 | | March 19, 2019 |
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| | Joe Krajcik, Lappan-Phillips Professor of Science Education and director of the CREATE for STEM Institute at Michigan State University, discusses in depth how teachers can make use of and what to look for in instructional resources to promote three-dimensional teaching and learning. | | |
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| | President Trump's Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 budget proposal for the Department of Education released last week would cut 29 key programs–– including Title II and Title IVA under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)–– and a new resolution introduced in both chambers restricts the use of federal funds to arm teachers. Read all about it in this issue of the NSTA Legislative Update. | | |
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| | Taking aim at the perception that efforts to diversify the teaching profession are working, a new study by the Brookings Institution shows that the educator workforce is growing disproportionately white over time. The analysis offers a counterintuitive finding since the educator workforce has become more diverse in recent years—a fact that researchers from Brookings's Brown Center on Education Policy don't dispute. Read the article featured in The 74. |
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| | President Donald Trump is seeking a 10% cut to the U.S. Department of Education's budget in his fiscal 2020 budget proposal, which would trim the department's spending by $7.1 billion to $64 billion starting in October. Read the article featured in Education Week. |
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| | State lawmakers from Connecticut to Florida are proposing measures that some groups say could threaten how science and climate change are taught in the classroom. More than a dozen such bills have popped up this year, including from state lawmakers pushing back against broad scientific consensus that people are warming the planet, according to the National Center for Science Education. Read the article featured in the SFGate. |
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| | The 2019 grand prize winners—Julie Neidhardt (elementary level), Dawn Sevin (middle level), and Jaimie McQuarn (high school level)—of the Shell Science Lab Regional Challenge were announced last week. In addition to the school science lab makeover support package—valued at $10,000 (for the elementary and middle level winners) and $15,000 (for the high school–level winner)—each grand prize-winning teacher received an additional $5,000 of support to attend the NSTA National Conference on Science Education in St. Louis. Read the press release. | | |
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| | The American Chemical Society (ACS) has released a series of six outstanding videos focused on high school lab safety. They address issues like how to dress for the lab, how to prepare for emergencies, safety mindset, safety data sheets, and strategies for ensuring safety for all. Check out these resources and more on NSTA's safety portal. | | |
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| | Check out these NGSS@NSTA Classroom Resources vetted by NSTA teacher curators. This week's focus is Earth and space science: | | |
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| | | The federal education law—ESSA—includes a flexible block grant (funded at $1.17 billion in FY2019) that gives schools the opportunity to fund STEM activities for students, technology for schools, and professional learning for teachers. | | |
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| | In the first multi-state effort to measure textbook efficacy since the implementation of the Common Core, researchers at Harvard University found no difference in the average fourth- and fifth-grade math achievement gains of schools using different elementary math textbooks. Read the report, Learning by the Book. | | |
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| | Lab Out Loud's guest this week is Sarah McAnulty, squid biologist and founder of Skype a Scientist. Using Skype or other video chat tools, Skype a Scientist connects real scientists with classes around the world. Through these video sessions, classes can learn more about the scientist's field of study, what it means to be a scientist, and how they do their jobs. McAnulty joins co-hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler to discuss the program and how it promotes scientific literacy, communication, and outreach. Listen to the podcast to learn how you can be matched with a scientist or join a live Q&A session held weekly. | | |
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| | | | | Teach young elementary students about the water cycle with this printable, placemat-style diagram. |
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| | | | | | Students can learn about STEM careers with this interactive periodic table highlighting STEM occupations instead of elements. |
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| | | | | | To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11's Moon landing, the U.S. Mint's Education Outreach department has released a collection of resources—including lesson plans, commemorative coins, games, and videos—to generate interest in space exploration and coins. |
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| Find more free resources on NSTA's Freebies for Science Teachers web page. | | Sponsored by: Amplify Science | | | | | | Learn more about how Amplify Science stands out from other science programs. Gearing up to meet the new science standards is no easy task. Luckily, third-party reviews can help. EdReports released their first-ever science curricula review, focused on grades 6–8, and Amplify Science is the only program to receive the highest "all-green" ratings across all categories. If you're reviewing science programs, you'll want to add Amplify Science to your list. Authored by UC Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science, the elementary and middle school programs blend literacy-rich activities, hands-on investigations, and engaging digital experiences to empower students to think, read, write, and argue like real 21st-century scientists and engineers. Both programs are making waves across the country, from NYC, Chicago, and Denver to districts across California. | | |
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