna Boucher, Mary Trinkle, Danielle Moore, and Margie Pearse) work in diverse schools and communities throughout the United States. Together, they selected children's literature, developed lessons and activities, tested ideas with students, and gathered feedback from educators across the country.

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Stories create a space where students can explore their mathematical thinking and understanding in unique ways. Children's literature offers memorable opportunities to discuss mathematical ideas and connect those ideas to meaningful contexts. The Math by the Book series is dedicated to teaching mathematics strategically through literature.

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Mathical Book Prize 2021 Mathical Winners Announced - Mathical Book Prize

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Mathical Book Prize 2021 Mathical Winners Announced - Mathical Book Prize

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Berkeley, CA - February 9, 2021 - Are arguments about who got the bigger snack portion, or toys (not kids, of course) that just aren't ready for bed yet a regular feature in your family life? Or perhaps the tweens and teens around you would prefer to curl up with a good book featuring colorful Indian folktales, space travel, or stories of groundbreaking women and men in science. This year's Mathical Book Prize winners offer young people of all ages unique ways to explore scientific and mathematical ideas in the world around them.

The Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) announced t he 2021 winners t oday of the Mathical Book Prize, which recognizes outstanding fiction and literary nonfiction for youth ages 2-18. The announcement takes place as part of a series of online events leading up to the 2021 National Math Festival, and features all five of this year's Mathical Award recipients reading selections from their winning books, published in 2020.

The Mathical Prize, now in its seventh year, is selected annually by a committee of PreK-12 teachers, librarians, mathematicians, early childhood experts, and others. This year's honorees include the following:

For Grades K-2, the Mathical Award Winner is The Animals Would Not Sleep, by Sara Levine (Charlesbridge).

The following Mathical Honor Books were also announced by the selection committee, co-chaired this year by Elizabeth (Betsy) Bird, collection development manager of the Evanston (IL) Public Library system and reviewer for Kirkus and the New York Times, and Dr. Candice Price, assistant professor of mathematics at Smith College and co-founder of the website Mathematically Gifted and Black.

PreK: One is a Piñata: A Book of Numbers, by Roseanne Greenfield Thong (Chronicle Books)

Grades K-2: Billions of Bricks: A Counting Book about Building, by Kurt Cyrus (Henry Holt & Co. Books for Young Readers); , by Susan Edwards Richmond (Peachtree); and Counting the Stars: The Story of Katherine Johnson, NASA Mathematician, by Lesa Cline-Ransom (Simon & Schuster)

Grades 3-5: Numbers in Motion: Sophie Kowalevski, Queen of Mathematics, by Laurie Wallmark (Chreston Books); Pass Go and Collect $200: The Real Story of How Monopoly Was Invented, by Tanya Lee Stone (Henry Holt & Co. Books for Young Readers)

Grades 6-8: Can You Crack the Code?: A Fascinating History of Ciphers and Cryptography, by Ella Schwartz (Bloomsbury Children's Books)

Grades 9-12: David Blackwell and the Deadliest Duel, by Robert Black (Royal Fireworks Press); It's a Numberful World: How Math Is Hiding Everywhere, by Eddie Woo (The Experiment Publishing)

The Mathical Book Prize is awarded by the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI), in partnership with the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), and in coordination with the Children's Book Council (CBC).

The Mathical Book Prize is made possible through the generous support of the Firedoll Foundation and the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation.

MSRI partners with organizations including First Book, School Library Journal , the Books for Kids Foundation, and others to distribute Mathical titles nationally to children in need.

Additional resources to support educators, librarians, and families can be accessed at mathicalbooks.org.

About MSRI: The Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) is one of the world's preeminent centers for collaborative research in mathematics. Located in Berkeley, California, MSRI's mission is to advance mathematical research, foster talent, and further the appreciation of mathematics. MSRI strives to make mathematics accessible and exciting to those outside the field through the National Math Festival , sponsorship of Numberphile (YouTube's most popular informal mathematics channel, with over 3.6 million subscribers), film production for public television, and the Mathical Book Prize. www.msri.org
Mathical Supporters Kit
Resources for media, educators, and librarians to use to promote and feature Mathical award winners in kids' reading programs can be found in the 2021 Mathical Book Prize Media Kit.
Contact:
Jennifer Murawski, jmurawski@msri.org Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI)

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2021 Mathical Winners Announced - Mathical Book Prize

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The Mathical Book Prize aims to share books which inspire a love of math in the everyday world. Each year's winners and honor books join a selective and ever-growing list of fiction and non-fiction titles for kids of all ages.

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Top 10 Plastic Polluters

Discover the top ten plastic polluters in our environment.

Plastic pollution fact: Plastic polystyrene products are everywhere, from coffee cup lids to straws, to cutlery and cups (even SOLO cups). Expanded polystyrene foam is commonly known as "Styrofoam."

Plastic pollution fact: We worked with Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, L'Oreal and Unilever to voluntarily phase out plastic microbeads from products made by brands like Neutrogena, Dove and The Body Shop. In 2015, President Obama signed The Microbead-Free Waters Act into law, making these polluting plastics illegal in the United States as of 2018.

Plastic pollution fact: If you're not wearing natural fibers like (preferably organic) cotton, hemp, or wool, you're probably wearing plastic. All materials shed fibers. But unlike wool and cotton, plastic microfibers from synthetic materials don't biodegrade in the environment. In addition, many microfibers are treated with flame retardants like PCBs, which are endocrine disruptors that could negatively impact your health.

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Discover the top ten plastic polluters in our environment. Plastic pollution fact: Plastic polystyrene products are everywhere, from coffee cup lids to straws, to cutlery and cups (even SOLO cups). Expanded polystyrene foam is commonly known as "Styrofoam."

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The Buzz About Planet Bee Foundation and How You Can Help the Bees - YouTube

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The Buzz About Planet Bee Foundation and How You Can Help the Bees - YouTube

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The Buzz About Planet Bee Foundation and How You Can Help the Bees

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STEM Education Program | STEM FROM THE START

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STEM Education Program | STEM FROM THE START

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STEM lessons as blended animated adventures and guided activities providing an engaging, effective and easy way to learn for PreK-2 students

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SMD Education :: GBH "Framework for Diversity and Equity in K-12 Science Educational Media"

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SMD Education :: GBH "Framework for Diversity and Equity in K-12 Science Educational Media"

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Pegeen Wright

Tags: Elementary | High School | Educator | Underserved / Underrepresented | Best Practices / Lessons Learned

Posting GBH's Framework for Diversity and Equity in K-12 Science Educational Media Final Report The Framework consists of five parts:

Part I, A Summary of Diversity and Equity Research, summarizes key research in diversity and equity related to four themes identified by the advisory group.

Part II, Practices that Support Diversity and Equity in K-12 Education, identifies practices that support diversity and equity in science education that are grounded in the research literature. This section includes practices and examples of how the practices can be enacted.

Part III, A Review of Media Resources that Support Diversity and Equity in Science Education, contains a review of media resources that exemplify aspects of diversity and equity. This review guided the development of the Design Principles for Diversity and Equity in K-12 Science Educational Media, outlined in Part IV.

Part IV, Design Principles for Diversity and Equity in K-12 Science Educational Media, is meant to guide the development of science educational media to support equity and diversity.

Part V, A Summary of BUAC Sample Resource Review, summarizes the Collection's strength and opportunities for improvement, based on an analysis of a selection of BUAC resources.

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GBH "Framework for Diversity and Equity in K-12 Science Educational Media"

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Pegeen Wright Tags: Elementary | High School | Educator | Underserved / Underrepresented | Best Practices / Lessons Learned Posting GBH's Framework for Diversity and Equity in K-12 Science Educational Media Final Report The Framework consists of five parts: Part I, A Summary of Diversity and Equity Research, summarizes key research in diversity and equity related to four themes identified by the advisory group.

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We are a collaborative network of educators, families, and community partners working to cultivate equitable, culturally thriving, socio-ecological systems learning and ethical decision-making using field-based science education in outdoor places, including gardens, for children in pre-kindergarten to 3rd grade and their families.

We are more aware than ever of the need to build learning environments that strive for just, sustainable, and culturally thriving communities. Learning in Places is more than a curriculum-it is a model of pedagogy that centers racial equity, ethical, evidence-based decision-making, and just relations with the natural world. We offer materials for professional development, classroom learning, outdoor learning, and family engagement. If you are a teacher, family member, teacher educator, and/or researcher, you may find something that will deepen your practice, reflection, and learning.

Our materials are free to use!
We only ask that you properly cite all materials using the suggested citations at the end of each document that you download.

Or, if you find any of the graphics or sections of the website useful for your work, please cite them using the following format: Learning in Places Collaborative (2021). [Title of page that you got the graphic or information from]. Learning in Places website. [url of the page]

The University of Washington Bothell Goodlad Institute for Educational Renewal, Northwestern University, Tilth Alliance and Seattle Public Schools have partnered for this project. Funded by a 2.9 million dollar grant from the National Science Foundation, the project builds outdoor learning spaces and draws upon local communities and green spaces at several Seattle schools while developing a robust model of equitable field-based learning for preK-3 educators to engage students and their families in complex socio-ecological reasoning and decision-making.

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We are a collaborative network of educators, families, and community partners working to cultivate equitable, culturally thriving, socio-ecological systems learning and ethical decision-making using field-based science education in outdoor places, including gardens, for children in pre-kindergarten to 3rd grade and their families.

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Coronavirus Lesson Plan | BrainPOP Educators

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Coronavirus Lesson Plan | BrainPOP Educators

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This lesson plan accompanies the BrainPOP topic, Coronavirus , and can be completed over several class periods. See suggested times for each section.

OBJECTIVES

Students will:

Activate prior knowledge about viruses, and specifically about the coronavirus.

Use critical thinking skills to identify and connect facts about the coronavirus.

Demonstrate understanding through creative projects, such as producing a public service announcement and coding an interview with a doctor.

Present projects and reflect on new understandings.

TEACHER PRE-PLANNING

For background on the Coronavirus Topic , click the Full Description link below the movie player.

The INVESTIGATE and CREATE sections of the lesson invite students to use Make-a-Map, Make-a-Movie, and Creative Coding projects. If you have a BrainPOP subscription, assign the Coronavirus Make-a-Map to the class in advance of the lesson. No subscription? No worries! You can still use Make-a-Map and see our ideas for "unplugged" activities in the Create section.
Approximate time: 20-25 minutes
Begin the lesson plan by activating students' prior knowledge and making real-life connections. Then show the movie to introduce the topic.

1. this Anchor Question on whiteboard and read it aloud: How can understanding the coronavirus make it less scary?Tell students they will investigate this question over the course of the lesson and will return to it at the end.

2. ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE by having pairs or small groups share with each other what they know about viruses generally and what they've heard about the coronavirus that's been in the news.

3. students what they think causes viruses, their effects, and how we can avoid their spread. Jot their ideas on the board. Read aloud the description below the movie player.

4. MAKE CONNECTIONS by asking students to describe a time they had a virus, how they felt, what made them feel better, and what they think caused it.

5. the movie Coronavirus as a whole class on the whiteboard. Turn on the closed caption option to aid in comprehension.

INVESTIGATE
Approximate time: 20-25 minutes
Prompt students' inquiry and critical thinking skills by having them find key details to build knowledge and understanding.

1. Students open their Make-a-Map Assignment and select or create a spider map. They type the question they will investigate at the top:
What is the coronavirus and how can we contain it?

2. As students watch the movie again, they identify and connect facts about the new coronavirus, including what it is, how it spread, and tips for stopping its spread. Evidence can include text, images, and movie clips.
EXTRA CHALLENGE: Prompt students to include evidence for why this coronavirus has gotten so much attention and what we can do to feel less worried or scared.

SUPPORT TIP:Help students by identifying a fact or two about the virus and modeling how to add it to the concept map. Show them how they can connect related ideas, like ideas for containing the virus.

3. Students SUBMIT their maps when they are done.

Approximate time: 45-60 minutes
Students demonstrate their understanding by synthesizing their ideas and expressing them through one or more of the following hands-on, creative projects. They can work individually or collaborate. Remind them to use evidence from their concept maps in their creations.

NOTE: The following activities require access to BrainPOP's creativity tools (Creative Coding and Make-a-Movie) which are available only with a BrainPOP subscription. However, they are easily adaptable to "unplugged" activities, such as interviewing a real-life doctor, creating a PSA with poster board, and recording a newscast with your students taking on the roles of camera person and news reporter.

An Interview with a Doctor: Code an interview with a doctor that includes a patient's questions and the doctor's answers.

Public Service Announcement: Raise awareness and change attitudes about the coronavirus by producing a PSA that is NOT sensational or alarming, but gives the real story. Include tips for stopping its spread.

Coronavirus Newscast: Code a newscast that shares a fact about the coronavirus and or suggests a tip for stopping its spread.

Wrap up the lesson with student presentations and a final reflection on learning.

PRESENT : Students present their completed projects to their classmates.

: Draw attention to the Anchor Question again: WRAP UP How can understanding the coronavirus make it less scary? Students answer the question using their new knowledge.

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Coronavirus Lesson Plan | BrainPOP Educators

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This lesson plan accompanies the BrainPOP topic, Coronavirus, and can be completed over several class periods. See suggested times for each section. OBJECTIVES Students will: Activate prior knowledge about viruses, and specifically about the coronavirus. Use critical thinking skills to identify and connect facts about the coronavirus.

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Analysis: Science Matters Now More Than Ever. The Time to Start Teaching It Is in Elementary School | The 74

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Analysis: Science Matters Now More Than Ever. The Time to Start Teaching It Is in Elementary School | The 74

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Science has never mattered more than it does today. From the devastating realities of COVID-19 in our communities to a climate crisis that now spans the globe to the paucity of scientifically based public policy, one thing is certain: Society benefits when scientific literacy informs civil discourse. For the adults of tomorrow, that literacy begins today, with high-quality, equitable science education for all students.

As the United States welcomes a new administration into the White House - with a first lady who is herself an educator - and the government has the opportunity to reauthorize important legislation like the America COMPETES Act, we also have an opportunity to reset the national education agenda. There is no better place to start than science education.

Giving students the opportunity to learn science in elementary school, as with mathematics, provides a solid foundation for later learning. Middle and high school students are expected to learn complex scientific ideas, and in order to do that, they need exposure to high-quality science instruction in their elementary classrooms. Students learn to think critically about the world around them, noticing details and patterns, gathering data and forming sound explanations based on evidence.

Even before COVID, the trend line for average minutes of science instruction in elementary school per week was going in the wrong direction. According to the 2018 National Survey of Science and Mathematics, teachers in grades K-3 reported spending an average of 18 minutes per week on science, a 22 percent decrease since 2000. Grade 4-6 teachers reported spending an average of 27 minutes per week, a 13 percent decrease. Now, in the COVID remote learning era, there are fewer instructional minutes overall, and in many districts, science has completely fallen out of elementary curriculum. Alarm bells should be ringing.

Prioritizing elementary science education takes creativity, teamwork and long-term commitment - all of which can be challenging in normal times, let alone amid the new realities of a pandemic. But disruptions can also present opportunities to try something new. Groups like NextGenScience are already sharing successful strategies to adapt K-12 science lessons for distance learning, and that some approaches might enable more learning opportunities for students than pre-COVID methods.

In our work with hundreds of schools and districts across the United States, we have seen what can happen when educators committed to science standards work together to provide meaningful learning experiences for their youngest students. The following three examples from real schools and districts show how change is possible when prioritizing elementary science education.

Implementing slowly and steadily, with plenty of educator input

One small district in Rhode Island with three elementary schools adopted a new science program and took a phased approach. Teachers were required to present one unit during the first year, with a full implementation in year two. But throughout the second year, teachers struggled to fit everything in, because they were still presenting full English and math programs. At the start of the third year, teachers collaborated with school and district leaders to problem-solve. Looking closely at the science curriculum, they identified where students were already engaged in science-related activities that involved reading, writing, listening and speaking. Then they adjusted their instruction in other subjects that covered the same things, making more room for science.

Change did not happen overnight, but teachers created more consistent time for science instruction because they saw how much their students were learning with their new science curriculum. District administrators supported flexible thinking about learning goals, and together, they made changes over time that integrated science solidly into the district's elementary school curriculum.

Looking closely at scheduling and how to ensure equity

One small Midwestern city with 14 elementary schools considered increasing science instruction districtwide. During their research about how best to teach more science, district leaders put together a team that examined schedules across all elementary schools. The team noticed a serious equity problem: Science instruction frequently occurred at the same time that students were pulled out of class for various reasons. For science to be a priority, it needed to happen when all students were present. In response, the district eliminated pullout services and special classes during science time.

For this city, it took a cross-departmental team with a new perspective working together at the district level to notice and correct a pattern of inequity and ensure science time was protected.

Thinking creatively about staffing: Every teacher can be a science teacher

A large urban district on the East Coast had a long history of using science specialists, instead of multi-subject classroom teachers, to teach elementary science. During the pandemic, as classes began meeting remotely, all the science specialists became multi-subject teachers to help reduce class sizes.

District leaders are now rethinking their model, evaluating whether "every teacher a science teacher" is a better way to move forward, because it enables teachers to take better advantage of the common learning objectives and teaching approaches that exist across science, English Language Arts and math - something not possible in elementary grades when subjects are taught by specific teachers.

Our nation is facing one of the greatest public health crises in its history, and the world is confronting a climate crisis that generations to come will inherit. Students must be equipped to tackle these realities with a high-quality science education from the earliest grades. Let us leverage this extraordinary moment to catapult science to the core of the curriculum. It matters for our health, well-being and even our collective survival.
Jacqueline Barber is associate director of the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Matt Reed is vice president of science at Amplify where he oversees development, testing and support for the company's highly rated science curriculum.
Submit a Letter to the Editor

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Analysis: Science Matters Now More Than Ever. The Time to Start Teaching It Is in Elementary School

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Science has never mattered more than it does today. From the devastating realities of COVID-19 in our communities to a climate crisis that now spans the globe to the paucity of scientifically based public policy, one thing is certain: Society benefits when scientific literacy informs civil discourse.

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New evidence continues to emerge on the formative potential of the early years in a person's life. NSF is investing in programs to transform STEM teaching and learning in pre-K and the early grades. This Spotlight features NSF-funded projects and resources that seek to leverage these early learning opportunities.

In this spotlight...

Blog | What Is the Most Important Thing to Teach Toddlers About Mathematics and How Can this Best Be Achieved?
Arthur Baroody, Professor of Curriculum & Instruction, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Parents, teachers, or others interested in early childhood mathematics education often ask: "On what should initial instruction focus?" My answer is verbal subitizing: recognizing small numbers (1 to 3 or 4 items) and labeling them with an appropriate number word. It often takes 2-year-olds many months to label collections of "one" and 'two" accurately and reliably. Imagine my joy when my wife informed me that our younger daughter Arianne, 2 at the time, had learned "two." I immediately went to the playroom, held up two fingers, and asked, "How many fingers Arianne?" "Two Daddy," was her immediate reply. My heart swelled, but a scientist must be skeptical. So, I held up three fingers and asked the same question. Arianne again replied, "Two, Daddy."

Featured Projects

Fourteen DRK-12 projects describe their work in early learning and share their challenges, findings, instruments, and products:

CADRE Reports and Briefs

CONSIDERATIONS FOR STEM EDUCATION FROM PREK THROUGH GRADE 3
This brief draws on research and development supported by the National Science Foundation to highlight important considerations about STEM educational experiences for young children and professional learning for educators who provide those experiences. See References, Authors and Contributors, and Practitioner-Oriented Resources.

NURTURING STEM SKILLS IN YOUNG LEARNERS, PREK-3
This brief was produced in connection with the STEM Smart event held in Washington, D.C. in December, 2013. It highlights challenges, key research, and promising program in critical areas of the early education landscape.

Learn more about the STEM Smart workshop on early childhood.

Additional Resources

DRK-12 PROJECT VIDEOS ON EARLY CHILDHOOD WORK
View a playlist of 3-minute videos featured in the 2016-20 STEM for All Video Showcases that are focused on early childhood work and funded by the National Science Foundation's DRK-12 Program.

POSTER GALLERY OF DRK-12 WORK
Browse the work of DRK-12 projects. These posters feature work in early childhood education presented at the 2014, 2016, and 2018 DRK-12 PI Meetings.

EARLY EDUCATION PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS FEATURED AT THE 2013 STEM SMART WORKSHOP
These resources were featured at the STEM Smart event held in December, 2013, and represent the work of various STEM education projects focused on early childhood. Learn more about these programs and projects.

VIDEO ON INNOVATIONS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD STEM CURRICULA AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
At the 2014 DRK-12 PI Meeting, one breakout session, " Innovations in Early Childhood STEM Curricula and Professional Development," featured a poster symposium with representatives from five preschool projects across STEM domains that have developed curricula and provided teachers with supports for motivating all children's engagement with STEM. In this video, representatives discuss their projects, major challenges faced, and what they have learned through their work.

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New evidence continues to emerge on the formative potential of the early years in a person's life. NSF is investing in programs to transform STEM teaching and learning in pre-K and the early grades. This Spotlight features NSF-funded projects and resources that seek to leverage these early learning opportunities.

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Shanleya's Quest Patterns in Plants Card Game: Learn to identify wildflowers! by Thomas J. Elpel

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Shanleya's Quest Patterns in Plants Card Game: Learn to identify wildflowers! by Thomas J. Elpel

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By
See a pattern?

Shanleya's Quest
Patterns in Plants Card Game
Thomas J. Elpel. Illustrated by Gloria Brown
Photos by Thomas J. Elpel and Mary Ellen Harte

Read the book. Play the game! The Patterns in Plants Card Game is a fun way to test your skills at identifying the family patterns described in Shanleya's Quest. Learn to see the patterns in the game. Then you will be able to recognize them in the real world!
Many different plant identification games are possible with this deck of cards. Please scroll down the page for a look at some of the options. More game ideas and rules will be posted here over time, and you are welcome to submit your own games! ISBN: 1-892784-23-8 March 2006. $15.00.

Order Direct from Thomas J. Elpel / HOPS Press, LLC
See the Package Discounts below for big savings!

Shopping for birthdays, holidays, resale, or the classroom?
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Hi Thomas

The card game is superb and is unlike anything we have here, it compliments the shanleya's quest book wonderfully and there is always call for good ways to introduce children to Bushcraft. My wife wouldn't let me go to sleep last night until she had beat me at the memory game and crazy flowers at least 5 times, but whilst out flying Torin (my harris hawk) today I was able to identify the family of almost all the flowers I saw as a result.

All the best

Stuart
Bushcraft UK
United Kingdom
(used with permission)

-Please scroll down the page for games and rules.-

Patterns in Plants Card Game
-Game Suggestions and Rules-

Related plants have similar patterns for identification and often very similar uses. Shanleya's Quest: A Botany Adventure for Kids Ages 9 to 99 will teach you the plant identification skills you need to play the card game. Play the game to practice the plant identification skills taught in the book. Then you will be able to recognize these same patterns in the real world.

Eight families of plants are featured in the book. As you read about each of the plant families, take a moment to study the wildflower cards from those families. Use the Plant Patterns Answer KeY included in the deck to verify which flowers belong to which families. When you have completed the book and reviewed all the cards, then you are ready to play the Shanleya's Quest Patterns in Plants Card Game.

Many different game variations are possible. We are beginning to list our game suggestions here. You are also welcome to send us your game ideas and rules.

Sharing the Game
Do you want to introduce the game to a group of people without taking time to read the story? Have an experienced leader lay out all the cards in rows organized by family and describe the patterns with as little information as possible, showing the family patterns in the cards, such as:

Mint Family: Square stems and opposite leaves. Parsley Family: Compound umbels, like umbrellas with smaller umbrellas at the end of each spoke. Mustard Family: The 4-petaled flowers in the deck. Pea Family: Irregular flowers with a banner, wings, and keel. (Different from the Mint flowers.) Lily Family: 3 sepals and 3 petals of the same size and color in two over-lapping rows. (Looks like six petals.) Grass Family: No sepals or petals. Rose Family: The 5-petaled flowers in the deck. Aster Family: Composites-disk flowers and ray flowers. Each sunflower seed is produced by a 5-petaled "disk flower" within the composite head. The flowers grow from a pitted disk, like flowers in a garden. Even the perimeter "petals" are individual flowers. Additional details: Most Asters have disk flowers as well as ray flowers, but thistles only have disk flowers. Dandelions only have ray flowers. Also, compare Asters to red clover from the Pea Family, which has tiny flowers clustered together at the top of the stem, but no pitted disk.

Now, shuffle the deck and flip the cards face-up, one-at-a-time on the table, asking the group for the family names. With a pass or two through the deck, everyone will know the patterns well enough to move into the games.

Game 1. Plant Patterns Memory Game:
Game Setup: For 2 to 8 players or 2 teams. Remove the "Monocot" and "Dicot" cards from the deck, then shuffle and deal out the remaining 50 cards face down on the table in a grid pattern (columns and rows).
How to Play: Play moves to the left of the dealer. Turn over any two cards to look for a pattern match. A match consists of any two cards from the same family, as seen in the samples shown here.
If the player finds a match, then he/she takes another turn. If no match is found, then the cards are turned back over and the next person takes a turn. Check the Plant Patterns Answer Key if you need verification. Play until all cards are matched.
Winning: The person with the most matching pairs wins the card game, but in the game of life, everyone wins by learning to recognize more of the plants that are all around us.

Game 2. Slap Flower:
Game Setup: For 2 to 6 players. Shuffle and deal the entire deck out to all players. Do not look at the cards. Each player places their stack face down in front of them. Choose any family from the deck to slap.
How to Play: Play starts to the left of the dealer and moves clockwise. Players take turns flipping one card face-up in the middle of the table. Players should avoid being the first to see their own card by flipping it over towards the other players. If the card is from the chosen family, then the first player to slap the card wins the entire face-up pile on the table. That player shuffles the cards and adds them to the bottom of his or her stack, then chooses a new family and starts the play from his or her deck. If a player slaps a card from the wrong family, then he or she must draw two cards off the top of their stack and add them face-up to the pile. Play continues around the table, with each person playing one card on his or her turn. Check the Plant Patterns Answer Key if there is a dispute about which family a flower belongs to.
Winning: The person who accumulates the entire deck wins the game.
Variations: For a shorter game, players are out when they lose all their cards. For a longer game, players who lose all their cards can slap their way back into the game.
Sandwiches: Rather than designating plant families, try slapping "sandwiches" instead. A sandwich could be any two cards in a row from one plant family (such as two Rose family cards), or any two cards from one family with another card in between (such as two Aster family cards with a Mint in the middle). This game requires extra concentration and skill to keep track of the top three cards as they continuously change throughout the game.

Game 3. Crazy Flowers:
Game Setup: For 2 to 4 players. (Combine 2 decks for larger groups.) Shuffle the deck and deal seven cards to each player. Place the remaining cards in the center of the table as a Draw Pile and turn one card up beside it to start the Discard Pile.
How to Play: Play moves to the left of the dealer. Play any card from the same family as the upturned card. For example, if the starting card is a member of the Parsley Family, then you can play any other card from the Parsley Family. Play only one card each turn. Check the Plant Patterns Answer Key if you need to verify which family a flower belongs to.
Family Cards: The black and white Family Cards can be used as crazy cards. Play one on your turn to change the pile to the family shown on the card.
Monocot and Dicot Cards: The Monocot and Dicot Cards are wild cards. Play one on your turn to change the pile to any Monocot or Dicot family. You play the card. The next person chooses the family to go with it. (The Lily Family and Grass Family are Monocots. All others are Dicots. Review the Island Map in Shanleya's Quest for more information.)
Poison Cards: here are three highly poisonous plants in the deck, each marked with a skull and crossbones. Play a poison card to "poison" the pile. Then play any other card from your hand to determine the new family of play. This is the only time in the game when you will play two cards in one turn.
Draw Pile: If you do not have any cards to play on your turn, then take one from the Draw Pile. If you cannot play it, you keep it and play moves to the next player. When the Draw Pile is used up, then move the top card off the Discard Pile to continue the game. Shuffle the rest of the Discard Pile and turn it over to form the new Draw Pile.
Winning: The first person to run out of cards wins the game.

Game 4. Wildflower Rummy:
Game Setup: For 2 to 4 players. Shuffle the deck and deal seven cards to each player. Place the remaining cards in the center of the table as a Draw Pile and turn one card up to start a Discard Pile.
How to Play: Play moves to the left of the dealer. Draw the top card from either the Draw Pile or the Discard Pile. If you have a "run" of three or more cards from one family, such as a run of Lilies, then you can play them down on the table for points. The black and white Family Cards are used just like other wildflower cards from the same family. You must discard a card at the end of each turn. Overlap the cards in the Discard Pile about half way, so everyone can see all the cards in the pile.
If there is a desirable card buried in the Discard Pile, then a player can, on his/her turn, take the entire pile down to that card, but must play that card in a run immediately.
Once a run has been played on the table, then other players can add to it on their own turns. For example, if a run of Lilies is on the table, then another person can play any other Lily Card off of that run. (The card is placed in front of the person who plays it, not with the other player's run.)
Monocot and Dicot Cards: The Monocot and Dicot cards are wild cards that may be used to complete a run in any Monocot or Dicot family. For example, the Monocot Card could be used in a run of Lilies or a run of Grasses. The Dicot Card could be used in a run of any of the other families. (Review the Island Map in Shanleya's Quest for more information on Monocots and Dicots.)
Going Out: The hand is over when a person plays all the cards in his/her hand. The player must have one card left to discard to go out.
Scoring: The Monocot and Dicot cards are worth 5 points each. The Poison Cards (two in the Parsley Family and one in the Lily Family) are worth 15 points. All other cards are worth 10 points. Any cards on the table count for you. Any cards left in your hand count against you. Your score may be either a positive or negative number.
Winning: Play as many hands as necessary until a player's total score reaches 300, or another winning total that is predetermined by the group.

Game 5. Shanleya's Harvest:
Mission: Complete the Shanleya's Quest challenge by bringing something home to Grandfather from each island in the story. You need one wildflower card from each of the eight plant families to win the game, but watch out for poisonous plants along the way.
Game Setup: For 2 to 4 players. Remove the Monoct and Dicot cards, then shuffle and deal eight cards to each player. Place the remaining cards on the table as a Draw Pile and turn one card up to start a Discard Pile.
How to Play: Play moves to the left of the dealer. On your turn, draw the top card from your choice of the Draw Pile, the Discard Pile OR reach over and pick a card from any other player's hand. To end your turn, dispose of a card you don't want to the Discard Pile-or-if you drew a card from another player's hand, then give the discard to them. Every player should have eight cards in their hand at all times. When the Draw Pile is used up, then move the top card off the Discard Pile to continue the game, and shuffle the rest of the pile to draw from.
Family Cards: The black and white Family Cards are the Guardians in Shanleya's Quest, with the power to collect a wildflower card from any other player. For example, if you have the Rose Family Card in your hand, then you may discretely show it to another player on your turn and ask them for a card from that family. They must give you a wildflower from the Rose Family, and you replace it with a discard from your own hand. If they do not have a card from that family, then your turn is over. To win the game you will ultimately have to discard the Family Cards so that you have only wildflower cards left in your hand.
Poison Cards: There are three poisonous plants in the game, two in the Parsley Family and one in the Lily Family. These Poison Cards will not hurt you if you are dealt them at the beginning of the game, or if you take them from the Draw Pile-or if they are discarded to you. But, you will be poisoned if you draw a Poison Card from another player's hand--or if you ask another player for a Lily or a Parsley card and they give you a Poison Card. If poisoned, give your entire hand to that player so they can look at and choose one card to replace the card you took. Then your entire hand goes under the Discard Pile. Take eight new cards from the Draw Pile to start your quest again. To win the game, you must ultimately discard all Poison Cards from your hand and replace them with safe species.
Winning: The game is over when a player shows that they have a wildflower card from each family, without any of the black and white Family Cards or any of the Poison Cards. You do not have to wait for your turn to declare a win. Another player may give you a discard that completes your hand, and you can show your cards at that time. If you do not have all eight families in your hand when you declare a win, then your entire hand goes under the Discard Pile. Take eight new cards from the Draw Pile and start the quest again.
Variations: The Monocot and Dicot cards can be used like Family Cards. For example, with the Monocot Card you can ask any other player for a card from the Lily Family or the Grass Family. You specify the family; they choose the card. They may give you either a wildflower card, a Poison Card or a Family Card from that family. If they do not have a card from that family, then your turn is over. Review the Island Map in Shanleya's Quest for more information on Monocots and Dicots.

Game 6. Shanleya's Solitaire:
Submitted by "Claransa of Brigadoon"
Game Setup: Remove the Monocot and Dicot cards from the deck and shuffle the remaining cards. Cards are dealt for seven card solitaire: Deal seven cards out in a line from left to right in front of you, with the left card face up and the rest face down. Deal another row, but skip the first card, turn up the second and deal the rest face down. Continue dealing additional rows this way, until you have seven columns, with only one card in the first column, two in the second column, etc., with seven cards in the seventh column, and the top card turned up in every column.
How to Play: Play any face up photo card onto another face up photo card from the same family, or onto a black and white Family Card. As face down cards are exposed turn them face up and they become available for play. When no more moves are available on the table, then pick up the remaning deck. Turn over three cards at a time and start a stack on the table; the exposed top card is available for play. When a family is complete (with all the flower photos on the black and white family card of that family) then it can be removed from the playing area to open up the column. Cycle through the deck three cards at a time until you run out of moves or win the game.
Family Cards: The black and white Family Cards as similar to the King in a standard game of solitaire: You can move the Family Cards into blank spaces on the table as they open up, and you can play photo cards from the same family onto the black and white cards, but you cannot play the Family Cards onto other cards.
Winning: The object of the game is to complete all the families and remove them from play. As with regular seven card solitaire, sometimes you will be stuck right away, and sometimes you will be able to play most or all of the deck. I tried the game and won on about my tenth try. Thanks Claransa for contributing the game!

With Shanleya's Quest Patterns in Plants Card Game
you can make up your own games and rules and share them with us!

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Shanleya's Quest Patterns in Plants Card Game: Learn to identify wildflowers! by Thomas J. Elpel

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By See a pattern? Shanleya's Quest Patterns in Plants Card Game Thomas J. Elpel. Illustrated by Gloria BrownPhotos by Thomas J. Elpel and Mary Ellen Harte Read the book. Play the game! The Patterns in Plants Card Game is a fun way to test your skills at identifying the family patterns described in Shanleya's Quest .

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Science to Story, Story to Social | Connected Science Learning

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Science to Story, Story to Social | Connected Science Learning

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Social media presents both a threat and an opportunity for science communication and data literacy. When uncritically consumed or when students are not encouraged to create learning artifacts for distribution, social media can certainly act as a distraction from learning and the classroom. However, we advocate that the tension around social media in learning environments can be reframed through an intentional process of bridging science communication and social media, which has the potential to enrich the dialogue between classroom and out-of-school learning environments. Because many students are learning outside of the traditional classroom and relying more on digital and online platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic, bridging classroom experiences and home life is essential. We propose a Scientific Storytelling approach to inquiry-based instruction, designed to engage learners in science practices and creativity, and encourage them to share their learning with community members. This approach provides an opportunity for schools and informal science education organizations to re-examine the intentional curation of digital footprints online to more adequately reflect 21st-century STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education. In addition to needing ways to engage their students, teachers also need methods for tracking student engagement. Scientific Storytelling also provides a pathway for students to produce for teachers trackable digital artifacts, which are the products of engaging with educational material.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, people have been spending more time online and on social media and rely on these platforms to continue their lives with as few hindrances as possible. The pandemic will likely have long-lasting effects on the way people, including students and teachers, use social media platforms and other forms of online engagement. This demonstrates an increased need for educational online engagement and connections. The shareable format of Scientific Stories can be used to revisit content, share ideas, connect with others, and demonstrate student engagement with educational material.

Preparing students for the 21st-century workforce requires an emphasis on creativity, innovation, and communication/literacy skills. Although this is in alignment with current goals of science education, teachers and students require scaffolding to integrate these skills this content area (Ostler 2012). At Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center, we develop and facilitate youth programming and teacher trainings to support these goals in both formal and informal learning environments. Here, we highlight our work in developing the Scientific Storytelling approach, focusing on specific needs in science education to support 21st-century skills in science communication, scaffolded language acquisition, creativity, and data literacy.

Current needs for preparing the 21st-century STEM workforce

Science communication

Although communicating science to the general public is increasingly recognized as a responsibility of scientists (Dahlstrom 2014), K-12 science education does not currently prepare students to be effective science communicators. Communication training for scientists is often focused around storytelling and translating science into narrative forms that are more easily understood by nonscience audiences. However, this type of science communication represents a challenge in science teaching, where students struggle to bridge everyday language with disciplinary discourse (Lemke 1990). Students need opportunities to share knowledge in a nontechnical, yet still scientific, manner and to develop science communication skills in alignment with current demands in STEM fields.

Scaffolded language acquisition

For many students, language is a barrier to learning science. In a meta-analysis of skills and knowledge needed for the 21st-century STEM workplace, Jang (2016) identified the most important ones required for working in STEM disciplines. In addition to critical thinking, the most important skills were reading comprehension, active listening, and speaking. The most important knowledge domain was English language. These language and literacy skills, however, receive less focus as a goal of science education. Recently, researchers have called for a shift away from "teaching" discrete language skills to a focus on supporting language development within appropriate contexts and experiences, so-called "language-in-use environments" aligned with experiential learning approaches (Lee , Quinn, and Valdés 2013). Storytelling can work as a bridge between everyday language and scientific language and concepts. Bridging common and scientific language is needed to facilitate students' knowledge integration of scientific language and concepts with more familiar types of communication, and is especially important for English language learners (ELLs) and students from nondominant cultures (Lee, Quinn, and Valdés 2013).

Creativity in science

Scientific knowledge generation necessarily involves human imagination and creativity. Although creativity plays an essential role in developing explanations and generating novel ideas, it receives little explicit development in science standards. Preparing learners for the 21st century, a time in which artificial intelligence will replace much of the work we are currently preparing students to do, necessitates a focus on creativity and imagination, which are perhaps the most important skills for the future workforce.

Data literacy

Students need more experiences that develop their capabilities to engage with science in ways relevant to the problems and practicalities of their lives, which is the way most adults interact with science. Data literacy is a 21st-century skill defined as the "the knowledge and skills in collecting, processing, managing, evaluating and using data" (Qin and D'Ignazio 2010, p. 3). Data literacy is therefore inextricably connected to evidence-based thinking, interpretation of information from data, developing inferences and explanations, and using data to solve real problems and communicate their solutions (Vahey et al. 2006). Despite the importance of data literacy for today's society and science inquiry itself, it is not always realized in classroom practice (Vahey et al. 2006).

The Scientific Storytelling approach

The Scientific Storytelling approach guides students from real, concrete science experiences to communication of those experiences using imagination and creativity. Students begin by engaging in science practices including observation, data collection, and analysis. Students capture data, which may include photos or video, to document their science experience. The science experience and the data gathered are what ground the scientific story in reality. From here, students (individually or in groups) transform that reality (data and observations) into a Scientific Story of their own invention. This process is outlined in Table 1. Although the reality of the scientific data remains unchanged, the story developed by the student provides context, narrative, and meaning. Scientific Stories can take many forms, including written, oral, kinesthetic, theatrical, or graphic; an example of a story can be found in Figure 1. These stories can be shared with different audiences including classrooms, schools, and communities. They can be performed live or captured digitally.

Table 1
Scientific Storytelling practices
The Scientific Storytelling approach can be aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards ( NGSS). The approach requires students to practice obtaining, evaluating, and communicating scientific information in an engaging way. With this approach, students also plan and carry out investigations, interpret data, and engage in arguments from evidence. These are all practices addressed in the NGSS. Teachers can tailor the Scientific Storytelling prompts to identify the NGSS disciplinary core ideas that they are already addressing in their lesson plans.

Social media as a storytelling venue

Scientific Stories exemplify what students are learning and make visible the diversity of voices, imagery, and novel content that students are producing. The stories are snapshots of student learning, excitement, and skill development that can capture an hour, a day, or a week of learning experiences through narrated information. For this reason, these stories are invaluable artifacts for students to share with families and communities. To protect student privacy, it is essential to acquire photo release permissions and be judicious in sharing student information such as school, grade, or name. Once posted on social media, the stories can be viewed and shared by family, friends, and community, expanding the reach of classroom lessons or out-of-school programming. At Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center, we leverage the shareable format of Scientific Stories to capitalize on the social media movement and expand access of student-collected data and scientific findings to community members. In addition to family and friends, these could include businesses in the community, local government policymakers, other students, and natural resource professionals. Stories provide room for interpretation and make it possible for these stakeholders to draw their own connections in a way that lab reports cannot.

Scientific stories shared over Facebook and other platforms at the end of each educational program represent 11.5% of Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center's total social media reach. Reach is the number of people who see the post on their social media feeds. Figure 2 shows our social media reach by platform and the overall reach of the Scientific Stories in a typical month of programming.

Case example

Informal and formal science educators alike can find it difficult to bridge students' science learning across space and time. Here, we provide an example of how Scientific Storytelling was used with a fifth-grade class from La Escuela Fratney in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to connect science experiences throughout the school year. Programming was developed collaboratively with the classroom teacher to best align with learning objectives and curriculum. Her perspective is provided at the end of this case example. This case example focuses on the progression of one student group over a four-month period, demonstrating how students use Scientific Storytelling in their classroom and during a visit to Upham Woods.

The class began working on long-term science projects in October 2018 by engaging in inquiry activities designed to help them develop questions about a scientific phenomenon of interest. One of these inquiry activities explored by our case example group was the temperature differences on each side of a brick building neighboring the school. These students enthusiastically and creatively explained the temperature differences; at first, they speculated that it could be caused by ghosts and then hypothesized it could be the Sun and wind. The resulting Scientific Story captured their budding interests and investigations (Figure 4). The storytelling aspect provided an open platform for students to draw upon their imaginations and curiosities while engaging in science practices. In fact, storytelling was not a trivial component of their learning-students found their project to be more exciting thanks to the intrigue of a friendly neighborhood ghost. The students mentioned the ghost during subsequent visits to the building even after they dismissed it as a possible cause when collecting their data.

In November, this La Escuela Fratney class then visited the Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center to collect comparative data for their projects and participate in our outdoor education lessons and programming. All students brought with them the story they had previously created as well as the data they had collected in order to continue investigating their questions. The case study group went on to collect data on the buildings at Upham Woods to make comparisons. Figure 5 shows the students adapting their procedure to a new context while building upon previously developed strategies for data collection and recording. Having prior familiarity with the Scientific Storytelling process, the students were able to focus their time at Upham on adapting their procedure for the new setting and comparing the data with their previous findings.

Back in their classrooms in January, the case study group was developing new questions based on its data and had abandoned the ghost storyline for one more scientifically focused (see Figure 6). At this point, the students used Scientific Storytelling to self-report and to track their project's progression. They could revisit their story each time and write a new one when they were ready. The Scientific Stories that the students created reflect the growth in their science practice skills, developed throughout their projects.

The Scientific Stories shown in Figures 4-6 were all written by the case study group; the unique style and format reflects the stage of scientific exploration the students were in. Scientific Storytelling helped the students creatively engage with their data and continue their research projects over time with direction and purpose. Students in the class also participated in each other's research process by responding to and providing feedback for their peers' Scientific Stories. Students asked questions in response to the Scientific Stories; they wondered what they would have noticed or what outstanding questions they had at the end of the story. We found that integrating storytelling into the science lessons grounded the experiences for students, who were challenged by new science content or developing skills in new contexts. Some students who were not as engaged during the data collection were the most excited during the Scientific Storytelling portion, because the process allows students to communicate data on their own terms while developing scientific reasoning and science skills.

Classroom teacher-practitioner perspective

This section was written by the classroom teacher-partner, Sarah Oszuscik, to provide direct insight to her perspective:

"Scientific Stories can be a tool to connect in-school and field trip experiences. By incorporating data into a narrative, students create a place-based experience, real or imagined, that roots the process of scientific observation and data collection. The Scientific Story more broadly engages both learners and those who read the stories to extend beyond those who are drawn to tables and graphs alone. Creating Scientific Stories in the classroom and on school grounds enables students to develop research plans, diving into data that sparked their curiosity and extending it to locations beyond the schoolyard during field trips in order to make comparisons and draw conclusions. The process of telling a compelling, digestible, and memorable Scientific Story is of paramount importance as it connects scientists and their research with the public. Setting students up with a format and process for Scientific Storytelling is invaluable preparation for a scientifically literate public."

Discussion: Scientific Storytelling for 21st-century science education

Science communication and acquisition of scientific language skills

Scientific Storytelling as a teaching approach allows teachers to focus on both science learning and literacy objectives by providing students opportunities for language use through authentic communication. In an education context, when students are engaged in storytelling, they are developing literacy skills including vocabulary acquisition, logic, and critical thinking (Miller and Pennycuff 2008). The diverse formats of a Scientific Story give ELLs, among others, the opportunity to contextualize their science experience in culturally and developmentally appropriate ways through poems, drawings, pictures, and other media.

Supporting creativity in science

Imagination supports learners in making sense of the world and contributes to their creative and intellectual development (Vygotsky 1991). Creativity is the combination of imagination, elements of prior experience, and new information. Vygotsky (1991) considers the development of imagination as important and necessary for the scientific creativity of children as it is for arts. Scientific Storytelling is an entry point to scientific inquiry, allowing students the opportunity to connect observations and data in new and creative ways.

Data literacy skills and scientific reasoning

Vahey et al. (2006) argue that to experience true data literacy, students must be deeply anchored in context. Scientific Storytelling allows students to situate data within a particular context and attach meaning to data that could otherwise be disembodied or abstract. In particular, Scientific Storytelling grounds inquiry in phenomena of interest to the student, allowing them to draw upon their prior ideas and revise them as they develop explanations (National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine 2018). When students evaluate evidence based on their data in their stories, they are engaging in scientific reasoning, interpretation, argumentation, and communication. Scientific Storytelling can, therefore, support teachers and students in framing authentic questions and developing pathways to evaluate information and reach explanations (Dahlstrom and Scheufele 2018; Furtak and Penuel 2019).

Equitable and relevant STEM education

A Framework for K-12 Science Education (NRC, 2012) calls explicitly for science and engineering education that emphasizes and addresses students' personal and community concerns. The Scientific Storytelling approach is grounded in concepts of culturally responsive pedagogy, including the belief that students should have learning opportunities that allow them to draw upon their own "funds of knowledge" as a valuable resource that can be acknowledged and aligned with instruction (González 2005). Students need opportunities to situate their learning within the context of their lives and as a social process (González 2005), and scientific stories allow diverse learners to draw upon prior experiences and understandings to construct explanations through the creation of narratives. Inviting personal experience into a scientific discussion emphasizes relationships between the experience, narrator, and scientific data. By expanding the learner experience beyond content and especially toward relationship-building, educators disrupt paradigms in science around the position of the scientist as objective observer and the discourse around who creates science. This disruption of power engages a broader and more diverse group of learners, addressing issues around education equity (Zocher and Hougham, 2020).

Motivation for learning

Positive personal experiences with science can encourage students to continue studying science. Emotional involvement through storytelling allows for personalization and internalization of scientific understanding, supporting a "sense of wonderment, enthusiasm and interest in science" and encouraging students' motivation to learn (Rowcliffe 2004, p. 121). Because their story inherently belongs to them, students have a sense of ownership over their narratives and therefore their learning. This emotional engagement leads to deeper reflection and connection to their scientific experience.

Conclusion

Upham Woods has continued to expand storytelling in classrooms through the Milwaukee Environmental-STEM (E-STEM) Project. The Milwaukee E-STEM Project is an Upham Woods-led collaboration between formal and informal educators united in providing experiential field experiences for urban youth through inquiry-based instruction. The fall 2019 semester produced 38 Scientific Stories as result of Upham-led in-classroom facilitations and science practice experiences facilitated by Upham Woods educators. Additionally, every school group that participates in other educational programming at Upham Woods writes a Scientific Story that is then shared with them digitally via e-mail. Such visiting groups have used their stories to demonstrate to parents and school administrators the importance of field experiences and outdoor science education for youth. Scientific Storytelling at Upham Woods is thus used in multiple ways to bridge experiences students have back to their classroom environments.

Scientific Storytelling at Upham Woods is an important approach for broadening access to science for students who may otherwise face barriers to science learning and engagement. Storytelling provides a social context for learning, allowing students to reflect on what they have learned, communicate meaningfully, and personalize their learning by incorporating aspects of their communities and lived experiences. The approach also builds bridges between classrooms and audiences such as parents, as well as unanticipated audiences who are new to conversations around STEM and STEM education. We believe that Scientific Storytelling can help share science education in ways relevant to communities in the 21st century, especially given the demonstrated increased need for educational online engagement and connections with the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Science to Story, Story to Social | Connected Science Learning

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Social media presents both a threat and an opportunity for science communication and data literacy. When uncritically consumed or when students are not encouraged to create learning artifacts for distribution, social media can certainly act as a distraction from learning and the classroom.

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"I wanted to take a moment to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you are doing with the kids . Lucas looks forward so much to the daily lessons . He loves you and space and the interaction has been so good for him ." - Mom of Lucas

"What you are doing and providing for these kiddos is unparalleled in generosity and engagement. Jack is a really tough kiddo to engage and he is SO excited for your class each and every day. He even sets an alarm to make sure he has breakfast and isn't late." - Mom of Jack

"Just wanted to thank you for what you do for these children. Jesse's homeroom teacher called to check in and he told her all about you and the academy... Again Thank you. You have given him something to look forward to every day!" - Mom of Jesse

Astronaut Academy - Fall Session

Jump into a virtual experience that creates connection and opportunities for out of this world engagement with Janet and her Team of Educators and Experts. Each day will include live instruction, a challenge or experiment to test, an item to make, and a conversation with an astronaut, pilot, space experts, and other design and engineering professionals. Most of all you will have the opportunity to explore and learn with your fellow online campers in our virtual classrooms! Come get your daily dose of science, with Janet's Planet.

Select the week and time slot for your Astronaut from the menu below.

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"I wanted to take a moment to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you are doing with the kids . Lucas looks forward so much to the daily lessons . He loves you and space and the interaction has been so good for him ."

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Climate Kids is produced by the Earth Science Communications Team at

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Bringing the Universe to America's Classrooms | PBS LearningMedia

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Bringing the Universe to America's Classrooms | PBS LearningMedia

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Bringing the Universe to America's Classrooms | PBS LearningMedia

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WGBH in collaboration with NASA presents digital media resources you can use to teach topics in K-12 Earth and Space Science. These free resources are organized into four grade bands. Each resource emphasizes engaging students in phenomena related to core ideas and science and engineering practices of the Next Generation Science Standards.

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What are stars and constellations? Why questions for kids. Educational cartoon - YouTube

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What are stars and constellations? Why questions for kids. Educational cartoon - YouTube

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What are stars and constellations? Why questions for kids. Educational cartoon

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RELs work in partnership with states and districts to 1) conduct original high quality research, 2) provide training, coaching, and technical support, and 3) disseminate high quality research findings in an effort to improve learning for preschool aged child. A selected list of resources developed by the REL Program appears below. Publications

Scientific evidence for the validity of the New Mexico Kindergarten Observation Tool (REL Southwest, December 2017). This study examined the validity and reliability of New Mexico's kindergarten entry assessment, the Kindergarten Observation Tool.

Quality Improvement Efforts among Early Childhood Programs in Iowa. (REL Midwest, March 2017). The study goals are to understand how early childhood programs participating in Iowa QRS approach professional development and quality improvement; to identify barriers to professional development and quality improvement; and to identify approaches to improving QRS ratings that are associated with improvements over time.

Measuring the "I" in QRIS: A Survey to Measure Quality Improvement Activities for Early Childhood Education Programs. (REL Midwest, February 2017). The REL has developed a new survey tool-the "I in QRIS" Survey-to help states collect data on quality improvement activities and strategies used by early childhood education programs that participate in a quality rating and improvement system (QRIS).

Patterns of Classroom Quality in Head Start and Center-Based Early Childhood Education Programs (REL Northeast and Islands, October 2016). With support from the Early Childhood Education Research Alliance (ECEA), REL Northeast & Islands researchers are examining data from the Head Start Impact Study for patterns of early childhood education classroom quality across multiple domains: structural quality, process quality, teacher-child interactions, and instructional activities.

How Kindergarten Entry Assessments are Used in Public Schools and How They Correlate with Spring Assessments (REL Northeast and Islands, October 2016) With support from the Early Childhood Education Research Alliance (ECEA), REL Northeast & Islands researchers are examining data from the Head Start Impact Study for patterns of early childhood education classroom quality across multiple domains: structural quality, process quality, teacher-child interactions, and instructional activities.

Development and Implementation of Quality Rating and Improvement Systems in Midwest Region States (REL Midwest, June 2016) This study examined QRISs in use across the Midwest Region to describe approaches that states use in developing and implementing a QRIS. The purpose was to create a resource for QRIS administrators to use as they refine their systems over time.

Status of Data Collection and Use in Early Childhood Programs: Evidence from the Northeast. (REL Northeast and Islands, April 2015) The purpose of this study is to describe what data preschools in a mid-sized city in the Northeast collect, how they use that data, and the challenges they face. The study focuses on three types of data: early learning outcomes, dosage (i.e., the amount of exposure to early childhood education), and classroom quality.

Examining Ratings and Dimensions of Quality in an Early Childhood Education Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS). (REL Midwest, March 2015). Documenting and improving early childhood program quality is a national priority, leading to a rapid expansion of Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRISs). The current study described how early childhood programs were rated in Michigan's QRIS and examined how alternative approaches to calculating ratings affected the number of programs rated at each quality level.

Early childhood educator and administrator surveys (REL Northeast and Islands, April 2014) The Early Childhood Educator Survey and the Early Childhood Administrator Survey allow users to collect consistent data on the use of child assessments and learning standards in early childhood learning settings. Each survey includes modules on educator/administrator background information, assessment use, and learning standards implementation.

Work in Progress

Children's Knowledge and Skills at Kindergarten Entry in Illinois: Results From the First Statewide Administration of the Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (REL Midwest). The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is implementing a new, statewide kindergarten entry assessment titled Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (KIDS). Researchers in REL Midwest's Midwest Early Childhood Education Research Alliance (MECERA) will use quantitative data collected from KIDS to answer research questions about the psychometric properties of the data, the levels of skills children in Illinois have at kindergarten entry, and variations in these skills levels across subgroups and schools. In addition, researchers will collect information on barriers or obstacles that teachers and principals face during data collection to inform revisions to state-provided guidance or training.

Neighborhood Influences on the Quality of Child Care Centers in North Carolina (REL Southeast). This study seeks to build an understanding of the extent to which high quality of early childhood education is dependent on geographically-linked factors. Specifically, in addition to more commonly included provider-specific factors (for example, funding source), this study will investigate the influence of such factors as greater competition for families in urban communities and the limited provider access to well-educated and trained ECE teachers in rural communities further from postsecondary institutions.

Systematic review of the literature on the effectiveness of early childhood education curricula and instructional practices on language and literacy development (REL Southeast). The REL Southeast has been asked by members of the Southeast School Readiness partnership to provide an up-to-date systematic review of the literature on effective early childhood education curricula and instructional practices on language and literacy development. The REL Southeast will conduct a comprehensive systematic review of research covering the last 20 years (1997-2017) using What Works Clearinghouse standards for evaluating effectiveness to identify curricula and instructional practices for improving early childhood language and literacy development.

Unpacking Universal PreK in Vermont: Patterns of Program Enrollment (REL Northeast and Islands). This study is using data from the first year (2016/17) of implementation of Vermont's universal preK initiative to understand the characteristics of children enrolled in different preK programs (type and quality rating), the geographic characteristics of the preK programs, and the factors related to enrollment in particular program options (both type and quality rating).

Videos

Building Blocks of Our Future: A Look at Quality Early Education (REL Midwest). This public television program raises awareness of the characteristics of high-quality early education experiences and what research indicates about how programs can incorporate academic content and developmentally appropriate practice.

Clare Irwin on ECEA's Early Childhood Educator and Administrator Surveys (REL Northeast and Islands) Early childhood state-level directors and local program leaders across the country may adapt, administer, and use the data from three new survey modules to assess implementation of EL standards, child use of assessments, and educator background characteristics.

Collaborative Research and the Early Childhood Education Research Alliance. (REL Midwest). Alliance lead Ann-Marie Faria discusses REL Midwest's Early Childhood Education Research Alliance and how the alliance practices collaborative research.

Judi Stevenson-Garcia, Research Alliance Advisory Committee Representative (REL Northeast and Islands) Judi Stevenson-Garcia, Rhode Island Department of Education discusses ECEA's early childhood educator and administrator surveys. State-level directors and local program leaders may adapt, administer, and use the data from three survey modules to assess implementation of EL standards, child use of assessments, and educator background characteristics.

Study Findings: Data Collection and Use in Early Childhood Programs, Evidence from the Northeast. (REL Northeast and Islands). A REL Northeast & Islands study explored how early childhood education programs are collecting and using data, how they would like to use data, how they could use the data that they have, and the challenges they face in these efforts. These tasks were accomplished by interviewing administrators and teachers at seven preschools in a mid-sized city in the Northeast Region and by analyzing child data already collected by two of these preschools.

Studying the Validity of New Mexico's Kindergarten Observation Tool (REL Southwest). Children's knowledge, skills, and experience vary widely when they enter school. findingsThis video provides an overview of a REL Southwest study that examined the validity and reliability of New Mexico's kindergarten entry assessment, the Kindergarten Observation Tool.

Archived Webinars

Creating Caring and Culturally Responsive Classrooms for Students in Prekindergarten to Grade 3 (REL Northwest, April 24, 2018). This REL Northwest webinar offers strategies for creating culturally responsive and emotionally supportive preK-grade 3 classrooms for children from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds.

The Path Forward for the Early Education Workforce: National Policies and Examples from Vermont (REL Northeast and Islands, October 19, 2017). As states across the country expand access to high-quality preschool programs, opportunities exist to address issues related to early childhood workforce development, including teacher qualifications, certification requirements, and compensation. This REL Northeast & Islands webinar introduces participants to The Early Childhood Workforce Index, which provides the first comprehensive look at early childhood workforce issues and policies in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Co-author Dr. Caitlin McLean presents specific findings and implications raised by the Index. Following this presentation, Vermont early childhood leaders Melissa Riegel-Garrett and Tierney O'Meara discuss their state's universal prekindergarten initiative and its implications for the state's early childhood workforce.

Teaching Math to Young Children Practice Guide: Introduction (REL Southwest, April 15, 2015). This webinar provides an overview of the five evidence-based recommendations in the Teaching Math to Young Children practice guide, with a focus on "Recommendation 4: Teach children to view and describe their world mathematically." The webinar is in three parts:

Leading the Way: How States Are Addressing Early Learning Under ESSA (REL Southwest and CEELO, March 21, 2017). This webinar presents resources, strategies, and examples for integrating early learning into state plans for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), including examples from Arkansas, Louisiana, Michigan, and Washington. The webinar is in four parts:

Effective Components of Successful Early Learning-to-Kindergarten Transitions (REL Northwest, October 14, 2016). This webinar recording, Dr. Shannon Riley-Ayers of the Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) and the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) presents three components that support a child's successful transition to school: leadership, effective instruction, and family and community engagement.

Preschool to Kindergarten: Successfully Navigating the Transition (REL Southwest, August 2, 2016). This bridge event webinar, "Preschool to Kindergarten: Successfully Navigating the Transition," was sponsored by the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Southwest on August 2, 2016. The transition to school is a rite of passage in the lives of children and their families. This webinar examined the transition as a process that begins during preschool and continues through grade 3, with a focus on the pivotal transition to kindergarten.

Child Assessment: A Key Component of Statewide Early Childhood Assessment Systems (REL Southwest, December 10, 2015). This bridge event symposium, "Bridging Research, Policy, and Practice in Early Childhood Education," was hosted in St. Francisville, Louisiana. This is the keynote presentation, "Child Assessment: A Key Component of Statewide Early Childhood Assessment Systems.

Building Educators' Understanding of Early Math to Promote Students' Later Math Success (REL West, October 22, 2015). In this archived webinar, Dr. Douglas Frye and Dr. Akihiko Takahashi share practical, research-based information about the IES Teaching Math to Young Children Practice Guide and recommendations for instruction.

Building Capacity for School Success in Families of Young English Learner Students (REL West, September 30, 2015).This archived webinar addresses the foundational knowledge of successful home-school partnerships and also discusses activities that can create a linguistically rich home and school environment to support young English learner students' school readiness.

Bridge Event-Data Collection and Use: An Early Childhood Perspective (REL Northeast and Islands, August 13, 2015). Across the country, states are increasingly focused on using comprehensive assessment systems to inform educational decision making in early childhood classrooms. A new REL Northeast & Islands study explores how several preschool programs in New England are collecting and using this data.

Social and Behavioral Readiness for Kindergarten: Research and State-Level Perspectives (REL Northeast and Islands, August 9, 2016) Deborah Gross, Johns Hopkins University, and Amie Bettencourt, the Fund for Educational Excellence, present findings from their study on the costly consequences for children who have not yet learned skills such as following directions, complying with rules, managing emotions, solving problems, organizing and completing tasks, and getting along with others.

The State Role in Early Warning Data Systems (REL Midwest, March 24, 2015). REL Midwest and its Dropout Prevention Research Alliance hosted a webinar designed to provide participants with relevant research and practices to guide their own efforts in building state level support of early warning system (EWS) development and implementation.

Effective Teaching in Early Childhood Education (REL Mid-Atlantic, September 18, 2014). Effective teaching in early childhood has been linked with positive long-term student outcomes. The webinar focused on the importance of early childhood education and the critical role early childhood teachers play in supporting student success.

Engaging Families in the Assessment Process and Use of Data: An Early Childhood Example (August 12, 2014). This webinar examines the strategies the Research Program Partnership at the University of Kansas employs to foster the use of early childhood data at multiple levels, particularly with families. The webinar is in three parts:

Building Coordinated Early Childhood Data Systems (REL Midwest and REL Southwest, April 17, 2014). Statewide early childhood data systems can provide valuable information for policymakers and practitioners, as well as families and caregivers. This webinar is designed to help participants better understand the current status of the development of early childhood data systems in states across the country.

Engaging Families in the Assessment Process and Use of Data: An Early Childhood Example (REL Northeast and Islands and REL Southwest, August 12, 2014). This Bridge Event Webinar hosted by the Early Childhood Education Research Alliance at REL Northeast & Islands examined the strategies that the Research Program Partnership at the University of Kansas employs to promote the use of education data at multiple levels, particularly families.

State Early Learning Standards: Lessons from Applying Implementation Research (REL Northeast and Islands, April 24, 2013). The Early Childhood Education Research Alliance at REL Northeast & Islands and the Center for Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) co-hosted this Bridge Event on the research around implementing early learning standards.

Comprehensive Early Childhood Education Assessment: Research, Policy, and Practice Perspectives (REL Northeast and Islands, July 19, 2012). The Early Childhood Education Research Alliance at REL Northeast & Islands hosted this Bridge Event to present research, policymaking, and practitioner perspectives on early childhood assessments. The webinar addressed some of the many questions about how these assessments should be designed, what they should measure, and whether or not they will improve children's academic outcomes.

Infographics

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educational improvement; excellence in education; educational research; statistics; statistical data; statistical surveys; regional educational laboratory program; appalachia; rel; rigorous studies; fast response projects; no child left behind; regional laboratory home page; kentucky; tennessee; virginia; west virginia

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The Regional Educational Laboratory Program (REL) consists of a network of ten laboratories that serve the educational needs of a designated region by providing access to high quality scientifically valid education research through applied research and development projects, studies, and other related technical assistance activities.

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RELs work in partnership with states and districts to 1) conduct original high quality research, 2) provide training, coaching, and technical support, and 3) disseminate high quality research findings in an effort to improve learning for preschool aged child. A selected list of resources developed by the REL Program appears below. Publications

Scientific evidence for the validity of the New Mexico Kindergarten Observation Tool (REL Southwest, December 2017). This study examined the validity and reliability of New Mexico's kindergarten entry assessment, the Kindergarten Observation Tool.

Quality Improvement Efforts among Early Childhood Programs in Iowa. (REL Midwest, March 2017). The study goals are to understand how early childhood programs participating in Iowa QRS approach professional development and quality improvement; to identify barriers to professional development and quality improvement; and to identify approaches to improving QRS ratings that are associated with improvements over time.

Measuring the "I" in QRIS: A Survey to Measure Quality Improvement Activities for Early Childhood Education Programs. (REL Midwest, February 2017). The REL has developed a new survey tool-the "I in QRIS" Survey-to help states collect data on quality improvement activities and strategies used by early childhood education programs that participate in a quality rating and improvement system (QRIS).

Patterns of Classroom Quality in Head Start and Center-Based Early Childhood Education Programs (REL Northeast and Islands, October 2016). With support from the Early Childhood Education Research Alliance (ECEA), REL Northeast & Islands researchers are examining data from the Head Start Impact Study for patterns of early childhood education classroom quality across multiple domains: structural quality, process quality, teacher-child interactions, and instructional activities.

How Kindergarten Entry Assessments are Used in Public Schools and How They Correlate with Spring Assessments (REL Northeast and Islands, October 2016) With support from the Early Childhood Education Research Alliance (ECEA), REL Northeast & Islands researchers are examining data from the Head Start Impact Study for patterns of early childhood education classroom quality across multiple domains: structural quality, process quality, teacher-child interactions, and instructional activities.

Development and Implementation of Quality Rating and Improvement Systems in Midwest Region States (REL Midwest, June 2016) This study examined QRISs in use across the Midwest Region to describe approaches that states use in developing and implementing a QRIS. The purpose was to create a resource for QRIS administrators to use as they refine their systems over time.

Status of Data Collection and Use in Early Childhood Programs: Evidence from the Northeast. (REL Northeast and Islands, April 2015) The purpose of this study is to describe what data preschools in a mid-sized city in the Northeast collect, how they use that data, and the challenges they face. The study focuses on three types of data: early learning outcomes, dosage (i.e., the amount of exposure to early childhood education), and classroom quality.

Examining Ratings and Dimensions of Quality in an Early Childhood Education Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS). (REL Midwest, March 2015). Documenting and improving early childhood program quality is a national priority, leading to a rapid expansion of Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRISs). The current study described how early childhood programs were rated in Michigan's QRIS and examined how alternative approaches to calculating ratings affected the number of programs rated at each quality level.

Early childhood educator and administrator surveys (REL Northeast and Islands, April 2014) The Early Childhood Educator Survey and the Early Childhood Administrator Survey allow users to collect consistent data on the use of child assessments and learning standards in early childhood learning settings. Each survey includes modules on educator/administrator background information, assessment use, and learning standards implementation.

Work in Progress

Children's Knowledge and Skills at Kindergarten Entry in Illinois: Results From the First Statewide Administration of the Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (REL Midwest). The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is implementing a new, statewide kindergarten entry assessment titled Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (KIDS). Researchers in REL Midwest's Midwest Early Childhood Education Research Alliance (MECERA) will use quantitative data collected from KIDS to answer research questions about the psychometric properties of the data, the levels of skills children in Illinois have at kindergarten entry, and variations in these skills levels across subgroups and schools. In addition, researchers will collect information on barriers or obstacles that teachers and principals face during data collection to inform revisions to state-provided guidance or training.

Neighborhood Influences on the Quality of Child Care Centers in North Carolina (REL Southeast). This study seeks to build an understanding of the extent to which high quality of early childhood education is dependent on geographically-linked factors. Specifically, in addition to more commonly included provider-specific factors (for example, funding source), this study will investigate the influence of such factors as greater competition for families in urban communities and the limited provider access to well-educated and trained ECE teachers in rural communities further from postsecondary institutions.

Systematic review of the literature on the effectiveness of early childhood education curricula and instructional practices on language and literacy development (REL Southeast). The REL Southeast has been asked by members of the Southeast School Readiness partnership to provide an up-to-date systematic review of the literature on effective early childhood education curricula and instructional practices on language and literacy development. The REL Southeast will conduct a comprehensive systematic review of research covering the last 20 years (1997-2017) using What Works Clearinghouse standards for evaluating effectiveness to identify curricula and instructional practices for improving early childhood language and literacy development.

Unpacking Universal PreK in Vermont: Patterns of Program Enrollment (REL Northeast and Islands). This study is using data from the first year (2016/17) of implementation of Vermont's universal preK initiative to understand the characteristics of children enrolled in different preK programs (type and quality rating), the geographic characteristics of the preK programs, and the factors related to enrollment in particular program options (both type and quality rating).

Videos

Building Blocks of Our Future: A Look at Quality Early Education (REL Midwest). This public television program raises awareness of the characteristics of high-quality early education experiences and what research indicates about how programs can incorporate academic content and developmentally appropriate practice.

Clare Irwin on ECEA's Early Childhood Educator and Administrator Surveys (REL Northeast and Islands) Early childhood state-level directors and local program leaders across the country may adapt, administer, and use the data from three new survey modules to assess implementation of EL standards, child use of assessments, and educator background characteristics.

Collaborative Research and the Early Childhood Education Research Alliance. (REL Midwest). Alliance lead Ann-Marie Faria discusses REL Midwest's Early Childhood Education Research Alliance and how the alliance practices collaborative research.

Judi Stevenson-Garcia, Research Alliance Advisory Committee Representative (REL Northeast and Islands) Judi Stevenson-Garcia, Rhode Island Department of Education discusses ECEA's early childhood educator and administrator surveys. State-level directors and local program leaders may adapt, administer, and use the data from three survey modules to assess implementation of EL standards, child use of assessments, and educator background characteristics.

Study Findings: Data Collection and Use in Early Childhood Programs, Evidence from the Northeast. (REL Northeast and Islands). A REL Northeast & Islands study explored how early childhood education programs are collecting and using data, how they would like to use data, how they could use the data that they have, and the challenges they face in these efforts. These tasks were accomplished by interviewing administrators and teachers at seven preschools in a mid-sized city in the Northeast Region and by analyzing child data already collected by two of these preschools.

Studying the Validity of New Mexico's Kindergarten Observation Tool (REL Southwest). Children's knowledge, skills, and experience vary widely when they enter school. findingsThis video provides an overview of a REL Southwest study that examined the validity and reliability of New Mexico's kindergarten entry assessment, the Kindergarten Observation Tool.

Archived Webinars

Creating Caring and Culturally Responsive Classrooms for Students in Prekindergarten to Grade 3 (REL Northwest, April 24, 2018). This REL Northwest webinar offers strategies for creating culturally responsive and emotionally supportive preK-grade 3 classrooms for children from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds.

The Path Forward for the Early Education Workforce: National Policies and Examples from Vermont (REL Northeast and Islands, October 19, 2017). As states across the country expand access to high-quality preschool programs, opportunities exist to address issues related to early childhood workforce development, including teacher qualifications, certification requirements, and compensation. This REL Northeast & Islands webinar introduces participants to The Early Childhood Workforce Index, which provides the first comprehensive look at early childhood workforce issues and policies in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Co-author Dr. Caitlin McLean presents specific findings and implications raised by the Index. Following this presentation, Vermont early childhood leaders Melissa Riegel-Garrett and Tierney O'Meara discuss their state's universal prekindergarten initiative and its implications for the state's early childhood workforce.

Teaching Math to Young Children Practice Guide: Introduction (REL Southwest, April 15, 2015). This webinar provides an overview of the five evidence-based recommendations in the Teaching Math to Young Children practice guide, with a focus on "Recommendation 4: Teach children to view and describe their world mathematically." The webinar is in three parts:

Leading the Way: How States Are Addressing Early Learning Under ESSA (REL Southwest and CEELO, March 21, 2017). This webinar presents resources, strategies, and examples for integrating early learning into state plans for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), including examples from Arkansas, Louisiana, Michigan, and Washington. The webinar is in four parts:

Effective Components of Successful Early Learning-to-Kindergarten Transitions (REL Northwest, October 14, 2016). This webinar recording, Dr. Shannon Riley-Ayers of the Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) and the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) presents three components that support a child's successful transition to school: leadership, effective instruction, and family and community engagement.

Preschool to Kindergarten: Successfully Navigating the Transition (REL Southwest, August 2, 2016). This bridge event webinar, "Preschool to Kindergarten: Successfully Navigating the Transition," was sponsored by the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Southwest on August 2, 2016. The transition to school is a rite of passage in the lives of children and their families. This webinar examined the transition as a process that begins during preschool and continues through grade 3, with a focus on the pivotal transition to kindergarten.

Child Assessment: A Key Component of Statewide Early Childhood Assessment Systems (REL Southwest, December 10, 2015). This bridge event symposium, "Bridging Research, Policy, and Practice in Early Childhood Education," was hosted in St. Francisville, Louisiana. This is the keynote presentation, "Child Assessment: A Key Component of Statewide Early Childhood Assessment Systems.

Building Educators' Understanding of Early Math to Promote Students' Later Math Success (REL West, October 22, 2015). In this archived webinar, Dr. Douglas Frye and Dr. Akihiko Takahashi share practical, research-based information about the IES Teaching Math to Young Children Practice Guide and recommendations for instruction.

Building Capacity for School Success in Families of Young English Learner Students (REL West, September 30, 2015).This archived webinar addresses the foundational knowledge of successful home-school partnerships and also discusses activities that can create a linguistically rich home and school environment to support young English learner students' school readiness.

Bridge Event-Data Collection and Use: An Early Childhood Perspective (REL Northeast and Islands, August 13, 2015). Across the country, states are increasingly focused on using comprehensive assessment systems to inform educational decision making in early childhood classrooms. A new REL Northeast & Islands study explores how several preschool programs in New England are collecting and using this data.

Social and Behavioral Readiness for Kindergarten: Research and State-Level Perspectives (REL Northeast and Islands, August 9, 2016) Deborah Gross, Johns Hopkins University, and Amie Bettencourt, the Fund for Educational Excellence, present findings from their study on the costly consequences for children who have not yet learned skills such as following directions, complying with rules, managing emotions, solving problems, organizing and completing tasks, and getting along with others.

The State Role in Early Warning Data Systems (REL Midwest, March 24, 2015). REL Midwest and its Dropout Prevention Research Alliance hosted a webinar designed to provide participants with relevant research and practices to guide their own efforts in building state level support of early warning system (EWS) development and implementation.

Effective Teaching in Early Childhood Education (REL Mid-Atlantic, September 18, 2014). Effective teaching in early childhood has been linked with positive long-term student outcomes. The webinar focused on the importance of early childhood education and the critical role early childhood teachers play in supporting student success.

Engaging Families in the Assessment Process and Use of Data: An Early Childhood Example (August 12, 2014). This webinar examines the strategies the Research Program Partnership at the University of Kansas employs to foster the use of early childhood data at multiple levels, particularly with families. The webinar is in three parts:

Building Coordinated Early Childhood Data Systems (REL Midwest and REL Southwest, April 17, 2014). Statewide early childhood data systems can provide valuable information for policymakers and practitioners, as well as families and caregivers. This webinar is designed to help participants better understand the current status of the development of early childhood data systems in states across the country.

Engaging Families in the Assessment Process and Use of Data: An Early Childhood Example (REL Northeast and Islands and REL Southwest, August 12, 2014). This Bridge Event Webinar hosted by the Early Childhood Education Research Alliance at REL Northeast & Islands examined the strategies that the Research Program Partnership at the University of Kansas employs to promote the use of education data at multiple levels, particularly families.

State Early Learning Standards: Lessons from Applying Implementation Research (REL Northeast and Islands, April 24, 2013). The Early Childhood Education Research Alliance at REL Northeast & Islands and the Center for Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) co-hosted this Bridge Event on the research around implementing early learning standards.

Comprehensive Early Childhood Education Assessment: Research, Policy, and Practice Perspectives (REL Northeast and Islands, July 19, 2012). The Early Childhood Education Research Alliance at REL Northeast & Islands hosted this Bridge Event to present research, policymaking, and practitioner perspectives on early childhood assessments. The webinar addressed some of the many questions about how these assessments should be designed, what they should measure, and whether or not they will improve children's academic outcomes.

Infographics

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educational improvement; excellence in education; educational research; statistics; statistical data; statistical surveys; regional educational laboratory program; appalachia; rel; rigorous studies; fast response projects; no child left behind; regional laboratory home page; kentucky; tennessee; virginia; west virginia

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The Regional Educational Laboratory Program (REL) consists of a network of ten laboratories that serve the educational needs of a designated region by providing access to high quality scientifically valid education research through applied research and development projects, studies, and other related technical assistance activities.

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Best Apps and Websites for Learning Programming and Coding | Common Sense Education

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Best Apps and Websites for Learning Programming and Coding | Common Sense Education

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Best Apps and Websites for Learning Programming and Coding | Common Sense Education

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Unlock the logic of code and the basics of programming. Through coding, students build essential literacy skills, gain an understanding of logic and sequence, and learn the mechanics of iteration. These apps are great to teach coding and programming for beginners, and a lot of them are free!

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A Grand Old Tree: Mary Newell Depalma: 9780439623346: Amazon.com: Books

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A Grand Old Tree: Mary Newell Depalma: 9780439623346: Amazon.com: Books

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KiwiCo | STEM, STEAM & Science Kits for Kids

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KiwiCo | STEM, STEAM & Science Kits for Kids

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Seriously fun hands-on learning for curious kids of all ages | KiwiCo

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KiwiCo delivers kids' subscription boxes and STEM, STEAM, science and art kits that provide serious fun and hands-on learning. Find subscription boxes for kids of all ages today!

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A Tree is a Plant - Bedtime Stories - YouTube

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A Tree is a Plant - Bedtime Stories - YouTube

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STEM Activity for 1st Grade: Nature-Inspired Design - AskNature

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STEM Activity for 1st Grade: Nature-Inspired Design - AskNature

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David Lee, as STEM Education Coordinator, describes a transdisciplinary project-based learning unit for 1st graders that integrated science, engineering, writing, technology, and social studies with a theme of biomimicry.
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DISCLAIMER: Science and technology are changing all the time, so it's important to remember that information contained in any resource may become out of date. While we strive to ensure that entries contributed by the AskNature Team are updated as new research becomes available, please note that we assume no responsibility or liability for the accuracy or views expressed in user-submitted resources. If you have a question or concern regarding a resource, we encourage you to post a comment or contact the contributor linked to the resource using AskNature's messaging tools.

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STEM Activity for 1st Grade: Nature-Inspired Design - AskNature

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David Lee, as STEM Education Coordinator, describes a transdisciplinary project-based learning unit for 1st graders that integrated science, engineering, writing, technology, and social studies with a theme of biomimicry. Please enable cookies to view this embedded content! This functionality/content marked as "Google Youtube" uses cookies that you chose to keep disabled.

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Science Experiments and STEM Activities for Kids

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Science Experiments and STEM Activities for Kids

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Kids are curious and always looking to explore, discover, check out, and experiment to discover why things do what they do, move as they move, or change as they change! My son is now 13, and we started with simple science activities around three years of age with simple baking soda science.

Here are great tips for making science experiments enjoyable at home or in the classroom.

Safety first: Always prioritize safety. Use kid-friendly materials, supervise the experiments, and handle potentially hazardous substances yourself.

Start with simple experiments: Begin with basic experiments (find tons below) that require minimal setup and materials, gradually increasing complexity as kids gain confidence.

Use everyday items: Utilize common household items like vinegar and baking soda, food coloring, or balloons to make the experiments accessible and cost-effective.

Hands-on approach: Encourage kids to actively participate in the experiments rather than just observing. Let them touch, mix, and check out reactions up close.

Make predictions: Ask kids to predict the outcome before starting an experiment. This stimulates critical thinking and introduces the concept of hypothesis and the scientific method.

Record observations: Have a science journal or notebook where kids can record their observations, draw pictures, and write down their thoughts. Learn more about observing in science. We also have many printable science worksheets.

Theme-based experiments: Organize experiments around a theme, such as water, air, magnets, or plants. Even holidays and seasons make fun themes!

Kitchen science: Perform experiments in the kitchen, such as making ice cream using salt and ice or learning about density by layering different liquids.

Create a science lab: Set up a dedicated space for science experiments, and let kids decorate it with science-themed posters and drawings.

Outdoor experiments: Take some experiments outside to explore nature, study bugs, or learn about plants and soil.

DIY science kits: Prepare science experiment kits with labeled containers and ingredients, making it easy for kids to conduct experiments independently. Check out our DIY science list and STEM kits.

Make it a group effort: Group experiments can be more fun, allowing kids to learn together and share their excitement. Most of our science activities are classroom friendly!

Science shows or documentaries: Watch age-appropriate science shows or documentaries to introduce kids to scientific concepts entertainingly. Hello Bill Nye and the Magic Schoolbus! You can also check out National Geographic, the Discovery Channel, and NASA!

Ask open-ended questions: Encourage critical thinking by asking open-ended questions that prompt kids to think deeper about what they are experiencing.

Celebrate successes: Praise kids for their efforts and discoveries, no matter how small, to foster a positive attitude towards science and learning.

Free Science Journal Worksheets

Create a science notebook with these easy-to-use science worksheets to accompany any experiment. Grab your free science process journal pack!

What is the Scientific Method for Kids?

The scientific method is a way scientists figure out how things work. First, they ask a question about something they want to know. Then, they research to learn what's already known about it. After that, they make a prediction called a hypothesis.

Next comes the fun part - they test their hypothesis by doing experiments. They carefully observe what happens during the experiments and write down all the details. Learn more about variables in experiments here.

Once they finish their experiments, they look at the results and decide if their hypothesis is right or wrong. If it's wrong, they devise a new hypothesis and try again. If it's right, they share their findings with others. That's how scientists learn new things and make our world better!

Go ahead and introduce the scientific method and get kids started recording their observations and making conclusions. Read more about the scientific method for kids .

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50 Fun Kids Science Experiments - Little Bins for Little Hands

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Over 50 fun science experiments for kids! Simple science activities you can do at home or in the classroom.

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Shake and Listen | Sound: Full Curriculum | Educators | Peep

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Shake and Listen | Sound: Full Curriculum | Educators | Peep

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Materials

Many of these materials are already being used in the Shake and Slide Learning Center, however there are a few additional materials:

plastic containers with lids (for example, food storage containers, yogurt containers, vitamin bottles)

6-8 identical opaque containers with tightly fitting lids (for example: film canisters or yogurt containers)

small objects to put inside containers (for example: dried beans, beads, paper clips, binder clips, pompoms, buttons, pencil-tip erasers, rubber bands, packing peanuts, cotton balls, tissue paper, etc.)

Key Science Concepts

Different objects make different sounds.

An action has to take place for a sound to occur.

A sound becomes louder when the force of the action that is creating the sound is increased and softer, or quieter, when the force is decreased.

Vocabulary

Encourage children to use descriptive words such as same, different, loud, louder, loudest, soft, softer, softest. Help them describe what they are doing with words such as listen, compare, predict, notice, discover.

Directions

Tell children that today they will be comparing and contrasting different types of shakers.

1. Gather children around the materials and invite them to talk about and demonstrate some of the discoveries they made while exploring similar materials at the Shake and Slide Learning Center. Encourage children to listen carefully and compare sounds the other children demonstrate. Which sounds are the loudest? The quietest or softest? The highest or lowest?

2. Hand containers to three children and invite them to each choose one small object to put inside their containers. Have classmates predict which object will make the loudest sound and which will make the softest sound. Write down the predictions. Let the three children put the lids on their containers and shake. Were their predictions correct, or were there some surprises? Have the three children open their containers and put more of the same objects inside. Have classmates predict how the sounds will be different. Then have the three children close their containers and shake. Any surprises?

3. Give containers to another three children and ask them to choose the object that they think they can make the quietest sound with. Let children predict which will be quietest and then listen while the three children shake their containers. Ask them to recall their experiences last week with dropping very quiet objects-does that help them predict what objects might be quiet?

4. Ask, Do you think we could tell what was inside a shaker just by listening to the sound? How would we know? Display the identical opaque containers. Let children choose one type of small object (paper clips, beads, dried beans, etc.) to put in a container. Help them put a lid on the container, then shake and listen to the sound. Make a matching shaker by putting the same number of the same kind of object in a second container. Cover and shake. Ask, Do the two shakers make the same sound or different sounds? Why do you think that is? How would you describe the sound that (paper clips) make?

5. Have the group make three to four pairs of matching shakers. Mix them up and challenge children to shake and find the matching pairs. Then invite them to guess what is inside each pair of shakers, based on the sound.

Reflect and Share

As children are exploring and discussing the sounds their shakers make, encourage them to think about what discoveries they might want to share with the group. You may want to jot down their words and set aside a special shaker they have made so they can demonstrate it to the group. Children may also want to document their different shakers by drawing pictures of the shakers and their contents, and ranking them according to loudest and softest, highest and lowest, or favorite and least-favorite sound.

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Shake and Listen | Sound: Full Curriculum | Educators

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Many of these materials are already being used in the Shake and Slide Learning Center, however there are a few additional materials: plastic containers with lids (for example, food storage containers, yogurt containers, vitamin bottles) 6-8 identical opaque containers with tightly fitting lids (for example: film canisters or yogurt containers) small objects to put inside containers (for example: dried beans, beads, paper clips, binder clips, pompoms, buttons, pencil-tip erasers, rubber bands, packing peanuts, cotton balls, tissue paper, etc.)

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Annotated Drawing | Grade 5 Curriculum | The Inquiry Project

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Annotated Drawing | Grade 5 Curriculum | The Inquiry Project

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Annotated drawings include a combination of notes and labeled drawings that provide an explanation about a scientific process. They are used in this curriculum to answer specific scientific questions. In contrast with an observational drawing, which represents all elements of an object or scene in great detail, an annotated drawing has a specific area of focus. Some elements of the drawing may be represented by the simplest of outlines and need no elaboration while other elements require carefully detailed drawing and explanations.

Annotated drawings are not considered finished products. They represent one's best explanation of a process at a point in time; they are works in progress. They provide a way for communicating one's thinking with others.

Figure 1 is an example of an initial annotated drawing by a 5th grade student. It was produced immediately after students explored a small system composed of two syringes connected by a plastic tube (See Investigation 13). The purpose of the exploration is to help students realize that air is matter and takes up space.

The question the annotated drawing must address is, "When one plunger (of one syringe) is pushed, why does the other plunger (of the second syringe) move?" The annotated drawing in Figure 1 highlights the air inside the system, by use of a color key. It uses arrows and notes to indicate the direction of movement of the air and both plungers, and addresses the question with the explanation, " It happened because air needs space so if one syringe loses space it makes the other have more room by pushing out the plunger and that makes more space."
Figure 2: Annotated drawing sample with magnifier
Another set of notes, augmented with arrows, describes the sequence: (moving clockwise from lower left)
"Plunger pushing in.
Air gets pushed out of syringe.
Air goes through the tube.
Air getting pushed into syringe.
Plunger pushed out."

How do students represent matter or a process that's invisible?

Whenever the focus of an annotated drawing is something students cannot actually see, such as the tiny particles that compose all matter, ask students to use the technique illustrated in Figure 2, which includes drawing an imaginary "magnifying lens" to zoom in and make visible something that is invisible to the human eye.

Reviewing annotated drawings

While annotated drawings initially represent the thinking of an individual student, understanding and refining them is an important group effort.

The goals of the review process are to:

1. help students develop the ability to think critically about scientific processes

2. learn how to communicate their ideas through annotated drawings

3. use the all class review process to refine these ideas

A suggested review process

1. After the class in which students create the annotated drawings:

Select two annotated drawings, ideally ones that are representative of different explanations for the scientific process.

Make enough copies to give a set to each pair of students and have one for the class.

2. In the following science class:

Explain the goal of the review: to deepen our understanding of the science by looking closely different ways people chose to explain our observations and explanations.

Remind students of the scientific process that is the focus of the drawings:
What observation or process do these drawings try to explain?

Provide time for pairs of students to look at the drawings through 3 lenses:

Is there anything you don't understand and would like clarified?
(Example: Your key shows that air is colored gray but nothing outside of the system is colored gray. Do you think there is air outside the system as well)?

How are the explanations in both drawings the same? How are they different?
(Example: Both drawings show a closed system with air completely filling the space in the syringes and tubing.)

Do the annotated drawings explain your observations?
(Example: When I pushed the first plunger, the second plunger did not move right away; it moved a tiny bit later. The annotated drawing doesn't explain why this happened.)

Repeat the pair review with the whole class.

Highlight aspects of the observational drawings that support clear communication (e.g., arrows, keys, notes)

Summarize aspects of the explanation that are scientifically accurate.

Provide a few minutes for students to revise their own drawings in light of what they learned in the class review.

Model for an Annotated Drawing Poster

Annotated Drawings

1. Provide an explanation.

2. Use simple outline drawings.

3. Use a magnifier to show things too small to see.

4. Use labels, arrows, and a color key.

5. Add notes to explain important ideas.

You can change your annotated drawing as your understanding and your explanation changes.

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Annotated Drawing | Grade 5 Curriculum | The Inquiry Project

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Annotated drawings include a combination of notes and labeled drawings that provide an explanation about a scientific process. They are used in this curriculum to answer specific scientific questions. In contrast with an observational drawing, which represents all elements of an object or scene in great detail, an annotated drawing has a specific area of focus.

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The Forward to the Moon Mission Patch Design Challenge | Tynker Blog

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The Forward to the Moon Mission Patch Design Challenge | Tynker Blog

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The Forward to the Moon 🚀 Mission Patch Design Challenge

Calling all innovators! Parents, educators and students: The Tynker team is excited to bring you a wonderful opportunity to participate in a design coding challenge inspired by NASA's space missions. Since the beginning of time, humankind has had a primordial urge to explore the unknown. Mission after mission, NASA has inspired us with the distances we can go! All these missions have motivated a whole generation of kids who wanted to grow up to be astronauts, engineers and rocket scientists. Software will continue to power human spaceflight in the future, which is why learning about space and learning to code are a perfect combination!

The Program: Moon 2 Mars

NASA is now on an ambitious mission to go Forward to the Moon, stay there, learn, and use what they learn to get humans even farther from the Moon-all the way to Mars! Over the next decade, the plan is to build an open exploration architecture with as many capabilities that can be replicated as possible for missions to Mars.
"NASA is excited by this partnership with Tynker. The challenges use NASA's bold mission of sending humans to the surface of the Moon within the next 5 years as a context for igniting student interest in coding and STEM. These skills are crucial to developing our future workforce."
Dr. Bev Girten, Director of Institutional Engagement, NASA

Dr. Girten is enthusiastic about using the #Moon2Mars initiative to inspire the next generation of scientific and technological leaders who will sustain space exploration for years to come.

The Challenge: Design a Mission Patch

The first of these Moon2Mars coding challenges is Design a Mission Patch, which gets students to bring their imagination to human spaceflight as they combine their coding and artistic skills.

After NASA selects a crew for a mission, one of the first jobs of the new crew is to create a mission patch that represents themselves and the mission. Patches often include the astronauts' names, the vehicle they're going to pilot, or symbols of their mission. The patches frequently feature colors and shapes that represent key aspects of their mission.

There have been a variety of colors, symbols, and other features on mission patches. Explore these mission patches from the International Space Station and Apollo missions!

The Code: How to Participate and Submit

Encourage your students to learn about human spaceflight with NASA and get creative by making their very own mission patches! The Design a Mission Patch Challenge is a block coding project for students in grades 1-8. Tynker has created a lesson plan, which will be available on your teacher dashboard, to guide you through every step in teaching your students about the patches and helping them create their own. This is a great opportunity for students to explore the history of NASA and develop their creativity skills as they draw pictures of their patches. Then, they can create and animate their patches in Tynker. Make sure they remember to write about their personal inspiration for their patch.

The Design a Mission Patch Challenge project will go live on Monday, April 29th, 2019. Why not use class time till then to get students excited about NASA and space exploration? Have them explore the terrific NASA resources in the project Teacher Guide to start thinking about what their mission patch could represent. Even more resources are listed below.

The Prize: Win a Video Chat with a NASA Expert!

But the fun doesn't stop at learning about NASA and creating mission patches in Tynker. We're excited to give your students the opportunity to enter their Tynker mission patches for a chance to win a live video conference with a NASA expert!

Once students have finished creating their moon mission patches, have them publish their project on Tynker by 11:59 p.m. PST on Sunday, May 5th, 2019. Top projects can be seen at the Tynker Moon2Mars Challenge page. NASA and Tynker will judge and select winners.

Conversations with NASA experts will be scheduled for the week of May 19, 2019-the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 10 mission, which was the 'dress rehearsal' for Apollo 11, the historic lunar landing mission!
Share with your students our Women in STEM blog post about Margaret Hamilton, who helped write the source code for the Apollo 11 mission.
Even More Ways to Bring Space Science to Your Students

Interested in more ways you can learn about NASA and science in your classroom?

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The Forward to the Moon Mission Patch Design Challenge

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Calling all innovators! Parents, educators and students: The Tynker team is excited to bring you a wonderful opportunity to participate in a design coding challenge inspired by NASA's space missions. Since the beginning of time, humankind has had a primordial urge to explore the unknown.

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Let Me Sleep, Sheep!: Meg McKinlay, Leila Rudge: 9781536205473: Amazon.com: Books

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Let Me Sleep, Sheep!: Meg McKinlay, Leila Rudge: 9781536205473: Amazon.com: Books

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DIY Science Camp: Bees | Start with a Book

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DIY Science Camp: Bees | Start with a Book

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Books and activities for summer reading and learning from Reading Rockets

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National Summer Learning Week | STEM Resources

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National Summer Learning Week | STEM Resources

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It's been fifty years since Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first landed on the moon. NASA now tells us the "Next Giant Leap" is Mars. Turn science-fiction into reality, through exploration in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and open up possibilities for all young people to soar this summer.

Fun Activities
The People's Moon #MYGIANTLEAP: Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo Moon Landing
The People's Moon believes everyone on Earth has a dream. In July 1969 Apollo 11 fulfilled the dreams of all humanity by achieving an 'impossible' dream - landing and walking on the moon. It inspired the world and spurred on inspiration, innovation and technology. The People's Moon wants you to become part of history and share your dreams or giant leaps for the celebration. How can you participate?

1. Check out the The People's Moon call to action video here: https://vimeo.com/333656338.

2. Upload a photo with your statement about your own big dream or giant leap or a video message to https://thepeoplesmoon.com/participate. Include the following with your upload:

Your big dream or giant leap for the future

What the space program means to you

What you think of when you look at the moon

Encourage your friends and people in your network to upload their photos and videos to thepeoplesmoon.com and share on social media using the hashtags: #MyGiantLeap #ThePeoplesMoon #Apollo50
Participate in #MyGiantLeap
Pack your bags and hit the road for our special summer series - Bedtime Math's Road Trip: 50 States of Math - starting July 5! From Texas to California to Massachusetts, Bedtime Math will spotlight a different state every day and discover cool and unusual math facts along the way. Get the toolkit to discover more ways to start and continue your building your child's math skills all summer long.
Download Now
STEM in the Summer: The Joy of Meaningful Learning

When we look at best practices for STEM education, we find that summer offers a unique opportunity for students to engage in STEM learning in ways that mirror real-world needs, while also drawing on the practices that make these learning activities most successful. Download the report.

STEM Policy Brief: The Power of Summer

High-quality summer learning programs have been shown to improve reading and math skills. They also increase graduation rates and post-secondary success. Read the policy brief.

Science in the Summertime: A Multi-Layered Learning Experience

Summer offers a unique opportunity for youth to take a deep dive into STEM learning. Outside of the traditional classroom, youth are in the field, connecting to environmental issues with meaningful importance in their own communities. Read the research brief.

Investment in Staff Yields Summer Success for Students

Delivering a high-quality STEM summer program can seem daunting, especially when staff may have limited experience. Researchers focused on the impact of providing staff with hands-on curriculum, professional development, coaching, and quality assessment. Read the research brief.

Twitter

#SummerLearningWeek is July 8-13. Most students lose 2 months of mathematical skills every summer. Low-income children typically lose another 2-3 months in reading. Year after year, those losses add up. #KeepKidsLearning bit.ly/SummerLearningWeek

Find 5 easy ways to roll in a little math while you're on the go this summer with @summerlearning and @bedtimemath. #SummerLearningWeek starts July 8! #KeepKidsLearning http://bit.ly/2JRQEpI

Each summer, students lose critical math+literacy skills, which can widen the achievement gap among students. See how your program's students can strike out the #summerslide with @Summer_Slugger, created by @EVERFI & @MLB. #SummerLearningWeek http://bit.ly/2yssPzt

Facebook, LinkedIn, and More

#SummerLearningWeek is July 8-13! Most students lose two months of mathematical skills every summer, and low-income children typically lose another two to three months in reading. By 5th grade, cumulative years of summer learning loss can leave low-income students 2.5 to 3 years behind peers, further widening the achievement gap. #KeepKidsLearning and close the gap. Learn more from the @National Summer Learning Association at www.summerlearning.org.

A recent study by The @Rand Corporation and @The Wallace Foundation showed students with high attendance in free, five to six-week, voluntary, summer learning programs experienced educationally meaningful benefits in math and reading. Get involved and demand funding for summer programming. Contact your congressperson: https://www.summerlearning.org/take-action/ #SummerLearningWeek

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National Summer Learning Week | Discovery Day

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It's been fifty years since Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first landed on the moon. NASA now tells us the "Next Giant Leap" is Mars. Turn science-fiction into reality, through exploration in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and open up possibilities for all young people to soar this summer.

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Distinguish Fact from Opinion and Judgment

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Distinguish Fact from Opinion and Judgment

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Standard Basis:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.8

Read the entire chapter or brief and choose one fact, one opinion, and one reasoned judgement from the text. Write a paragraph (3-5 sentences) listing the fact and why you consider it a fact, listing the opinion and why you consider it an opinion, and listing the one reasoned judgement and why you consider it a judgement.

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Distinguish Fact from Opinion and Judgment

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Standard Basis: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.8 Read the entire chapter or brief and choose one fact, one opinion, and one reasoned judgement from the text. Write a paragraph (3-5 sentences) listing the fact and why you consider it a fact, listing the opinion and why you consider it an opinion, and listing the one reasoned judgement and why you consider it a judgement.

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CS Unplugged is a collection of free learning activities that teach Computer Science through engaging games and puzzles that use cards, string, crayons and lots of running around.

The activities introduce students to Computational Thinking through concepts such as binary numbers, algorithms and data compression, separated from the distractions and technical details of having to use computers. Importantly, no programming is required to engage with these ideas!

CS Unplugged is suitable for people of all ages, from elementary school to seniors, and from many countries and backgrounds. Unplugged has been used around the world for over twenty years, in classrooms, science centers, homes, and even for holiday events in a park!

The material is available free of charge, and is shared under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA licence, which makes it easy to copy, adapt and share it.

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Free activities for classroom or home # CS Unplugged is a collection of free learning activities that teach Computer Science through engaging games and puzzles that use cards, string, crayons and lots of running around. The activities introduce students to Computational Thinking through concepts such as binary numbers, algorithms and data compression, separated from the distractions and technical details of having to use computers.

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Building Systems that Work for Young Children
Watch: world-renowned early childhood researcher Sharon Lynn Kagan on the release of The Early Advantage 2: Building Systems That Work for Young Children. Hosted by NCEE President & CEO Anthony Mackay, the event featured a presentation from Kagan on the book's findings and discussion of its implications with leading voices in early childhood education and care. Watch Video Buy Book 1 Buy Book 2 Case Studies in Depth

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Building Systems that Work for Young Children Watch: world-renowned early childhood researcher Sharon Lynn Kagan on the release of The Early Advantage 2: Building Systems That Work for Young Children. Hosted by NCEE President & CEO Anthony Mackay, the event featured a presentation from Kagan on the book's findings and discussion of its implications with leading voices in early childhood education and care.

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STEM Learning in Libraries | InformalScience.org

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STEM Learning in Libraries | InformalScience.org

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For decades, public libraries have been evolving to become venues for informal science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, hosting programs and exhibits that inspire children and adults alike, and supporting them in their lifelong learning. Libraries serve diverse populations of all ages and backgrounds, and can be found in nearly every community across the United States. This page provides a brief overview of resources on InformalScience.org that describe and support the intersection between libraries and STEM learning, as well as links to other relevant resources and communities.

Search the Repository

The InformalScience.org repository is a collection of descriptions of funded awards from various federal agencies, research and reference materials (including grey literature such as conference presentations), and evaluation reports related to STEM learning outside the classroom. The repository is a starting point for conducting literature reviews, strengthening grant proposals, learning about best practices, and developing evidence-based projects and programs.

In order to filter your search to library-specific resources, use the Advanced Search option on the homepage, and under the Environment field, select "Library Exhibits" or "Library Programs." You may also consider selecting "Making and Tinkering Programs," which also occur in a variety of settings including libraries, museums, and other community spaces.

Examples of Funded Projects

These are some abstracts of projects funded by agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). To learn more about funding opportunities and deadlines, visit the Funding and Calendar pages.

Key Resources

The following papers explore the role of public libraries in the STEM learning ecosystem.

Evaluation

Evaluation is a set of approaches and techniques used to make judgments about the effectiveness or quality of a program or treatment; to improve its effectiveness; and to inform decisions about its design, development, and implementation ( National Research Council 2010). It can also be used to help make the case to funders about the effectiveness of specific programs or interventions. You can learn more using the Design Evaluation tab on InformalScience.org, visit the STAR Library Education Network's evaluation page, or see evaluation in action by browsing the following evaluation reports from library projects.

Professional Associations, Networks, & Communities of Practice

Connect with the following organizations and communities of practice in order to deepen your expertise, learn from colleagues in the field, and build your professional network.

Photo Credits: Discover Tech Exhibit - Hunstville, AL. Credit: NCIL/SSI, Discover Earth Exhibit - Diboll, TX. Credit: NCIL/SSI, STEM Activity at the ALA Conference. Credit: NCIL/SSI.

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For decades, public libraries have been evolving to become venues for informal science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, hosting programs and exhibits that inspire children and adults alike, and supporting them in their lifelong learning. Libraries serve diverse populations of all ages and backgrounds, and can be found in nearly every community across the United States.

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Activities and Resources « Astronomical Society

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Activities and Resources « Astronomical Society

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The My Sky Tonight team has created a set of fun, science-rich astronomy activities for pre-K children, as well as supporting resources forcus educators on how to effectively work with young children and engage them in science practices.

Activities from My Sky Tonight

Bear's Shadow

Children listen to the story Moonbear's Shadow and then recreate scenes from the picture book, using a bear figure and a flashlight (to represent the Sun.) Children explore how the position of the light affects the size, shape, and position of the shadow.

Moon Phases Matching

Children match pictures of the Moon on cards with matching pictures on a banner that shows the Moon phase cycle. They notice patterns, talk about their observations, ask questions, and share past experiences of looking at the Moon.

Hide & Seek Moon

Children use binoculars to search for small items that an astronaut lost while walking on the Moon. The Moon is pictured on a banner hanging a short distance away.

Lunar Landscape

Children create their own space helmets out of paper bags, put on special air packs, gloves, and boots, and then explore the lunar landscape (created with a sheet, pillows, and pretend "moon rocks.")

Creating Craters

Children make craters by dropping balls into a tub of flour. They observe the properties of balls with different sizes and weights, make predictions, compare craters created by different balls, and compare the flour craters to images of real craters on the surface of the Moon.

Build a Space Explorer

Children design and build a vehicle for exploring another world, using recycled materials. As they build, they are invited to describe the worlds their explorers will visit and the special tools they included in their designs.

Exploring New Worlds

Children work together in a group to create an Earth landscape, compare different environments on Earth, and talk about what makes Earth special (e.g., it's a good place for life!) Then they prepare for an imaginary trip to Mars, make observations to learn about the planet, and create their own models of the Martian landscape. As a group, they compare Earth and Mars, talking about how they are similar and different.

Sun's Energy

Children tell a story about a trip to the beach on a sunny day and investigate ultraviolet (UV) light by using UV-sensitive beads as a tool to detect UV light outdoors.

Day & Night

Children talk about the differences between daytime and nighttime, including the activities they do at each time. Then they model the Earth's rotation with a globe and with their own bodies, to explore the reason for day and night.

Star Songs

Children love to sing! These two songs are fun, easy to sing, and scientifically accurate! The Star Song is about the properties of stars: size, color, temperature. The Constellation Song is about how the sky is organized into groups of stars called constellations.

Other Resources from My Sky Tonight

Scientists Not Sponges

In this 11-minute video, explore metaphors for learning, how these metaphors influence our interactions with young children, and what research in developmental psychology supports or refutes these ideas.

Science Practices for Young Children in Astronomy

We offer a 3-page guide as well as a 13-minute video that outline methods for engaging young children in the practices of science, with a focus on astronomy. Science practices include looking for patterns, making predictions, asking questions, recording observations, and developing claims.

Developmentally Appropriate Strategies for Interacting with Young Children

We offer a 4-page guide as well as an 8-minute video that outline key aspects of young children's learning and introduces several developmentally appropriate teaching strategies, their basis in research, and their application to young children's astronomy engagement.

Publications

*My Sky Tonight is based upon work supported by the Division of Research On Learning (DRL) of the National Science Foundation under Grant no. AISL #1217441. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation

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The My Sky Tonight team has created a set of fun, science-rich astronomy activities for pre-K children, as well as supporting resources forcus educators on how to effectively work with young children and engage them in science practices.

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NSTA Science Store :: Next Time You See a Bee :: NSTA Kids

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NSTA Science Store :: Next Time You See a Bee :: NSTA Kids

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NSTA Science Store :: Next Time You See a Bee :: NSTA Kids

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New in 2019! This book will get young readers buzzing about bees! Next Time You See a Bee reveals the big impact these little insects have on the world. It shows how the physical features of bees make them pros at collecting and spreading pollen.

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Learn About Simple Machines with a Graphic Novel – Lab Out Loud

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Learn About Simple Machines with a Graphic Novel – Lab Out Loud

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To listen to this episode, download the mp3 directly, find us on iTunes, or use the player below. http://traffic.libsyn.com/wsst/LOL204.mp3

Nathan Schreiber returns this week to talk about his newest project using a graphic novel to teach physics concepts. In Big Trouble with Simple Machines, Schreiber's characters solve problems using their knowledge of simple machines, with each chapter providing a new challenge with ramps, wedges, screws, levers, pulleys, wheels, and axles. There is even an illustrated appendix guiding readers to make and experience their own simple machines! Nathan joins us to discuss the recently released graphic novel, how comic book art can engage students in learning science, and how his work can portray science concepts in a way that photographs cannot.

Links:
Connect with our Guest: Featured image courtesy of Nathan Schreiber, used with permission
Become a Lab Out Loud Patreon
If you've been listening to Lab Out Loud, played an episode in the classroom for students, or simply value teacher-driven support for science education, please consider supporting our show by becoming a Lab Out Loud Patreon.

To learn more, visit: https://www.patreon.com/LabOutLoud

We always love to hear from you - our listeners. Do you have any ideas for guests? What topics in science and science education need to be addressed? Submit your comments, concerns and suggestions through our contact page or tweet to us at @laboutloud.

Do you like the show? Please leave a comment on iTunes and rate us!

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Learn About Simple Machines with a Graphic Novel

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To listen to this episode, download the mp3 directly, find us on iTunes, or use the player below.http://traffic.libsyn.com/wsst/LOL204.mp3 Nathan Schreiber returns this week to talk about his newest project using a graphic novel to teach physics concepts.

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Green Living: A Family Guide to Going Green | Scholastic | Parents

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Green Living: A Family Guide to Going Green | Scholastic | Parents

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Green Living: A Family Guide to Going Green

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What is climate change: facts for kids | National Geographic Kids

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What is climate change: facts for kids | National Geographic Kids

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We've all heard of it, but what is climate change and what is it doing to our planet?

So, what is climate change?

Climate change (or global warming), is the process of our planet heating up.

Scientists estimate that since the Industrial Revolution, human activity has caused the Earth to warm by approximately 1°C. While that might not sound like much, it means big things for people and wildlife around the globe.

Unfortunately, rising temperatures don't just mean that we'll get nicer weather - if only! The changing climate will actually make our weather more extreme and unpredictable.

As temperatures rise, some areas will get wetter and lots of animals (and humans!) could find they're not able to adapt to their changing climate.

Check out our magazine!
National Geographic Kids is an exciting monthly read for planet-passionate boys and girls, aged 6-13! Packed full of fun features, jaw-dropping facts and awe-inspiring photos - it'll keep you entertained for hours! Find our magazine in all good newsagents, or become a subscriber and have it delivered to your door! Ask your parents to check out the 'Subscribe' tab on our website!
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What causes climate change?

1. Burning fossil fuels

Over the past 150 years, industrialised countries have been burning large amounts of fossil fuels such as oil and gas. The gases released into the atmosphere during this process act like an invisible 'blanket', trapping heat from the sun and warming the Earth. This is known as the " Greenhouse Effect ".

2. Farming

Believe it or not, cows' eating habits contribute towards climate change. Just like us, when cows eat, methane - a type of greenhouse gas - builds up in their digestive system and is released in the form of... a burp! This might sound funny, but when you imagine that there are almost 1.5 billion cows releasing all that gas into the atmosphere, it sure adds up!

3. Deforestation

Forests absorb huge amounts of carbon dioxide - another greenhouse gas - from the air, and release oxygen back into it. The Amazon rainforest is so large and efficient at doing this that it acts like our planet's air conditioner - limiting climate change. Sadly, many rainforests are being cut down to make wood, palm oil and to clear the way for farmland, roads, oil mines, and dams.

How will climate change affect the planet?

The Earth has had many tropical climates and ice ages over the billions of years that it's been in existence, so why is now so different? Well, this is because for the last 150 years human activity has meant we're releasing a huge amount of harmful gases into the Earth's atmosphere, and records show that the global temperatures are rising more rapidly since this time.

A warmer climate could affect our planet in a number of ways:
- Shrinking sea ice
How will climate change affect wildlife?

Climate change is already affecting wildlife all over the world, but certain species are suffering more than others. Polar animals - whose icy natural habitat is melting in the warmer temperatures - are particularly at risk. In fact, experts believe that the Arctic sea ice is melting at a shocking rate - 9% per decade! Polar bears need sea ice to be able to hunt, raise their young and as places to rest after long periods of swimming. Certain seal species, like ringed seals make caves in the snow and ice to raise their pups, feed and mate.

It's not just polar animals who are in trouble. Apes like orangutans, which live in the rainforests of Indonesia, are under threat as their habitat is cut down, and more droughts cause more bushfires.

Sea turtles rely on nesting beaches to lay their eggs, many of which are threatened by rising sea levels. Did you know that the temperature of nests determines whether the eggs are male or female? Unfortunately, with temperatures on the rise, this could mean that many more females are born than males, threatening future turtle populations.

How will people be affected by climate change?

Climate change won't just affect animals, it's already having an impact on people, too. Most affected are some of the people who grow the food we eat every day. Farming communities, especially in developing countries, are facing higher temperatures, increased rain, floods and droughts.

We Brits love a good cuppa, (around 165 million cups of the stuff every day!), but we probably take for granted just how much work goes into growing our tea. Environmental conditions can affect the flavour and quality plus it needs a very specific rainfall to grow. In Kenya, climate change is making rainfall patterns less and less predictable. Often there will be droughts followed by huge amounts rain, which makes it very difficult to grow tea.

Farmers might then resort to using cheap chemicals to improve their crop to earn more money, even when long-term use of these chemicals can destroy their soil.

How are people coping with climate change?

Buying Fairtrade products can help make sure a farmer is paid a fair wage. This means they can cover their costs, earn enough money to have a decent standard of living, and invest in their farms to keep their crop healthy, without needing to resort to cheap methods of farming which can further damage the environment.

This support also helps farmers to replace eucalyptus trees - which take up a lot of water - with indigenous trees that are better for the farmers' soil. They can learn to make fuel-efficient stoves which will not only make them a little extra money, but also reduce the carbon footprint of the community - cool!

How can I help prevent climate change?

Small changes in your own home can make a difference, too. Try switching to energy-saving lightbulbs, walking instead of using the car, turning off electrical items when you're not using them, recycling and reducing your food waste.

All these little things can make a difference. You can check out more eco-friendly ideas, in our kids' guide to saving the planet! Plus, check out our cool article about Greta Thunberg, too, to discover how young people are making their voices heard.

You can download information about Fairtrade and climate change for your school, here! www.fairtrade.org.uk/schools.

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What is climate change: facts for kids | National Geographic Kids

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We've all heard of it, but what is climate change and what is it doing to our planet? Climate change (or global warming), is the process of our planet heating up. Scientists estimate that since the Industrial Revolution, human activity has caused the Earth to warm by approximately 1°C.

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Climate Change is Scary. Here’s How to Talk to Kids About It. - The Allegheny Front

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Climate Change is Scary. Here’s How to Talk to Kids About It. - The Allegheny Front

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Photo: Icebergs in Greenland, where the melting of ice sheets is accelerating due to climate change. Photo: UN Photo/Mark Garten
Dire climate change predictions and the impacts of global warming that we're already experiencing can be tough for adults to handle. So how do we talk to kids about it?

Mary Beth Mannarino is a psychologist and professor emerita at Chatham University in Pittsburgh. The Allegheny Front's Kara Holsopple spoke with Mannarino about how to talk to kids about the existential threat of climate change that scares many parents about the future.

LISTEN to their conversation:
https://www.alleghenyfront.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/AF020119_Kara_ClimateTalk.mp3 Kara Holsopple: At what age is it appropriate to broach the subject of climate change with kids or should you wait until they ask you about it?
Mary Beth Mannarino: I think one of my cardinal pieces of advice when I talk about these issues of climate change is to know your child.

Some children will be curious. They will have heard things and will ask questions. Other children may not ask questions but it doesn't mean that they're not thinking about it.

So keep in mind your child's personality. If your child is a particularly anxious prone child, you want to keep that in mind when you talk with them. The libraries do carry some children's books for very young children about climate change but as a parent, you should probably review those and make sure that they're appropriate for your particular child.
KH: So how do you talk to toddlers through elementary school kids?
MBM: I would put most of the emphasis on thinking about our natural world in general and how our children and we are part of that. And seeing that as something to protect and be grateful for and experience at the very young levels. That's a more productive way to do it. If climate change or other environmental questions come up, then you talk about how people are working to make sure that we're taking care of things.
KH: Should you talk about the science of it? How deep into it should you get?
It's kind of like what Mr. Rogers says - that you look for the helpers. When you talk with children, you make sure that you can identify the positive things that people are doing to help things be better.

MBM: Some children will be very curious about that and, depending upon your own level of knowledge and expertise, I think it's fine to actually answer things and to help them find resources to get more information, or to do it together with your kids.
KH: We don't actually know how this is all going to turn out. So how do we handle that kind of uncertainty when talking to kids about climate change, and as you said, about their own future? KH: Is there a danger of projecting our fears onto kids?
The underlying question is often, "will I be OK? Are bad things going to happen? Who's going to take care of me?" And with those kinds of kids, I think I would just frame it as "the world often faces big large problems and we all work together to try to solve them and make things better and we're doing that with this."

MBM: So this is where I think parents really need to do some soul-searching and self-care and think about this very carefully for themselves before they get into it with their children. We all deal with ambiguity and uncertainty in many aspects of our life. And this is one of the biggest and scariest ones, if you're aware of it.

MBM: I would caution against projecting your own fears on the child. I think you need to manage your strong emotions and think very carefully about how to talk about your own response to this situation.
KH: What if your kid doesn't want to hear about climate change?
In talking with kids I think it's OK to say "this is scary to me too," but I would put the focus on what they're feeling and on the places where action is being taken.

I also think be aware that, even if you're not involved in activist work or any kind of protest about climate change, many families are already taking steps in the home that reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, which is a big part of climate change. If you're reducing the use of plastics, if you take your own grocery bags to the store, for example, that's something you're already doing. You can model that for your child.
KH: What should you absolutely not do or say?
And also if you're a family that has a garden or has pets or has plants in the house, you're already communicating your reverence and your respect for nature and how we take care of that.

MBM: I would respect that. Your kids take away so much more from what they observe you doing than they do from the words you say. So if a child is not ready to hear about something, I would respect that and tell them the door is always open and you're willing to talk.

I would really respect that because a lot of kids take stuff in and process it before they're able to talk about it. I saw that in my own children following Columbine and 9/11 where one of them had question after question after question, and really wanted to talk about it. The other one just kind of sat with it. I would be observant of your child if they do that because sometimes that masks a lot of distress. Other times it's just their style that they need to sit with it for a while and they're taking it in and trying to process it themselves.
Mary Beth Mannarino discusses how to have productive conversations with family and friends who may be skeptical of climate change, during the holidays or anytime:
MBM: I would try my best not to make it an us/them kind of framework. Good guys, bad guys. I would really try to find examples of how people are trying to cross over those bridges between different perspectives.

I would not go Doomsday. I think that adds to anxiety which can go in all kinds of different directions that aren't healthy for kids. I would not communicate helplessness, like it doesn't matter what we do or we're all going to hell in a handbasket.

You know I just wouldn't go that way. I think the way that you manage this is to give your children tools that can be applied to many different difficult situations that come up.

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This Thanksgiving, Put Everything on the Table

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Climate Change is Scary. Here's How to Talk to Kids About It. - The Allegheny Front

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Photo: Icebergs in Greenland, where the melting of ice sheets is accelerating due to climate change. Photo: UN Photo/Mark Garten Dire climate change predictions and the impacts of global warming that we're already experiencing can be tough for adults to handle. So how do we talk to kids about it?

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How to Talk to Kids About Climate Change? | Sierra Club

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How to Talk to Kids About Climate Change? | Sierra Club

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These days, kids of all ages hear about climate change just about everywhere they turn. But understanding the underlying science-let alone the many tentacled effects of climate change on oceans, animals, once-temperate lands, and the air we breathe-is complicated. These nine new books (plus a few honorable mentions) give children the facts-sometimes straight up, sometimes couched within stories-to help them learn about the rapidly warming, melting, flooding, parching world that their (and our) generation is urgently tasked with protecting.
Ages 3-7 Ages 4-8
The Brilliant Deep ($18, Chronicle Books) by Kate Messner, illustrated by Matthew Forsythe. If your kid's an ocean-lover, it's likely she already knows that the world's coral reefs are dying due to ocean warming and acidification. This book offers a much-needed hopeful message about the restoration work being carried out by the Coral Restoration Foundation. It shows children that while climate change is grim, we do have the power to repair some of the destruction it's already wrought.
Ages 5-6 Ages 6-10 Ages 7+
Look at the Weather by Britta Teckentrup. To better understand climate change, it helps to understand rain, snow, and storms-and their roles in the intense varieties of weather that are becoming increasingly common as Earth warms. This tome strikes that rare note between fact-say, how water turns to ice in the atmosphere-and art, offering poetic musings on sun showers and ocean fog. Its text is set atop evocative landscape paintings.
Ages 8-12 Ages 9-13 Ages 10+ Ages 12+ Honorable Mentions: Ages 6-10 Ages 7-14
The Wolves of Currumpaw ($24, Flying Eye) by William Grill. A remarkable illustrated biography of wolf hunter Ernest Thompson Seton, this book concludes with Seton's dramatic change of heart about wild animals and the environment. Readers learn that Seton eventually went on to co-found the Boy Scouts of America, and that in 2013, the organization mandated that its Eagle members earn sustainability badges -a critical nod to human contributions to climate change.
Ages 8-12
The Global Warming Express ($15, Terra Nova) by Marina Weber, illustrated by Joanna Whysner. Sometimes, a message is better received when it's delivered by peers. This fanciful tale about a group of animals alarmed by climate change and determined to fight it was written and illustrated by the nine-year-old founders of the Global Warming Express nonprofit. Their message to young readers: If they can do it, so can you.

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How to Talk to Kids About Climate Change?

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These days, kids of all ages hear about climate change just about everywhere they turn. But understanding the underlying science-let alone the many tentacled effects of climate change on oceans, animals, once-temperate lands, and the air we breathe-is complicated.

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4 Fun Books that Explore Math Patterns and Sequences

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4 Fun Books that Explore Math Patterns and Sequences

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Erikson Institute Early Math Collaborative

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From an early age, children notice and appreciate patterns in the world around them. Patterns and sequences of different kinds begin to pop up all over the place, especially in the books that children love.

Many children's books contain patterns because that supports literacy development. Children use language and picture patterns to "read" predictable books. Patterns in stories allow children to predict what will happen next. Here are some of our favorite read alouds that invite children to make use of patterns to "read" along with you.

1. Pattern Bugs by Trudy Harris

This colorful and fun picture book is full of visual and verbal patterns. Not only do you see worms crawling with every other one arching its back, creating a pattern, you will also find that same pattern in the words of the poem, such as"flutter-float, flutter-float," and in the decorative border on the page. Have children help to find all the illustrations that share the same pattern structure (AB, ABBA, etc.) on any given page. A pattern hunt like this highlights the Big Idea that the same pattern structure can be found in different forms.

2. Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.

This classic book illustrated by Eric Carle is on virtually any list of great books to have in the classroom. And it has a clear pattern that young children can quickly notice, and also repeat. Teachers and parents can ask children to identify the words that repeat to help them see the regularity and rhythm in the story.

3. I Went Walking by Sue Williams

This vibrant storybook is similar to Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? in some ways, but it adds some interesting complexity to a pattern story. As the red-haired boy comes across different animals on his stroll, the menagerie of creatures trail him on his walking journey. The illustrations reveal a growing pattern. Each page adds one more animal to the long line of followers.

4. The Napping House by Don and Audrey Wood

Here is one we recommend often. The illustrations in The Napping House are fun and humorous and provide a great opportunity for children to identify a plus-one growing pattern. As the characters pile one by one onto the bed for a nap, each page clearly shows the growing, linear sequence and foreshadows what comes next. You can find an example of two teachers exploring this book in our Focus on the Lesson video Who is Napping?

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4 Fun Books that Explore Math Patterns and Sequences

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From an early age, children notice and appreciate patterns in the world around them. Patterns and sequences of different kinds begin to pop up all over the place, especially in the books that children love. Many children's books contain patterns because that supports literacy development. Children use language and picture patterns to "read" predictable books.

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Curiosity Magnified STEM Partnership - Shasta County Office of Education

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Curiosity Magnified STEM Partnership - Shasta County Office of Education

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Curiosity Magnified STEM Partnership - Shasta County Office of Education

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Curiosity Magnified STEM Partnership - Shasta County Office of Education

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Wee Engineer is the nation's first engineering curriculum designed for children ages 3-5 in preschool and PreK programs. Build a strong foundation of critical thinking and problem solving with child-tested, age-appropriate engineering challenges.

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Developing Mathematical Mindsets | American Federation of Teachers

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Developing Mathematical Mindsets | American Federation of Teachers

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Babies and infants love mathematics. Give babies a set of blocks, and they will build and order them, fascinated by the ways the edges line up. Children will look up at the sky and be delighted by the V formations in which birds fly. Count a set of objects with a young child and then move the objects and count them again, and they will be enchanted by the fact they still have the same number. Ask children to make patterns with colored blocks, and they will work happily making repeating patterns-one of the most mathematical of all acts. Mathematician Keith Devlin has written a range of books showing strong evidence that we are all natural mathematics users and thinkers. ¹ We want to see patterns in the world and to understand the rhythms of the universe. But the joy and fascination young children experience with mathematics are quickly replaced by dread and dislike when they start school mathematics and are introduced to a dry set of methods they think they just have to accept and remember.

In Finland, one of the highest-scoring countries in the world on PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) tests, students do not learn formal mathematics methods until they are 7 years old. In the United States, students start much earlier, and by the time they are 7, they have already been introduced to algorithms for adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing numbers, and been made to memorize multiplication facts. For many students, their first experience of math is one of confusion, as the methods do not make sense to them. The inquisitiveness of our children's early years fades away and is replaced by a strong belief that math is all about following instructions and rules.

The best and most important start we can give our students is to encourage them to play with numbers and shapes, thinking about what patterns and ideas they can see. In her autobiography, Sarah Flannery, who won Europe's Young Scientist of the Year Award in 1999 for inventing a new mathematical algorithm, talks about the way she developed her mathematical thinking from working on puzzles at home with her dad, and how these puzzles were more important to her than all of her years of math class. ²

Successful math users have an approach to math as well as mathematical understanding that sets them apart from less successful users. They approach math with the desire to understand it and to think about it, and with the confidence that they can make sense of it. Successful math users search for patterns and relationships and think about connections. They approach math with a mathematical mindset, knowing that math is a subject of growth and that their role is to learn and think about new ideas. We need to instill this mathematical mindset in students from their first experiences of math.

Research has shown definitively the importance of a growth mindset-the belief that intelligence grows and that the more you learn, the more mathematical pathways you develop. But to erase math failure, we need students to have growth beliefs about themselves and accompany them with growth beliefs about the nature of mathematics and their role in relation to it. Children need to see math as a conceptual, growth subject that they should think about and make sense of.

When students see math as a series of short questions, they cannot see the role for their own inner growth and learning. They think that math is a fixed set of methods that either they get or they don't. But when students see math as a broad landscape of unexplored puzzles in which they can wander around, asking questions and thinking about relationships, they understand that their role is thinking, sense making, and growing. When students see mathematics as a set of ideas and relationships, and their role as one of thinking about the ideas and making sense of them, they have a mathematical mindset.

So how do we develop mathematical mindsets in students so that they are willing to approach math with sense making and intuition? Before they start school, the task is straightforward. It means asking children to play with puzzles, shapes, and numbers and think about their relationships.

But in the early years of school, we live in a system whereby students are required, from an early age, to learn many formal mathematical methods, such as those used to add, subtract, divide, and multiply numbers. This is the time when students stray from mathematical mindsets and develop fixed, procedural mindsets. This is the time when it is most critical that teachers and parents introduce mathematics as a flexible conceptual subject that is all about thinking and sense making. The domain of early number work gives us the perfect example of the two mindsets that can develop in students, one that is negative and leads to failure and one that is positive and leads to success.

Number Sense

In an important research study, two British researchers worked with students, ages 7 to 13, who had been nominated by their teachers as being either low, middle, or high achieving. ³ All of the students were given number problems, such as adding or subtracting two numbers. The researchers found an important difference between the low- and high-achieving students. The high-achieving students solved the questions by using what is known as number sense-they interacted with the numbers flexibly and conceptually. The low-achieving students used no number sense and seemed to believe that their role was to recall and use a standard method, even when this was difficult to do.

For example, when students were given a problem such as 21−6, the high-achieving students made the problem easier by changing it to 20−5, but the low-achieving students counted backward, starting at 21 and counting down, which is difficult to do and prone to error. After extensive study of the different strategies that the students used, the researchers concluded that the difference between the high- and low-achieving students was not that the low-achieving students knew less mathematics, but that they were interacting with mathematics differently. Instead of approaching numbers with flexibility and number sense, they seemed to cling to formal procedures they had learned, using them very precisely, not abandoning them even when it made sense to do so. The low achievers did not know less, they just did not use numbers flexibly-probably because they had been set on the wrong pathway, from an early age, of trying to memorize methods and number facts instead of interacting with numbers flexibly. ⁴

The researchers pointed out something else important-the mathematics the low achievers were using was a harder mathematics. It is much easier to subtract 5 from 20 than to start at 21 and count down 6 numbers. Unfortunately for low achievers, they are often identified as struggling with math and therefore given more drill and practice-cementing their beliefs that math success means memorizing methods, not understanding and making sense of situations. They are sent down a damaging pathway that makes them cling to formal procedures, and as a result, they often face a lifetime of difficulty with mathematics.

A mathematical mindset reflects an active approach to mathematics knowledge, in which students see their role as understanding and sense making. Number sense reflects a deep understanding of mathematics, but it comes about through a mathematical mindset that is focused on making sense of numbers and quantities. It is useful to think about the ways number sense is developed in students, not only because number sense is the foundation for all higher-level mathematics ⁵ but also because number sense and mathematical mindsets develop together, and learning about ways to develop one helps the development of the other.

Mathematics is a conceptual domain. It is not, as many people think, a list of facts and methods to be remembered. When students learn to count, they remember order and names for numbers, but they also develop the concept of number; that is, the idea of a number. In the early stages of learning to add numbers, students learn a method called "counting on." Counting on is used when you have two sets of numbers-for example, 15 plus 4-and you learn to count the first set (counting to 15), then continue counting (16, 17, 18, 19). When students learn the method of counting on, they develop the concept of "sum." This is not a method of addition; it is a conceptual idea.

In the next stage of their mathematics work, students may learn to add groups of numbers, such as three groups of 4, and as they learn to add groups, they develop the concept of a product. Again, this is not a method (of multiplication); it is a conceptual idea. The ideas of a number, a sum, and a product are concepts in mathematics that students need to think deeply about. Students should learn methods, such as adding and multiplying, not as ends in themselves but as part of a conceptual understanding of numbers, sums, and products and how they relate to each other.

We know that when we learn mathematics, we engage in a brain process called "compression." When you learn a new area of mathematics that you know nothing about, it takes up a large space in your brain, as you need to think hard about how it works and how the ideas relate to other ideas. But the mathematics you have learned before and know well, such as addition, takes up a small, compact space in your brain. You can use it easily without thinking about it. The process of compression happens because the brain is a highly complex organ with many things to control, and it can focus on only a few uncompressed ideas at any one time. Ideas that are known well are compressed and filed away. William Thurston, a top mathematician who won the Fields Medal, describes compression like this:

Mathematics is amazingly compressible: you may struggle a long time, step by step, to work through the same process or idea from several approaches. But once you really understand it and have the mental perspective to see it as a whole, there is often a tremendous mental compression. You can file it away, recall it quickly and completely when you need it, and use it as just one step in some other mental process. The insight that goes with this compression is one of the real joys of mathematics. ⁶

Many students do not describe mathematics as a "real joy"-in part because they are not engaging in compression. Notably, the brain can only compress concepts; it cannot compress rules and methods. Therefore, students who do not engage in conceptual thinking, and instead approach mathematics as a list of rules to remember, are not engaging in the critical process of compression, so their brain is unable to organize and file away ideas; instead, it struggles to hold onto long lists of methods and rules. This is why it is so important to help students approach mathematics conceptually at all times. Approaching mathematics conceptually is the essence of what I describe as a mathematical mindset.

What about Math Facts?

Many people believe that it is not possible to think conceptually about mathematics all the time because there are lots of math facts (such as 8 x 4 = 32) that have to be memorized. There are some math facts that are good to remember, but students can learn math facts and commit them to memory through conceptual engagement with math. Unfortunately, some teachers and parents think that because some areas of mathematics are factual, such as number facts, they need to be learned through mindless practice and speed drills. It is this approach to early learning about numbers that causes damage to students, makes them think that being successful at math is about recalling facts at speed, and pushes them onto a procedural pathway that works against their development of a mathematical mindset.

Math facts by themselves are a small part of mathematics, and they are best learned through the use of numbers in different ways and situations. Unfortunately, many classrooms focus on math facts in isolation, giving students the impression that math facts are the essence of mathematics, and, even worse, that mastering the fast recall of math facts is what it means to be a strong mathematics student. Both of these ideas are wrong, and it is critical that we remove them from classrooms, as they play a key role in creating math-anxious and disaffected students.

I grew up in a progressive era in England, when primary schools focused on the "whole child," and I was not presented with tables of addition, subtraction, or multiplication facts to memorize in school. I have never committed math facts to memory, although I can quickly produce any math fact, as I have number sense and I have learned good ways to think about number combinations. My lack of memorization has never held me back at any time or place in my life, even though I am a mathematics professor, because I have number sense, which is much more important for students to learn and includes the learning of math facts along with a deep understanding of numbers and the ways they relate to each other.

For about one-third of students, the onset of timed testing is the beginning of math anxiety. ⁷* Cognitive scientist Sian Beilock and her colleagues have studied people's brains through MRI imaging and found that math facts are held in the working memory section of the brain. But when students are stressed, such as when they are answering math questions under time pressure, the working memory is compromised, and students cannot access the math facts they know. ⁸ As students realize they cannot perform well on timed tests, they start to develop anxiety, and their mathematical confidence erodes. The blocking of the working memory and associated anxiety is particularly common among higher-achieving students and girls. Conservative estimates suggest that at least a third of students experience extreme stress related to timed tests, and these are not students from any particular achievement group or economic background. When we put students through this anxiety-provoking experience, we lose students from mathematics.

Math anxiety has now been recorded in students as young as 5, and timed tests are a major cause of this debilitating, often lifelong condition. In my classes at Stanford University, I encounter many undergraduates who have been math traumatized, even though they are among the highest-achieving students in the country. When I ask them what led to their math aversion, many talk about timed tests in second or third grade as a major turning point when they decided that math was not for them. Some of the students, especially women, talk about the need to understand deeply (a very worthwhile goal) and being made to feel that deep understanding was not valued or offered when timed tests became a part of math class. They may have been doing other, more valuable work in their mathematics classes, focusing on sense making and understanding, but timed tests evoke such strong emotions that students can come to believe that being fast with math facts is the essence of mathematics. This is extremely unfortunate.

We see the outcome of the misguided school emphasis on memorization and testing in the numbers of students dropping out of mathematics and in the math crisis we currently face. When my own daughter started times table memorization and testing at age 5, she started to come home and cry about math. This is not the emotion we want students to associate with mathematics, but as long as we keep putting students under pressure to recall facts at speed, we will not erase the widespread anxiety and dislike of mathematics that pervades our schools. ⁹

So what do we do to help students learn math facts if we do not use timed tests? The very best way to encourage the learning of facts and the development of a mathematical mindset is to offer conceptual mathematical activities that help students learn and understand numbers and number facts. Brain researchers studied students learning math facts in two ways. One approach was through strategies; for example, learning 17 x 8 by working out 17 x 10 (170) and subtracting 17 x 2 (34). The other approach was through the memorization of facts (17 x 8 = 136). They found that the two approaches (strategies and memorization) involve two distinct pathways in the brain and that both pathways are perfectly good for lifelong use. Importantly, though, the study also found that those who learned through strategies achieved "superior performance" over those who memorized; they solved test questions at the same speed and showed better transfer to new problems. The brain researchers concluded that automaticity should be reached through the understanding of numerical relations, achieved through thinking about number strategies. ¹⁰

In another important study, researchers found that the most powerful learning occurs when we use different pathways in the brain. ¹¹ The left side of the brain handles factual and technical information; the right side handles visual and spatial information. Researchers found that mathematics learning and performance are optimized when the two sides of the brain are communicating. ¹² Researchers also found that when students were working on arithmetic problems, such as subtraction, the highest achievers were those who exhibited the strongest connections between the two sides of the brain. The implications of this finding are extremely important for mathematics learning, as they tell us that learning the formal abstract mathematics that makes up a lot of the school curriculum is enhanced when students are using visual and intuitive mathematical thinking.

In "Fluency without Fear," a paper published by Youcubed, the research group I lead, we included this evidence and activities that teachers and parents can use to enable the important brain connections. One of the math games we included in the paper became hugely popular after it was released and was tweeted around the world.

The game is called "How Close to 100?" Each student plays with his or her own game sheet, which is a blank 100-square grid (see Figure 1). To begin, the first player rolls two dice, and the numbers that come up are the numbers the student uses to make a rectangular array anywhere on the grid. The goal is to be the first person to fill the 10 x 10 grid. The students also fill in number sentences after each roll. The game ends when one player fills up his or her grid. (Watch a short video of students playing the game here.) In this game, the students are learning number facts, such as 4 x 6, but they are also doing something much more important. They are thinking about the meaning of the number facts and what 4 x 6 represents, visually and spatially.
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Another game that encourages the same powerful brain connections takes the idea of math cards, which are often used in damaging ways, such as drill and speed "flash cards," and uses them very differently. Our math cards depict numbers in various ways. For example, 9 and 4 can be shown with an area model, sets of objects such as dominoes, and a number sentence (see Figure 2). The aim of the game is to match cards with the same total, shown through different representations, with no time pressure. Teachers lay all the cards down on a table and ask students to take turns picking them. They pick as many as they can with the same total, shown through any representation, and then explain how they know that the different cards are equivalent.
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This activity again focuses on understanding multiplication, visually and spatially, encouraging brain connections at the same time as rehearsing math facts. The game can also be played with the cards face-down as a memory game to add an extra challenge.

These activities teach number sense and a mathematical mindset and encourage communication between brain pathways. The antithesis of this approach is a focus on rote memorization and speed. The more we emphasize memorization to students, the less willing they become to think about numbers and their relations and to use and develop number sense. ¹³ Some students are not as good at memorizing math facts as others. That is something to be celebrated; it is part of the wonderful diversity of life and people. Imagine how awful it would be if teachers gave tests of math facts and everyone answered them in the same way and at the same speed, as though they were all robots.

In a recent brain study, scientists examined students' brains as they were taught to memorize math facts. They saw that some students memorized them much more easily than others. This will come as no surprise to readers, and many of us would probably assume that those who memorized better were higher-achieving or "more intelligent" students. But the researchers found that the students who memorized more easily were not higher achieving; they did not have what the researchers described as more "math ability," nor did they have higher IQ scores. 14 The only differences the researchers found were in a brain region called the hippocampus, the area of the brain responsible for memorized facts. The hippocampus, like other brain regions, is not fixed and can grow at any time, ¹⁵ but it will always be the case that some students are faster or slower when memorizing, and this has nothing to do with mathematics potential.

In order to learn to be a good English student and to read and understand novels and poetry, students need to have memorized the meanings of many words. But no English student would say or think that learning English is about the fast memorization and recall of words. This is because we learn words by using them in many different situations-talking, reading, and writing. English teachers do not give students hundreds of words to memorize and then test them under timed conditions.

All subjects require the memorization of some facts, but mathematics is the only subject in which students are given frequent timed tests from a young age. Why do we treat mathematics in this way? We have the research evidence that shows students can learn math facts much more powerfully with engaging activities; now is the time to use this evidence and liberate students from mathematics fear.

Jo Boaler is a professor of mathematics education at Stanford University. The author of numerous books and research articles, she is the faculty director of Youcubed. This article is excerpted with permission of the publisher, Jossey-Bass/Wiley, from Mathematical Mindsets: Unleashing Students' Potential through Creative Math, Inspiring Messages and Innovative Teaching, by Jo Boaler. Copyright (c) 2015 by Jo Boaler. All rights reserved. This book is available wherever books and e-books are sold.

*For more on math anxiety, see " Have Math Anxiety?: Here's How to Not Pass It Down to Your Kid." (back to article)
†A full set of math cards and other free resources are available here. (back to article)

Endnotes

1. See, for example, Keith Devlin, The Math Instinct: Why You're a Mathematical Genius (along with Lobsters, Birds, Cats, and Dogs) (New York: Basic Books, 2006).

2. Sarah Flannery and David Flannery, In Code: A Mathematical Journey (New York: Workman Publishing, 2002).

3. Eddie M. Gray and David O. Tall, "Duality, Ambiguity, and Flexibility: A 'Proceptual' View of Simple Arithmetic," Journal for Research in Mathematics Education 25, no. 2 (1994): 116-140.

4. Jo Boaler, What's Math Got to Do with It?: How Teachers and Parents Can Transform Mathematics Learning and Inspire Success (New York: Penguin Books, 2015).

5. David Feikes and Keith Schwingendorf, "The Importance of Compression in Children's Learning of Mathematics and Teacher's Learning to Teach Mathematics," Mediterranean Journal for Research in Mathematics Education 7, no. 2 (2000).

6. William P. Thurston, "Mathematical Education," Notices of the American Mathematical Society 37, no. 7 (1990): 844-850.

7. Jo Boaler, "Fluency without Fear: Research Evidence on the Best Ways to Learn Math Facts," Youcubed (Stanford, CA: Stanford University, 2014), www.youcubed.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/FluencyWithoutFear-2015.pdf.

8. Sian L. Beilock, Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal about Getting It Right When You Have To (New York: Free Press, 2011).

9. Elena Silva and Taylor White, "Pathways to Improvement: Using Psychological Strategies to Help College Students Master Developmental Math" (Stanford, CA: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 2013).

10. Margaret Delazer et al., "Learning by Strategies and Learning by Drill-Evidence from an fMRI Study," NeuroImage 25, no. 3 (April 15, 2005): 839-849.

11. Joonkoo Park and Elizabeth M. Brannon, "Training the Approximate Number System Improves Math Proficiency," Association for Psychological Science (2013): 1-7.

12. Park and Brannon, "Training the Approximate Number System."

13. Boaler, What's Math Got to Do with It?

14. Kaustubh Supekar et al., "Neural Predictors of Individual Differences in Response to Math Tutoring in Primary-Grade School Children," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110, no. 20 (2013): 8230-8235.

15. A famous illustration of how the hippocampus brain region can grow is illustrated by the London Black Cab study of taxi drivers. For more about this study, see Katherine Woollett and Eleanor A. Maguire, "Acquiring 'the Knowledge' of London's Layout Drives Structural Brain Changes," Current Biology 21, no. 24 (2011): 2109-2114.

American Educator, Winter 2018-2019

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Babies and infants love mathematics. Give babies a set of blocks, and they will build and order them, fascinated by the ways the edges line up. Children will look up at the sky and be delighted by the V formations in which birds fly.

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In the summer of 2019, 16,000 libraries across the country will celebrate space exploration in their summer reading programs. The slogan "A Universe of Stories" was chosen by library professionals to help inspire children of all ages to dream big, believe in themselves, and create their own story.

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PA STEM Toolkit Shared Resources | OER Commons

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PA STEM Toolkit Shared Resources | OER Commons

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The STEM Toolkit Workgroup will identify and/or design, review, and curate integrated K-12 STEM lessons that are coherent with the Pennsylvania Department of Education's vision, mission, and belief structure for STEM Education.

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Unlocking STEM Pathways for All Students - Education Week

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Unlocking STEM Pathways for All Students - Education Week

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Which policies open doors for students to STEM-and which slam them shut?

What do you think of when you hear the word "gateway?" Is it a promising image, perhaps an invitation to a lush garden? Is it a forboding one, conjuring up the image of a heavy lock on a rusting door?

That's the double-edged nature of gateways, and in this special report, Education Week aims to explore both facets as they relate to students' progression through science, technology, engineering, and math in K-12 schools and into their futures.

Gateways can swing open, giving students opportunities to master the ability to think logically, reason, model solutions to problems, and troubleshoot, all of which are in demand among employers both in STEM fields and, increasingly in non-STEM ones.

Or gateways can shut and lock, cutting off the ability to acquire those skills and putting students at a disadvantage, perhaps for the rest of their lives.

Despite its reputation as a field flush with opportunity, even STEM can pose dead ends for students, such as the traps of remedial math education or course sequences that don't lead to high-paying, satisfying careers.

In one sense, the problem with defining high-quality, flexible STEM pathways in K-12 education begins with the looseness of the term STEM itself. Too many advocates use it glibly, implicitly giving it the suggestion of limitless promise and opportunity. But a close look at labor-market data suggests it's not as simple as that.

Not even federal agencies, for instance, agree on what counts as a STEM job, which makes it that much more challenging to settle on the preparation students need and the steps that K-12 educators should take to backmap the courses and experiences that fill in the gaps.

And outside of the core STEM jobs, exemplified by mathematicians and engineers, there's a wider range of required skills, training, and compensation in the fields. Take, for instance, the fastest-growing job in America, that of a solar-panel installer, which paid a median wage of $39,490 in 2017, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Does that gig require working knowledge of applied math and science? Sure. Is it what the experts touting STEM jobs have in mind as a high-paying, high-opportunity job? That's a tougher question.

Long before the jobs conversation ever comes up, K-12 educators have struggled to define how they can improve students' chances of success in STEM fields. There's solid agreement, for example, that students' early experiences with science and math in school are crucial. But the elementary teachers who are most likely to provide those experiences report feeling shakier in teaching them.

That's why one Alabama school has made STEM the centerpiece of its K-2 programming. Leaders there provide on-the-job training for teachers of the youngest children-and asks them to gradually take on more responsibility as they grow more knowledgeable and confident in their skills.

Sometimes, the work of opening up STEM gateways takes partnerships. For example, automation may have hollowed out the supply of old-school manufacturing jobs, but now there's a resurgence in advanced manufacturing jobs that pay good wages-and demand higher skills, such as the ability to oversee complex machines and processes.

To make sure the next generation of workers has those skills, local industries and K-12 leaders are working together to introduce the technologies in middle school.

New Debates, New Solutions

Perhaps inevitably, high school is home to some of the most ferocious debates about STEM preparation, particularly about how to structure the required sequences of courses that will ultimately funnel students to those fields.

At the zenith of most sequences stands calculus, long reserved for the elite and virtually a requirement for entry into a top-tier university. It's also one of the courses in which disparities between wealthy and disadvantaged students, as well as between white students and students of color, are rampant. And yet research suggests it's not a terribly good signal of future STEM success.

So now, some researchers ask, is there an opportunity to build a new pathway that doesn't replicate those problems? In today's data-rich world, they suggest, maybe the new gateway class should be statistics: being able to understand and interpret the numbers underpinning algorithms, surveys, and research in economics and many other fields.

It's not as outlandish an idea as it may seem: In a report released last month, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics also points to statistics as a topic that students should explore in far greater depth by the time they complete high school. And it, too, calls for more varied, but equally rigorous, pathways for all high school students.

Perhaps the most challenging puzzle of all are those young people for whom STEM has become a seemingly insurmountable barrier to future success. Unable to complete degree requirements, they struggle in the "black hole" of remedial high school or college math, trying again and again to master algebra.

Now, for those students, there's new hope: A set of classes that teach how to think of math as a specific kind of logic, a model for understanding the world. Increasingly, such approaches are influencing the way high schools think about accelerating students with weaker skills.

The gateways we've identified in this report are hardly the only ones that exist in the vast and nuanced landscape of STEM. But the challenges they pose to access to, and persistence in, STEM are real. We hope this special report gives you some ideas about where to find solutions.

Published in Print: May 23, 2018, as Unlocking STEM Pathways For All Students

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Unlocking STEM Pathways for All Students

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What do you think of when you hear the word "gateway?" Is it a promising image, perhaps an invitation to a lush garden? Is it a forboding one, conjuring up the image of a heavy lock on a rusting door?

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Interested in Connecting In-School and Out-of-School STEM Learning? | Connected Science Learning

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Interested in Connecting In-School and Out-of-School STEM Learning? | Connected Science Learning

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Use the National AfterSchool Association's resources to learn about best practices for implementing out-of-school STEM learning.
The National AfterSchool Association (NAA) is committed to providing professional development (PD), resources, and other opportunities that vary in level of commitment and intensity based on individual needs. Whether you're looking to deepen your knowledge about out-of-school (OST) STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) learning or to further support your team, the opportunities below can help.

Targeted professional learning resources and opportunities

Equips educatorswith strategies and training to provide students with powerful access to technology outside of school.

The NPDCS will develop and recognize afterschool professionals' facilitation skills, competency, and self-efficacy through digital badge microcredentials in STEM and other content areas.

Short and structured professional learning opportunities

Resources to host relevant PD discussions on a variety of topics, including STEM.

Four days of networking, learning, and inspiration: special events, educational sessions (25% STEM-related), daily keynotes, and an interactive learning expo.

Self-directed learning resources

AfterSchool Today magazine

NAA's official quarterly publication highlights member success and expertise with articles focused on afterschool research and practice.

eNews

Featuring weekly articles about current events and topics to inspire and equip afterschool professionals and leaders while informing those interested in afterschool research, programs, practices, and opportunities.

Social media

Find the latest in OST-#STEMSaturdays include posts on STEM education trends.

Other publications

Relationships with families and schools are a key component to afterschool program quality. This guide provides easy, adaptable messages for afterschool staff to communicate confidently and competently about why afterschool provides such a powerful space for STEM learning.

Studies show that OST STEM programs can have an impact on young people's attitudes toward STEM-sparking the passion needed to carry them through school and into STEM careers. Afterschool leaders have a responsibility to make these STEM experiences gender neutral and female positive.

This brief coauthored with the Afterschool Alliance, Alliance for a Healthier Generation, and National Girls Collaborative, shares the benefits of combining STEM and wellness resources to support development.

How to Stop the Summer Slide With STEM

During the summer, it's vital that young people have the opportunity for free play and exploration, and engage with more intentional educational activities. This e-book is full of ideas to stop the summer slide.

Interested in learning more or staying current on OST learning and connecting it to the school day? Visit www.naaweb.org.

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Interested in Connecting In-School and Out-of-School STEM Learning? | Connected Science Learning

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Use the National AfterSchool Association's resources to learn about best practices for implementing out-of-school STEM learning. The National AfterSchool Association (NAA) is committed to providing professional development (PD), resources, and other opportunities that vary in level of commitment and intensity based on individual needs.

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Infographic: Essential Practices for K-12 Science Classrooms | The National Academies Press

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Infographic: Essential Practices for K-12 Science Classrooms | The National Academies Press

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This interactive infographic from the National Academies Press highlights essential practices for K-12 science classrooms from A Framework for K-12 Science Education with references to the contents of the full report.

Read the report | Download the infographic (PDF)

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Infographic: Essential Practices for K-12 Science Classrooms

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This interactive infographic from the National Academies Press highlights essential practices for K-12 science classrooms from A Framework for K-12 Science Education with references to the contents of the full report. Read the report | Download the infographic (PDF)

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Introducing the New Agency by Design Website | Agency by Design

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Introducing the New Agency by Design Website | Agency by Design

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Introducing the New Agency by Design Website | Agency by Design

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the Agency by Design framework for maker-centered learning, featured documentation and assessment resources highlighting the most recent phases of work, Agency by Design media and publications, and project and funder pages to highlight the Origin Project, Early Childhood in the Making, and Making Across the Curriculum.

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NASA encourages you to visit NASA Kids' Club and use its games and activities to inspire the next generation.

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ERIC - Eyeballs in the Fridge: Sources of Early Interest in Science, International Journal of Science Education, 2010-Mar

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ERIC - Eyeballs in the Fridge: Sources of Early Interest in Science, International Journal of Science Education, 2010-Mar

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ERIC - Eyeballs in the Fridge: Sources of Early Interest in Science, International Journal of Science Education, 2010-Mar

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This paper examines the experiences reported by scientists and graduate students regarding the experiences that first engaged them in science. The interviews analysed for this paper come from Project Crossover, a mixed-methods study of the transition from graduate student to PhD scientist in the fields of chemistry and physics.

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NSTA Science Store :: Swing Set Makeover, Grade 3: STEM Road Map for Elementary School :: NSTA Press Book

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NSTA Science Store :: Swing Set Makeover, Grade 3: STEM Road Map for Elementary School :: NSTA Press Book

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NSTA Science Store :: Swing Set Makeover, Grade 3: STEM Road Map for Elementary School :: NSTA Press Book

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New in 2018! What if you could challenge your third graders to design a swing set that's safe but still lots of fun? With this volume in the STEM Road Map Curriculum Series , you can! Swing Set Makeover outlines a journey that will steer your students toward authentic problem solving while grounding them in integrated STEM disciplines.

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{FREE} Fairy Tale STEM: Literature Based Math and Engineering

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{FREE} Fairy Tale STEM: Literature Based Math and Engineering

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One of my favorite ways to make math engaging for my kids and to increase interest is to combine math with literature. There are so many wonderful children's books with beautiful illustrations, and almost any book can be used to explore math in some way. So today I'm going to share an entire collection of STEM ideas to go along with some fun and engaging Fairy Tale stories from Candlewick Press! This collection of Fairy Tale STEM Challenges will focus on math concepts, as well as engineering and design. So I hope you and your kids have fun with it!
*Please Note: This post was sponsored by Candlewick Press, and they provided the books for me to use and compensated me for my time. Read our full disclosure here.*
Why Fairy Tale STEM?

As I mentioned, I love combining math with literature. So when I was thinking about what books to try and how I could group them together, I decided on Fairy Tales.

I enjoy classic Fairy Tale stories, but I especially love fun and unique twists on a classic tale.

MY LATEST VIDEOS

So I feel like combining STEM challenges with known stories adds a whole new element of fun and interest.

Plus, a couple of the books I'll share are not your typical Fairy Tale, but really engaging stories using Fairy Tale characters.

So I hope you will check out this collection of books from Candlewick Press, as well as exploring the classic Fairy Tales a little deeper with the free Fairy Tale STEM download at the end of this post. 🙂

Fairy Tale STEM Building Challenges:

First I'm going to share 3 STEM building challenges that we did together based on 3 of the books we read.

Build the 3 Little Pigs' Houses:

The first story we read together is Fairy Tales for Mr. Barker.

This story tells of Lucy, who tries to read a story to her dog, Mr. Barker. When he doesn't listen and instead runs off, she follows him and they make their way through several classic Fairy Tale scenes.

At one point, they end up in the 3 Little Pig's straw house.

So we based this challenge on the 3 Little Pigs. I had my kids work on 3 different challenges: building a house out of straw (plastic or paper straws), sticks (toothpicks and marshmallows) and bricks (LEGO bricks).

We then compared the structures to see what was the strongest, which they could knock over, etc. They especially loved trying to "blow them down." Ha!

They loved this challenge and loved helping each other come up with ways to make them stand or hold together better. And they decided that the "stick" houses were the least sturdy!

Rescuing Rapunzel:

The next story we read is called The Fairy Tale Handbook. This is a very engaging, interactive book with lots of lift-the-flaps and pop-ups.

The kids have loved going back to this again and again to learn new secrets about Fairy Tale characters or find a new flap they didn't see before.

One page of the handbook gives a glimpse into the lives of Fairy Tale princesses, including Rapunzel.

Though her hair was long and strong enough for the witch and prince to climb up, we decided to create an alternative for her: a slide!

The challenge is to build a slide out of toilet paper rolls to help Rapunzel escape the tower.

By far the best part of this challenge was testing it out! We found several different dolls to slide down it, as well as some balls and marbles.

We then talked about how to make the slide stronger or faster (by making it steeper).

Build a Bed for Baby Bear:

The next book we read has been my favorite: Goldilocks and Just One Bear.

I won't spoil the story for you, but I will say it is an adorable twist on the classic Goldilocks story. I also loved the illustrations and the attention to humorous details that I don't think my kids got, but I enjoyed. 😉

For this challenge, I gathered a variety of materials from the dollar store and let my kids decide what they wanted to use.

The challenge is to build a strong, new bed for baby bear. I set out cupcake liners, paper, card stock, aluminum foil, bubble wrap, tape and scissors and they could use whatever they liked.

After they had each designed a bed, we piled pennies on top of each to see which could hold the most pennies before collapsing or ripping.

They then discussed why some materials held more than others, and how they could make it stronger.

Some changes they made to make them stronger was using multiple cupcake liners for the base, adding more tape to secure it better and turning the cupcake liners upside down.

My youngest placed a handful of liners upside down under the center of her bed to provide more stability and it helped strengthen it quite a bit.

Shapes, Counting and Fractions:

The next book we read was a fun adaptation of Cinderella. My kids loved this one because the illustrations reminded them of a Super Why story.

Design Cinderella's Castle:

For this story, we pulled out the pattern blocks to review shapes, composing and decomposing shapes as well as counting and skip counting.

I've done this before when my oldest was in Kindergarten, and it was a hit, so I updated the page to go along with this set of Fairy Tale STEM challenges (in the download below).

I suggest laminating this building mat so that your kids can write the totals in dry erase marker and complete it again and again with different designs.

There are lots of other discussions you can have once your kids have built a castle and counted the total of each shape.

For instance, how many blocks did you use altogether? How many rhombuses did you use (large and small)?

How many more squares did you use than triangles? How do you know?

Did you use an even number of blocks or odd?

Plus, if you have older kids, there's another building mat in the download that focuses on fractions, rather than counting.

So instead of writing they used 6 hexagons, they have to find what fraction of the whole 6 hexagons is.

Mapping Skills and Coordinates:

To finish our unit of Fairy Tale STEM challenges, I introduced mapping skills and finding coordinates with The Once Upon a Time Map Book.

I think this was my kids' favorite out of our Fairy Tale collection. It's an oversized book, with beautifully illustrated maps of Fairy Tale lands.

The book itself includes directions on each map to find your way through to either a special location, or to find some hidden treasure using the coordinates.

But I also created a "search and find" page for each map so my kids could have a place to record where items and characters are found. (Answer keys are also included)

These maps create a grid with A-E and 1-5 to list locations within the map. This is a great introduction to the coordinate plane and reading and writing coordinates.

My kids now understand that you have to list a horizontal and vertical direction to pinpoint a square in the map.

I hope this post has given you lots of fun ideas to incorporate math and engineering challenges into your Fairy Tales. And I hope you're excited to go check out some of these unique books from Candlewick Press!

All of the handouts, as well as a materials list are included in the download. You can grab it free in my shop by clicking the link below!
Want to see more fun and engaging collections from Candlewick Press? Check out these:
If you're interested in the Fairy Tale books, these collections, or any other Candlewick books, use the code: CANDLEWICK at checkout to save 25%!

Have fun exploring math and Fairy Tales!

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{FREE} Fairy Tale STEM: Literature Based Math and Engineering

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One of my favorite ways to make math engaging for my kids and to increase interest is to combine math with literature. There are so many wonderful children's books with beautiful illustrations, and almost any book can be used to explore math in some way.

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At SCALE Science, our mission is to improve practice, research and policy to support classroom instruction and student learning through the development of performance-based science curriculum and assessments. We work with educators to create more equitable classrooms in the service of more meaningful learning experiences and outcomes for all students, especially for those traditionally underserved.

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‘Peanuts’ and NASA are collaborating again — five decades after Snoopy’s moon mission - The Washington Post

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‘Peanuts’ and NASA are collaborating again — five decades after Snoopy’s moon mission - The Washington Post

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July 10
EVEN BEFORE man had landed on the moon, Snoopy had landed his name on NASA equipment. Now, "Peanuts" and the space agency will launch a new phase of partnership.

Peanuts Worldwide and NASA will announce on Tuesday that they have entered into a multiyear Space Act Agreement, executives at Peanuts tell The Washington Post's Comic Riffs. The partnership is engineered "to inspire a passion for space exploration and STEM" education among students, according to Peanuts Worldwide.

Jean Schulz, widow of "Peanuts" creator Charles M. "Sparky" Schulz, said that the initiative continues the cartoonist's enthusiasm for NASA, noting: "It was all very personal for Sparky."

NASA first approached Schulz in the mid-1960s about putting Snoopy - famously an aviator in "Peanuts" fantasy sequences - on its spaceflight safety materials. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the creation of the agency's Silver Snoopy Award - an honor that recognizes achievements by NASA employees and contractors - and in 1969, the Apollo 10 lunar mission named modules for hard-luck Charlie Brown and his beagle, Snoopy.

Craig Schulz, the cartoonist's youngest son and "The Peanuts Movie" producer, noted that his father called the Apollo 10 naming "the proudest moment in his career."

Added Jean Schulz: "Sparky saw that if these men were willing to risk their lives for a mission such as this, he certainly could bless the use of his characters."

The new era of collaboration aims to create entertainment content - including publishing, merchandising and interactive projects - that can help popularize science and tech education.

"With its new mission for 'Peanuts,' NASA now has the chance to branch off, or rather 'STEM-off,' its 50 years of success using Snoopy as a symbol for human spaceflight safety, while at the same time being able to engage a new generation with a set of highly relatable and widely recognizable characters," said Robert Pearlman, the editor of collectSPACE and past online program director for the National Space Society.

"The 'Peanuts' gang are as diverse in their personality and approach as are the many opportunities that await those who embrace science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects," continued Pearlman, an expert on the cultural intersection of space and pop culture, from collectibles to educational guides.

For the new campaign, Astronaut Snoopy will be the face of STEM-based school curriculums with a focus on America's latest explorations into deep space.

"The stars aligned - we all wanted to reach kids together," said Roz Nowicki, executive vice president at Peanuts Worldwide.

Peanuts Worldwide plans to unveil details next week at Comic-Con International in San Diego.
Read more: You're a good Canadian, Charlie Brown: $345 million DHX deal is a smart move for 'Peanuts' Exclusive: Thanks to the 'Peanuts Movie,' here's your new Little Red-Haired Girl
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'Peanuts' and NASA are collaborating again - five decades after Snoopy's moon mission

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July 10 EVEN BEFORE man had landed on the moon, Snoopy had landed his name on NASA equipment. Now, "Peanuts" and the space agency will launch a new phase of partnership. Peanuts Worldwide and NASA will announce on Tuesday that they have entered into a multiyear Space Act Agreement, executives at Peanuts tell The Washington Post's Comic Riffs.

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What a Misplaced Mattress Teaches Kids About Scientific Push and Pull Forces

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What a Misplaced Mattress Teaches Kids About Scientific Push and Pull Forces

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Good morning! Time to head out the door and start the day.

Wait. What's that thing up there in the tree? It's ... a bed. And it's hanging upside down.

Huh?

How did that happen?
So Begins a Delightful Mystery
Curious students will have fun solving the mystery in Kristel Pushes and Pulls. NSTA author Morris McCormick's Enhanced E-book combines engaging, full-color graphics with dynamic enhancements and interactive features for students to learn, share, and explore. Animations, simulations, and video bring content to life, while pop-up review questions and special notes help underscore the most crucial points of knowledge.

This interactive e-book takes students through a day in Kristel's life, one in which she explores push and pull forces. Students seek answers to questions such as how forces cause objects to change position or move different distances, as well as change speed and direction. Each of Kristel's normal, every-day activities, such as eating breakfast, cleaning her room or playing soccer, become opportunities for students to figure out just how that bed came to land on the tree in her front yard.
Real-Life Content (and Context)
McCormick, who has been an elementary school educator in the Los Angeles School District for well over a decade, used his professional as well as personal expertise to form the book's content. His daughter served as the inspiration for Kristel, the lead character. Observing how his own children engage with technology at home, as well as his students in the classroom, McCormick knew that a good story needed to be embedded within this engaging teaching tool to encourage kids to want to explore it.

Where the e-book started conceptually, McCormick admits, was nothing like where ended up.

"In Round I, I was asking myself, 'What have I gotten myself into?'" McCormick laughs in recalling the creative process.

"I wrote a story ... much more like a Dr. Seuss children's book. After much conversation with my editor, I knew that I needed to build in curriculum and a teacher's manual. With that expert guidance, I was able to flesh out how to do this."

The events in the story were intentionally chosen so that children everywhere could relate. The same thought was given to making Kristel's family ethnically diverse, McCormick added.

"We are a racially blended family; my own family mirrors what America looks like. I wanted kids everywhere to 'see' themselves in this book."

McCormick, who admits to being old enough "to remember using a rotary phone," welcomes the addition of teaching tools such as Enhanced E-books.

"I would love to see teaching tools like this be transformed into virtual reality where kids are transported right into the story," he said.

"The kids we are teaching today? Everyone is connected-even in the poorest neighborhoods," he added. "I teach in a Title I school and at least half of my students come to the classroom with an electronic device. Our students today will be coding at whatever job they do in the future. They will be exponentially ahead of where we are in school right now."
The Student Becomes the Teacher
McCormick now teaches in the same credentialing program that he went through in becoming certified to teach.

Teachers, he stressed, must catch up. With their own students.

"We teach children to be lifelong learners. I'm a National Board-certified teacher. I have to continue to learn to keep my certification current. We have to change what we are teaching in our credentialing programs. New teachers need to be prepared for today's classrooms and to be able to grow with their students.

"Student engagement is everything," McCormick explained. "If we can get student buy-in, then learning happens. We have to meet students where they are. Think about adult learners at a professional development conference. If we don't like what we are hearing, what do we do? We get up and leave. Unfortunately, children don't get that opportunity. We have to understand what children want to learn and get their buy in. I do this with my own children at home; why should the classroom be any different?"

Survey after survey confirms that kids use technology at home that harnesses their attraction for learning. Through entertainment, McCormick said.

"An e-book can replicate this. It brings that piece of entertainment to learning."

As for what's next for this NSTA author? He's already conceptualizing his next NSTA e-book. He admits that the pressure is on him to "produce."

"My son ... he's seen his sister 'on the big screen' in our house, so he's asked, 'Where am I, daddy?'"

"I told him that he's in the next book."

Learn about other titles in the .

About the Author: Morris McCormick is a graduate of CSUN (ACT-Elementary Ed)/ MA-Curriculum & Instruction). He's National Board Certified (Middle Childhood Generalist), Level 2 Google Educator, and a trainer for the Boston Museum's Engineering is Elementary curriculum. He currently teaches at Arminta Street Elementary in North Hollywood, as well as, 'Math Methods' courses at Cal State Northridge.

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.
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What a Misplaced Mattress Teaches Kids About Scientific Push and Pull Forces

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Good morning! Time to head out the door and start the day. Wait. What's that thing up there in the tree? It's ... a bed. And it's hanging upside down. Huh? How did that happen? So Begins a Delightful Mystery Curious students will have fun solving the mystery in Kristel Pushes and Pulls.

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Kindergarten Citizen Scientists: Taking Action to Save the Earth

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Kindergarten Citizen Scientists: Taking Action to Save the Earth

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My kindergarten students recently became citizen scientists as they investigated their big questions about the natural world around them. The snow finally melted, the critters have made their appearance, and the plants are beginning to bloom. It's early May, and Spring has finally arrived-not a moment too soon. Our class has been out walking on our school trails, observing the signs of life that finally have appeared!

After reading aloud Salamander Sky, a new book by Katy Farber; The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry; What Matters by Allison Hughes and Holly Hatam; Sandy's Incredible Shrinking Footprint by Femida Handy and Carole Carpenter; and Take Care of The Earth Every Day by Tammy Gagne, students wondered about our natural world and how we can care for our plants, critters, and everything around us. Some questions they asked were these: How can we ensure clean water for amphibians and fish? How do we keep the air and land clean? How can we protect forests, which many creatures call home? How can we protect the food supply of the creatures in our environment?

Students brainstormed to create a list of the many comforts and conveniences we humans enjoy, such as disposable containers and wrappers, paper and canned goods, gas for cars, goods produced in factories, and trees that are transformed into things we use. They discussed the many ways our comforts and conveniences can affect the land, air, water, and other life in our environment. They shared their concerns that trash is accumulating in landfills or is left where it can harm animals and the land, that emissions from cars and factories cause air and water pollution, and that cutting down trees can leave animals without homes and food.

Students were eager and excited to identify many ways we can all help. They believe we should use less, reuse when possible, and recycle items; drive less, ride bikes, drive electric cars, or carpool; make better filters, ask companies to "please stop releasing harmful chemicals into the environment"; write letters to the governor and president requesting change; and cut down fewer trees or plant more in their place to save the homes of creatures and to create more clean air. My students' ideas are their own, and they are brilliant!

In response to our daily read-alouds and discussions, students wrote nonfiction books titled All About What Citizen Scientists Do that detailed the many great ways they chose to take action. Students agreed to create signs to remind others about caring for the environment; build birdhouses and bird feeders; use recycled materials to create art; start a compost bucket at home and school; write a letter to the governor about ways to save the environment; and ride their bikes more often instead of traveling in cars.

Students also enjoyed participating in an all-school Green Up Day event to clean up our school and community, as shown in the pictures featuring the cross-grade collaborative greening up they did with fifth and sixth graders. Finally, our class shared their stories and finished products with other students and teachers in the school to inspire others to become citizen scientists. My students are busy saving the planet, and we hope you will do so, too!

I would enjoy hearing your feedback on this science investigation or if you had similar investigations to share. Comment below and I'll be sure to respond.
Standards Addressed Through These Activities
K-ESS3-3.3: Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, air, water, and/or other living things in the local environment.

Core Idea: K-ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems: Things that people do to live comfortably can affect the world around them. But they can make choices that reduce their impacts on the land, water, air, and other living things.

Core Idea: ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions: Designs can be conveyed through sketches, drawings, or physical models. These representations are useful in communicating ideas for a problem's solutions to other people.
Crosscutting Concept: Events have causes that generate observable patterns.

W.K.2: Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply information about the topic.

Transferable Skill: Engaged Citizenship-Participate in and contribute to our local and global communities.
Kelly MacMartin is a passionate kindergarten teacher at Calais Elementary School in the Washington Central Supervisory Union in Vermont. She has taught for 12 years at the primary level. She is passionate about connecting with students in all instructional areas, but especially loves helping students explore their own topics of inquiry related to the natural world. MacMartin is studying in the School Leadership program at Saint Michael's College and enjoys sharing and learning great practice with and from colleagues.
This article was featured in the May issue of Next Gen Navigator, a monthly e-newsletter from NSTA delivering information, insights, resources, and professional learning opportunities for science educators by science educators on the Next Generation Science Standards and three-dimensional instruction. Click here to sign up to receive the Navigator every month.

Visit NSTA's NGSS@NSTA Hub for hundreds of vetted classroom resources, professional learning opportunities, publications, ebooks and more; connect with your teacher colleagues on the NGSS listservs ( members can sign up here); and join us for discussions around NGSS at an upcoming conference.
The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.
Future NSTA Conferences

2018 STEM Forum & Expo

Dive into Three-Dimensional Instruction Workshop

2018 Area Conferences

2019 National Conference

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Kindergarten Citizen Scientists: Taking Action to Save the Earth

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My kindergarten students recently became citizen scientists as they investigated their big questions about the natural world around them. The snow finally melted, the critters have made their appearance, and the plants are beginning to bloom. It's early May, and Spring has finally arrived-not a moment too soon.

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The sudden discharge of a massive amount of electricity superheats the air around it. Lightning can be up to 50,000°F, which is five times hotter than the surface of the Sun. The generation of this much heat all at once produces a lot of noise, up to 120 decibels at close range.

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The Summer After Kindergarten: Children’s Experiences by Socioeconomic Characteristics

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The Summer After Kindergarten: Children’s Experiences by Socioeconomic Characteristics

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The Summer After Kindergarten: Children's Experiences by Socioeconomic Characteristics

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Find information about and locate all publications and data products on education information from the National Center for Education Statistics--NCES--. In most cases you may also browse the content of publications or download data files.

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Expanding Access and Inclusion in STEM through Culturally Responsive Family Engagement - STEM Next

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Expanding Access and Inclusion in STEM through Culturally Responsive Family Engagement - STEM Next

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What can we do differently to improve access to and inclusion in STEM? Include families! The research is clear and consistent: Families are among the biggest influence on youth outcomes, including in STEM, and especially for girls. Importantly, families don't need to be STEM experts themselves or to have a STEM background in order to support youth in STEM. Informal STEM programs are perfectly placed to support parents and caregivers to encourage, broker and navigate.

Culturally responsive family engagement is both a strategy and a process that maximizes the unique strengths, interests, needs, and complexities of communities who are underrepresented in STEM. As an approach to equitable and inclusive education, culturally responsive STEM is sensitive to the historical disparity of power and privilege between providers and program participants, particularly with respect to cultural differences across race, language, religion, geography, language and nationality. Why is it important? Culturally responsive family engagement intentionally taps into family culture and history to develop curriculum that is engaging and meaningful.

In this Case Study, Drs. Sammet and Kekelis highlight best practices and lessons learned from two programs - Techbridge Girls and Code Next - that serve communities with important cultural differences across race/ethnicity, religion, geography, language and immigration status. This case study offers insights for both practitioners and funders of STEM programs.

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Expanding Access and Inclusion in STEM through Culturally Responsive Family Engagement - STEM Next

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In this Case Study, Drs. Sammet and Kekelis highlight best practices and lessons learned from two programs - Techbridge Girls and Code Next - that serve communities with important cultural differences across race/ethnicity, religion, geography, language and immigration status.

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9 Best Engineering & Inventors Books For Children | Fatherly

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9 Best Engineering & Inventors Books For Children | Fatherly

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Toys that purport to teach STEM skills are all the rage, but plopping a box in front of a child is just as likely to teach them how to lose a bunch of toy pieces as it is to generate invention ideas for kids. If you really want to encourage a builder's mindset, start with kids mechanic books and engineering books, where you control the message. It may not guarantee that they get straight As in physics or finally design hoverboards, but it will ensure that when the subject arises they can say, "I read a book (or 9) about that once."

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

This moving, cinematic story of a thieving orphan who tends the clocks in a Paris train station and unlocks the mystery his deceased father leaves behind won the 2008 Caldecott Medal, but it sounds familiar to you because it inspired Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning 2011 film, Hugo. So you can introduce your kid to engineering and prestige filmmaking in one shot, without forcing them to sit through 3-plus hours of Jack Nicholson attempting a Boston accent.
Ages: 8-12

Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts

The Godmother of maker women was World War 2's Rosie "We Can Do It!" The Riveter, whom the title character of this book is lucky enough to have as a great-great aunt. Rosie (the younger) is too shy to talk about her passion for inventing, but is motivated by a timely visit from Rosie (the elder) to pursue her dreams, attempt to build a flying machine, and start wearing a polka-dotted scarf around her head.
Ages: 5-7

Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret E. Knight Became An Inventor by Emily Arnold McCully

Check that - Rosie has some company in the lesser known Knight, aka "The Lady Edison," whose story reads like a real-life Rosie Revere. As a child she built her mother a foot warmer. At 12 she designed safer looms that saved textile workers' lives. After that went uncredited, she continued inventing as an adult and fought to become the first woman ever granted a U.S. patent. The only thing she didn't do was get herself on an iconic World War 2 marketing campaign.
Ages: 6-10

Papa's Mechanical Fish by Candace Fleming and Boris Kulikov

No discussion of little-known, hard-to-believe-they're-real 19th-century inventors is complete without mentioning Lodner Phillips, whose eccentric life inspired this tale of a bumbling inventor who builds his greatest creation thanks to his inquisitive daughter. The real Philips designed early submarines and tested them by taking his family picnicking under Lake Michigan. Most of his inventions were never produced, nor was a Disney movie about his life; only one of those things seems reasonable.
Ages: 4-8

What Do You Do With An Idea? by Kobi Yamada and Mae Besom

A small child nurtures an egg-shaped idea that, over the course of the story, grows, starts to show small cracks until ... yeah, might have a clue where this one's going. Read this to your kid to remind them that you never know what an idea can grow into unless you pursue it, or keep a copy for yourself to remind you it's never too late to finish whatever it was you were doing before you had kids.
Ages: 3+

Hello Ruby: Adventures In Coding by Linda Liukas

Hello Ruby blew past its $10,000 funding goal in 3.5 hours and became the most funded children's book ever on Kickstarter because you want your kids to speak code the same way your parents wanted you to speak Spanish. The story sees Ruby befriending anthropomorphized programming languages in her quest to find 5 hidden gems and introduces coding basics through storytelling and activities.
Ages: 4-8

If I Built a Car by Chris Van Dusen

A young boy named Jack details all the fantastical elements of his dream car, and really should be getting a job offer from Google pretty soon because his design blows way past driverless. The writing and illustration is Dr. Seuss-meets- Popular Mechanics-meets The Jetsons, so you'll either lap up the nostalgia or get really annoyed that we still don't have flying cars.
Ages: 3-5

Coppernickel, The Invention by Wouter van Reek

This book explores many ideas at once - invention, adventure, art - much like the overactive imagination of the titular protagonist, a bird named Coppernickel. Luckily, his trusty best friend, Tungsten the dog, is there to keep him grounded after a blank page at the end of a book of inventions inspires him to build an overly complex elderberry-picking machine. So in addition to an inventive spirit, your kid will get a head-start on their Monty Python knowledge after they ask you what an elderberry is.
Ages: 4-8

The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires

A little girl is determined to "make the most magnificent thing," until she repeatedly tries, fails, and quits. Only after her dog encourages her to take a walk is she able to clear her head, rethink the problem, and succeed. Teaches kids the valuable lessons of perseverance, ingenuity, and walking the dog.
Ages: 3-7

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9 Books That Will Inspire Your Kid To Build, Invent, And Engineer

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Toys that purport to teach STEM skills are all the rage, but plopping a box in front of a child is just as likely to teach them how to lose a bunch of toy pieces as it is to generate invention ideas for kids.

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At the NSTA National Conference in Atlanta, I was honored to give the Mary C. McCurdy lecture on young children and their natural curiosity about how the world works. Anyone who has ever spent time with them knows they are born scientists who are curious about the natural world and continuously question, test, and try to make sense of it. Research studies bear this out: "All children bring basic reasoning skills, knowledge of the natural world, and curiosity, which can be built on to achieve proficiency in science" (see Taking Science to School, NRC 2007).

Why, then, do young people become so disinterested in science, often by the time they reach middle school? Even Albert Einstein observed, "It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education." Who am I to correct Einstein, but this statement could be modified to say it's a miracle when curiosity survives formal education. How then do we preserve children's natural sense of wonder in an era of new standards and change in science education?

The Next Generation Science Standards ( NGSS), and the Framework on which they are based, describe an ambitious vision for students' science learning. Three-dimensional science learning-learning core ideas and crosscutting concepts by engaging in scientific and engineering practices-has major implications for traditional curriculum, instruction, and assessment in science. Because NGSS is intended to reflect scientists' and engineers' authentic work, it fundamentally serves as a vehicle for promoting curiosity about phenomena. Focusing on phenomena isn't merely a way to generate interest and excitement, it also should elicit students' wonderings in ways that produce an overarching question to guide investigation; create a persistent need to explain/understand; and require sustained investigation (STEM Teaching Tool #28). In other words, an emphasis on phenomena and 3-D learning should by their very nature cultivate curiosity about how the world works.

In this post, I identify two common practices in elementary school science that interfere with children's curiosity, coupled with instructional practices that nurture wonder. As you read, I encourage you to reflect on your own science teaching and share the work you do to nurture children's innate curiosity about the natural world.
Shifts in Science Teaching Practices That Support Wonder
It is commonplace in many school settings to pre-teach vocabulary before engaging in investigations and sensemaking. I have referred to this as "the vocabulary dilemma." As I worked closely with teacher colleagues, I observed that teaching vocabulary by defining terms appears to stem from traditional ELA instruction and the pressures of high-stakes testing. The practice works against curiosity by focusing on pre-defined terms, which are decontextualized, and represents science as little more than a static body of facts. When taught this way, the focus is on reading, writing, speaking, and listening "about" science.

So what is the alternative? Tying words to meaning requires engaging with and investigating phenomena while accepting "kid talk" until the point in the sensemaking process that children have enough experiences and emerging understanding of the core idea(s) that it makes sense to introduce the scientific term(s). For example, rather than defining force at the beginning of a unit, allow children to explore a variety of forces. Resist introducing the term until they have enough experiences to make the connection between the word and its meaning in context.

This may sound simple, but resisting the urge to explain and define vocabulary during the act of teaching requires intentional planning for opportunities for children to participate in sensemaking: reading, writing, speaking, and listening "for" science (NRC 2014). Remember that NGSS implementation requires a phenomena-based context in which students themselves are interested and motivated to investigate, explain, and understand.

My next example of common practices that inhibit children's natural curiosity may surprise you. It's hands-on activities, something a teacher colleague calls "snacks and crafts" science. It is deceiving because when kids are doing activities, they appear to be engaged and having fun. So how does "activity-mania" counteract a sense of wonder? When taught in this way, science may indeed be exciting; however, an activity focus is often driven by science topics or themes and does not build toward a coherent science content storyline (Reiser 2013).

Additionally, collections of fun activities rarely involve students in scientific practices, such as modeling, arguing from evidence, and constructing explanations. Kids may find out "about" cool science facts or see "flash bang" demonstrations, but they are not participating productively in scientific discourse and practices that are essential for sensemaking. So children's excitement about activities tend to wane as the activity concludes instead of persisting across a unit of study, driven by students' need to explain and understand some aspect of how the world works.

As we progress in the hard work of NGSS implementation, it is important to consider that we have all been rendered novices in some way by the ambitious new vision for students' science learning. In the end, however, teachers are the ones left to enact the instructional practices that support this vision, often in the isolation of our own classrooms. Change requires us to be curious, not only about the NGSS, but also about how children learn and how our instructional practices impact their learning.

Additionally, we must be willing to share what we find as we engage in inquiry into science teaching and learning with others. In her book A Sense of Wonder, marine biologist and conservationist Rachel Carson describes her wish for every child as an indestructible sense of wonder that lasts a lifetime and protects from the disenchantment that comes with age. My wish for you as an educator is that you, too, will never lose your sense of wonder.
I welcome feedback on your experiences with making these challenging shifts away from pre-teaching vocabulary and activity-mania to tying science words to meaning, and using phenomena to promote coherence across investigations. Please comment below...
Carla Zembal-Saul is a professor of science education and the Kahn Professor of STEM Education at Penn State University. A former middle school science teacher with a background in biology, she is co-author of the book What's Your Evidence? Engaging K-5 Students in Constructing Explanations in Science. Zembal-Saul's research investigates instructional practices and tools that support preservice and practicing elementary teachers in engaging children productively in scientific practices and discourse with an emphasis on sensemaking about natural phenomena. She is deeply invested in practitioner inquiry and video analysis of practice as mechanisms for advancing teacher learning and development. In 2015, Zembal-Saul was recognized as a NSTA Fellow, and she served on the National Academies of Sciences consensus panel that produced the report, Science Teachers' Learning: Enhancing Opportunities, Creating Supportive Contexts.

This article was featured in the April issue of Next Gen Navigator, a monthly e-newsletter from NSTA delivering information, insights, resources, and professional learning opportunities for science educators by science educators on the Next Generation Science Standards and three-dimensional instruction. Click here to access other articles from the April issue. Click here to sign up to receive the Navigator every month.

Visit NSTA's NGSS@NSTA Hub for hundreds of vetted classroom resources, professional learning opportunities, publications, ebooks and more; connect with your teacher colleagues on the NGSS listservs ( members can sign up here); and join us for discussions around NGSS at an upcoming conference.
The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.
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Cultivating Every Child's Curiosity in the Natural World

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At the NSTA National Conference in Atlanta, I was honored to give the Mary C. McCurdy lecture on young children and their natural curiosity about how the world works. Anyone who has ever spent time with them knows they are born scientists who are curious about the natural world and continuously question, test, and try to make sense of it.

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Notes and ideas for ECP and STEM Literacy.docx

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Children are capable of understanding science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) concepts when they are less than a year old but these skills must be developed intentionally, according to a new report released by The Center for Childhood Creativity (CCC) at the Bay Area Discovery Museum.

The authors of " The Roots of STEM Success " reviewed more than 150 studies and found that kids capable of developing complex thinking skills before they are even verbal. The report also found that different types of play are essential for developing skills critical for STEM fields, like curiosity, questioning and analysis.

Children are "developing theories about how the world works" from a young age, said Elizabeth Rood, the director of the Center for Childhood Creativity at the Bay Area Discovery Museum and the co-author of the report. Rood said parents and caregivers can help. "We want parents to see the ways that play and everyday life experiences can be building kids' STEM thinking...if we can just become a smidge more intentional about the conversations we have, the questions we ask, and the experiences we provide."

Here are some of the ways adults can encourage STEM thinking skills from an early age.

1. Give children toys that have "manipulative elements" like balls and rattles. Ask children to control elements of these toys, like building higher towers or making the rattle softer or louder.

2. Have children explain how simple tools in your house work, like a can opener or a door hinge.

3. Allow infants to practice "repetitive play," like dropping a spoon over and over, which helps the child learn about concepts like gravity long before they learn what gravity is.

4. Give children time to practice four kinds of play: pretend play that involves a child using their imagination; exploratory play where children create experiments or take things apart; guided play where adults play and interact with children, and free play without an adult involved.

5. Allow exploratory play (within reason and with safety in mind), even if that means a toddler may get dirty.

6. Ask "why," "what" and "how" questions as much as possible to push children to explain their thinking.

7. Use complex and accurate vocabulary words, even with babies. Introduce them to words like "stable" when building a tower or "fragile" when touching objects.

8. Teach children that they are constantly learning by encouraging them to say, "I can't do this yet" instead of "I can't do this."

Rood said the research is clear that talking to kids about ideas and concepts is critical. "Find those everyday moments and talk with your kids and use big words and describe phenomena," Rood said. "Don't get so hung up on feeling like you have to teach them. Just have an experience with them that's tapping into the wonder of how math and science and engineering is all around us."

This story was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for our newsletter.

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Eight ways to introduce kids to STEM at an early age - The Hechinger Report

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Children are capable of understanding science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) concepts when they are less than a year old but these skills must be developed intentionally, according to a new report released by The Center for Childhood Creativity (CCC) at the Bay Area Discovery Museum.

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The 17 best kids’ books about design and cities - Curbed

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The 17 best kids’ books about design and cities - Curbed

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Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. For more information, see our ethics policy.

The perfect children's book both captivates the young reader and provides enough substance to keep parents from tearing their hair out at bedtime. We combed through this year's fresh crop of picture books focused on cities, architecture, and design, and discovered 17 new books perfect for young urbanists-and their design-savvy parents.

The best books of 2017 are sure to visually delight readers of all ages while teaching kids how to become the next generation of smart thinkers, inventive creators, and model citizens.

Some of this year's fantastic books are about famous architects-here's looking at you, Zaha Hadid and Frank Lloyd Wright-some are about cities, and some are simply about what it means to be home. All would make great gifts for future Curbed readers. Adults, be sure to peruse our list of 101 books about where and how we live for more grownup gift ideas.

Brooklyn-based author and artist Kelli Anderson takes reading to another level in this brightly colored, well-designed book. Pop-ups reveal six fully functional tools, including a working planetarium projecting the constellations, a musical instrument, and a speaker that amplifies sound. Think of it as a tactile science book that helps kids explore the world around them.

The colors and illustrations alone make this book a lovely addition to the bookcase, but the captivating story of Disney artist Mary Blair will keep kids coming back for more. Expand your child's color repertoire and learn how Blair saw the world in azure, mauve, apricot, and indigo.

Impeccably illustrated, this thoughtful picture book tells the story of Maya Lin, the American artist who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The book is an experiment in minimalism-mimicking Lin's style-with lyrical text, a light color palette, and a softness that invites readers to relate to Lin's life and work.

Windows by Julia Denos

Walking through a neighborhood at night, it's easy for kids to get a glimpse into the life of strangers as they peek into well-lit windows. Julia Denos's new children's book, Windows, is a love letter to the post-dinner walk, an inviting look at the possibility, beauty, and camaraderie that can be found in our communities.

Inspire creativity in young readers with a claymation story about two blobs of clay that can become anything. Billed as a "photographic friendship adventure," kids will love the funny dialogue so much they will beg you to read this one again.

Despite not being as design-focused as some of the other books on this list, Little Leaders makes the cut thanks to its descriptions of 40 trail blazing Black women from throughout history. The beautifully illustrated books brings to life the contributions of artists, economists, writers, social activists, and more. It's a civics lesson in just under 100 pages.

Fans of onomatopoeia-when words imitate a sound-will love this boisterous tale of a boy's journey to the city of Havana, Cuba, in his parent's car. The streets come to life as the family rolls by, but the trip is paused when the old car engine needs work. A loving take on Cuban culture.

It can be hard to talk to kids about the dangers of the world, especially when we're confronted with a 24-7 news cycle that churns out doom and gloom. But Michael Leannah's Most People offers parents a good place to start. The story follows two pairs of siblings through crowded city streets to show that despite big differences in appearance, most people love to smile, laugh, and live.

Whether it's a produce stand, bakery, or a bodega, local shops are the life-blood of cities. In Crown, Derrick Barnes celebrates the neighborhood barbershop. Readers will love the paint-inspired picture and the story of how a young boy feels getting his hair cut in the barber's chair: "A fresh cut makes boys fly."

Burgeoning designers and architects will love this ode to the late Zaha Hadid, one of the world's foremost architects. The book reveals how Iraq-born Hadid dreamed of designing her own cities and how she overcame challenges to make her ideas a reality.

Most children are familiar with the Statue of Liberty in New York, but few know that the statue stands in mid-stride, with one foot raised forward. Colorful depictions of urban life mix with little known history to reveal a profound lesson about our country's most famous statue.

Stunning illustrations supplement an enthralling story in Muddy: The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters. Introduce kids to a blues musician who laid the foundation for rock and roll, despite setbacks and struggle. Muddy's tale of perseverance will inspire children again and again.

A biography of the iconic American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, design-minded parents will love the story of how a small boy became a world-renowned architect. But kids will appreciate this book's brightly colored, whimsical drawings that show Wright's inspirations in top-notch style.

With notches on many best-of lists, Town is by the Sea uses captivating illustrations by Sydney Smith to tell the tale of a typical day in a Cape Breton mining town. Repetition and simple words mimic the patterns of a young boy's life: His town is by the sea and everyday his father toils beneath the earth in the mines. Children find the story interesting and the pictures beautiful; adults are captivated by the knowledge that the boy will one day head to the mines, too. "I'm a miner's son. In my town, that's the way it goes."

City dwellers rejoice: Noisy Night offers a fresh take on what it's like to live in an urban space. Rich illustrations combine with simple phrasing as readers climb floor by floor to see who's singing, dancing, and laughing in a tall apartment building.

This award-winning book is a must-buy for parents who want to inspire kindness and a budding appreciation for the Earth. Artist Oliver Jeffers' beautiful illustrations show the world in all of its diversity and grandness, from the smallest child to the largest ocean.

A few of the women included this book are more familiar to families-short blurbs describe how women like Helen Keller and Harriet Tubman persisted against insurmountable odds. But this well-organized picture book also features lesser known women like Clara Lemlich, a garment factory worker who helped to expose the factory's dire conditions and improve working conditions in cities across the U.S.

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The 17 best kids' books about design and cities

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Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. For more information, see our ethics policy. The perfect children's book both captivates the young reader and provides enough substance to keep parents from tearing their hair out at bedtime.

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High Schools Are Adding More STEM Classes. It May Not Be Enough - Curriculum Matters - Education Week

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High Schools Are Adding More STEM Classes. It May Not Be Enough - Curriculum Matters - Education Week

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"No young person in America should miss out on the chance to excel in [STEM] fields just because they don't have the resources."

Remember this line? It's from a 2015 speech by then-President Barack Obama. Or how about this?

"My administration will do everything possible to provide our children, especially kids in underserved areas, with access to high-quality education in science, technology, engineering, and math."

That was from a 2017 promise by President Donald Trump to direct the U.S. Department of Education to prioritize STEM in its grant programs.

For more than a decade, politicians have raised concerns that not enough U.S. students are specializing in these subjects, leaving the country reliant on talent from overseas to fill engineering and tech jobs. All of that has led to a tremendous amount of attention on the "STEM pipeline" and how to improve it.

Now, new research suggests that one of the popular policy solutions-increasing access to STEM courses in high school-may be no panacea for producing more college students who take STEM classes or major in STEM fields, raising big questions about what needs to change in K-12 to improve outcomes in the field.

It finds that high schools with a greater menu of STEM classes did not produce students more likely to declare a STEM major in college-or to earn a degree in a STEM subject-at noticeably higher rates than their peers.

"The narrative out there is that there's this pent-up demand for STEM coursework and there's not enough access for kids to take these courses that they really want to take. But our study is just not consistent with that at all," said Cory Koedel, an associate professor of economics and public policy at the University of Missouri and one of five researchers who conducted the study.

The research appears as a working paper at the National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data In Education Research, or CALDER, and has not yet been submitted for peer review. (Economists usually put out papers like this for comments and feedback before they formally submit to a journal.)

Testing a Theory

The theory of improving course access makes a lot of sense: The idea is that many students who would take STEM classes can't enroll in them at high school. To test the theory, the researchers analyzed records of more than 140,000 students entering Missouri's four-year public university system, and connected back to the high schools those students attended.

The link between course access and future STEM outcomes turns out to be hard to study without capturing potential bias: What if some high schools, like those located in more advantaged neighborhoods, have more STEM courses simply because parents demand them? The new research handles this problem by comparing only those students who attended the same high school to one another over time, reasoning that changes in access are likely to be modest over short time periods and driven by enrollment and logistics, not issues like neighborhood wealth.

But the data showed that, for every one-unit increase in courses available per student, high school students' cumulative coursetaking in STEM barely budged. What's more, students with more access to STEM classes in high school were not more likely to declare a major in a STEM field or earn a degree in one.

And the data did not show any particular impact for more STEM courses within high schools with large numbers of students of color, which tend to lack access to more rigorous coursework generally.

Parsing Disappointing Findings

As with any study of this type, it's hard to know what's driving the findings. One possibility is that high schools are pretty scheduled places, so possibly students aren't responding to greater access because their schedules are already full. (In other words, with more options, they are merely substituting advanced chemistry for physics, rather than taking both.)

A more depressing hypothesis: Maybe high school students just aren't as interested in STEM as adults want them to be. If that's the case, then efforts to boost student interest in STEM will need to start far, far earlier in their schooling life.

The finding doesn't mean that course access is a bad goal for policymakers to have; just that on its own it doesn't appear to be doing all that much. Perhaps, the authors note, rather than adding a class here or there, schools need to more deeply revamp their offerings in those subjects.

They postulate that a "deeper, more stable STEM curriculum" that predates high school might have more of an effect, and suggest that policymakers also revisit how the subject is taught.

"For high school STEM policies to be effective at promoting postsecondary STEM interest and success, the norm of high school STEM instruction will need to change," the researchers conclude.
Image: Getty

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High Schools Are Adding More STEM Classes. It May Not Be Enough

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"No young person in America should miss out on the chance to excel in [STEM] fields just because they don't have the resources." Remember this line? It's from a 2015 speech by then-President Barack Obama. Or how about this?

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The Physics of Music: Crash Course Physics #19 - YouTube

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The Physics of Music: Crash Course Physics #19 - YouTube

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The Physics of Music: Crash Course Physics #19