K12Science

The purpose of K12Science is to share ideas about science teaching for grades K-12 and beyond. K12Science is hosted by David Bydlowski, science educator in Michigan

Field Trips Last a Lifetime 02/23/2021

Field Trips Last a Lifetime I was recently reading the January/February 2021 issue of “The Science Teacher” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read the section “Current Science Classroom” written by Chris Anderson. Chris wrote an article entitled “Field Trips Last a Lifetime.” Nothing can replace the authenticity and impact of an in-person field experience for kids, however, until the public health and school funding battles are won it’s up to us to get creative and bring the wor /episode/index/show/k12science/id/18061508

Instant Wild: A Citizen Science Project 02/20/2021

Instant Wild: A Citizen Science Project I was recently reading the January/February 2021 issue of “The Science Teacher” 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 “A Window to the Wild.” “Instant Wild” is a Citizen Science project that brings you live images from cameras around the world. Students can tag the animals to help conservation research. You can visit the “Instant Wild” website at: https://inst /episode/index/show/k12science/id/18021593

What is Engineering? 02/16/2021

What is Engineering? I was recently reading the January/February 2021 issue of “Science & Children” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read an article written by Matt Bobrowsky. His article was entitled “Q: Can a Simple Engineering Project Be Used to Teach Some Science?.” Within the article, the author takes a quick look at the difference between science and engineering. Science increases our knowledge about the universe and our surroundings in a systematic way, while engineerin /episode/index/show/k12science/id/17971259

Pinterest 02/09/2021

Pinterest I was recently reading the January/February 2021 issue of “Science & Children” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read an article written by Ryan S. Nixon, Shannon L. Navy, Sarah Barnett, Marissa Johnson, and Delaney Larson. Their article was entitled “Pinning and Planning: Five Tips for Using Pinterest to Teach Science.” Pinterest is an online resource that teachers seem to enjoy and find useful. Pinterest is a social media website where individuals can boo /episode/index/show/k12science/id/17887436

Outstanding Science Trade Books for Third -- Fifth Grade Students 02/02/2021

Outstanding Science Trade Books for Third -- Fifth Grade Students The National Science Teaching Association in collaboration with the Children’s Book Council released the 2021 list of the Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students. In this podcast we look at the 12 books recommended for Third through Fifth Grade Students. • The Kitchen Pantry Scientist: Chemistry for Kids: Homemade Science Experiments and Activities Inspired by Awesome Chemists Past and Present • Animal Homes • Audubon Birding Adventures for Kids: Activities and Ideas for Watching, Feeding, and /episode/index/show/k12science/id/17791322

Outstanding Science Trade Books for Kindergarten - Second Grade Students 01/27/2021

Outstanding Science Trade Books for Kindergarten - Second Grade Students The National Science Teaching Association in collaboration with the Children’s Book Council released the 2021 list of the Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students. In this podcast we look at the 9 books recommended for K-2 Students. • Nesting • The Polio Pioneer: Dr. Jonas Salk and the Polio Vaccine • If You Take Away the Otter • Marjory Saves the Everglades: The Story of Marjory Stoneman Douglas • Packs: Strength in Numbers • What Do You Do If You Work at the Zoo? • Dinosaur Lady: The D /episode/index/show/k12science/id/17713154

Outstanding Science Trade Books for Middle School Students 01/26/2021

Outstanding Science Trade Books for Middle School Students The National Science Teaching Association in collaboration with the Children’s Book Council released the 2021 list of the Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students. In this podcast we look at the 12 books recommended for Middle School Students. • Condor Comeback • Exploring the Elements: A Complete Guide to the Periodic Table • Old Enough to Save the Planet • Darwin’s Rival: Alfred Russel Wallace and the Search for Evolution • Return From Extinction: The Triumph of the Elephant Seal • Sea /episode/index/show/k12science/id/17700866

Learning for All 01/19/2021

Learning for All I was recently reading the January/February 2021 issue of “Science Scope” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read the “From the Editor’s Desk“ column written by Patty McGinnis. Her article was entitled “Learning for All.” The changing demographics of our classrooms require differentiation strategies to ensure all students are working toward the performance expectations outlined in the NGSS. One resource that you may find useful is the Universal Design /episode/index/show/k12science/id/17610866

Meteorologist 01/12/2021

Meteorologist I was recently reading the November/December 2020 issue of “The Science Teacher” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read the “Career of the Month“ column written by Luba Vangelova. Her article was entitled “Meteorologist.” Meteorology is a branch of atmospheric science. It emphasizes the study of atmospheric chemistry and physics, with the aim of forecasting weather. Maureen McCann is the featured meteorologist in this podcast. She is a meteorologist at /episode/index/show/k12science/id/17523206

Interdisciplinary Science 01/07/2021

Interdisciplinary Science K12Science Podcast: Interdisciplinary Science I was recently reading the November/December 2020 issue of “The Science Teacher” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read the “Editor’s Corner“ column written by Ann Haley Mackenzie. Her article was entitled “Why Science Teachers Must Employ Interdisciplinary Science Methods to Save the World.” Interdisciplinary science is when two disciplines come together to broaden the portrait of the concepts being unc /episode/index/show/k12science/id/17464706

The Day-Night Cycle 12/29/2020

The Day-Night Cycle K12Science Podcast: The Day-Night Cycle I was recently reading the November/December 2020 issue of “Science & Children” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read the “Formative Assessment Probes“ column written by Page Keeley. Her article was entitled “The Day-Night Cycle: Adding Models to Probe Explanations.” As you select formative assessment probes to use with your lessons, consider ways to have students use a model to support their explanation. In th /episode/index/show/k12science/id/17361839

What a Year 12/23/2020

What a Year K12Science Podcast: What a Year I was recently reading the November/December 2020 issue of “Science and Children” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read the “Editor’s Note” column written by Elizabeth Barrett-Zahn. Her article was entitled “What a Year.” As we move toward the early winter of 2020 we look back at schools following a patchwork of face-to-face, hybrid, and virtual models of instruction. All teachers, at whatever grade-level, have been re /episode/index/show/k12science/id/17302016

Count Birds for Science This Winter with Project FeederWatch 12/17/2020

Count Birds for Science This Winter with Project FeederWatch I was recently reading the November/December 2020 issue of “Science Scope” a publication for middle school teachers from the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read the “Citizen Science” column written by Jill Nugent. Her article was entitled “Count Birds for Science This Winter with Project FeederWatch.” You can feed birds from the comfort of your classroom or your home this winter and contribute to real world scientific discovery with Project FeederWatch! For more informat /episode/index/show/k12science/id/17236016

Traditional Christmas Songs and Science 12/08/2020

Traditional Christmas Songs and Science As the holiday season approaches, I am reminded of some of the songs that I recorded with the group, Science Explosion. All of the songs that we sang were written by group member Fred Ribits. Many of the songs were written to familiar tunes and some of them were written to the tunes of traditional Christmas songs. In this podcast I will share three of the songs. If you enjoy them and want to share them with others, just visit: http://k12science.net/scienceexplosion/songs There you will be able to listen to /episode/index/show/k12science/id/17115755

Conducting Science Labs in a Virtual World, Part 3 12/02/2020

Conducting Science Labs in a Virtual World, Part 3 I was recently reading the November/December 2020 issue of “Science Scope” a publication for middle school teachers from the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read “The Online Teacher“ column written by Denise Wright. Her article was entitled “Conducting Science Labs in a Virtual World.” This is the third in a three-part series on the three strategies for conducting science labs in the virtual world. Part 1 — Virtual Simulations Part 2 — Science at Home Part 3 — Use o /episode/index/show/k12science/id/17035259

Conducting Science Labs in a Virtual World, Part 2 11/27/2020

Conducting Science Labs in a Virtual World, Part 2 I was recently reading the November/December 2020 issue of “Science Scope” a publication for middle school teachers from the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read “The Online Teacher“ column written by Denise Wright. Her article was entitled “Conducting Science Labs in a Virtual World.” This is the second in a three-part series on the three strategies for conducting science labs in the virtual world. Part 1 — Virtual Simulations Part 2 — Science at Home Part 3 — Use /episode/index/show/k12science/id/16975907

Conducting Science Labs in a Virtual World, Part 1 11/19/2020

Conducting Science Labs in a Virtual World, Part 1 I was recently reading the November/December 2020 issue of “Science Scope” a publication for middle school teachers from the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read “The Online Teacher“ column written by Denise Wright. Her article was entitled “Conducting Science Labs in a Virtual World.” This is the first in a three-part series on the three strategies for conducting science labs in the virtual world. Part 1 — Virtual Simulations Part 2 — Science at Home Part 3 — Use /episode/index/show/k12science/id/16878350

Using Literature in the Science Classroom 11/19/2020

Using Literature in the Science Classroom I was recently reading the November/December 2020 issue of “Science Scope” a publication for middle school teachers from the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read the “From the Editor’s Desk“ column written by Patty McGinnis. Her article was entitled “Using Literature in the Science Classroom.” The Next Generation Science Standards contain numerous connections to the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts as verification of the supporting role that liter /episode/index/show/k12science/id/16878260

Formative Assessment Probes 11/19/2020

Formative Assessment Probes I was recently reading the September/October 2020 issue of “Science & Children” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read the “Formative Assessment Probes“ column written by Page Keeley. Her article was entitled “Using Formative Assessment Probes with Real or Virtual Field Trips.” Using a formative assessment probe prior to a real-time or virtual field trip activates students’ thinking about the concepts and phenomena they will be learning about during /episode/index/show/k12science/id/16878188

The New Normal 11/19/2020

The New Normal I was recently reading the September/October 2020 issue of “Science Teacher” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read the “Current Science Classroom“ column written by Chris Anderson. Her article was entitled “The New Normal.” What can we do, as educators, in the face of the worst pandemic in the last 100 years.? It can seem like an insurmountable problem, but in this podcast we share six things that are within our control that can have a positive impac /episode/index/show/k12science/id/16878050

Online Science Educator 11/19/2020

Online Science Educator I was recently reading the September/October 2020 issue of “Science Teacher” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read the “Career of the Month“ column written by Luba Vangelova. Her article was entitled “Online Science Educator.” Online educators present courses on a broad range of topics, to children or adults. Course lengths and formats vary to — they can be live or asynchronous, interactive or lecture based, or any combination thereof. Julia Brodsk /episode/index/show/k12science/id/16877966

Science and Art 11/19/2020

Science and Art I was recently reading the July/August, 2020 issue of “Science and Children” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read the “Science 101“ column written by Matt Bobrowsky. His article was entitled “What’s a Fun Activity that Combines Science with Art?” There are many connections between science and art, and one of the easiest to investigate, in school or at home, has to do with color. The investigation works with coffee filter strips labeled with a blac /episode/index/show/k12science/id/16877771

Citizen Scientists 11/19/2020

Citizen Scientists I was recently reading the July/August, 2020 issue of “Science and Children” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read the “Methods and Strategies “ column written by Meredith Hayes, P. Sean Smith, and W. Robert Midden. Their article was entitled “Students as Citizen Scientists.” Citizen Science involves individuals who are not professional scientists in authentic scietific endeavors, typically in collaboration with or supervised by professional scientis /episode/index/show/k12science/id/16877627

Equity for All 11/19/2020

Equity for All I was recently reading the July/August, 2020 issue of “The Science Teacher,” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read the “Notes from the Editor “ column written by Ann Haley MacKenzie. Her article was entitled “Equity for All: Essential for All Facets of the Scientific Enterprise.” Under the microscope, the cell being observed does not care who is observing it. Woman, man, African American, Latinx, Asian, gay, middle-class, hearing-challenged, Native A /episode/index/show/k12science/id/16877522

Creating a New Environment for Science Learning 11/19/2020

Creating a New Environment for Science Learning I was recently reading the September/October, 2020 issue of “Science Scope,” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read the Online Teacher column “Creating a New Environment for Science Learning” written by Denise Wright. Moving from the face-to-face classroom to the online setting doesn’t happen without challenges. The main objective is for all students to have a passion for learning. A positive online learning environment can be created from a personalize /episode/index/show/k12science/id/16877417

Straight from the Headlines 11/19/2020

Straight from the Headlines I was recently reading the September/October, 2020 issue of “Science Scope,” a publication of the National Science Teaching Association. In this issue, I read the Editor’s Note column “Straight from the Headlines” written by Patty McGinnis. There are many ways that current events can be incorporated into the classroom. Current events can be used as an introductory phenomenon to a problem, can support a claim, or can be utilized to provide students with an engineering task. The use of websites ca /episode/index/show/k12science/id/16877255

Create Your Own Rainbow 11/19/2020

Create Your Own Rainbow I was recently looking at ideas for at home learning and I came across a fun investigation from “Physics Central.” The investigation is entitled: “Create Your Own Rainbow.” The investigation and rainbows share the same principles: refraction — light bending reflecting — light bouncing back /episode/index/show/k12science/id/16870304

Creating Your Own Rainbow 11/18/2020

Creating Your Own Rainbow I was recently looking at ideas for at home learning and I came across a fun investigation from “Physics Central.” The investigation is entitled: “Create Your Own Rainbow.” The investigation and rainbows share the same principles: refraction — light bending reflecting — light bouncing back /episode/index/show/k12science/id/16865951

Create Your Own Rainbow 11/18/2020

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