Science Facts for Elementary Teachers

The gray color in this cloud is caused by a shadow.

Elementary teachers will find these science facts useful for enrichment and for addressing common topics that students often ask.  

Events in the world are often not as they seem. Science teachers armed with facts that clarify and inform inspire learning by making science more relevant. 

Weather Facts

Clouds are white, not gray. The gray appearance is an illusion created by lighting and shadows. Parts of clouds in the shade appear gray. The same effect can be demonstrated by projecting light from an overhead projector on a white screen. Holding the hand in front of the screen produces a shadow and an apparent change to gray color, but people know the screen is white, no one “sees” it as gray.

Snow is rare at the South Pole. About 1 inch of snow falls on the South Pole in a year — this is approximately equal to 0.1 inch of rain in water equivalent. The extreme cold prevents water vapor from entering the air in large amounts. When snow falls it stays, blows around and accumulates. Snow depth has reached nearly three miles over inland regions over millions of years.

Don’t open windows to equalize pressure if a tornado is expected! Tornadoes do have low pressure, but it is the savage wind that causes the destruction. Winds in a tornado can reach 300 mph and commonly exceed 200 mph. Opening windows simply invites these winds into the house with less resistance.

Physics Facts

Tires do not have treads to increase friction. Treads provide channels that let rain flow from beneath the tires so that contact with the road is maintained and the car does not hydroplane. A slick or tread-less tire is used on racing cars to actually increase friction. Electric fans don’t cool the air; they cool people by speeding up evaporation of moisture from the skin. The fan motor actually adds a bit of heat to the room. There is no need to leave the fan running if no one is in the room.

The sound of snapping fingers is made when the middle finger strikes the base of the thumb at a high speed. The sound does not come from an interaction between the thumb and finger. The thumb allows potential energy to be stored briefly by holding the finger. Place a piece on cotton at the base of the thumb and the impact will be softened preventing the “snap.”

Earth and Space Science Facts

The total amount of gold ever mined from the Earth could fit into a cube about 60 feet on each side. That’s about equal to filling two Olympic swimming pools. Gold, by the way is very dense. A cube of gold 15 inches on each side weighs a ton — 2,000 pounds!

Sunspots are not black. They only appear to be so because they are contrasted against the brilliance of the Sun’s photosphere. If it were possible to look directly at a sunspot away from the Sun, it would still be bright enough to harm the eyes.

The Earth’s tectonic plates are still moving. The distance between South America and Africa is increasing about as fast as fingernails grow — two or three cm. a year.

Chemistry Facts

Oxygen does not burn. It supports combustion. A spark in a pure oxygen environment will not result in an explosion. Objects burn better in the presence of oxygen as it combines chemically. More oxygen increases the intensity and heat of the fire, but the oxygen is not burning.

The atoms of one object cannot touch the atoms of another. Pushing against a wall may bend the fingers, but that is due to the electromagnetic repulsion of the electrons. Atoms can get very close, but they do not touch.

Atoms are mostly space. A scale model of a hydrogen atom is basic — one proton and one electron. Using a soccer ball as the proton in the nucleus, the single electron would be the period at the end of this sentence ten miles away.

Information like that above helps students understand the world as it truly is — often beyond our perception. The Internet is rich with similar science facts. Teachers can offer questions based on the preceding facts as a topic for an information “scavenger hunt" in the school media center.

Plus... One Really Easy, Fast, and Relevant Science Project!  (

More science facts
More weather facts
More physics facts
More chemistry facts

Easy Elementary Science Project #1: Inquiry and Chewing Gum

Teaching inquiry skills is not hard. Under proper supervision,  it can be used to demonstrate the scientific method in an interesting way. It is a good experiment for teaching the scientific method and appropriate for elementary students who can use a balance. The experiment can be modified for different grade levels.

Teacher Notes for the Experiment

Students should make a simple table numbered 1- 10 minutes and record the weight after each minute. The procedure is simplified if all students are kept on task by having the teacher keep time and announcing when each minute has expired, when to weigh, and when to begin chewing gum again. This procedure ensures that the students will all be doing the same thing at the same time.

Be sure that students always place the gum on its original wrapper and that it is weighed also. After the gum-chewing is done, have students dispose of gum one at a time by wrapping it and placing it in a trash can near the teacher who will monitor disposal.

The loss of weight will be about 50% of the weight of the gum. This also presents a good argument for why sugarless gum is better for teeth.

The experiment follows the steps in the scientific method and can be used as a model to introduce how proper science projects should be designed. Call attention to the “If…then” statement in the hypothesis, which is standard. The conclusion should answer the question presented in the hypothesis.

The conclusion does not have to support the hypothesis. Whether it agrees or not, something is learned. In other words, it is just as important to know that the hypothesis is correct as it is to know that it is not correct. In this experiment, however, the hypothesis should be supported. 

Before beginning, the teacher should have selected three popular brands of chewing gum of nearly equal weights per stick. Average the weights of three different sticks for future reference and use a control.

Hypothesis:
If three different brands of chewing gum are chewed for a total of ten minutes each, then the amount of sugar lost will be the same for each brand.

Materials:

1. 1 stick of chewing gum from 3 different choices. Do not use sugarless gum.
2. triple beam balance
3. watch, clock, or other timing device

Procedure:

1. Unwrap the gum and save the foil wrapper.
2. Place the wrapper on the balance to keep the gum clean.
3. Before chewing the gum, place it on the balance and weigh it to the nearest tenth of a            

    gram — be sure to weigh the wrapper with the gum.    

4. Record the weight on the table below.
5. Chew the gum for exactly one minute, place it with wrapper on the balance and weigh it.
6. Record the weight in a table after each minute.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 until 10 one-minute trials are complete.
8. After completing the table, make a graph as directed by the teacher. (Optional)
9. Compare results of all three of brands chewed to the average weight of unchewed gum,            
    which were weighed prior to beginning the procedure.

Conclusion:

The amount of change for each type of gum will be essentially the same. The data should be averaged for each brand. Small differences of a few tenths should not be considered significant — in higher grades some discussion of how one decides if differences have importance is prudent, but this is a matter of statistical significance and not a recommended discussion until students can grasp the concept numbers being different but not significantly so. The discussion of significance is optional, but basically would involve what things — extraneous variables — might have resulted in small differences.

Optional Questions

1. What was the independent variable? This will be the thing that is deliberately changed, i.e. the brand of gum.

2. What was the dependent variable? This will be the thing that changed — or didn’t, i.e., the weight of the gum.

3. What was the control? The average weight of the unchewed gum is the control.

4. List at least three variables that might affect the results. This refers to extraneous variables — a term that the teacher can choose to omit — but the teacher should engage students in a discussion of "things" that explain why data varies from student to student. Possible extraneous variables include student techniques in weighing, different speeds of chewing, etc.

The experimental method can be introduced with easily understood and interesting procedures. Even simple methods can contain the essential parts of experimentation — the dependent and independent variables, the hypothesis and the conclusion, the procedure and extraneous variables, and the control. The above experiment is generally appropriate for fourth grade and higher.

For Advanced Students

Teachers should be sure that students notice the “If…then” construction of the hypothesis. “If” introduces the independent — manipulated — variable and “then” introduces the dependent — responding — variable. A simple generic statement for the hypothesis is, “If I do A, then the result or outcome is B.

The teacher may choose to have students graph results with minutes on the X — horizontal — axis and the weight on the Y — vertical — axis. The graph line should begin to level out after a few minutes. The loss of weight is due to the loss of sugar, which also explains why the gum shrinks in size. The difference for different brands will not likely be significant.

Links for more elementary science projects:

elementary earth science projects 

elementary chemistry science projects 

Involving Students in Science

Children learn science by doing science.

Teachers need not be science majors to teach young minds. For the beginning students -- for all of us -- science is the closest thing to magic there is. Teachers must remember to DO science, not just talk about it. Young minds especially like to do things that involve creating new things. Teachers should tap into the natural curiosity and discovery. 

Improving Elementary Science Instruction

1. Show students something every day and explain the science behind it. A piece of science equipment like a beaker will do, and if it’s unfamiliar to students it will grab their attention and they anticipate something new when they enter the class.
2. Include simple, quick demonstrations in those initial class activities, especially activities that students can do at home. Seeing things happen is innately interesting.
3. Relate science topics and objectives to events and objects familiar to students. Make science relevant! Every grade will demand new examples as students become more academically sophisticated.
4. Decorate the classroom in an eye-catching science theme and change it periodically. Invite students to help.
5. Fill the room with science magazines and books. Allow some time for students to read. Some of the reading matter may be simply related to science – e.g., science fiction or cars ­– but expect students to discuss how science is involved.
6. Bring science news to class. When a particularly interesting news item pops up in the news, bring it to class and share it by reading to students.
7. Stress with every grade that science is fundamentally about force, motion, and energy. This is important in all aspects of science, because science, whether biology or geology, are interrelated by force, motion, and energy. Students need to become comfortable early with these three concepts because they will become increasingly complex and important.
8. Help students understand that science is a quest for simple explanations. For example, pick an example like evaporation and discuss how increasing kinetic energy makes the water molecules speed away into the air seeming to disappear.
9. Stress to students that science is a process more than a body of knowledge. Demonstrate that process ­– the Scientific Method ­– as often as possible and ask students to give examples.
10. Science is a great "show and tell." activity.

Elementary Science Links:

Science Buddies
Hand-on Science
Elementary School Science Fair Project Ideas
Kids Science Projects
Elementary Science Experiments
Penny Drops

Classroom Management by Self Control

Self-control!

Teachers spend a lot of time thinking about thinking about ways to promote good student behavior. Call it student discipline or classroom management—it’s all about teaching students how to control themselves.

“Don’t you know how to behave?” It’s a common question asked by teachers countless times every school day across America. The question is typically academic — intended to voice disapproval of a breach of decorum. My point is that teachers who simply expect that students know how to behave are apt to be disappointed.

Classroom Management Calls for Teaching Skills

Too many teachers depend on discipline tips — including rewards. Good discipline, however, requires knowledge of factors that determine human behavior. For example, to what extent are teachers aware of the role of “cues” in managing behavior?  In other words, are there things present in the classroom or visible outside that might encourage some students to act out? Something as simple as a poster that has an anomalous picture or word might serve as a stimulus for a crude joke.

The best classroom control comes from self control because it is more desirable for students to internalize the ability to manage their own behavior, and the good news is that self control can be taught.

Suggestions for Teaching Self Control -- the Key to Classroom Management

The first step in teaching self-control is to model it. This precludes all-too-common practices like screaming at students, overt displays of anger, put-downs, etc. Along with controlled emotions, teachers much present themselves in a manner that demands respect.

On the first day of class initiate a discussion of self-control. Be positive. Make it clear that good manners are part of self-control.

• Be friendly, relaxed, and smile on the first day and every day.
• Have an activity that focuses on teaching self-control.
• Help students understand that control must come from within.
• Do not reward students for showing self-control. Doing so violates the concept of controlling one’s self. Material rewards are external controls.
• Try to omit rules based on pet-peeves.
• Work hard on mutual respect instead of rewards and punishment.
• Have frequent, brief discussions about self-control and character development.
• Read and learn what you can about self-control. 

Links re: self-control

Teaching Young Children Self-Control Skills

Teaching older kids self-control

Teaching Self-Control Skills to Children Reduces Classroom Problems

For Kids, Self-Control Factors Into Future Success

Games to Teach Self-Control in Kids

Punished by Rewards

Punishment Does not Motivate Students

How Useful is Homework in Student Learning?

As an instructional tool the value of homework is severely limited. 

In one corner there are those who argue that homework is an essential part of instruction – it builds responsibility, improves study skills, etc. In the other corner, with equal vitality, are those who want to ban homework – it creates extra work for teachers and interferes with family plans. Homework still polarizes educators, and there is a broad spectrum of opinions between the poles. A heavy emphasis on taking school assignments home is a fairly recent practice. It's use began to take off in the years immediately following the launch of the world's first manmade satellite – Sputnik – by Russia in 1957. The U.S. was embarrassed by this loss in the space race and panic pushed educators toward improved practices, since the assumpton was that schools had failed. Decades later, homework has still not shown to be a great idea. 

Homework is not Simply Something that all Teachers Do

Individually posted teacher policies present a myriad of procedures to encourage students to turn in the assigned work. School and district sites sometimes place stern warnings for students to do their homework or face disciplinary procedures,

Homework is, to say the least, problematic. There are many popular Internet teacher sites where teachers can exchange ideas across the nation. A perusal of these sites indicates that homework is of great concern to teachers. Teacher policies about whether or not to grade homework, how much it should count, and other matters create unnecessary worries.. Homework is a formative assessment. That single fact can put an end to the homework quandary.

Homework Invites Controversy

Part of the divide has resulted from the fact that homework as an instructional tool has developed in an uncontrolled manner with few rules governing its application and correct role. There is no one thing called “homework,” and in many cases isn’t even done at home, but at the end of class. Another problem is the myth that everything that students do must be graded. Arbitrary “solutions” have been initiated by many schools and districts.

Chief among them are decisions to allow no grade lower than fifty – or some other arbitrary level to be recorded. This is a way to maintain student motivation and respond to the problems created by zeros, but it is simply a convenient invention.

The practice has become common across the nation. Humble, Texas includes the policy in its student handbook, as does St. Simon Stock School In Bronx, NY. Monroe Middle School in Monroe, NC forbids the "recording or averaging of any grade lower than 60." Variations of these policies are frequently posted on the Internet. These policies have troubled teachers who see it as grade manipulation, and it is, but with good intentions. School policies serve better when they are based on a logical process.

Homework Needs a Redefinition and New Purpose

An analysis of the problem reveals a possible real solution. First, teachers need to understand that homework tends to fall under the category of formative assessment – those things teachers do while students are learning a new topic or set of standards. Students must be retrained to believe that work has value even when it is not graded. Schools have become institutions that place too much emphasis on grades. Schools must dedicate themselves to emphasize learning for the sake of learning.

Teachers need to convince students – starting with students’ first-ever homework assignments – that homework addresses what they will need to know when they are assessed with quizzes and tests – i.e. summative assessments. It gives them an opportunity to study these things and review them the next day in class and make correction as needed. Teachers will quickly check off whether or not the student has done the homework in order to let parents know if students are doing homework. That’s it! No grading, no arbitrary methods of turning checks into grades, and no zeros.

Students should be encouraged to use homework as part of the material to study for assessments. Next a summative assessment is given. Some of the assessment should sample knowledge gained from homework. When the assessment is scored, the students who were serious about using homework as an opportunity to study will score better than those who didn’t, provided the homework assignments and the assessments were in agreement. In this way, what was learned from homework is finally graded.

The same factors that might have caused poor homework grades are still in effect for better or worse but significant positive changes will result:

• Those horrible zeros have been eliminated.
• Homework is now about learning instead of chasing grades.
• Homework is for practice and diagnosis.
• Fewer papers to grade.No need for special homework grading methods.
• The responsibility issue is still intact.
• The teacher can still see the relationship between homework and test grades.
• Bribes and reward systems are no longer needed.
• Copying homework is now no worse than copying notes.
• Student evaluation stresses summative assessment; evaluation “pollution” is reduced.
• Less stress for all.

Link:

The Homework Myth

Teacher Evaluations: What’s the Big Deal?

Is student achievement a valid part of teacher evaluation?

Using student achievement as a part of teacher evaluation is perceived as a threat by many teachers. Why? Because teachers know that there are many factors that affect student learning that are beyond their control. Parent involvement, for example, is critical to student success.

Some doctors are better than other doctors, and the word gets around by the successes they have in practicing their crafts. Doctors have to treat patients who often do all the wrong things where health is concerned. Nevertheless, they do what they can to make life better for those in need of medical care. They can lose their licenses for breaching the Hippocratic Oath.

Some teachers are simply not qualified to teach and they can do great harm. Yet bad teachers can be very hard to remove from a classroom as long as they don’t make waves. Bad teachers, like bad cops, weaken respect for a noble profession.

Student achievement will eventually become a routine part of teacher evaluation. Count on it! And it should be. No, student standardized scores should not be the sole determining factor of teacher effectiveness. Yes, teachers should have considerable input into the development of an evaluation instrument. Spend time in staff development constructing examples of what would seem like a fair evaluation instrument that includes student achievement and other factors.

Perhaps by doing so, teachers will be ready when the inevitable happens. Perhaps schools that have developed evaluations might ultimately influence instruments used in their districts, states, or nation.


Links: 
Chicago Teachers' Strike

Making New York State a National Leader on Teacher Accountability

Grading Take-at-Home Tests???

Taking tests at home! It's being doine virtually everywhere.

The take-home test. Is it an idea whose time has come? It's being practiced widely already. Sometimes it counts as much as 25% of a student's grade. 

It is said to promote responsibility as a bonus. The idea has mixed reactions from students primarily because they see it as an invasion of time spent with friends and family. Also, the use of the tests includes the risk of a zero grade if not turned in on time. 

But many like the idea because it levels the playing field somewhat. Lower achieving students can seek help from friends, books, and parents. With dedication students can bring their grades up by quite a bit. 

Some educators complain that being able to earn 25% of your grade without supervision of a teacher is risky. Some claim that it teaches some children to cheat. If some children copy the papers of friends their is often no way to know.

Many teachers are outraged, but the take-home test is a popular in many schools. You may be more familiar with it than you realize. The testing method is more commonly referred to as "homework." If you grade homework, it's pretty much equivalent to grading "take-home tests."

Does Your School Add to Teacher Stress by Wasting Instructional Time?

Teacher stress is increased by wasted time.

There is no doubt that many school principals have mastered the ability to establish priorities in schools. Some principals are victims of the various demands of the school. This may be especially true when a principal is new to a school that has established practices that waste time.

Other practices that waste time that are often simply accepted are:

• No policy on announcements which may interrupt a class at any time.
• Rewarding students for various achievements — like excelling in a fundraiser — with time out of class.
• Standardized testing and excessive preparation for the tests.
• Inefficient procedures for starting the school year.
• Inefficient procedures for ending the school year.
• Being involved in too many different well-intended programs.
• Early dismissals for sports and other activities.
• Overloading teachers with secretarial tasks.
• Too many emails that require immediate attention or personal emails among the faculty.
• Gearing down for holidays, especially Christmas.
• Excessive reliance on videos as teaching tools.
• Excessive reliance on homework, correcting it, and recording the grades.
• Grading too much student work of all kinds.
• Days of recognition for “special occasions or people” legislated by different states.
• Frequent problems with heating and/or cooling systems.
• Classes that are too large to allow individual attention.
• Teachers who are absent excessively.
• Useless appointments to serve on committees.
• Covering another teacher's class due to substitute shortage.

Teacher Evaluations and Student Achievement

Student achievement will become a
part of teacher evaluation!

The idea that employees be held responsible for the product they turn out is an old one. Those who favor teacher evaluations based on how well their students learn tend to view student learning as a teacher product. Certainly one would expect superior teachers to be more successful than poor teachers when it comes to infusing student’s minds with information. Still, teacher evaluation is complex.

The Controversy of Teacher Evaluation  is Heating Up

Numerous models that include student achievement in the teacher evaluation process already exist. The topic is increasingly popular in books.

Teachers are not particularly fond of the idea. The recent teacher strike in Chicago was partially fueled by plans to initiate an evaluation system incorporating student achievement. Chicago teachers  ultimately agreed to an instrument that allowed student achievement to count as 30% of the total evaluation.

                

           Parental involvement is a huge factor in
           student success in school.

The teacher viewpoint is easy to understand. Basically teachers feel that there are many variables beyond their control that affect student learning, and there are. Chief among those variables is the influence of parents. Research repeatedly supports the importance of parents in student learning.

There are other variables that are important in achievement and many are difficult for teachers to control. Any experienced teacher can address a long list of factors that interfere with teaching and learning. A few are listed below:

• class size;
• school resources and policies;
• competition with television;
• study habits students bring to the task;
• student health issues;
• distractions within the school — fund raising, special activities, excessive paperwork, too many meetings;
• additional expectations on teachers that rob them of time to prepare.

There are additional issues that stem from school leadership. Principals who lack the qualities of a strong leader create an atmosphere that negatively effects teacher motivation. Also, principals should serve as important resources for problem-solving and enhance teacher education through worthwhile staff development.

Finally, there is an issue with inconsistency in expectations. How teachers are supposed to teach, assess, and perform their various tasks depends on where one teaches. School organization and management vary widely across the nation.

Suggestions for Using Student Achievement to Evaluate Teaching

The use of student achievement will likely become a part of the future of education. Clearly, poorly trained employees are a threat to any occupation, and poor teachers affect individual lives and the competence of the nation’s work force. Leading educational researcher Robert Marzano is promoting his version of a comprehensive model of teacher evaluation that includes student achievement.

Evaluations of teachers based on student achievement must find ways to separate educational wheat from environmental chaff. Current teacher evaluations are inconsistent across the nation. Most depend to some extent on observations of the teacher made by people who know the teacher thus interfering with objectivity.

Improving teacher evaluation by examining student progress cannot be reasonably addressed by simply correlating student grades and standardized test scores with specific teachers. Most of the factors that teaches frequently list as barriers are valid. New evaluations should consider these barriers, and human variables are devilishly difficult to manage in research.

New evaluation methods must evolve from what is known about effective teaching, not just what is observed in the classroom. New instruments might include:

• Teacher products like assessments, student notes, and various instructional tools;
• Teacher knowledge of contemporary issues in education;
• Evidence of continuous improvement in teaching skills;
• How teachers evaluate students;
• How teachers motivate and inspire.

Research is Vital for New Teacher Evaluations

Any effort to design teacher evaluation instruments must be researched-based. Education yields enormous amounts of data — much of it is never used for educational improvement. Districts need more staff directly responsible for research aimed at instructional improvement.

Teachers must be involved in designing the instrument. Teachers can address issues that create anxiety about new evaluation instruments, contribute good ideas to the design, and will be needed to promote the final instrument.

The use of student learning in evaluating teachers must have numerous trial runs to weed out problems. A sudden adoption of a poorly designed instrument will doom efforts to redesign teacher evaluation.

There must be an understanding that new instruments will evaluate teachers over a period of years. A poor result in a single year should not threaten one’s job, but invite a process of evaluating the reasons for the results and assistance in reversing a negative outcome. Teachers should be part of this process.

Teacher self-assessment would help strengthen the instrument by giving evaluator’s a look at how a teacher perceives his or her effectiveness. Also, self-assessment would give teachers a voice in the evaluation process.

For now, teachers should prepare for the eventual use of student learning as part of their evaluation. The idea has too much momentum to be ignored.

Teacher Evaluation Links:

Teacher talent Toolbox

Teacher Evaluations by Students

Robert Marzano