California Science Project Partner Strand at the 2012 CSTA Conference
by Maria Simani
The Endless Summer of Learning
Summer has been a busy time for teachers and professional development providers all over California. This especially holds true for the California Science Project, (CSP), which this year engaged more than 800 K-12 teachers in professional learning institutes at 18 campus locations across the state.
As the Executive Director of the CSP network, I had the pleasure to visit most of these institutes and experience these professional opportunities as a learner as well as an observer. What I valued the most from these experiences was that for a few days I became part of a collaboration among science educators, scientists, and teacher participants in their efforts to build new knowledge around their practice of teaching science, and reflect how a new teaching practice may positively impact students’ understanding in the classroom. It is through these professional learning communities that participants are re-invigorated in their teaching career, and often exposed to ways of teaching that they may never have seen before.
At the upcoming California Science Education Conference in San Jose, CSP educators will again provide many opportunities to engage K-12 science teachers. These new ways of teaching will be incorporated into the CSP’s workshops and short courses and designed so that participants can directly experience and reflect on activities as learners, themselves. In particular, this year the events associated with the California Science Project Partner Strand will provide opportunities for participants to gain an awareness of the new Science Framework for K-12 Science Education through activities that implement the Framework’s key ideas. The Framework lays the foundation for the science concepts, practices, and skills that all students need to learn in science, and provides guidelines for the future of science education.
The CSP Partner Strand workshops and short courses will allow participants not only to experience as learners the implications of the new Framework on curriculum and instruction at the classroom level, but also to discuss and reflect on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). This critical reflection will be important for all educators as we approach the next feedback window for the final version of the NGSS to appear later in the year. So, for CSP, the summer of learning continues in October and beyond, in the quest for the perfect learning opportunity. No surfing involved… just collaboration for a shared and deeper understanding.
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NGSS and the Primary Classroom
by Michelle French
Since the public reviews of the Next Generation Science Standards have come to a close, like many primary teachers, I’ve been wondering what science will look like in kindergarten, first, and second grade classrooms. Learn More…
What is it April Explanation
It is a photo of:
“SOL Grotto, 2012. 1368 glass tubes, paint. Fabrication: Matarozzi Pelsinger, Rael San Fratello Architects. SOL Grotto is a contemporary take on a grotto or Throeau’s cabin – a spartan retreat that is a space of solitude and close to nature – where one is presented with a mediated experience of water, coolness and light. The SOL Grotto also explores Solyndra’s role as a company S#@t Out of Luck. 1,368 of the 24 million high tech glass tubes destined to be destroyed as a casualty of their bankruptcy, are used in the installation. The tube’s original role as a light concentrating element is extended to transmit cool air into the space via the Venturi effect, to amplify sounds from the adjacent waterfall via the vibrations of the tubes cantilevering over the creek, and to create distorted views of the garden. The form of the electric blue array evokes Plato’s Allegory of the Cave where shadows, light and sounds can call reality into question.”
http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu/whatsnew/NaturalDiscourse/artists.shtml
Responses from Readers:
Peter A’Hearn: Rush hour in little blue circle land.
Full image:
CSTA Member Katherine Schenkelberg Awarded 2013 Vernier/NSTA Technology Award
by Valerie Joyner
Congratulations to CSTA member and STEM Educator, Katherine Schenkelberg, of West High School, in Torrance, CA! Katherine was recently awarded one of the 2013 Vernier/NSTA Technology Awards. An appointed panel of experts selected her for her innovative use of data-collection technology. “The use of data-collection technology in the classroom helps foster students’ interest in STEM education and provides them with engaging, hands-on opportunities for scientific investigation,” said David Vernier, co-founder of Vernier and a former physics teacher. “For ten years Vernier and NSTA have recognized innovative STEM educators through this award and this year’s winners are no exception – their projects and programs truly utilize the power of data-collection technology as part of the teaching and learning process.” Learn More…
Election for CSTA’s Board of Directors 2013-2015 Now In Progress
by Tim Williamson
Members of the California Science Teachers Association are now in the process of voting for qualified CSTA members to fill the seven openings on the CSTA Board of Directors for the 2013-2015 term.
The election is being conducted electronically and opened for voting on April 16, 2013. Voting will close on May 16, 2013. All CSTA members were sent links to the online ballot. Members for whom we do not have current email addresses or who request a paper ballot have been mailed a ballot and candidate statements. Learn More…
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