With just a brief exchange of nervous glances, the group of a dozen or so teachers held hands, palms slightly sweaty, in a circle around the table, oblivious to the stares of curious onlookers. Then the leader motioned one of their number to touch the ball on a post that was fixed inside a quart-sized glass jar. The effect was immediate and profound. A surge of static electricity coursed from the electrical store of the Leyden jar touched by the first teacher through the bodies of the rest, giving everyone such a jolt that they all whooped and jumped. The surge of power even dropped one teacher to her knees in disbelief and laughter.
Of course, nobody was hurt. And the teachers later found out that a line of 180 soldiers were similarly shocked in 1746, to the delight of the court of Louis XV. These teachers were studying the early electrical experiments of Benjamin Franklin as part of the Smithsonian Institution's Energy and Motion Academy, a professional development program in Washington, D.C.
Although I am a writer and not a teacher, I joined the National Science Resources Center's (NSRC) 2006 Smithsonian Science Education Academies for Teachers as part of my research for two books about science education trends that I am writing for ASCD. The NSRC, a joint project of the Smithsonian Institution and the National Academies, is perhaps most widely known to science teachers as the developer of the Science and Technology for Children and Science and Technology Concepts for Middle Schools inquiry-based science curricula. If I were going to experience hands-on science, the Smithsonian Institution and its many research centers would be the place to start.
Although my Plimptonesque foray into science teacher workshops was perhaps not quite so risky or revealing as a stint teaching a middle school science class, I gained a wealth of information about current science education and best practices from experts and practitioners. I saw firsthand what teachers value in professional development programs. Not least of all—through small-group work and hands-on experiments involving everything from the physics of toys and fuel cells to the biology of plankton that disrupts the oxygen supply in the Chesapeake Bay—I brightened a few dark corners in my own mind about energy and motion and biodiversity, the themes of the two weeklong academies that I attended.
Where Science and Literacy Meet
With all the talk in schools about the importance of literacy, one early and popular session at the Energy and Motion Academy focused on the importance of science notebooks for scientists—and also for teachers and students. Professional development consultant Sande Sparkman, who has worked as a chemist and secondary science teacher, stressed the value of writing in notebooks not only for students to record their observations and data but also to give them the opportunity to think on paper, documenting their questions, misgivings, and even experimental mishaps. Sparkman shared samples of a professional scientist's notebooks to show his thoroughness with information and his thought processes, revealing the human side of science. Participants were then given science notebooks, which many dutifully used to document, in words and drawings, their investigations into Newton's laws of motion using a toy hovercraft and a fan-powered car.
During the Biodiversity Academy, I again saw the science notebook process at work. I marveled at the intricate drawings made by New Orleans teacher Quneller Clemons as she dissected a mud dauber wasp's nest to tease out the various species intimately interdependent in the distinctive, pipe-organ-shaped dwelling.
During the Biodiversity Academy, teachers also learned about some of the research that goes on behind the scenes at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. As part of a lab on forensic ornithology, research scientist Carla Dove showed us how to use microscopes to examine the downy barbs near the base of a bird's feathers, which scientists use as keys to identify the remains of birds—work that can improve air safety, protect wildlife, and even inform archaeology. To top off the session, we viewed a sample of the museum's 650,000 bird specimens.
Lessons to Take Home
Both academies featured a wide variety of specialists, topics, and activities that helped me brush up on my science skills. And through these experiences and my conversations with the teachers and Smithsonian staff, I also learned some valuable lessons about effective professional development.
- Teachers value hands-on experience and materials they can quickly adapt for their classes. Although making "products" and working in small groups at workshops puts a certain amount of performance pressure on teachers, they, like the students they teach, overwhelmingly prefer these activities to lectures. The most popular activities struck a balance between asking participants to listen to information from specialists and having them apply it in lab work. In one instance, a scientist even had teachers fashioning their own micropipettes with glass tubing over a propane torch.
- Museums value input from teachers. Many of the curators, scientists, and staff of the Smithsonian museums invited teachers to contact them during the school year, whether to ask questions about the specialists' areas of research or to offer suggestions about making exhibits more accessible to school students.
- Local, regional, and national museums and science organizations often offer programs for curriculum enrichment or professional development, so teachers need to do their homework. If your school doesn't have the resources to send you across the country, they might be willing to finance something closer to home.
After returning to the work of writing at ASCD, I reviewed the manuscript of the K–6 science education book I had drafted. The information from and anecdotes of the teachers about whom I had written took on an added richness for me because I had, albeit briefly, experienced the lives of teachers who have a real desire to more deeply understand the subjects they teach.
