KS Science Education Newsletter

KSDE led a professional development opportunity this fall semester to work with K-5, 6-8, and 9-12 master science educators. Educators across the state implemented a high quality NGSS lesson with virtual supports throughout the semester.

Driving question boards were a powerful strategy utilized in the units to anchor in phenomena and bring coherence to the three dimensions in our standards.

• Find a great overview of the strategy from NSTA.
• A video from one of the leaders in our professional development opportunity describes the strategy.
• Find more resource in this blog post.
• Be on the lookout for a virtual PD opportunity in the coming months to learn more.

To submit a presentation proposal for KATS 1.5 (2019 conference), visit: http://bit.ly/KATS2019presentation

or contact Nancy Smith, president-elect@kats.org.

2019 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) program.

• PAEMST is the highest recognition that a mathematics or science teacher may receive for outstanding teaching in the United States. This program recognizes teachers for their contributions to teaching and learning and their ability to help students make progress in mathematics and science.
• Check out the latest Kansas science teacher awardee, Nancy Smith, in this announcement.

• This year's awards will honor science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and/computer science teachers working in grades 7-12.
  

State Presidential Award finalists receive a $500 unrestricted cash award and an invitation to a professional development conference sponsored by Westar Energy, Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation and the Kansas State Department of Education.

National Presidential Awardees receive a citation signed by the President of the United States, a paid trip for two to Washington, D.C., to attend a series of recognition events and professional development opportunities, and a $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation.

To apply, teachers must first be nominated for the award. Teachers can nominate themselves or be nominated by someone else, such as principals, teachers, parents or members of the general public. Once nominated, teachers will receive an email with instructions on how to access the online application.

The nomination deadline is March 1, 2019, and the application deadline is May 1, 2019.

Please consider nominating an outstanding mathematics or science teacher today! To make a nomination, go to www.paemst.org, and then click on Nominate a Teacher.

This new tool from STEM Teaching Tools can help educators think through diversity considerations in their classrooms. While having diverse representations of scientists in the classroom is important, instruction must also recognize who has done science, for what range of purposes, and how diversity enriches science. Science in the U.S. often focuses on science practiced in Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic societies, but should recognize that all cultural communities have--and do--engage in science and technology endeavors that relate to their interests, goals, and values.

New report on middle and high school labs from the National Board on Science Education (Quick Summary)

A new National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine report, Science and Engineering for Grades 6-12: Investigation and Design at the Center , was released this month about middle and high school science labs and how to best engage today's students in doing science and engineering through an analysis of evidence and examples.

• Specifically, this report provides guidance for teachers, administrators, creators of instructional resources, and leaders in teacher professional learning on how to support students as they make sense of phenomena, gather and analyze data/information, construct explanations and design solutions, and communicate reasoning to self and others during science investigation and engineering design.
• It also provides guidance to help educators get started with designing, implementing, and assessing investigation and design.
  
• Read an educator's blog post summarizing the report.

If we eat pizza, why don't we look like pizza? A new unit for elementary school asks students to consider the question: if we eat pizza, why don't we look like pizza? To try to explain this phenomenon, students will develop and refine a farm model throughout each lesson. Students will see how matter is cycled through ecosystems and how energy flows from the sun to the consumers in a food chain. As students engage in the activities in this unit, the Crosscutting Concepts of Energy and Matter and Systems and System Models are emphasized.

• Find more units from a national group of educators checking for quality instructional materials.
  
• New Open Education Resources are coming soon from the OpenSciEd project.
• Use this NGSS lesson screener and conscious consumer toolkit to help your district find quality instructional materials!

Email: lburks@ksde.org
Website: www.ksde.org/science
Location: 900 SW Jackson St, Topeka, KS, United States
Phone: 785-296-8108
Twitter: @lizette_burks