Do We Need to Teach Science in Elementary School?

The short answer? YES! Science is all about the sense-making of local and lived experiences. If it is left out or delayed until middle school students' are potentially placed at a disadvantage later in life when entering STEM fields. Science in Elementary can support: (a) development of a knowledgeable citizenry, (b) meaningful learning of language and mathematics, (c) wonderment about how the natural world works, and (d) preparation for STEM-related careers. Reflection Questions: Do you view ELA and math instructional time to be at odds with the teaching of science? Have you considered integrating ELA and math into science investigations? On average, how many science instructional minutes do your students receive each week? 300? 150? 30? Fewer? What factors shape that quantity? What concrete steps need to happen in order for you to improve your science teaching?

These questions come from STEM Teaching Tool #43 (Link) and can be used for discussion in your space. Please let me know if I can help to find any of the solutions, I am happy to be your thought partner and to connect you with others who are navigating the same challenges.

Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST)- K-6 Cycle

The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) program is pleased to announce that nominations and applications for the 2021–2022 application cycle are open. You are a part of over 5,100 award-winning educators and we need your help to continue to grow this network!

To nominate a K–6th grade teacher for this award, complete the nomination form available on the PAEMST website and submit the teacher’s name, email address, and school contact information. You are welcome to submit multiple nominations if you know more than one teacher deserving of this award. The nomination deadline is January 7, 2022, and the application deadline is February 6, 2022.

Ada Twist Scientist!

Are you looking to empower students through a fiction read-a-loud? Ada Twist Scientist by Andrea Beaty inspires students to take chances and ask questions including the most important question- Why? Ada and her friends are being turned into a Netflix original series this fall and what a great way to build interest and enthusiasm than a cross-curricular dive! Check out the trailer for the Netflix series here: (Link)

STEMIE Fest

STEMIE is an organization that promotes inclusion of students in STEM during early childhood. Mark your calendar's for this year's STEMIE Fest, October 4-8. Last year, we had over 1,800 early childhood professionals and faculty, STEM industry professionals, families, and more join us for 5 days of interactive learning and discussions. All sessions will have ASL interpreters, and captioning. This year, sessions will also be offered in Spanish. Continuing Education Units (CEUs) and professional learning certificates are also offered.

Did you miss?

Did you miss the "Take Chances, Make Mistakes, Get Messy in Elementary Science" professional development session? A recorded version is now available here (Link)! Check out the materials and links from the session here (Link).

NITARP for 2022 is now available! It's available at our website: (Link)

NITARP, the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program, gets teachers involved in authentic astronomical research. We partner small groups of educators with a mentor professional astronomer for an original research project. The educators incorporate the experience into their classrooms and share their experience with other teachers. The program runs January through January. Applications for the 2022 class of educators are available now and due on Monday, September 13, 2021. The program is funded completely via NASA ADAP, and is contingent on the availability of funding.

Some things that make our program different from many (if not most) other astronomy programs for educators: (1) Each team does original research using real astronomical data, not canned labs or reproductions of previously done research; (2) Each team writes up the results of their research and presents it in a science poster session at an American Astronomical Society meeting (the AAS is the professional organization for astronomers in the US). The posters are distributed throughout the meeting, in amongst other researchers' work; the participants are not "given a free pass" because they are educators and students. Each team also presents the educational results of their experience in the program. (3) The program runs over 13 months, not just a few days or weeks. (4) Teachers are encouraged to involve their students from the beginning of the program.

Most of our educators are high school classroom educators, but 8th grade, community college, and informal educators have participated as well. The kinds of educators we are looking for are those who already know the basics of astronomy, and are interested in learning exactly how astronomy research is conducted. All educators must be US-based.

This program involves three trips — to an American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting in January 2022, to Pasadena, CA in summer 2022, and to the AAS meeting in January 2023. The January 2021 meeting is in Salt Lake City, UT; the January 2022 meeting is in Seattle, WA.

While most of the work on these teams is done remotely using video conferencing and other online collaboration tools, the structure of the program heavily relies on three different face-to-face visits, necessarily requiring interstate travel and meeting in groups. If the January 2022 AAS meeting is held online because of the pandemic, we may not be able to have a NITARP class of 2022. We will monitor the situation closely and inform applicants of progress as decision points come up.

The application itself consists of short answers to a few questions. We release the questions in May so that you have time both to hear about the program and to get started writing; the website to which you need to upload your PDF answers will be available no later than early August. Please let us know if you wish to be explicitly notified via email when the site is open for submissions.

For more information, please see website ( Link ), or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at our central email, nitarp@ipac.caltech.edu.

Direct link to the PDF application instructions is here: (Link)

Celebrate trees by joining the GLOBE citizen science community in the 2021 Community Trees Challenge, where Science is Better Together!

Who can participate: Everyone! (students and teachers at all grade levels, informal educators, and the public in GLOBE countries.) While getting out and taking observations might not be possible for everyone, this challenge provides multiple ways to participate and learn all about trees.

How to participate: During the 2021 Community Trees Challenge, the GLOBE Program is asking citizen scientists to observe, learn, engage, and create as they track their progress on the Trees Challenge Activity Tracker. You can choose the best journey for your interests, or try to complete all the activities. Work together as a family, as a group of friends, or independently.

By completing these activities, you will improve your science observation skills, enrich your understanding of trees as part of our landscape, learn why NASA studies trees, be a part of a NASA-sponsored citizen science project, as well as join a citizen science community. Your observations of tree height contribute to a global database that is free and open so that anyone – scientists, students, communities, and citizen scientists – can conduct research.

Are you a K-12 Kansas teacher who currently teaches science? Would you like the opportunity to apply for funds so that you could experience attending a National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Conference this year? In 2006, the Wendell G. Mohling Foundation began selecting a teacher each year, to receive a $1000.00 scholarship award to attend a NSTA conference of their choice. The application deadline is September 24, 2021, so you still have plenty of time to complete and send in your application. The application with requirements can be downloaded by going to the foundation website at www.wendellmohlingfoundation.com and click on “Apply” at the top of the page. This year there will be 2 national NSTA conferences to choose from: March 31-April 3 in Houston, Texas and July 21-24 in Chicago, Illinois. If a teacher has questions, they can contact me at neill1703@gmail.com or by phone at 1-620-342-4677 Kay Neill, Foundation Chair

Apply Here: (Link)

Planning is underway for the 2022 KidWind Challenge, which we hope will be the best yet! In previous years, we hosted only one or two teacher workshops to assist teachers participating in KidWind for the first time. This year, we’re going big – we plan to host a wind energy workshop in each of the six regions we will be conducting the KidWind Challenge. We have confirmed five of the six workshops and are still working on the last one. All workshops are scheduled for approximately 9:00am-3:00pm. See below for dates and locations:

• Northcentral (Manhattan): Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021, K-State Engineering Extension, Unger Complex, 2323 Anderson Avenue (third floor), Manhattan, KS 66502

• Northeast (Ozawkie): Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021, Keystone Learning Services, 500 East Sunflower Boulevard, Ozawkie, KS 66070

• Southcentral (Hutchinson): Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021, ESSDACK, 1500 E 11th Avenue #200, Hutchinson, KS 67501

• Southwest (Dodge City): Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021, USD 443 Dodge City Public Schools, 2112 First Avenue, Dodge City, KS 67801

• Northwest (Oakley): Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, Northwest Kansas Educational Service Center, 703 West Second Street, Oakley, KS 67748

• Southeast: To be determined

All of the regional KidWind Challenge dates and locations are confirmed (check out the map below)! We have never been this far ahead in our planning process, so we feel pretty good about that. We are still working to confirm the date and location of the statewide KidWind Challenge. Make sure to add these events to your calendar – registration coming soon!

On September 17th, as part of the Smithsonian Institution's 175th anniversary celebration, the Smithsonian Institution will host “Educators’ Day!”

PreK–12 educators from across the nation are invited to participate in this free, all-day virtual event. Programs will bring together teachers and museum educators to explore opportunities to collaborate, learn from each other, and discuss the future of education. Plenary speakers include Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III and 2021 National Teacher of the Year, Juliana Urtubey.

Categories of Programs:

• Spotlight on Educators programs give PreK–12 teachers an opportunity to share innovations in classrooms around the nation with fellow educators.

• Big Issues programs highlight Smithsonian initiatives tackling complex contemporary global topics, such as equity and inclusion, cross-cultural dialogue, and environmental conservation.

• Sneak Peek programs offer educators a first look at concepts and topics being explored in upcoming exhibitions.

• Behind the Scenes programs pull back the curtains on Smithsonian processes that are not usually visible to the public. Educators can learn about topics like museum conservation and the Smithsonian’s archives.

• People at the Smithsonian programs highlight the roles of a variety of experts at the Smithsonian.

Register here: (LINK) We hope to see you there!