Misconceptions About Data Science
K12Science
I was recently reading the January - February 2026 issue of “Science and Children,” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read the section, “Science 101” written by Matt Bobrowsky. He wrote an article entitled “What is Data, and Is Data Science Really Science?” In the article, Matt addresses three misconceptions about data science: 1. Data refers only to numbers. 2. Data tells the whole story. 3. It’s computers, not people, who do data science.
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Data and Discovery from the Sea
K12Science
I was recently reading the January - February 2026 issue of “Science Scope”, a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read the section, “Citizen Science” written by Jill Nugent. She wrote an article entitled “Data and Discovery from the Sea to the Science Classroom.” Students can follow in the footsteps of Benjamin Franklin’s study of ocean currents, by participating in the citizen science “Global Ocean Surface Ecosystem Alliance Project (GO-SEA).” You can learn more about the project at:
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Data Science Education Part 3
K12Science
I was recently reading the November-December 2025 issue of “The Science Teacher”, a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read a featured article written Matthias Fisher, Cody Pritchard, Zhen Xu, and Joshua Rosenberg. They wrote an article entitled, “Finding Your Way into Data Science Education as a Science Teacher.” This is the third podcast in a series of three podcasts on the topics of Data, Data Science, and Data Science Education. In this article, the authors aimed to support science teachers without backgrounds in data science. by addressing...
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Data Science Education, Part 2
K12Science
I was recently reading the November-December 2025 issue of “The Science Teacher”, a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read a featured article written Matthias Fisher, Cody Pritchard, Zhen Xu, and Joshua Rosenberg. They wrote an article entitled, “Finding Your Way into Data Science Education as a Science Teacher.” This is the second podcast in a series of three podcasts on the topics of Data, Data Science, and Data Science Education. In this article, the authors aimed to support science teachers without backgrounds in data science. by addressing...
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Data Science Education, Part 1
K12Science
I was recently reading the November-December 2025 issue of “The Science Teacher”, a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read a featured article written Matthias Fisher, Cody Pritchard, Zhen Xu, and Joshua Rosenberg. They wrote an article entitled, “Finding Your Way into Data Science Education as a Science Teacher.” This is the first podcast of three podcasts on the topics of Data, Data Science, and Data Science Education. In this article, the authors aimed to support science teachers without backgrounds in data science. by addressing three...
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Museum Educator
K12Science
I was recently reading the November-December 2025 issue of “The Science Teacher”, a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read the section, “Career of the Month” written by Luba Vangelova. She wrote an article entitled, “Museum-Based Educator Tammy Cook-Endres.” Museum-based science educators encourage curiosity and hands-on learning about science. Depending on their areas of expertise, they may work with children, adults, or people of all ages. The field of museum education is most suitable for people who have some teaching experience, enjoy...
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A Better Approach to Science Fairs
K12Science
I was recently reading the November-December 2025 issue of “Science and Children”, a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read the section, “Science 101” written by Matt Bobrowsky. He wrote an article entitled, “Q: How Can I Make Science Investigations More Creative?” Many teachers do not like science fairs, but there are many ways to have a science festival that avoids most of the issues that impact students, teachers, and families. A science fair can be redesignedj to be less stressful and more genuinely educational by shifting the focus from...
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Life Beyond Earth
K12Science
I was recently reading the November-December 2025 issue of “Science Scope”, a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read the section, “Scope on the Skies” written by Bob Riddle. He wrote an article entitled, “Is Anyone Home?” We have always been curious about life beyond Earth, but we still do not have a definitive answer about that life beyond Earth. In a “big picture” sense, what we learn because of our curiosity, our intelligence, and certainly our technology offers us a chance to shape our future and, as educators, to increase our...
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Microbiomes
K12Science
I was recently reading the November-December 2025 issue of “Science Scope”, a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read the section, “Citizen Science” written by Jill Nugent. She wrote an article entitled, “Meet the Microbiome.” The human microbiome refers to the microorganisms that live on and in the human body. Colony B is a citizen science project that invites learners to engage in science and contribute to what is known about the human microbiome. Colony B was designed by researchers at McGill University, and it involves sorting and...
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Why We Persist
K12Science
I was recently reading the November-December 2025 issue of “The Science Teacher”, a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read the section, “Editor’s Corner written by Brooke A. Whitworth. She wrote an article entitled, “The Enduring Impact of Science Education: Why We Persist.” Despite the challenges of teaching, science teaching is not just important work, but essential work. Our students, our communities, and our future need dedicated science educators now more than ever. That is why we continue to teach and why we persist.
info_outlineI was recently reading the November/December 2021 issue of “Science & Children” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read the section “Editor’s Note” written by Elizabeth Barrett-Zahn. Elizabeth wrote an article entitled “The Language of Science.”
The language of science is much more than just knowing technical or content-specific words or phrases. Understanding science requires the development of an academically social language. Students need opportunities to see how language can be used to describe, represent, question, refute, and reach a consensus when learning to make sense of the natural world.