At its meeting in London, March 31-April 3, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) heard a call from environmental groups to tighten restrictions on shipping around Antarctica. The Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC) said many of the ships carrying the growing number of tourists are not ice-strengthened. Vessels that are not reinforced to withstand ice in the ocean are at risk of oil spills if the vessel gets in trouble.

The organization also wants banning of ships that use heavy oil as fuel and tighter restrictions on discharging sewage. The tighter restrictions would impact businesses, particularly large cruise ships. Research ships use marine gas oil that will evaporate and disperse if it is spilled.

Three of the Web Seminars scheduled by the National Science Teachers Association in May will offer teachers at all grade levels an opportunity to enrich their teaching about the polar regions. Each seminar is presented at 6:30 p.m. on its scheduled date and lasts for 90 minutes. Participation is free.

Presenters for the two-part seminars on May 1 and May 22, titled Polar Science, Global Discoveries: IPY Research Update for Teachers are scientists and education specialists from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and NASA. They will discuss and answer questions about how polar regions interact with earth’s climate system and the implications of climate change in the polar regions. They will also provide information regarding web sites that students can use in the classroom.

These two seminars are designed for teachers of grades 5–12. Each is a stand-alone program. Find registration information full details at http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/SeminarRegistration.aspx

On May 27, writers from Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears magazine will explore how teaching about the polar regions can become a part of science and literacy instruction in elementary schools. You will be able to talk with Jessica Fries-Gaither, a resource specialist with the Ohio State University and Carol Landis, education coordinator for the Byrd Polar Research Center about teaching strategies and resources.

Please plan to register for this free seminar, Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears Series: Integrating Science and Literacy for the K-5 Classroom, Seminar 1: Polar Geography  and learn more about this new magazine and how to integrate science and literacy in your elementary classroom!

First the lights went out in Christchurch, New Zealand, at 8 p.m., on March 31, and then one by one city and small town lights around the globe followed suit. The lights-out was known as Earth Hour, an event organized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-Australia) last year and taken global this year. It aims to show governments that communities care about climate change and want decisive action.

It is estimated that cities in 35 countries in 14 time zones took part in the event, which wrapped up in San Francisco. Landmarks and other electricity-using establishments joined in. Google turned its normal white homepage black; Prince Charles dimmed the lights at his private residence in England; and Casey Station in Antarctica went dark.

 You can sign up now for Earth Hour 2009 at http://www.earthhour.org/ as an individual, organization, school or business.

Our second issue of the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears cyberzine contains several articles to help you include expository text in your reading instruction, support struggling readers, integrate children’s literature, and assess student misconceptions. Interested? Check out the following highlights from this month’s issue:

Expository articles for students

This month’s feature story, “Dinos in the Dark,” discusses the dinosaur fossils found at Dinosaur Cove, Australia. In the expository article, the author discusses several adaptations which might have helped the dinosaurs live in a cold, dark environment.

We offer three versions of this article: K-1, 2-3, and 4-5. At each grade level, the article is available in three formats: text-only (pdf file), a printable, foldable book (pdf file), and an electronic book with audio files (flash file) so that students can listen to the article as they read.

Finally, the article includes related activities in both literacy (using context clues) and science (dinosaurs) to help integrate this article into your teaching.

Virtual Bookshelf

Each month, we highlight children’s literature with ideas for classroom use and recommended grade levels. This article is written by a children’s librarian. This month includes books about fossils, dinosaurs, geologic time, making inferences, paleontology, and archaeology. And we always include favorite books about penguins and polar bears.

Misconceptions and Formative Assessment Probe

Our misconceptions article lists common student misconceptions about fossils and geologic time. In addition, we’ve written a formative assessment probe (pdf file) that can be used to assess student ideas. We’ve followed the model used by Page Keeley and others in the three volumes of Uncovering Student Ideas in Science (NSTA Press). We also have an interactive fossil sort (flash file) that can be used as part of the formative assessment process.

Science and Literacy Lessons

In this article, we have highlighted excellent lesson plans for teaching about fossils, fossil formation, and making inferences from fossil remains. For each lesson, we’ve provided suggestions for modifications for K-2 classrooms, ideas and lessons for integrating literacy, and created rubrics to help you assess your students’ work.

Of course, we encourage you to check out the entire issue! Feedback and comments are always appreciated!

April is National Poetry Month – a perfect time to incorporate this engaging and enjoyable form of literature into your science classroom! We’ve suggested science poetry before, including writing diamante poems after viewing webcam images of polar animals and locations and “Where I’m From” poems. Haiku and acrostic poems are also popular in elementary school and can easily lend themselves to science class. However, these forms of poetry tend to be “cookbook” in nature and can limit student creativity. Poetry – even in the science classroom – can open the doors to powerful and compelling student expression, engagement, and understanding.

In honor of National Poetry Month, we’ve described a few techniques for moving beyond the traditional poems and effectively integrating poetry into your science instruction.

Teaching Similes and Metaphors to Improve Observation Skills

Similes (comparisons of two unrelated objects using the words like or as) and metaphors (implied comparisons between two seemingly unrelated objects) are powerful tools for description and comprehension. In fact, creating similes, analogies, and metaphors is one way that students can identify similarities and differences, one of Marzano, Pickering, and Pollock’s nine research-based strategies for increasing student achievement (Classroom Instruction That Works, 2001). Similes and metaphors are also commonly used in poetry and add richness to descriptive writing.

Identifying similarities and differences was the featured literacy skill in our March 2008 issue of the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears cyberzine. We included an overview of the strategy and specific resources for teaching the skill (including metaphors and analogies). These articles are a great place to start developing your own content knowledge. Additionally, ReadWriteThink has a lesson plan for introducing similes and metaphors to young students and another in which upper elementary students identify and nominate their favorite examples of figurative language.

Why take the time to include poetic devices such as simile and metaphor in your science class? While the two seem unrelated, the literary technique can actually help your students achieve in science. A crucial science process skill is observing, or using the five senses to find out about objects and events, their characteristics, properties, differences, similarities, and changes. When students create similes and metaphors for objects or organisms, they are deeply involved in observation – something repeatedly recommended in the National Science Education Standards.

How can simile and metaphor integrate with traditional expository lab reports? After students have had a chance to explore unfamiliar objects, have them write similes or metaphors describing the object using all five senses, if possible. These descriptive phrases can be grouped into a poem, used as captions for illustrations, shared with the class, or included in a more formal lab report. Images and video could also be used in conjunction with a simile or metaphor, as described in this iMovie lesson plan.

Poetry in Your Pocket: A Special Celebration

Poem in Your Pocket Day will be observed nationwide on April 17, 2008. The idea behind the day is simple – take a poem with you and share it with others! The Academy of American Poets web site has ideas for creating your own event and even downloadable pdf files of poems to share. For teachers, ReadWriteThink has a page of resources for celebrating Poem in Your Pocket Day in your classroom or school community. Why not give your event a science, nature, or even polar theme?

Found Poetry

In a found poem, students “borrow” words from another genre (typically fiction) and re-arrange them to form a poem. As described by one ReadWriteThink plan, “This process of recasting the text they are reading in a different genre helps students become more insightful readers and develop creativity in thinking and writing.” ReadWriteThink features lesson plans for creating found poetry with K-2 and 3-5 students. Why not use outstanding science trade books or even nonfiction text as the basis for students’ poems?

Extended Integration: Poetry Collections

Integrating poetry into science doesn’t have to stop at the end of an individual lesson. Students could create a collection of science poems to document their learning during a unit. Extending the topic in this way gives students time to experiment with a variety of poetic forms and become more proficient in their writing. ReadWriteThink’s lesson Compiling Poetry Collections and a Working Definition of Poetry provides the resources and strategies needed in a longer unit.

Back to You

Of course, wonderful and creative ideas for science poetry abound. How are you celebrating National Poetry month? Do you have a favorite lesson plan or technique for using poetry in the science classroom? Post your ideas here – we’d love to hear from you!

A new month brings a new issue of the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears cyberzine! The online magazine is written for elementary teachers to help develop their content knowledge of the polar regions and use best practices in integrating science and literacy instruction. Our second issue is called “Learning From the Polar Past” and provides content knowledge, lessons, and activities about geologic time, fossils, polar dinosaurs, and Arctic archaeology. Read about a geologist from The Ohio State University who discovered a dinosaur in Antarctica, learn about making inferences, and context clues, and print non-fiction, foldable books for your students to read. Of course, there’s much more to learn and explore! Visit the cyberzine home page and select Learning From the Polar Past – Issue Two, April 2008 to begin exploring.

Each month’s issue will be organized around a theme that reflects common science topics in the elementary curriculum. Coming next in May is an issue that examines the patterns of day and night and seasons within the context of the polar regions. But don’t worry - you’ll still be able to access all content from the previous issues!

As always, we’d appreciate feedback and comments. Post a comment to the blog, or use the contact information found in the magazine to tell us what you think.Enjoy the second issue of Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears, and share the site with your students and colleagues!

Friday at NSTA’s national conference in Boston, MA included two informative literacy sessions.

Scaffolding Inquiry: Research on Writing in Science

Dr. Rick Vanosdall, Director of the Center of Excellence for Learning Sciences at Tennessee State UniverVsity presented an overview of research results from his work with Dr. Mike Klentschy, the Superintendant of Schools of the En Centro School District in En Centro, California. During the seesion, Vanosdall described and provided examples of writing samples that have improved learning opportunities for all students and shared research on Scaffolded Guided Inquiry.

Scaffolded Guided Inquiry is an instructional technique that builds scaffolds, or supports, into a guided inquiry approach to learning. As described in a recent paper:

 SGI lessons were developed for popular science kits used in elementary and middle level classrooms. Science notebooks were used as the vehicle for tracing the development of student conceptions in science.

SGI has four phases: Setting the Stage for learning, Formulating Investigable Questions, Conducting the Investigation, and Making Meaning. In the first phase, Setting the Stage, the focus is on cognitive academic language development, including developing a consistent vocabulary for objects in the kit.

In the second stage, students are presented with an engaging scenario that is aligned to the concepts being addressed. Students use this scenario to write focus questions and predictions using the stem “I think…because…”. The inclusion of the “because” clause is essential in helping students link prior knowledge to the new scenario. Both focus questions and predictions, which are entirely student generated, are recorded in the science notebook.

The third stage involves planning and conducting the investigation. Again, students are responsible for planning and recording the procedural steps followed in their investigation. SGI makes use of the familiar narrative structure (first, next, last) to assist students in procedural writing. Students then conduct the investigation and record their data in an organizer of their own construction. Allowing students to construct their own data tables builds an operational sense of variables, setting the stage for later introduction of concepts such as independent and dependent variables. Students record both positive and negative results to build the understanding that learning can result from both. Pictures and diagrams are also often utilized.

The final stage, making meaning, is arguably the most important. Supported by student-centered “making meaning conferences,” students make claims that are explicity linked to evidence. Students also write conclusions by rewording their focus questions into declarative statements. Finally, reflections allow students to pose further wonderings that may be explored through open inquiry.

The use of supports for teachers and students, the use of science notebooks, and the careful alignment of the intended, implemented, and actual curriculum has been effective. Studies show that Scaffolded Guided Inquiry produced greater gains in knowledge than text or kit-based instruction.

A new book, Using Science Notebooks in Elementary Classrooms, provides more information and samples from student notebooks.

Nonfiction Trade Books

Dr. Donna L. Knoell presented “Enhancing Science Instruction and Literacy with Quality Nonfiction Trade Books, Related Resources, and Investigations.” In her session, she enthusiastically shared how the use of nonfiction trade books allow students to do, talk, read, and write science. Drawing on her own teaching experience as well as her work with NSTA Review Board for the annual list of Outstanding Science Trade Books, her presentation included a lengthy bibliography of trade books as well as a packet of resources for integrating content area reading into K-8 classrooms.

Knoell also discussed differentiated text, an exciting idea for supporting students of all reading levels in the science classroom. On first glance, two copies of a differentiated text look identical, with the same headings, boldfaced words, and images. On closer inspection or a careful reading, you will notice that the copies differ only in the text stucture used to convey identical concepts. The use of varying levels of sophistication with identical content means that teachers can assign appropriate levels of expository text to their students while teaching the same concepts to all. This exciting type of expository text is currently available from Heinemann and Delta Education.

For a sampling of outstanding science trade books, view the 2008 award winners. Lists from previous years are also available on the NSTA web site.

Highlights from Thursday, March 27 at the National Science Teachers’ Association national conference in Boston, MA included a presentation on IPY science projects and the Polar Discovery expedition series.

IPY Science

Louise Huffman, Coordinator of Education and Outreach for the ANDRILL project, presented an informative session, IPY Cool Science: Hot Topics. An overview of the three previous International Polar Years (1882-1883, 1932-1933, and 1957-1958) reviewed the many scientific achievements and gave me an opportunity to reflect on the impact of technological advances such as email, podcast and video technology, remote sensing, and web 2.0 tools. It is clear that this IPY offers unprecedented opportunities in terms of international scientific collaboration as well as communication, education, and outreach.

While the polar year officially ends in March 2009, results from polar research will be presented at major conferences in 2010 and 2012, effectively continuing the “year” and public focus on the polar regions. In this vein, the education committee of the IPY plans to remain active until 2012 – good news for educators committed to the topic.

Climate change is a major focus of IPY, but is often difficult to teach. Teachers may be challenged by a lack of current materials or guidelines, or even opposition due to the controversy surrounding the topic. NOAA has developed climate literacy frameworks and objectives, providing support for educators as they incorporate this topic into their curricula. Additionally, Huffman shared a three-star “rating” system that teachers can aid teacher and students make sense of the onslaught of climate change reports in the media. One star indicates that the data has been shared, compared, and published (peer reviewed). Two stars indicate that the data has been collected in more than one location or using more than one technique. Three stars indicate to data supported by multiple locations and collection techniques.

The remainder of the presentation was devoted to data and projects from the polar regions. Huffman concluded with an overview of the ANDRILL program, which seeks to understand the paleoenvironmental conditions and changes during Antarctica’s history. ANDRILL offers a suite of K-12 educational materials that includes podcasts, videos, photos, and “flexhibits” in which students learn about an aspect of Antarctica’s history, create an exhibit, and become the teachers themselves.

Discovering the Poles

In the past, seasoned travelers and expedition leaders would hold lectures, engaging the public with tales of adventure, danger, and foreign lands. Today at the national NSTA conference, I was treated to a modern day version of this experience.

Chris Linder is a Research Associate with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the photographer for their Polar Discovery project. This informal education, NSF-funded project aims to make polar science accessible to all people through a website, live talks with eight partner museums, and a traveling exhibit. Polar Discovery has run three expeditions (two to the Arctic, one to Antarctica) and plans two more for the future.

In an expedition, Linder and a science writer travel with a research team, documenting the science, landscape, and people through photo essays and live talks via satellite phone. Unlike other projects, which might quickly visit a research project for an interview and then leave, the Polar Discovery team is embedded in the expedition for the entire duration of the project – sometimes as long as 40 days! A professional storytelling team and a focus on the human dimension of scientific research make the information truly compelling.

Reflecting on his second expedition, a 40 day voyage on an icebreaker to study the life found on the seafloor of the Arctic Ocean, Linder explained that you “leave the world you know of waves and water and sea birds and enter the world of white and ice.” Accompanied by dramatic images of the juxtaposition of a “floating construction site (the research vessel)” and a “pristine environment,” Linder’s description of the research methods and challenges was engaging. The practical considerations involved in deploying (and later recovering) autonomous vehicles to sample the sea floor amidst floating and ever-shifting ice was an aspect of polar research I had never considered. Nor had I considered the relative proportions of sea ice to water: about 6-10 feet of ice as compared with 2 miles of water. Yet this seemingly thin layer of ice is capable of supporting the weight of a helicopter!

Tales from the third expedition to Antarctica to study Adelie penguins and lava flows were equally engaging. Images of penguins’ often anthropomorphic behavior, such as stealing rocks from other nests and waddling down to the water in a well-organized “penguin superhighway” were entertaining. (As Linder notes, penguins seem to follow American tradition and waddle on the right-hand side of the “road”.) A serious note followed, as Linder explained that researchers had noticed fishing vessels off the coast, and while Antarctica is protected by treaty, the waters are not. Climate change and a decrease in food supply may negatively impact these birds in the future.

Polar Discovery’s next expedition, Greenland’s Lakes, is scheduled for July 7-27, 2008. In the meantime, material from Expeditions One, Two, and Three is available on line. A traveling exhibit showcases Expedition Two, Discovering the Arctic Seafloor.

A 160 square-mile chunk of ice broke off from the Wilkins Ice Shelf in Antarctica on Tuesday. The ice, approximately seven times the size of Manhattan, had started to break up in late February. Scientists noticed the movement in satellite images and were able to capture footage and images of the event.

Unlike sea ice, which floats freely on the ocean, an ice shelf is a portion of glacial ice that extends out from the edge of land over the ocean. If this floating portion breaks off and melts, it does not contribute to sea level rise. However, ice shelves often act as “doorstops,” preventing glacial ice further inland from moving. As these ice shelves break off, inland ice is able to move out to sea – which can raise sea level.

Climate change in Antarctica is a complicated picture. Some places on the continent are cooling and adding ice through accumulated snowfall. Other places, such as the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet (of which the Wilkins Ice Shelf is part) are warming and melting. Scientists hope that continued research into the environmental and climate conditions of Antarctica’s past will shed light into the changes observed today.

The National Science Teachers’ Association’s annual national conference, scheduled this week in Boston, MA, will draw thousands of science educators from across the country. Several Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears project staff members are attending the conference. We’ll post any polar-related news or sessions of interest. Check back often if you are unable to attend the conference, or just missed a particular session!

Additionally, we are scheduled to present an IPY Session: Arctic and Antarctic Biology on Sunday, March 30 from 8:00-9:00 a.m. in the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, Room 257 B. In our presentation, we’ll provide an overview of current news relating to the living systems of the polar regions and a list of news providers that offer RSS feeds and email updates. We’ll also discuss the learning progression found in the National Science Education Standards Life Science Content Standard. We’ll highlight the interactive Science Literacy maps from the National Science Digital Library and provide a resource list of lesson plans, activities, and web sites for K-12 educators.

If you aren’t able to attend, you can download our presentation and resource list here!

Finally, we’ll be at the National Science Digital Library booth (#1145) in the exhibit hall throughout the conference. Stop by to learn more about Beyond Penguins or any of the wonderful resources available from NSDL!

Stay tuned for more news from Boston!