Teaching Science 2.0

I thought it would be fun to look at video and commercials related to the Internet during my life…

1969: Great Expectations! T-2 years to baby Brunsell

1981: Me @ 9 years, starting to beg for a computer.

1991: HS graduation / Freshman in college. About the same time I got my first e-mail account.  (I knew 5 people that had e-mail and lived on the same dorm floor as 4 of them).

1995: One year before entering the teaching profession!  Dial-up access kicks butt!

2000: Entering Non-profit science education world. Developing a web-based education program around a plant growth experiment on the International Space Station. E-commerce is a reality & the tech bubble is bursting.

2007: One year teaching at the college level under my belt. Discovering “Web 2.0.” (Probably 3 years before I actually get an iPhone.) User created content, Internet on your phone are the norm…

From Crappy Graphs:

On Friday (1/23/09), the Franklin Institute hosted a panel for Educon 2.1 focused around the question, “What is the Purpose of School?” Here is my video of the panelists opening statements.

The quality isn’t that great. The video was taken with a Flip camera, in the dark.  I used the back of a seat to stabilize the camera. Unfortunately, I ran out of space and missed most of Joel Arquillos (Executive Director of 826LA) opening statement while I was busily deleting other video.

Dr. Squyres is a professor at Cornell and the Principal Investigator for the Mars Exploration Rovers.

Prakash Nair is the Co-Founder, Fielding Nair International: Architects and Change Agents for Education

Dr. Molefi Asante is a professor of African American Studies at Temple and author of more than 60 books.

Kendall Crolius is  a founding partner of The Sulevia Group.

Jeff Han is the founder of Perceptive Pixel and inventor of the multi-touch screen

Required testing in Math and Reading has led to a Nationwide decrease in attention to other subjects, including science.  This is especially true at the elementary level.  Starting last year, NCLB required states to begin testing…but the results are not part of “Annual Yearly Progress” determination. A recent article in the Washington Post had this to say about the “new” science tests.

At least six states, including Maryland, released their first science scores this fall. The first science scores from D.C. schools will be released later this year.

Overall results from the new tests “are not very good,” said Francis Q. Eberle, executive director of the National Science Teachers Association in Arlington. “As a matter of fact, they’re pretty dismal. And it really shouldn’t surprise anybody,” he said, because science as a topic “has really gone off the instructional radar.”

In New Hampshire and Rhode Island, according to news reports, three-quarters of students failed the first science exams.

However, since the tests do not “count,” schools are still incentivized to continue focus on math and reading at the expense of science.  In fact, the article states that the only reason that emphasis on science may increase is because schools (and states) might be embarrassed by low test scores.  This comes at a time when nearly everyone realizes that students will need to be scientifically literate in order participate fully in the opportunities that today’s (and tomorrow’s) society provides. Hopefully, educational policy will catch up to reality soon… while we are waiting for that, educators need stand up and provide kids with authentic and meaningful science experiences.

Here are some great resources for good science teaching:

All Grade Levels:

Science Formative Assessment This book is simply a “must have.” It is the best science teaching book that I have bought in many years.  The first few chapters of the book describe the importance of using formative assessment and describe a constructivist-based teaching model that incorporates formative assessment.  The bulk of the book includes 75 excellent formative assessment techniques.

Preschool:

A Head Start on Science This book contains nearly 90 excellent activities grouped into seven categories: the five senses, weather, physical science, critters, water and water mixture, seeds, and nature walks.

Peep and the Big Wide Wold This isn’t a book, but I can’t resist!  This great cartoon is funded by the National Science Foundation and integrates many age appropriate science concepts.  The website provides online games, video clips, and tons of science activities appropriate for young children.  You can’t go wrong building a preschool science curriculum around these videos and activities! (Free)

Elementary:

Readings in Science Methods, K-8 This book (edited by me) is a compilation of nearly 70 excellent  articles from NSTA’s Science and Children and Science Scope magazines. Articles provide practical tips, suggestions, and activities for teaching elementary and middle level science.

Picture Perfect Science & More Picture Perfect Science These two books provide excellent inquiry-based lessons on a variety of elementary science topics.  Each lesson is connected to at least one children’s book.

Everyday Science Mysteries This book contains a series of mystery stories that can be used to introduce science concepts to students.  Each story is accompanied by a teacher section that provides background information and instructional ideas.

Secondary:

Science as Inquiry in the Secondary Setting This book consists of multiple chapters written by experts.  The introductory chapter describes a sophisticated framework for authentic science inquiry in the classroom.  Other chapters describe inquiry in physics, chemistry, and life / environmental science.  This book is a “must read” for all secondary science teachers. It can be downloaded for free.

Technology in the Secondary Science Classroom This book consists of multiple chapters written by experts.  Each chapter provides theory and practical examples of how to use technology to support science learning in the classroom.  The book can be downloaded for free.

This is a great presentation by Chris Lehman, principal of the Science Leadership Academy in Philly.  I also really like this “youtube” type service. Viddler lets you add comments directly to a video.  I see a lot of applications for the classroom.  (Note: This presentation was given at an “IgnitePhilly” event.  Participants were challenged to give a 5 minute presentation (20 slides, 15 seconds each) on a topic of their choice.)

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A great quote to think about–

“A teacher that can be replaced by a computer should be.”

— Arthur C. Clarke

During the debate last night, Senator McCain repeatedly derided Senator Obama for securing an federal earmark (pork) for a $3 million dollar overhead projector.   Do you mean a planetarium projector for the Adler Planetarium?  Perhaps it is fair criticism that federal money shouldn’t be spent this way.  But, to call it an overhead projector seems either dishonest or clueless.

This comment on a New York Times article about the debate seems appropriate-

I am an Associate Professor of Astronomy at the University of Chicago (the University that today has added yet another Nobel Prize winner in the sciences for the US). I would like to comment on Sen. McCain’s statement during the today’s debate that Sen. Obama has earmarked “$3 million for an overhead projector at a planetarium in Chicago, Ill. My friends, do we need to spend that kind of money?”

The way Sen. McCain has phrased it suggests that Sen. Obama approved spending $3 million on an old-fashioned piece of office equipment (overhead projector).
The 3 million is actually for an upgrade of the SkyTheater - a full dome projection system, which is probably the main attraction of the Adler Planetarium and is quite sophisticated and impressive piece of equipment.

I find it appalling that Sen. McCain would call a science education tool for public (largely children) for a historic planetarium with millions of visitors a year a wasteful earmark. The planetarium’s focus, as stated on their website (http://adlerplanetarium.org) is “on inspiring young people, particularly women and minorities, to pursue careers in science.” Is an investment in such public facility at the time when US competitiveness in math and sciences is a constant source of alarm a waste?

“American’s ability to compete in a 21st Century economy rests on our continued investments in math and science education,” said Rep. Brian Baird, Chairman of the Research and Science Education Subcommittee in Congress, after the passage of The 21st Century Competitiveness Act of 2007.

Considering such investments “wasteful earmarks” today, even in the face of the financial crisis, will severely cripple US economic competitiveness in the increasingly high-tech world down the road.
— Andrey Kravtsov, Chicago, IL

Its official… I am a contributing blogger for the Professional Learning Community.  They led off today with my first contribution - Is this our Sputnik?

Here is a “teaser.”

In 1957, Russia’s launch of the Sputnik satellite was a shock to the American psyche. To that point, we were sure that the U.S. held a technological edge over the rest of the world...Our response to this shock resulted in a dedication to improving education and investing in technological research. A little more than a decade later, Americans were walking on the moon. The U.S. had firmly established itself as the global leader in science and technology…Over the past few weeks, the American psyche has been shocked again. Is this economic crisis our generation’s Sputnik? Is this a black-eye to a half-century of our pretensions that our way of life was a guarantee to our national superiority? How will we respond?

Read the full post…also, please comment @ PLC!

Quite often, U.S. students are compared to International students and found “lacking.” The Third World College Exam gives you the chance to see actual questions from India’s 11th grade entrance exam.  Many of these questions would challenge the best U.S. students…and many U.S. adults.  There is a lot of talk about reforming U.S. education so that we can remain competitive in a global economy.  So, here is my question…  Does this exam identify what you want U.S. high school kids to be able to do?  If not, what questions would you suggest?

Teaching should be about building on student’s ideas.  Here is a great “opinion” article fro Matthew Kay, a teacher at Philly’s Science Leadership Academy.

I really liked this excerpt about helping students to open up and share their ideas.

So it is with the inquiry based learning that we model for the other schools in Philadelphia. Our ninth graders come to us shy about asking questions that are often scattered and incoherent. When encouraged, they open up, and then incessantly offer their ideas. (I illustrate this for all classes on the first full day of every year, when I put a big rubber ball under my shirt and pretend to give laborious birth to it. We name this child “my idea.” I pass it around nervously, and when someone drops it, I snatch it up and curl into the fetal position. They laugh. I eventually get over my shock and learn to trust again, slowly passing it, then throwing it around the room for everyone to touch. There are two morals: first, you can’t protect your idea forever, and second, our ideas grow when, by dialogue and debate, others are allowed to get their fingerprints on them.)