W a s h i n g t o n S c i e n c e T e a c h e r s A s s o c i at i o n
JOURNAL AUGUST 2017
www.wsta.net
Vol. 58 Issue 3
3-Dimensional Learning in the TriCities Oct 20, 21, 22
Pasco Red Lion and Chiawana High School
Washington science teachers association
2017 Conference
3-D Learning in the Tri-Cities!
Science And STEM Clock Hours for all Sessions October 20, 2017: Field Trips Leave and Return from Pasco Red Lion October 21, 22 at Chiawana High School! 8125 W Argent Rd Themes and strands: • All Standards, All Students (Equity in the NGSS) • STEM Certification for All Teachers • Progressing through the Standards
• NGSS in the Elementary Grades • Integrating Energy, Engineering and Science • History and Future--Engineering in Washington
Keynote Speakers
Mr. Chris Reykdahl, Superintendent “Science Instruction in Washington” Dr. Phillip Bell, UW “Equitable 3D learning in science for All Students” Dr. Mike DiSpezio, “Brain Sense: Learning About the Brain Through Puzzles, Illusions and Hands-on Activities” There will be several field trips to The Hanford B Reactor, local universities, parks, museums, tech centers, agricultural science centers, environmental science research and wineries! Clock hours available for ALL Field Trips.
See www.wsta.net for more information, everything is ready for you to register, submit a proposal or request an exhibit booth! Conference Coordinator: John P McNamara mcnamara@wsu.edu Conference Chair: Mary Wise mary.wise@rsd.edu Vendor Chair: Nancy Ridenour wstaexhibithall@gmail.com
509 592 0099
Hotel Rooms Blocked at The Pasco Red Lion (HQ Hotel) and The Holiday Inn Express For Registration, Proposals and Exhibits: https://wsta.wildapricot.org/page-1863497
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1
WSTA Journal Front Matter and Information
16-21
Climate Change Impacts & Adaption in the Pacific Northwest Paul J Pickett, P.E.
2
WSTA Mission and Goals
22-23
Have you met Dr. Universe?
3
Letter from the President Andy Boyd
24-25
At the DIG! Fossils in Montana! Lolo Sherwood, Carol Sandison, Mark Watrin
4
Letter from the Editor Welcome New and Renewed Members! New WSTA/NSTA Joint Membership John McNamara
26
Science and Brews, Round 2! Fall Olympia Lineup Carmon Kardokus
2017 WSTA Election Results
27
Roster of the Board Judy Shaw
WSTA Annual Conference: 3D Learning in the Tri Cities!
28
Regional Map of the State
5-6 7-13 14
Presidential Awards For Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching Midge Yergen
14
State Science Assessment Update OSPI Dawn Cope and Cinda Parton
15
Updates from NSTA Midge Yergen
Pasco, Washington
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Dedication to advocating and promoting quality science education for all, at all levels of instruction. WSTA JOURNAL PURPOSE: To provide timely and relevant information about Science Education, Professional Development and WSTA news and services to members of the Washington Science Teachers Association and partners. The journal is a Quarterly Publication (ISSN 01647369), electronic only, linked to the Washington Science Teachers Association Website at www. wsta.net. It is readable and downloadable to WSTA members and specific partner organizations and libraries.
The Journal solicits articles on science education topics, relevant to science teachers and educations in K-12 and higher education, from anyone, whether they are members of WSTA or not. Research articles are accepted but the publication is primarily for information and professional development to the readers. Publication is free to the author(s), and the article is peer-reviewed prior to publication and is a citable source.
Publication Dates Material Deadline, New material for peer review Deadline February 28th January 15th, January 3rd May 31st April 15th, April 1st September 30th August 15th, August 1st November 30th October 15th, October 1st
Editor Contact John P McNamara, McNamara Research in Agriculture Firm, 510 SE South St, Pullman, WA, 99163-2234, 509 592 0099, mcnamjpt205@frontier.com
Articles should be in Word format, 12 point type, Times New Roman, with 1 inch margins, NO line justification, NO line or numbers. Formatting should be minimal, but titles, subtitles, headlines, bullets, outline formats should be included or indicated. Tables should be set up using Microsoft Word Table, and Figures using Microsoft Word or Excel. Figures should be set up and formatted to be printed in 3 ½ in wide column, or ½ page format and this should be indicated. Approximate placement of Tables and Figures in the articles should be indicated.
Preparation and Publication of the Journal All articles and materials for publication should be sent electronically to the Editor at mcnamjpt205@frontier.com by the deadline date. Material will be checked and edited and minor formatting conducted. All copy will be bundled and emailed to Kelly Lavelle within 1 month of publication date. Publication will be electronic only, on the WSTA website and accessible to WSTA members.
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MISSION AND GOALS The Washington Science Teachers Association is an organization dedicated to advocating and promoting quality science education at all levels of instruction. Our goals include:
1. Promoting professional knowledge and growth. 2. Maintaining an ongoing communication network for science educators. 3. Exploring and supporting curriculum development.
4. Recognizing and rewarding excellence. 5. Creating public awareness of the importance of quality science education. 6. Forming an organized voice on pertinent legislative policies and issues.
To help meet these goals, WSTA does the following:
Maintains an active website (www.wsta.net) with the latest information on science education and professional development, and an on line learning center.
Produces the WSTA Quarterly Journal and newsletter with the latest information on Science Education in the State and Nation.
Provides direct notification, through the website and email on professional development from a variety of sources and for all grade levels and subjects.
An organized voice promoting science education in Olympia.
Conducts ongoing up to date Professional Development on implementing the Next Generation Science Standards.
We always welcome your membership and encourage you to become actively involved!
Ongoing activities that WSTA is conducting to serve you by meeting our goals include: • Regional reps make personal contact with each regional member regularly to update them on WSTA activities and solicit their ideas with each member of their region regularly to update for professional development and other support. • Develop and provide low-cost or free, serious professional development on the next generation science standards, most recently the “Progression through the Waves” on Physical Sciences standards relating to wave functions, which reached over 100 school districts. • Working with our representatives at OSPI to help ensure quality implementation of the NGSS and of
assessment, WSTA members are routinely on the teams for assessment development and review and provide input to OSPI on quality assessment. • Co-hosted the NSTA Regional Conference in Portland in December 2016 to more than 1000 teachers and educational administrators. • Offering the next WSTA Annual Conference October 20 to 22, 2017 at Chiawana High School in Pasco on “3-Dimensional Learning in the Tri-Cities.” • Provide thousands of dollars in science teacher awards and in scholarships to pre-service and new teachers!
Go to the website for information and TELL US what more you want on there. And TELL US what more you want out of your membership! John McNamara 509-592-0099 mcnamara@wsu.edu
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LETTER
from the
PRESIDENT Andy Boyd
August 22, 2017 Thank you. Thank you for all you do for science education! As part of a large educational system, it may sometimes feel overwhelming when changes affect any aspect of the multiple levels of education. You are so important to the success of the students you engage and the Washington Science Teachers Association would like to continue to support and help in any way we can. The past few years have brought many changes to the educational system and WSTA is dedicated to continue to promote quality science education and advocate for science education for ALL. We will continue to promote professional knowledge through our multiple state wide professional learning opportunities. Through our website and journal, we hope to build on the ongoing communication network for science educators. The Next Generation Science Standards and the need to for quality instructional materials, have driven us to explore and support curriculum development. We will continue to recognize and reward great science teaching and advocates of science education through our awards and scholarship committee. Committees have begun to develop strategies to create public awareness on pertinent legislative policies. As well as, being a voice on the importance of a quality science education. As students begin to fill our classrooms across the state, the WSTA board will work to engage the membership of the association. Come share your teaching and educational experience at the many regional professional development events this year. Attend the WSTA conference this October in Pasco, Washington at The Pasco Red Lion Friday Oct 20 (for staging Friday Field Trips) and Chiawana High School Saturday and Sunday the 21st and 22nd. and
discover the 3D learning and teaching of the NGSS for all students. Share your amazing interactions that you have with your students on the WSTA Facebook page and twitter. Engage as a member in your association. Again, thank you. Thank you for all you do for science education!
Respectfully, Andy Boyd President 2017 – 2019
LETTER FROM THE
EDITOR
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Welcome New Members See the New WSTA/NSTA Joint Membership!
John P McNamara
August 2017
NEW MEMBERS & REGION
Letter from the Editor, WSTA Journal
Name City Region
We hope you are enjoying our new format and focus of the WSTA Journal…more news, timely stories, OSPI updates, professional development opportunities, and in this issue: WSTA 2017 Conference in Pasco, 3 dimensional learning in the Tri-Cities! Look for all the great information in this issue. My letter today highlights and gives a big THANK YOU!!, to all the new and renewed members since this spring (if your name is not on this list and should be…..write to me at mcnamara@wsu.edu!). Thanks to all of you who join and renew! Do not feel shy to reach out to your board members, or colleagues, you can contact your regional rep to see who else is a member in your district. If you think WSTA is a good deal…invite a friend. Look at the deals for a reduced price NSTA and WSTA Joint 1 year membership, and, newly revitalized thanks to YOU asking for it….one year FREE WSTA membership to new teachers. See website for details (you just need to email me with where you are and when you started…if your teaching career began in the 2016-2017 school year or this year….contact me!). See you ALL in Pasco at “3D learning in the TriCities” October 20, 21, 22 at the Pasco Red Lion and Chiawana High School.
Eileen Patrick Louisville Out of State (thanks!) Janice Elvidge Coulee Dam Region 1 Ryan Grant Medical Lake Region 1 Sharen Keatch Spokane Region 1 Mike Nepean Spokane Region 1 Tammie Schrader Spokane Region 1 Megan Gray Ellensburg Region 2 Brooke Smitha Kennewick Region 2 Molly Ravits Leavenworth Region 3 Joanne Colman Wester Anacortes Region 5 Anthony Davidson Anacortes Region 5 Scott Bosen Puyallup Region 6 Jessica Lawrence University Place Region 6 Tony Lund Fircrest Region 6 Donald Pruett Puyallup Region 6 Denise Buck Olympia Region 7 Ellen Ebert Olympia Region 7 Johnny Garcia Olympia Region 7 Dixie Reimer Lacey Region 7 Lory Reynolds Olympia Region 7 Julie Tennis Naselle Region 7 Amelia Donahey Randle Region 8 Veronica Kenney Richland Region 8 Trevor Macduff Pasco Region 8 Stacy Meyer Portland Region 8 Andrea Parker Battle Ground Region 8 Cinda Parton Vancouver Region 8 Jessica Schenck Othello Region 8 Pranjali Upadhyay Vancouver Region 8 Valerie VanDyke Metaline Falls Region 8 Mark Watrin Vancouver Region 8 Melissa Beker Kirkland Region 10 Julie Blystad Seattle Region 10 Elizabeth Burns Bothell Region 10 John Currie Mountlake Terrace Region 10 Susan Howard Snohomish Region 10 Rita Hulsman Seattle Region 10 Julie H. Lutz Seattle Region 10 Barney Peterson Brier Region 10 Jose Rios Seattle Region 10 Vince Santo Pietro Seattle Region 10 Ethan Smith Seattle Region 10 Shaun Taylor Seattle Region 10 Amy Vandervoort Lake Forest Park Region 10
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Congratulations to the 2017 WSTA Board The elections for the 2017 WSTA are complete. Thank you to all who ran for a position and all of the amazing things you do for science education. Here is some information about the elected new members and a statement. If you are interested in learning more about the WSTA Board, please contact Andy Boyd, President (boydscience@gmail.com) or any board member. Thank you again and have a wonderful fall term! Andy Boyd
John P McNamara - President-Elect; Pullman I have thoroughly enjoyed and learned from my work with WSTA and WSTA Board, and hope I have been effective in helping maintain and grow WSTA as a premier professional service society. It is imperative we continue to lead in all areas of effective science instruction for the students and society of the future. I look forward to helping lead Science Education in our state through work with ESDs, Districts, the OSPI, schools and teachers to fully implement the spirit and letter of the NGSS and provide the best support and training we can for all our science teachers.
Dana Marsden - Recording Secretary; Mountlake Terrace WSTA is a leader in and resource for science teaching professionals in Washington. With your support, I will be able to continue to play a part in these efforts. As Recording Secretary, I am tasked with maintaining accurate records of meetings and planning sessions. As a member of the Board, I have the opportunity to support the design and implementation of professional development for science teachers in meeting the NGSS standards. With your support, I am asking to be able to continue to be a part of supporting this essential work for all teachers across our state.
Midge Yergen - Region 4 Representative; Yakima The face of science education is changing. With the implementation of the Washington State Science Learning Standards (NGSS), and the paradigm shift to three dimensional learning, many educators are feeling anxious about these new challenges. In addition, we must be mindful of providing equitable science experiences for ALL students. As a Regional Representative for WSTA, I’d continue to support teacher learning and professional development through regional and State activities, and serve the needs of the WSTA board. I’d like to continue serving as your Region IV voice on the WSTA board and serving you, my colleagues for another term.
Jonathan Frostad - Region 5 Representative; Oak Harbor In an era of rising disbelief in scientific facts and distrust of scientists, the job of science educators is more critical than ever. In addition, the next generation of science learners will occupy a world in which they must be more scientifically literate than any previous generation. The task of science educators is to ensure ALL students achieve new heights of literacy despite recent opposing trends. As your representative, I will continue to provide you with professional development and tools to
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assist you in our mission of preparing ALL students for the technological world that awaits them. Thank you for re-electing me as WSTA Region 5 Representative. I will continue working to support all your efforts to combat the rising disbelief in scientific facts and distrust of scientists, as well as help you foster the next generation of science learners who will occupy a world in which they must be more scientifically literate than any previous generation. Together, we will strive to ensure that ALL students achieve new heights of science literacy despite recent opposing trends. As your representative, I will continue to provide you with professional development and tools to assist you in our mission of preparing ALL students for the technological world that awaits them.
Don Pruett Jr - Region 6 Representative; Puyallup Thank you for allowing me to continue to represent you as the Region 6 Representative for the Washington State Science Teachers Association (WSTA). After 20 years of teaching science, I have completed my administration internship and will be the new Science supervisor for the
Clover Park School District. I also serve on the South Sound Regional Science Fair Board. Please let me know if you have any questions. The WSTA regional representatives are currently working with the Burke Museum on a Geological History of Washington unit and we plan to roll out professional development classes in the fall. The WSTA conference is October 20-21 in Pasco, WA. Mark your calendars and bring a friend! See you there.
Carmen Kardokus - Region 7 Representative; Olympia My name is Carmen Kardokus and I am delighted to continue serving as the regional representative for region 7. As the regional representative, I will work to provide timely and needed professional development opportunities which serve to benefit my area. I will continue to relay science related information to the members of my region and seek feedback on how to best serve their needs. I will seek to innovate and be creative in providing new opportunities such as the Oly Science Brews lecture series which I began this spring. I will do my best to promote authentic and useful professional development opportunities based on the needs of both teachers and students.
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2017 Conference
3-D Learning in the Tri-Cities! OCTOBER
20
Field Trips Leave and Return from Pasco Red Lion
OCTOBER
21-22
2017
At Chiawana High School! 8125 W Argent Rd
2017
All information, registration, workshop proposal form, exhibitor registration, field trip registration, banquet registration are at www.wsta.net!
The Board of Directors of the Washington Science Teachers Association invites anyone in science education and friends to register and attend our 2017 Professional Development Conference “3-D Learning in the Tri-Cities.” We have designed this for you and your needs to be expert in the content and pedagogy (and great science and fun) of the Next Generation Science Standards and the various state assessments. A chance to learn, find out about supplies and support materials, meet friends, see a great high school campus, make friends, ask questions, experience the unique geography, geology and history of the region, answer questions, tell the board what they should be doing. On Friday, October 20, leaving and returning from the Red Lion Pasco, we have ½ day and full day field trips on a variety of science subjects for teachers of ALL levels. Learn about the geology of the area, visit Our themes and strands include: • All Standards, All Students (Equity in the NGSS) • STEM Certification for All Teachers
the historic B reactor of the Hanford Site, see where the WSU research ‘saw’ a gravity wave, see how and where our great food is produced, perhaps sample a little wine. This well-respected professional development conference has dozens of workshops on a wide variety of topics and all carry Science and STEM Clock Hours re-certification. Clock hours are through WSTA and cost $25, total. • • • •
Progressing through the Standards NGSS in the Elementary Grades Integrating Energy, Engineering and Science History and Future--Engineering in Washington
8 We kick off the conference with our very own Superintendent of Public Instruction, Chris Reykdal!
Mr. Chris Reykdahl Superintendent “Science Instruction in Washington” and budget and education policy executive for our state’s community and technical college system. Chris has dedicated his entire career to public education, and he is currently serving in his first term as the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Chris and his wife, Kim, live in historic Tumwater with their two children, Carter and Kennedy.
Chris Reykdal was born and raised in Snohomish, Washington as the youngest of eight children. He has served as a high school history teacher, local school board member, state legislator,
Chris graduated summa cum laude from Washington State University with a bachelor’s degree in social studies and a teaching certificate, and he earned a master’s degree in public administration from the University of North Carolina– Chapel Hill. He coached both youth and adult soccer for several years, he volunteered as a local
city planning commissioner, and he had the honor of serving as a trustee for the College Spark Wshington Foundation for six years. Chris leads a team at OSPI that is committed to opening up multiple pathways to high school graduation beyond the “university for all” approach. To do this and truly embrace all students, Chris is leading the charge to expand technical education opportunities and to decrease our reliance on standardized tests that label our students. Additionally, he is building broad coalitions that are working to close opportunity gaps through critical policy and budget changes.
Dr. Phillip Bell UW “Equitable 3D learning in science for All Students” The new vision provided in the NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education and the resulting Next Generation Science Standards provide a collective opportunity to broadly promote equity and social justice in education. These policy documents highlight that learning is fundamentally a cultural as well as a cognitive process—and that science learning experiences should be designed to overlap with the lives of youth and their communities in order to heighten meaning and relevance. Attendees will explore classroom talk structures and formative assessment approaches that support more inclusive learning experiences for students. STEM
Teaching Tools that can be broadly used to support NGSS implementation will be shared. Philip Bell is a professor of the Learning Sciences & Human Development and holds the Shauna C. Larson Chair in Learning Sciences. He is executive director of the UW Institute for Science & Math Education focused on equityfocused innovation in K-12 STEM education, and he is co-director of the Learning in Informal and Formal Environments (LIFE) Science of Learning Center. Bell pursues a cognitive and cultural program of research across diverse environments focused on how people learn in ways that are
personally consequential to them. He has studied everyday expertise and cognition in science and health, the design and use of novel learning technologies in science
9 classrooms, youth argumentation, culturally expansive science instruction, and scaled implementation of educational improvement. Bell served as a member of the Board on Science Education with the National Academy of Sciences for eight years, co-chaired the National Research Council consensus
report effort on Learning Science in Informal Environments and served on the committee of the NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education that was used to guide development of Next Generation Science Standards. He has a background in human cognition and development, science education, computer science,
and electrical engineering. Bell is also currently editing a series of research- and practice-based tools for science education called STEM Teaching Tools. The effort is providing resources for equityfocused improvements in science education.
Dr. Mike DiSpezio “Brain Sense: Learning About the Brain Through Puzzles, Illusions and Hands-on Activities” to construct an understanding of neural function by assuming the role of active audience participant. From understanding perception to learning how to maintain a brainfriendly classroom environment, you’ll see how the neurobiology of learning emerges through the mechanics of inexpensive and easy-to-share experiences.
Join author, television host, and global educator Michael DiSpezio as he facilitates an entertaining and motivating journey in which the latest brain research is explained using an assortment of mind-twisting puzzles, stimulating activities, and eyeopening illusions. In Michael’s hallmark style, he’ll challenge you
Michael is a renaissance educator, speaker, TV host and science education author. A former marine biologist, Michael completed his graduate studies at the Marine Biological Lab at Woods Hole and worked as a research assistant to a Nobel prize winner in chemistry. Leaving the laboratory, he celebrated his passion in education as a K-12 classroom teacher for nearly ten years. Towards the end of that tenure, he began writing
textbooks and was awarded his first authorship on a high school chemistry series. Extensive travel has taken him from the Emmys with an award nominated show in children’s health to the Bahamas where he developed the Discovery Channel Camp at Atlantis. He has worked on numerous television broadcasts as both writer and onscreen host with organizations that include the National Science Teachers Association, National Geographic, The Discovery Channel, PBS, and the Weather Channel. To date, Michael is the author of over 30 trade books and has co-authorship on over 5 dozen science textbooks including the newly released HMH Science Dimensions, a K-8 science program published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
WSTA 2017 Workshops By Title More than 70 great workshops on all aspects of the NGSS: physical sciences, life sciences, earth and space sciences, disciplinary core ideas, cross cutting concepts, science and engineering practices, all grade levels! A partial list is below, we will have more as well. • • •
Bungee Jumping From PS3 A to B Professional Membership: What Can NSTA and WSTA Do For You? Bringing Three-Dimensional Learning to Life with 360
• •
Spherical Photography Building a 3D, NGSS-based Chemistry course from the ground up Partners in Science Program
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Developing and Using Models in Ambitious Science Teaching Talk Moves for a Purpose Creating and Using Models to Monitor Student Understanding Engineering Design, Legos vs Craft Stick Bending. Neural Engineering: Helping the Body Heal, Feel, and Move Again Questions and Answers About the State Science Assessments Project-Based Learning: Sending Your Students on a Quest for Relevancy Making Every Classroom a Maker Space Pre-Service Teacher Poster: An Oceanography Unit for Pre-School through Grade 3 Welcome to the Anthropocene: Scaffolding Scientific Argumentation Engineering Design for Grades K-2 How Can We Provide Fresh Water to Those In Need? Shifting to the 5 Innovations: How Do We Transform Instruction? Science and Coding with the Smithsonian Energy as a Cross-Cutting Concept in High School Chemistry Embitec: Color Dyes and Electrophoresis Integrating iPad with Vernier Technology Embitec: PCR: PTC Tasting Kit Using MiniOne PCR and MiniOne Electrophoresis Systems Leveraging the Environmental Sustainability (ESE) Standards to Support NGSS – A New Tool Modern Physics for All The River Mile Network Who’s in Your Network...for NGSS Field Experiences? Real World Science: Innovation due to Necessity during WWII: Spark Students Connecting Kids to STEM Through Entrepreneurship I’ll Huff and I’ll Puff: Incorporating data into elementary school engineering projects An innovative model of teacher preparation to address the STEM teacher shortage Zika Virus and Drug Discovery Curriculum for a Crowded World Pre-Service Teacher Poster: Winogradsky Column: Microbial Ecology in the Classroom Sinkholes: Core Practices of Rigorous Problem Based Learning in Science Incorporating Green Chemistry Into the Chemistry Classroom Inspiring the Next Generation of Innovators Building Awareness of Ocean Acidification in a Coastal Community Educating your Administrators about NGSS A’Peak’ at WAVES Progression Workshop Making your Claim Outdoors Integrating Science and Literacy for All Students
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Using place-based phenomena found in our local National Parks to focus Student Science Investigations Developing Locally Relevant STEM Instruction for NGSS The Northwest Earth and Space Sciences Pipeline Build an Artificial Neural Network in Your Classroom! A Deeper Look (Unpacking) the Next Generation Science Standards STEAM Projects for the classroom Barriers in the STEM Pipeline from K-12 to Tenure Hands-On Nuclear Science STEM +1: Stirring Literacy into Your Science Lessons (K-2) High School Science OER Course Project Virtual Labs You Can Conduct and Grade in Under an Hour! The Case for Teaching Elementary Science Transform Your Science Classroom Into Their Thriving Research Laboratory! Fostering Outdoor Observation Skills Through Science Notebooking The “E” in STEM is not to be Feared Lessons from the Sky (A Teacher’s STEM Source) Argument-Driven Inquiry in the Elementary Classroom Argument-Driven Inquiry Helping Students Get the Most from Science, Technology and Engineering Projects/Competitions Time to Act: Earthquake Early Warning arrives in the Pacific Northwest Summarize Electricity with a Maker Project Using Argumentation as a STEM Strategy - Increasing Student Voice Demystifying STEM - Earthquake Proof Towers and Engineering Design STEM Teacher / Science Teacher: What’s the Difference? Biodiversity PEEK STEAM: Leaving No Child Inside Clean Energy Investigations Integrating Green Chemistry into Every Classroom: Interactive Workshop for High School and Middle School Educators Interdisciplinary Partnerships and Claim-Evidence Writing in Science Energy and Society Differentiating Homework by Using Online Simulations and Videos New POGIL Activities to Teach Basic Concepts of Evolution Supporting the NGSS with Process-Oriented GuidedInquiry Learning (POGIL) NGSS Assessment Literacy & Creation Floating Trains: Phenomena, 3-D Instruction, and Amplify Science for Grades 2–5 NLM’s Online Playground: K-12 Science and Health Education Resources Pre-Service Poster: NGSS in the Elementary Grades
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Field Trips
WSTA Annual Conference, Pasco, WA October 20, 2017
LIGO Hanford Observatory, 127124 North Route 10, Richland Wa 99354. Half day. Morning or afternoon. Washington State and Louisiana house two of the world’s most sensitive measuring instruments: the LIGO interferometers. These facilities are funded by the National Science Foundation and operated by Caltech and MIT. LIGOs mission is to detect and study cosmic gravitational waves. These waves are ripples in the fabric of space-time that were predicted by Einstein in the General Theory of Relativity. At LIGO, we had the first ever direct detection of gravitational waves on September 14, 2015. LIGO draws from and adds to the newest knowledge in gravitational physics, astrophysics, and astronomy. Visit the facility and learn about this great aspect of physical laws.
Terra Blanca Winery and Estate Vineyard Half day afternoon The elegant and luxurious winery is surrounded by acres of lush landscaping and waterfalls. Take in the view of a sea of vines, the Yakima River, quaint Benton City and the rolling Horse Heaven Hills while sipping on the award-winning, estate produced wines on the Terrace at Terra Blanca. For an unforgettable experience, journey underground beneath the tasting room to explore Terra Blanca’s barrel caves, the largest of its kind in the state of Washington.
Ste. Michelle Estates WSU Wine Science Center Half day, morning or afternoon. The Ste. Michelle Wine Estates WSU Wine Science Center opened June 4, 2015, on the Washington State University Tri-Cities campus in the heart of Washington Wine Country. This 40,000-square-foot facility includes a state-of-the-art research and teaching winery, research laboratories, classrooms and meeting spaces that serve as a gathering place for industry members, students and visiting scholars from around the world. The WSU Viticulture and Enology Program, directed by world-renowned wine microbiologist Dr. Thomas Henick-Kling.
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Hanford Historic B Reactor. Four hours, staggered schedule The Hanford B reactor is where history was made and history was changed. See the actual reactor where the first plutonium was produced which helped usher in the Atomic Age. The B Reactor National Historic Landmark is now also a component of the newly created, three-location Manhattan Project National Historical Park. Signed into law December 2014, under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the B Reactor and historic town sites on the Hanford site, will join the other Manhattan Project sites at Los Alamos, New Mexico, and Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to create an unparalleled visitor experience inside these marvels of 20th century science and technology. The B Reactor is the world’s first production-scale nuclear reactor, and was created as part of the top secret Manhattan Project during World War II. B Reactor was built in just 11 months, without the help of computers or even final scale drawings, and produced plutonium for the first atomic explosion, the Trinity test in New Mexico on July 16th, 1945, and for the Fatman bomb, which helped to bring an end to World War II. Tour 1 – 43 Seats (if needed we could fit 45 Max.) 9:00 am: Introduction; Ends at 1 pm. Tour 2 – 24 Seats 11:45 a.m. : Introduction, ends at 3:45 p.m.
MUST register by Friday, October 6, 2017. For participants under the age of 18, a parent or legal guardian must read and sign a release form outlining the potential hazards at the facility, and his/her responsibilities for supervising his/her child. To enjoy this tour, you should be able to stand for up to 30 minutes, walk short distances, and withstand temperatures over 90 degrees in the summer. You must also be able to read and comprehend all mandated Hanford safety awareness information. Guests are required to stay on the tour path and follow the instructions of escorts at all times. Before or after your tour, you can learn more about the world-changing history, science and engineering behind the Manhattan Project and B Reactor, as well as the history of Native American and early settler populations at the Hanford Site, with videos produced by the B Reactor Museum Association and the Atomic Heritage Foundation.
The Reach Museum Half day, morning or afternoon. The REACH is a storytelling center that inspires learning and celebrates the natural, scientific, and cultural history of the Tri-Cities region through engaging exhibits, educational programs, special events, and guided tours. Visitors can live the story of our region’s history and culture through gallery exhibits. Conference attendees will be treated to gorgeous views of the Columbia River and the shrub-steppe landscape of the TriCities. Explore the outdoor exhibit at The REACH and learn about the flora and fauna that call the Tri-Cities home.
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Wind Farm, McNary Dam, Sage Museum. Full Day Learn all about the different forms of energy that is available in Eastern Washington. You will visit a wind farm, McNary Dam, and the Sage Center, a museum about agriculture and energy. 8am-4pm Maximum 26 people
Ice Age/Mammoth Dig/Wallula Gap/Devils Canyon Full day. The tour will be led by Gary Kleinknecht, an expert in the field of Ice Age Floods. It will begin with a trip to the Coyote Canyon Mammoth dig site and then to Wallula Gap and Devils Canyon. 8am-4pm Maximum 26 people
Farm to Table… WSU Ag Research Station, Sunheaven Farms (onions, sugar beets), irrigation, Chukar Cherries Full day 8am – 4pm See scientific and environmentally sustainable agriculture in action, tour cutting edge research fields and learn real world examples of NGSS teaching and learning for Life and Earth and Environmental Sciences. Maximum 26 people There will be several field trips to The Hanford B Reactor, local universities, parks, museums, tech centers, agricultural science centers, environmental science research and wineries! Clock hours available for ALL Field Trips. See www.wsta.net for more information, everything is ready for you to register, submit a proposal or request an exhibit booth! Conference Coordinator: John P McNamara mcnamara@wsu.edu 509 592 0099 Conference Chair: Mary Wise mary.wise@rsd.edu Vendor Chair: Nancy Ridenour wstaexhibithall@gmail.com Hotel Rooms Blocked at The Pasco Red Lion 2525 North 20th Avenue
Pasco, WA 99301; Use Exit 12 B off I-182; (HQ Hotel; Call 1-800 REDLION (733-5466), ask for Red Lion Pasco; group block code WASH1019; go online, use WASH2019). The Holiday Inn Express 4525 Convention Place, Pasco, WA; use Exit 9 off I-182; phone 800 315 2621 (Reservations) 1-5095437000 (Front Desk) WSTA Booking Link (when you go to this, click on Oct 19 or 20 as the start date and it should be our booking, you will see ‘99801505’ in the IATA box and WST in the group code. For Conference Registration and Exhibits: https://wsta.wildapricot.org/page-1863497
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Presidential Awards For Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching YOU CAN BE A WINNER!
applications are due May 1.
Do you know a fabulous secondary science or math teacher? Someone that deserves recognition for their contributions to bringing science or math alive for their students? Maybe it’s YOU!
The Presidential Awards program is the highest level of recognition given to science and math educators in our country. Mentors will be available to help applicants and answer questions about the application process.
Make 2018 the year to become a Presidential Awardee! This year is a secondary (grades 7-12) goround for the Presidential Awards in Mathematics and Science Teaching. Educators with a minimum of 5 years of full time teaching experience in science or math are eligible to apply. You may nominate a colleague or yourself by going to the PAEMST website at www.paemst.org. Nominations will be due next year and must be submitted by April 1 and
Need more information? Contact Washington State PAEMST coordinators Hilary Seidel at OSPI at Hilary. Seidel@k12.wa.us or Midge Yergen at yergenm@wvsd208.org. Either would be happy to help you! Nominate colleagues or yourself today!
State Science Assessment Update OSPI The Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science (WCAS) will be administered in grades 5, 8, and 11 for federal accountability in spring 2018. The WCAS assesses the Washington State 2013 K-12 Science Learning Standards (NGSS). With the signing into law of Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2224 the high school science assessment graduation requirement is postponed until the Class of 2021. This means that students in the Classes of 2017 through 2020 do not need to pass a state science exam in order to graduate. Table 2 details the federal accountability and assessment graduation requirements for the classesf 2018-2021 based on the new law. The Grade 5 and Grade 8 Measurments of Student Progress (MSP), the Biology End-of Course (EOC) exam, and the Biology Collection of Evidence (COE) will no longer be administered.
Graduation Alternatives: Once the assessment graduation requirement is back in place (class of 2021), graduation alternatives will be available.
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Updates from the National Science Teachers Association Region 17 Director, WSTA Board Member Midge Yergen
See www.wsta.org for more details. See more information in this issue on a discounted 1 year membership to NSTA AND WSTA!
Apply to be on an NSTA Committee or Advisory Board NSTA members: We need your views and expertise— we’re looking for everyone from grade-level experts to curriculum experts to informal science educators. Please consider joining a committee, advisory board, or review panel. Learn more.
Register by September 15 for Earlybird Rate for NSTA’s Three-Dimensional Learning Virtual Conference Whether your state has formally adopted the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) or has adopted similar three-dimensional standards, NSTA’s new virtual conference, Assessing Three Dimensional Learning, will give you a strong foundation in assessing three-dimensional learning. Appropriate for all grade levels, this conference takes place Saturday, October 21, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET. Learn more.
How NGSS and CCSS for ELA/Literacy Address Argument A disciplinary practice that is emphasized consistently across the Common Core State Standards for ELA/ literacy and mathematics and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) is argument. But to what extent do subject area educators have a common understanding of argument? NGSS writing team member Okhee Lee sheds light in this new NSTA blog post.
NSTA Resources for Parents NSTA’s collection of parent resources continues to grow. Get NGSS parent guides, Q&A’s, links to science competitions, science trade books, science ebooks, and more.
Chemistry, Physics, and Engineering Days: Immerse Yourself in Content at NSTA’s Area Conferences This Fall Did you know that NSTA has special programming days at our fall conferences, where science teachers can take a deep-dive into chemistry, physics, and engineering, spearheaded by the American Chemical Society, the American Association of Physics Teachers, and the American Society for Engineering Education? Learn more about these special programming days or about our conferences in Baltimore (October 5–7), Milwaukee (November 9–11), and New Orleans (November 30–December 2).
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Boulder Glacier, Glacier Nat. Park
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Chaney Glacier, Glacier Nat. Park
Pacific Northwest
Climate Change Impacts & Adaptation
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By Paul J. Pickett, P.E.
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Shepard Glacier, Glacier Nat. Park
2005
We are facing a changing world. Our modern industrial society is burning fossil fuels at an unprecedented rate, and we are seeing the results already – rapidly rising atmospheric temperatures across the planet. Since about 1970 global temperatures have climbed almost a full degree Celsius. 2016 was the warmest year ever recorded. In the United States, by February 2017 record high temperature records were occurring more often than record lows by over 150:1 – 4492 record highs versus 29 record lows. In the Pacific Northwest, almost every weather station is showing temperature increase, averaging over 1.5 degrees of warming in the last century. Spring snow cover is declining and snowmelt and peak runoff is shifting earlier. Studies of wildlife show shifts in species behavior with the earlier arrival of spring, such as earlier bird migrations. Glaciers are a strong indicator of a warming climate, and most glaciers in the PNW are receding and losing mass. Photographs from early in the 20th century compared to contemporary images provide a startling documentation of glacial recession. These regional trends are echoed in our polar regions. Sea ice is declining, both through the collapse of ice shelves in Antarctica and the decline in the Arctic ice pack. These changes pose new challenges to global security. Nations bordering the Arctic Ocean are now able to compete for natural resources that previously were locked in by the ice. And sea level rise from melting continental glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica threatens to submerge low-lying nations such as Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and the Maldives.
1930s
2009
Sperry Glacier, Glacier Nat. Park
Fundamentally the science of climate change is simple. In 1896, the Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius first applied basic principles of chemistry to show that carbon dioxide (CO2) helped to warm the atmosphere. Sunlight passes through the atmosphere, but infrared radiation from the heating of the planet’s surface is more readily absorbed. The similarity of this phenomenon to the effect glass causes in a greenhouse led to the term “the greenhouse effect”. Atmospheric gasses that cause this effect are termed “greenhouse gasses” (GHGs). CO2 is the most common GHG, but methane, nitrous oxide, and variety of other chemicals are potent GHGs. So what’s the problem? Humans are pouring CO2 and other GHGs into the atmosphere. CO2 levels, measured high on Mauna Loa in Hawaii, were far below 300 ppm a century ago, but now have passed 400 ppm. This is the highest level this planet has experiences in almost a million years. Virtually all of this increase can be accounted for by human emissions. In fact, about one-third of CO2 emissions are absorbed by the ocean, while two-thirds remains in the atmosphere. The CO2 absorbed by the ocean is driving another phenomenon: ocean acidification. Dissolved CO2 forms carbonic acid, which drives down the pH. This has been
The signals of a warming climate are everywhere. And yet the media portrays the science of climate change as unresolved. This could not be farther from the truth. The International Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, reviewed climate science in one of the largest peer reviewed efforts in history. The most recent assessment reported in 2014: A study in 2009 found that 97-98% of 1,372 climate researchers support the tenets of anthropogenic climate change.
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Red Eagle & Logan Glacier, Glacier Nat. Park
2009
termed “climate change’s evil twin”. The impacts of a more acid ocean are poorly understood, but already we are discovering problems driven by ocean acidification, such as changes in ocean microbiota and failures in shellfish larvae shell formation. How do climate scientists analyze the impact of GHGs? Research institutions across the globe have been developing incredibly complex models of the atmosphere. Interactions of global temperature with a multitude of factors are analyzed. This include both astronomical factors and feedback loops. Changes in orbit or the suns intensity can be taken into account. For an example of feedback loops, as snow cover declines it loses albedo, in other words, less white snow means less heat is reflected into the atmosphere. Or another is the melting of permafrost which is releasing the GHG methane. There are over a dozen different global climate models (GCMs) which employ different mathematical formulations of these climate factors. The test of a model is whether it can predict the past accurately, and how these models perform is understood from this test. Once they are “calibrated” and can predict the past accurately, then can be tested again with future emissions. The IPCC has developed “emissions scenarios” that predict how GHG emissions will climb into the future based on scenarios of economic growth and the use of fossil fuel, renewable energy, and conservation. This is the second test. You can run the models with human emissions and without them. If you keep emission levels at the same level as 100 years ago, our planet should have been cooling. With our historic emissions it’s been warming at the levels we have observed. With future emissions we are likely to keep warming. Globally we have warmed about 1 degree Celsius, but if the current trajectory continues, the planet may warm by over 5 degrees by the end of the century. Five degrees doesn’t sound like much, the amount of energy in the atmosphere this represents will likely mean major changes to our weather, our environment, our farms, and our communities. And one challenge of GHGs is that our atmosphere takes about 50 years to reach equilibrium. That means that our current
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Grinnell Footbridge Glacier, Glacier Nat. Park
climate is the result of the last 50 years of emissions, and the emissions now and in the future will warm our atmosphere from another 50 years. So even if we can slow and stabilize emissions in the next decade or two, we will have to deal with a warming climate for many decades, if not centuries. What are some of the impacts we can expect? Climate models can be “downscaled” so we can see the effects here in our region. Then the changes in temperature and humidity can be modeled into weather patterns. Here are some of the impacts that scientists tell us to expect: Fall through winter will be wetter, but summers drier. Winters will be warmer and there will be less snow. We will see more extremes of weather, with cycles of more intense storms and periods of drought. The lack of snowpack in 2015 was described as our “sneak
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Clements Glacier, Glacier Nat. Park
preview” of normal conditions in the future. Even though the total amount of precipitation was normal, the loss of snow created problems with water shortages for farmers and in streams for fish. Hotter drier summers can also mean more wildfires. Air quality can suffer and reach dangerous levels of dust, smoke, and smog. Warmer weather is allowing tropical diseases to enter our region and disease vectors like tropical species of mosquitos carrying dengue and zika. Disease promoted by warmer weather can also attack forests and crops, leaving trees vulnerable to burning and increasing pesticide use on fields. And heat waves can be killers, both through heat stress and physical and mental trauma.
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Boulder Glacier, Glacier Nat. Park
You often hear talk that trying to stop climate change is too expensive. But a lack of action may cost even more. One study projected economic costs of $9 billion per year by 2020, and almost $16 billion per year by 2040. These costs were driven by loss of water supply, health impacts, loss of salmon, increased energy costs, wildfire and storm damage, loss of forest and food production, and other factors.
Warmer summers and loss of snowpack affect our energy demand and supply. Less snow means less hydropower in our region, while hotter days mean more air conditioners needing electricity. This is a human feedback loop from impacts that forces us to address increasing demand combined with diminishing supply. Coastal communities may face a triple whammy as sea level rises and storms get more intense from climate change. If flooding from rainfall combines with a storm surge on top of a higher high tide, the result can be a major disaster. Hurricane Sandy was the “test run” of the combination of these factors. Since most of our population live near sea level, the potential impact on cities like Seattle can affect millions of people.
This is why many scientists see climate change as one of greatest environmental problems humanity has ever faced. But people are smart and resourceful. We have built our civilization with hard work and brain power, and we can solve this problem and adapt. The switch to a non-carbon industrial society is unprecedented, but it is our only hope for our children’s and grandchildren’s future. And there are many solutions available, if we empower our society to invest in them. “Mitigation” or our pathway to reducing GHG emissions is a huge topic in itself. As noted earlier, we will have to adapt to a changing climate regardless of our success with mitigation. The pathway to adaptation is to increase our “resilience”, that is, find ways to help our communities and our environment survive extreme weather and climate shifts. Some key principles need to be considered for climate adaptation. The “end of stationarity” is a term that means that we can no longer predict the future from the past. Our climate is changing, and we need to take those changes into consideration in our long-term plans and investments.
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Grinnell Glacier, Glacier Nat. Park
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Climate change often makes existing problems worse. We are struggling to restore our salmon, and climate change will make that job harder by reducing flows and increasing water temperatures in the summer. But the flip side of that is that by restoring our ecosystems and making our communities more sustainable, we can also do just what is needed to be more climate resilient. So we are making a better world regardless of what a changing climate throws at us. We also have to think about “adapting to adaptation”. If we respond to sea level rise by building bulkheads on our shorelines, have we made the environment less resilient? By building water storage are we hurting salmon. A big challenge will be to find climate adaptation solutions that are win-win with multiple benefits, rather than paying for one benefit with increased harm to something else.
ground water inflows and microclimate refuges can reduce water temperatures and help fish to survive heat waves. In our cities, we can install pervious paving, stormwater swales, green roofs that reduce the flow or rainfall runoff and increase ground water recharge. Trees and greenbelts can also makes our cities cooler and better for our mental health. We need to ensure wildlife have both refuges and migration corridors. Solving the problem of habitat fragmentation also increases climate resiliency.
Here are some ways we can adapt. We can use risk management principles in our planning for public health, infrastructure, and other activities. This is a powerful tool that lets us evaluate future scenarios and anticipate needed responses. We can train our health professionals and develop planning for disease and extreme weather events. Being prepared in advance goes far to lessen impacts on people’s health and lives. We can invest in conservation and a diverse renewable energy portfolio. Reducing GHG emissions can also build resiliency. And resiliency includes planning for the impacts of extreme weather on our energy infrastructure. We can make our rivers and streams more resilient by restoring watershed and floodplain functions. Increased
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On our coasts we need to decide where to defend and where to retreat. Urban zoning needs to take flood risk into account. At the same time, estuaries and wetlands need designated areas to retreat inland, or healthy sediment balances and plant communities to allow them to grow up and out as sea level changes. Forests will need careful management to reduce fire risk and eliminate disease and invasive species, while at the same time increasing the resilience of hydrology and forest species. And diversifying forest and crop species can help provide more resiliency to our working lands. As teachers communicate with students and their families about climate change, there are some principles that have been developed by the social sciences: •
Climate change is scary and big, and people feel helpless. Address this by empowering people to be part of the solution.People don’t understand or think this is a problem far in the future. The answer is clear and simple teaching about the problems occurring now, and why we need to address the problem now.
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Boulder Glacier, Glacier Nat. Park
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People mistrust the “experts”. Yet we can draw analogies to other areas where science has helped our lives. We’ve come a long way in solving health and environmental problems, and climate is a real and solvable problem. People trust the status quo. But the status quo is not always good. Solving problems and making the world better is how we have made our lives better and longer.
It’s a big problem and big challenge. But like raindrops creating a mighty river, our work to understand climate change and educate others will lead us to solve this problem and create a better future.
Grinnell Basin Glacier, Glacier Nat. Park
1936
2010
About the author: Paul Pickett is an environmental engineer with the Washington Department of Ecology where he coordinates the agency climate science network. He has also been a 4-H leader and taught courses on climate and water at The Evergreen State College. Time lapse images (top of pages) can be found at: USGS Repeat Photography Project http://nrmsc.usgs.gov/repeatphoto/
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Have you met Dr. Universe? A service of Washington State University, Ask Dr. Universe is a web resource featuring science questions from K-8 students and answers from researchers at WSU. Questions like: Do animals dream? How are magnets made? What’s under a volcano? Users can search a database of questions organized by category (ex: Body and Brain; Earth and Sky; Plants, Animals, and Bugs) or submit a question of their own. Ask Dr. Universe is geared to 8-12 year olds, but learners of all ages will enjoy the Q&As. Submit a class question or subscribe to the free e-newsletter at http://askdruniverse.wsu.edu. WSTA Members! Claim your very own Dr. Universe sticker for FREE through Sept. 1, 2017. Send an e-mail to Dr.Universe@wsu.edu with the subject line: WSTA sticker. Dear Dr. Universe: Why don’t plants get sunburns? –Elijah, 5, Seattle, Wash. Dear Elijah, That’s a great observation. For as much time as plants spend outside in the sun, we really don’t see too many with a sunburn. I decided to take your burning question to my friend Cynthia Gleason. She’s a plant scientist at Washington State University and knows a lot about plant defense. Plants actually make their own kind of sun block, she said. It helps protect them from the sun’s intense ultraviolet rays. We can’t see ultraviolet light, but we think bees can see it. This light helps bees find flowers so they can pollinate the plants and drink their nectar. Ultraviolet
light might be useful for buzzing bees, but too much ultraviolet light can do some serious damage to plants. “Unlike humans, plants can’t just move into the shade or put on a hat when the sun gets too intense,” Gleason explained. “Of course, plants also can’t slather on sunscreen.” As you may remember, plants need sun to make their own food, as well as the oxygen we all breathe. Plants face an interesting challenge because they need sun, Gleason said, but not too much sun. Otherwise, they might shrivel up, turn yellow, or even die. For a long time, scientists weren’t really sure how plants avoided getting burnt to a crisp. But a few years ago, a group of researchers investigated a science question very similar to yours. They found that when plants get too stressed out from the sun, they start to make their own kind of sun
23 block. It isn’t like the sunscreen that humans squeeze out of a bottle or spray on. But like sunscreen humans use, it blocks the ultraviolet light. The plant’s sun block is actually a combination of special molecules that form in the plant’s tissue. These molecules join together to create a compound that blocks the ultraviolet light. But at the same time, these compounds still allow other kinds of sunlight to pass through. That way, the plant can still make its own food—without turning into a lobster. Plants aren’t the only living things that make their own concoction of chemicals to stay safe in the sun either. Some zebra fish create a compound that protects them from the sun, too. Even hippos make a kind of orange sweat that helps protect them from ultraviolet rays. The sun is not only good for plants, but also for us. It gives us Vitamin D that our bodies use to help our bones stay strong. Thankfully for humans, chemists have invented sunscreen to keep you safe from the sun’s rays while exploring outside. And luckily for us cats and other critters, we can usually find a nice shady tree. Sincerely, Dr. Universe WATCH THE VIDEO: http://bit.ly/2rWkKOK Dear Dr. Universe: Does science get harder every year or is that just me? –Keegun, 8th grade, Eastern Washington Dear Keegun, We’ve got about three pounds of brain in our heads that help us look for answers and solve all kinds of problems. But it isn’t always easy. Sometimes an experiment doesn’t go the way I expect or I get stuck on a particularly tricky science question. I bet lots of other people sitting in their science classes have asked your question. It actually reminds me of something that Sir Isaac Newton said: “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Of course, he wasn’t actually standing on anyone’s shoulders. But if he was, he would have been able to see further than he could on his own. And by taking advantage of what other people have learned, or what you already know, you’ll be able to learn more and understand more of the world around you. If we traveled back in time to learn the science lessons students got during Newton’s life, they would
be really different from what we learn now or what kids will learn in the future. We depend on the big and important ideas of people who came before us. We build on their knowledge. Each of us builds on our own knowledge, too, said my friend Andy Cavagnetto. He’s a scientist at Washington State University and researches how students learn science. It’s true—the things we learn at school can get more complicated each year. In pretty much all subjects, what you learn in fifth grade will be harder than what you learn in kindergarten. Cavagnetto asked several first and second graders he knows about your question and they thought science does get a bit harder. But each person’s experience is a little different from everyone else’s. Cavagnetto told me about how we use our schema (pronounced skima)—or what we already know—when we learn new things. It’s kind of like a big file cabinet in our brains. We use what we already have in the files to build up our new knowledge. Maybe you have read a book, seen a movie, or visited a place that helps you connect to a new topic in science. Perhaps you see a puddle on the playground and later notice that it dried up. In class, you learn about the water cycle. You find out the puddle evaporated. You now know water is cycling through our planet, and you start to make big connections to the little puddle. You make these connections stronger as you practice and study new things. You’re right, though— it’s not always easy to do. Learning new things can be a challenge, but I bet you’re up for it. Use your schema. Remember that you can make connections to science every day. Keep your ears and eyes out for science all around you. Don’t be afraid to fail or to look for solutions. Find giants. Stand on their shoulders. And remember that questions are sometimes even more important than their answers. So keep asking great questions. After all, the more you know, the more you realize how much there is to discover. Sincerely, Dr. Universe
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At the DIG! Fossils in Montana! Lolo Sherwood, Carol Sandison, Mark Watrin
For four days in July, 2017, 30 teachers from the United States and Canada had an experience of a lifetime with the Burke Museum DIG Field School near Jordan Montana. During those four days, we camped in tents at the Hell Creek State Campground with 30 undergraduate students, graduate students and professors from University of Washington, the Burke Museum in Seattle and the Field Museum in Chicago. Each day began with breakfast alfresco, packing a lunch and filling water bottles to carry into the field. For the first three days, we then loaded into one of 10 SUV’s for the long bumpy, dusty drive to the day’s dig site where we learned the skills of paleontologists. We crawled on our bellies under the blazing sun, scavenging for microfossils. Microfossils are potential indicators of the presence of larger fossils deeper in the rocks. We used rock hammers and picks to find the productive horizon, the most likely layer for finding the parent fossils. Then we gathered bags of rocks to filter and sort for later analysis. Sometimes we even found whole bones of Triceratops or Hadrosaurus. We learned to prepare and jacket these finds in plaster for later retrieval.
Don Pruett on his belly searching for microfossils in Hell Creek, Montana. Only 99 degrees Farenheit!
We practiced identifying the microfossils from the Hell Creek formation to gain information about the ecosystem that existed 66 to 68 million years ago while dinosaurs roamed these lands. We learned that the great K/T, or more correctly, the K/Pg extinction was more complicated than first thought. The K/T boundary is a distinctive layer dividing the eras of dinosaur presences and the absence of dinosaurs. The K/Pg event may have been the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back for the dinosaurs, so to speak. We learned that other global geologic events may have set the stage for this great extinction event. What can we learn from this to understand our modern world? Touching the thin layer in the rock formed by the K/Pg event made uncovering the patterns of extinction seem more urgent. The Cross Cutting Concepts of the Next Generation Science Standards were infused into everything that we did. We gathered evidence, solved problems, argued about possibilities in the ancient earth. We applied Science and Engineering Practices, and through the experiences wove together deep understanding of Disciplinary Core Ideas from life, physical and earth sciences.
We made it! Graduation Day! Brody Hovatter, Mark Watrin, Lois Sherwood, Greg Wilson
25 On the fourth day, WSTA Regional Representative, Mark Watrin, brought the experience back to our classrooms. We experienced a series of learning activities built around NGSS at elementary, middle and high school levels. We learned about DIG Boxes that are available through the Burke Museum to bring the DIG experiences to our students. Are you interested? DIG Field School is an annual event. Check out their website at: http://www. burkemuseum.org/programs/dig-field-school. You can get hands-on, up to date experiences for teaching many of the NGSS Earth Science Standards. For additional information, attend the DIG Field School workshop at the WSTA State Conference in Pasco.
Kristy Schneider found this T-Rex tooth! Note the serrated edges.
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E A) Carol Sandison touching the hadrosaurus fossils. B) DIG School looking at the hedrosaurus fossil in situ. C) Sorting and identifying microfossils. D) Mark Watrin in his Dino Hat! E) Don Pruett ready for the day’s trek. F) Touching the KT boundary!
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Oly Science and Brews is back for Fall! Enjoy cooler temps (and less smoke) and fall fermenting! Mark your calendars! Oly Science Brews is returning this fall with a great line up of presenters you won’t want to miss! September 12: Representatives from the Pacific Shellfish Institute will kick things off on September 12 with their presentation entitled: “From Compost to Cucumbers.” October 10: Our October 10 speaker is an entomologist named Chris Looney who will be talking about the complex communities of gall wasps that live inside plants and the parasitoids that eat them. November 14: In November we have Paula Swedeen presenting on her work with wolves. Her presentation scheduled for the 14th is entitled: “Of Wolves and People: The Science Behind Transforming Conservation Conflicts.” December 12: Senior Research Biologist, John Calambokidis. His presentation on December 12 is “Return of the Giants of the Salish Sea: Research on Humpback and Gray Whales.” See below for more information. All science talks take place at Three Magnets Brewing
Company in Olympia, Washington. Talks begin at 7:00 in the Barrel room, but feel free to come earlier and socialize. Please remember to register to attend through WSTA. net as space is limited to 30 people. If you have any questions or are interested in being a speaker at one of our events please contact Carmen Kardokus - Region 7 Representative. Cheers! John Calambokidis is a Senior Research Biologist with a Cascadia Research Collective, a nonprofit scientific research organization he founded in 1979 and which now is one of the leading independent groups conducting research on cetaceans in the Eastern North Pacific. He has directed Cascadia’s long-term studies and photo-ID effort on humpback, blue, and gray whales that tracks these populations along the US West Coast including employing new tag technologies to better understand their underwater behavior and the impacts of human activities. He authored a book on blue whales and a guide to marine mammals of Puget Sound along with over 100 scientific publications and his work has been featured in documentaries by National Geographic, Discovery Channel, BBC, and Animal Planet.
WSTA Presents
*
PPresents OLY SCIENCE BREWS
Location: Three Magnets Brewing Company Barrel Room
6:30 – Socializing
7:00 - Presentation
Space is Limited - Please Register @ WSTA.net
September 12 – Compost to Cucumbers: Solutions to Nutrient Pollution in Puget Sound October 10 – The Gall of Some Insects! Wasps and Parasitoids that eat them.
Nullam vel ante
November 14 – Of Wolves and People: Science Behind Transforming Conservation Conflicts December 12 – Giants of the Salish Sea: Research on Humpbacks & Gray Whales
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Roster of the Board Executive Committee Past President
ROY BEVEN
rbeven@fidalgo.net
President
ANDY BOYD
boydscience@gmail.com
President-Elect
JOHN MCNAMARA
mcnamara@wsu.edu
Treasurer
KAREN MADSEN
madsenkp@gmail.com
Recording Secretary
marsdee@gmail.com
DANA MARSDEN
Executive Secretary JUDY SHAW
shaw9@comcast.net
Regional Representatives Region 1 (ESD 101)
JEFFERY WEHR
wehrdscience@yahoo.com
Region 2 (ESD 123)
MARY WISE
mary.moore@rsd.edu
Region 3 (ESD 171)
KATE LINDHOLM
Klindolm@mlsd.wednet.edu
Region 4 (ESD 105)
MIDGE YERGEN
yergenm@wvsd208.org
Region 5 (ESD 189) JONATHAN FROSTAD
jfrostad@gmail.com
Region 6 (ESD 121)
DON PRUETT
don_pruett@sumnersd.org
Region 7 (ESD 113)
CARMEN KARDOKUS
carkar@flamingmoon.com
Region 8 (ESD 112)
MARK WATRIN
watrin.mark@battlegroundps.org
Region 9 (ESD 114)
BRANDI HAGEMAN
bhageman2012@gmail.com
Region 10 (ESD 121) LISA (CHI) CHEN
chili_888@yahoo.com
Appointed Positions Awards and Scholarships Business & Industry
COCO CARLSON DAVID REID
Professional Development
LOIS SHERWOOD
ccarlson@portangelesschools.org reidpse@hotmail.com lolo.sherwood@gmail.com
Clock-hour Designee CAROL SANDISON
carols@solidnet.com
Equal Opportunities in Science PHYLLIS HARVE-BUSCHEL
pgharvey@uw.edu
Member Services Coordinator JOHN MCNAMARA
mcnamara@wsu.edu
OSPI Science Representative ELLEN EBERT
ellen.ebert@k12.wa.us
Higher Ed Representative
huntv@cwu.edu
VANESSA HUNT
ESD Representatives MECHELLE LALANNE
mechelleL@ncesd.org
TAMI SCHRADER
tschrader@esd101.net
MICHELLE GROVE
mgrove@esd101.net
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WSTA Regional Map of the State
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10 6 8
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4 8
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2
Region 1: Jeff Wehr (Odessa) wehrdscience@yahoo.com Region 2: Mary Wise (Richland) mary.moore@rsd.edu Region 3: Kate Lindholm (Moses Lake) Klindolm@mlsd.wednet.edu Region 4: Midge Yergen(Yakima) yergenm@WVSD208.ORG Region 5: Jonathan Frostad (Anacortes) jfrostad@gmail.com Region 6: Don Pruett (Puyallup) don_pruett@sumnersd.org Region 7: Carmen Kardokus (Olympia) carkar@flamingmoon.com Region 8: Mark Watrin (Battleground) watrin.mark@battlegroundps.org Region 9: Brandi Hageman (Port Townsend) bhageman@ptschools.org Region 10: Lisa Chen (Edmonds) chili_888@yahoo.com
Safer Airports with Millimeter Wave Imaging
CD Technology
Energy Storage
Transforming the World For 50 years, Battelle staff working at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland have pushed the boundaries of science. We’ve moved technologies to market and reshape the way we work and live. PNNL’s scientific discoveries and innovations have led to more fuel-efficient cars. Safer airports and borders. An electric power grid that is more reliable and efficient. And much more – all part of an effort to make our nation more secure and prosperous. Over the same half century, Battelle has been active in southeast Washington, investing heavily in civic, health and human services projects, the arts and most of all – in education. Battelle nurtures elementary, secondary and postsecondary school programs that emphasize science, technology, engineering and mathematics. We engage in innovative education collaborations such as Delta High School, the Hanford Reach Interpretive Center, Leadership and Assistance for Science Education Reform (LASER) and Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement (MESA).
JOIN US IN SUPPORTING STEM EDUCATION.
www.pnnl.gov