May 10th, 2010 Bob
Commentary from Education Week, May 5, 2010, by NSTA Executive Director Francis Eberle
In January, an article in The Washington Post told the story of a group of Maryland science teachers who are learning how to replicate their DNA. Their school system’s DNA Resource Center, funded by six-figure annual grants from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, has developed nine lab experiments that teach biotechnology concepts, according to the Post. The whole enterprise, it said, is “managed by a handful of part-time staff members and housed at Thomas S. Wootton High School in a supply room filled with pipettes and flasks. … The center staff trains teachers to use the lab activities in their classrooms and delivers all of the equipment and consumable materials that the exercises require.”
Last year, the center trained 70 teachers and provided more than 13,000 lab kits. School officials anticipate the budget for the center—about $280,000 in grant funds last year—will rise to about $350,000 this year, when the program expands to middle schools.
Kudos to the Montgomery County, Md., school system for implementing this initiative. But we have to ask: Why is this news? It shouldn’t be. Lab experiences and centers like this one should be commonplace in every high school building nationwide. Yet far too many school science labs are dismal at best. In fact, many students are selecting not to participate in science after high school because of the subpar facilities and instruction.
A few years ago, the National Research Council conducted a survey to assess the state of the nation’s high school science laboratories. Its conclusions were distressing. There was no consensus in the field on what, exactly, the high school lab experience should be. The survey also disclosed that most laboratory exercises do not have clear learning outcomes, do not integrate the learning of science content with processes of science, and tend to be isolated from the classroom science instruction.
Shortly after the NRC report was issued, the organization I direct, the National Science Teachers Association, surveyed its members and asked teachers about the lab experiences at their schools. These responses reflect what many teachers told us:
“In my urban inner-city school, I teach a lab science in an old business room. There are no tables, benches, water or gas service, sinks, fire extinguishers, eyewash stations, fire blankets, or other equipment. In addition, while there is a high rate of attrition towards the end of the year, each September starts with 50 students in each class.”
“I have no specific, safe area in which to conduct labs. My yearly budget is the same as it was 12 years ago. I must purchase all my own equipment and supplies. I have no safety equipment other than a portable eyewash station and a fire extinguisher. My district claims labs are ‘extracurricular.’”
“While I do not teach high school science currently, but do teach in a two-year community college, I see many students entering with virtually no lab experience. While some students come quite prepared, it’s very frustrating for me to have students coming into a college biology class with no knowledge of basic lab equipment and techniques, such as using beakers, graduated cylinders, pipettes, or even basic microscopy skills.”
“I have not learned how to facilitate real thinking and essential planning for authentic lab experiences. I don’t know what students really need in an introductory chemistry experience at the high school level, and I cannot figure out how to teach logical thinking and sequencing to 20-plus students in lab at the same time.”
“Many teachers in my district, which is well-funded and well-equipped, lack the confidence to conduct lab experiences. They most often have poor classroom management, and therefore believe that the students would not practice safety, and that someone could be injured.”
These survey results tell us that many schools do not see science facilities as a necessary part of science instruction, and many teachers simply cannot conduct high-quality science labs. Administrators need to be adequately trained to recognize high-quality science and technology education and must work with their science departments and teacher leaders to support educators to maintain the high-level programs that are needed. Each school needs a lab budget, and should not be dependent on the pockets of the struggling teacher.
One of the most important and powerful tools in science education is providing students with the opportunity to interact directly with natural phenomena or with data collected by others. Good teachers know that high-quality laboratory and field experiences are an essential part of inquiry—the process of observing, asking questions, and forming hypotheses. They also know that for science to be taught well, labs must be an integral part of the science curriculum. This is why thousands of science educators nationwide have embraced National Lab Day.
National Lab Day, scheduled for the first week of May 2010, is more than just a day—it’s a new five-year, nationwide initiative to support science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM, education in schools by connecting teachers with professionals in these fields (think Match.com), to bring more hands-on, inquiry-based lab experiences to students.
National Lab Day is one of the public-private partnerships that make up President Barack Obama’s “Educate to Innovate” initiative. More than 200 scientific societies and associations, representing six million STEM professionals, have pledged to support National Lab Day, or NLD. At the NLD website, teachers can post projects or request funding for equipment and other resources, ask for expert help with hands-on projects or lesson plans, and much more. The teachers are matched with STEM professionals, college students, or volunteers who have also registered on the site, and can assist with the expertise, resources, and/or funding needed. Projects can also center on computer labs or outdoor labs—anywhere students can observe, explore, record, and experiment, and get their hands dirty and their minds engaged, and where projects and lessons in the STEM subjects can come alive.
Is National Lab Day a silver bullet for STEM education? Probably not. But this movement can address a problem that has long been ignored by far too many schools. Building ongoing, long-term collaborations between STEM professionals and schools and teachers will help improve school facilities and provide discovery-based science experiences for all students.
If America is serious about educating its children in science, then all of us need to help provide better-quality lab experiences and equipment. Montgomery County’s DNA Resource Center is a model effort designed to bring together community experts, facilities, training, and equipment. And it should be replicated in every district in the country. National Lab Day can and should be an ongoing part of providing teachers everywhere with the tools and community resources that will give their students a high-quality lab experience.
Francis Eberle is the executive director of the National Science Teachers Association, in Arlington, Va. The NSTA is a co-sponsor of National Lab
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March 5th, 2010 Bob
EVOLUTION AND GLOBAL WARMING REDUX (from NCSE’s Evolution Education Update)
“Critics of the teaching of evolution in the nation’s classrooms are gaining ground in some states by linking the issue to global warming, arguing that dissenting views on both scientific subjects should be taught in public schools,” reported The New York Times (March 3, 2010). “Wherever there is a battle over evolution now,” Lawrence M. Krauss told the Times, “there is a secondary battle to diminish other hot-button issues like Big Bang and, increasingly, climate change. It is all about casting doubt on the veracity of science — to say it is just one view of the world, just another story, no better or more valid than fundamentalism.”
The article suggested that the linkage of evolution and global warming was in part due to legal considerations. NCSE’s Joshua Rosenau told the Times that he began to notice the linkage after the 2005 decision in Selman v. Cobb County. At issue was a disclaimer about evolution affixed to textbooks; although the text of the disclaimer was not religious, it was held to be unconstitutional because it endorsed the creationist view that evolution is a problematic theory lacking an adequate foundation. “By insisting that global warming also be debated, deniers of evolution can argue that they are simply championing academic freedom in general.”
Reporting the scientific consensus, the Times explained, “For mainstream scientists, there is no credible challenge to evolutionary theory. They oppose the teaching of alternative views like intelligent design, the proposition that life is so complex that it must be the design of an intelligent being. And there is wide agreement among scientists that global warming is occurring and that human activities are probably driving it.” Nevertheless, it seems clear that around the country, attempts to undermine the integrity of science education are increasingly likely to include global warming as well as evolution.
(Ed. Note: Those who live in the OKC area may recognize this linkage as the wife of a local member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives recently penned a letter to the Oklahoma Gazette, a weekly publication found on-line and in many area restaurants, in which she called Evolution and Global Climate Change as two hoaxes the teaching of which was illustrative of the failure of Oklahoma public schools. Needless to say, there were many responses in rebuttal to her letter from scientists and educators.)
For the story in The New York Times, visit:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/04/science/earth/04climate.html
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February 26th, 2010 Bob
Spring is always a busy season for organizations like OSTA. You’d think it would be Fall, when the conferences and in-services are typically held, but nope, late-winter to early spring is when the decisions are made that will affect how the group will ultimately fare in the next year.
Dr. Christol at work...
OSTA President Pam Christol is in the process of appointing chairpersons to the OSTA Standing Committees. She’s knows a lot of folks, and that helps when it comes to matching good people with the tasks that must be accomplished. But she doesn’t know everybody and she doesn’t know that YOU are willing and able to donate a little time and effort to the cause of OSTA.
OSTA’s Nominations Committee is the standing committee charged with developing the pool of volunteers who will serve on committees and run for Board positions. Kathy Pursley is the Chair of the Nominations Committee and she need YOU to step up and let her know that you are willing to help OSTA advance the cause of science education in Oklahoma. You might want to consider serving on a committee and there are several standing committees that require population by members (not Board members). One of the largest is the Professional Development committee, which puts together the great staff development programs offered by OSTA, like the Science Safety Summit and the Fall Conference. But the other committees are places to serve as well. If you would like to be on the Membership, Constitution, Nomination, Communication, or Election committees, please email Pam and/or Kathy and they can get your name to the committee chairs. If you would like to be considered for a Board position at some point, let Kathy know so she can add your name to the pool of nominees.
There is a place for you to serve and be an active part of OSTA. Now is the time to step up and take your place.
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November 24th, 2009 Bob
By Deborah Heiligman
author (from The Washington Post’s “On Faith” Forum, November 24, 2009)
This is Darwin’s year. We celebrated his 200th birthday in February and this month is the 150th anniversary of publication of “The Origin of the Species”. Sadly there are still misconceptions about Charles Darwin and his science, falsehoods that are spread, making people scared to teach children about him. But we most certainly should teach our children about Darwin. Here is a primer I hope will convince:
1. Charles Darwin was not an atheist. He struggled with his faith for most of his life, as do many of us. He respected faith, and people of faith. In fact, his wife Emma was deeply religious, and talked with him throughout their marriage about God.
2. You can find God in “The Origin of the Species.” Darwin put God into his great book, not in the first edition, but in the second and every one thereafter. The last sentence reads, “There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one….”
3. Charles Darwin was a loving, caring father and a very kind man. Not a meanie, as someone one said to me (“survival of the fittest and all that.”), but a softie. His children ran in and out of his study looking for rulers and scissors and tape. He hugged his children, bathed them when they were babies, and let them jump on the sofa, even though it was against the rules.
4. Charles Darwin was a genius. He had a great idea–evolution by natural selection– that has withstood the test of time. He did not get that idea in a Eureka moment in the Galapagos. It was only after he left, on his way home that he started to think about the finches and mockingbirds and their beaks.
5. Charles Darwin was a hard worker. When he was interested in something he gave it his all (as a child he wasn’t that interested in school). He was extremely organized and methodical. He took years and years to perfect his theory so that it would be as airtight as possible. He anticipated the objections and addressed them in his book in a chapter called “Difficulties with the Theory.”
6. The word THEORY in science does not mean “just a theory.” It means the analysis of a set of facts.
7. Darwin hated to offend and he hated controversy. In “The Origin of Species” you will see that in his voice. It pained him to think that he might cause anyone discomfort or hurt. That’s why he sat on his theory for decades.
8. Darwin never said that humans evolved from apes. This is a basic misunderstanding of evolution. Humans and apes have a common ancestor. Recently scientists found an early human ancestor. In the tradition of Darwin they worked for years to put together the pieces.
9. Charles and Emma Darwin had a long and close marriage even though they disagreed about religion. The marriage survived the deaths of three children. When their 10-year-old daughter Annie died, in 1851, their hearts broke, but not their marriage. Why? They talked to each other, working hard to see each other’s point of view.
10. Charles Darwin had champions among his religious colleagues and friends. Here in America Asa Gray, the botanist, championed Darwin’s theory, leaving room for God in the process. And at home Emma was his first reader and best editor. She did not seek to dilute his argument in The Origin. In fact, she cleaned up his language (and his spelling and punctuation) to make the prose stronger.
11. Charles Darwin was one of the real Good Guys in history. It’s true that he published the Origin after he found out that Alfred Russell Wallace also had the same idea. It was the thing that pushed him to finally publish, after decades of sitting on his work (because he did not want to rock the boat). But first he had his paper and Wallace’s published together. Then he wrote his book.
12. Charles Darwin is a great role model. He was a genius who worked hard. He was a loving father and husband. His kids adored him. So did his friends. He was honored by his country when he died.
We should teach our children about Charles Darwin.
Deborah Heiligman is author of the new book, “Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith,” a 2009 National Book Award finalist
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November 7th, 2009 Bob
6:30 AM Thought I’d get an early start to set up a booth and prepare the election booth. Have the ballots, have the display board, have my presentation materials. I should be able to get there before anyone else. Off to Edmond!
7:00 AM OK, already to plan B. Presenters are already setting up. Dr. Allen tells me to set up my display on a round table in the atrium. If more than 30 presenters show up we will be in trouble because this place is full of tables.
7:15 AM Dr. Allen ASSURES me that the coffee will be here by 8.
7:30 AM Set up the election booth and Dr. Cristol comes by and tells me to move because they need the table for a booth. So, where is that coffee? Yippee! the first voter signs in.
7:45 AM Dr Cristol makes me move the election booth again! Wow!
7:50 AM Coffee arrives along with Danish and bagels. yum. I took a few pictures of people registering and discover that I forgot the usb cable to my camera so I can’t post pictures in real time. OK, I’ll post them later…
8:00 AM Man it is windy!!!! Every time the atrium door opens the registration materials go flying. This would NOT by a fun day on the bicycle. (although I could probably use the against-the-wind training.)
8:15 AM Looks like a great crowd! We’re running them through pre-registration pretty quickly. So far there are about 40 people who have done on-site registration. Jeff welcomes everyone and announces that the sessions will start at 8:30. People are moving off to the first ten presentations of the day.
8:30 AM About 30 people hang in the atrium, but most people are off at sessions.
8:45 AM Folks keep filtering in to on-site registration. The Science Museum Oklahoma folks brought a Segway and they are tooling around. Dr. Cristol even hopped on it. Should I use the picture of there coming toward me, or the one of her driving away from me…
9:00 Am Talked to Dr. French, Zoology Professor at OSU. Oops, as NABT activists we should have set up a booth and helped spread the word about the National Association of Biology Teachers. There are more life science teachers in this state than any other secondary science discipline, why are there just a handful of NABT members? It’s a really cool organization. Really.
9:30 AM The Silent Auction tables are getting a lot of traffic. Let’s keep those bids comin’ folks, this isn’t a bargain basement, it’s a fund raiser to recognize the hard-working kids ay OJAS and Science Fair.
10:00 AM Caught Dr. Allen during a undignified moment while she she is eating a cream cheese-covered bagel. Do you have trouble eating one w/o getting cream cheese from ear to ear and up your nose? I do… and apparently so does Dr. Allen.
10:30 AM Vendor break! The atrium gets very crowded.
11:00 AM We have a candy bowl on the on-site registration table. I am facinated by how many people pick up candy, even walking out of their way to do so. And there isn’t a single bit of chocolate!
11:45 AM In the Lunch Line! It’s kinda slow. We had predicted 200 for lunch, 300+ is more like it. There must be 10 varieties of bread. I’m so confused. Do I want the hard roll, the sesame seeds, the pita…? I take the hamburger bun and load up the sliced turkey.
12:45 PM The lunch line is still going. But nobody seems rushed to frustrated. The lunch is simple, but good.
1:00 PM Jeff starts the awards by asking all the different groups to stand. The pre-service teachers get the loudest and longest applause.
1:10 PM The elementary, high school and college awardees Annette Huett, Susan Baker, and Dr. Fabiola Janiak-Spens are all very appreciative. Their gratitide is genuine and remarks are moving. They better stop or the water-works are going to start. They are good folks.
1:15 PM I get to introduce Dr. Uno. I have known Gordon professionally for many years, but some of these folks were in his classes at OU. We present him with the Jack Renner Award, which is OSTA’s highest honor and presented to a person or organization that has made significant contributions science education in Oklahoma. In his remarks Gordon invokes the memory of Dr. Renner. It occurs to me that a large number of the folks in this room probably talk about or discuss inquiry teaching or learning cycles but do not know they can do so largely through the research and writings of Dr. Renner. Gordon does so much for science in the state and nation, NSF, AAAS, The College Board, AIBS, NABT… We pat ourselves on the back for selecting Gordon for this well deserved award.
1:30 PM I have to leave lunch to set up for my presentation. Folks are already in the room waiting for me!!!! It was a nice group. 22 or so. The room was a bit hot and stuffy, but who knew it would be 75 degrees on November.
3:00 PM Start cleaning up the vendor area. I pack the Science Olympiad display and Amy and Vanessa, the two Olympiad Coaches who manned the booth reported they had a good time. Their advise to S.O. booth visitors: Don’t hold back! Science Olympiad is something to jump into and enjoy fully, not explore tentatively. Just Do It!
3:30 PM We have LOTS of T-shirts Stay tuned for a report of whom to contact if you want one. They aren’t date specific and we received a lot of positive comments about the design. And since it’s still early in the century, the slogan will be good for another 91 years.
4:00 PM As a participant turns in her evaluation form she says “This was my first time to attend and it was fun. I’ll be back next year”. Can’t top that…
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October 29th, 2009 Bob
OK, so you plan to attend the OSTA Fall Conference (and you really need to attend this year), even though you forgot to pre-register. Yes, you’ll miss the luncheon and the opportunity to network with other state teachers and honor this year’s OSTA Awardees. But enough time is built into the days’ schedule that you’ll be able to zip out for lunch and return in ample time for the afternoon workshop offerings.
If you haven’t been to Edmond for a few years, you’re in for a treat (or shock as it were for some of us old-timers who were undergrads at UCO in the early ’70′s and remember when this place was a trailer park, or that place was a field, or where the Broncho Drive-in was). The place is really booming and there are a lot of places to grab lunch within a half-mile or so of the UCO Campus. Here is a list of some places you might want to check out:
Flat Tire Burgers 318 E Ayers St (North on University a few block from the conference site) Local off-campus favorite. Indoor and split-level patio dining with a bicycle theme.
Interurban 1301 E Danforth Rd (North of the Campus on Danforth and Bryant) A local chain restaurant with Burgers, Mexican, Steak, Pasta fare.
Ted Cafe’ Escondido 801 E Danforth Rd (North of the campus) One of several in the OKC area famous for gut-busting portions of your Tex-Mex favorites. Really, ask for the to-go box first so you won’t be miserable.
Mc Alister’s Deli 1021 E 2nd St (just south and east of the campus on) A chain restaurant featuring a variety of hearty deli sandwiches.
These are just a start of what turns out to be a very extensive list. Just east of the campus on 2nd street is a collection of most of the franchise fast food restaurants you will ever find in any strip-mall/ Home Depot-laden area built within the last 10 years. A Google search yielded this map from which you may locate your favorite source of calories (“Look at all the little red dots…”).
Bon Appetit!
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March 12th, 2009 Bob
The “School District Empowerment Program,” SB834, if passed and signed by the governor, would mandate that a school district which has a school identified for improvement by the State Board of Education would become a charter school district in the 2009-2010 school year. (And in 2010, the State Board will randomly select twenty percent of other districts to participate, and for the next four years continue to randomly select, making every Oklahoma school district a charter school district.)
Supporters of SB 834 claim that turning current school districts into charter school districts will result in savings for the district and those savings will be passed on to school employees. What else could teachers expect to be passed on?
These are common Charter School practices that would be enabled if this bill becomes law:
No Teacher Due Process Act protection. In essence, teachers are at-will employees.
No Collective Bargaining.
Salaries could be reduced to the state minimum salary schedule.
No class size requirements.
No planning periods.
Teacher certification not required.
No Library or Counseling requirements.
Evaluation procedures determined by administration, not through collective bargaining.
Work days extended.
No seniority.
No negotiated transfer policies.
No grievance procedure.
SB 834 is this year’s end-all deregulation bill. It threatens your local teachers association’s right to negotiate a contract and would eventually deregulate all Oklahoma Public Schools.
The bill is now in the House of Representatives and you can contact your representative in the House at 405-521-2711. You can also call Governor Brad Henry’s office at 405-521-2342
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February 8th, 2009 Bob
Over on the left side of this page are links to a number of other science associations of interest. KABT (Kansas Association of Biology Teachers) member Scott Sharp has just posted a new item on the KABT BioBlog that is intriguing given it’s alignment with the intent of Oklahoma’s process skill standards and stated emphasis on inquiry. I found it interesting and worth sharing…
“At the EduCon 2.1 conference in Philadelphia, late this January, I came across the most profound, succinct, and employable explanation of “best practice” that I have ever seen. I would like to make the argument that if all teachers in our schools employed this simple model, education would be revolutionized in this country. On posters throughout one of Philadelphia’s top public schools, the Science Leadership Academy, were the following five core values, constituting what I see as the best roadmap to best practice that I have seen: Inquiry; Research; Collaboration; Presentation; Reflection…”
You may view the latest post at
http://www.kabt.org/2009/02/08/best-practice-simplified/
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