Safety in the science classroom has become an increasingly complex
issue in recent years. While teachers have advocated more hands-on
experiments to make science attractive to students, they have had
to contend with state budget cuts, overcrowded classrooms, and the
threat of parental lawsuits resulting from lab mishaps—all
of which preclude hands-on activities in the classroom. According
to the NSTA's position paper on Safety and School Science Instruction
"Inherent in many instructional settings including science
is the potential for injury and possible litigation. These issues
can be avoided or reduced by the proper application of a safety
In this issue of Science Class, you will find various
resources—news and journal articles, books, and websites—to
help you turn your science classroom into a safe learning environment.
Read on to discover how these resources can help you teach science
Science in the News
Article summaries provided by the NSTA WebNews Digest (visit
for national news for science educators).
Although safety lapses can occur in science labs, this month’s
news stories provide a wealth of tips for preventing accidents.
to learn more.
on the Net
In this month's high school journal, The Science Teacher,
NSTA members can read "Habits of Mind for the Science Laboratory."
The link to that article is http://www.nsta.org/main/news/stories/science_teacher.php?news_story_ID=50892.
is a web-based service from NSTA that provides online content
chosen to augment printed articles and books. It does so through
keywords; the keywords for this issue are
Safety in the Classroom: http://www.scilinks.org/retrieve_outside.asp?sl=92635699109910551011
Journal Articles on Safe Science
Click here to read more:
The NSTA Science Store and catalogs offer NSTA Press books and
other outstanding titles for science educators. The selection for
this issue is grade appropriate and was chosen for its relevance
to this month's theme: Safe Science.
Investigating Safely: A Guide for High School Teachers
Just as science is more complex in high school than it is at lower
grade levels, so are the safety issues you face in your classes
and labs. Reduce the risks with Investigating Safely, the
third and most advanced and detailed volume in NSTA’s unique
series of safety guidebooks for science teachers.
Click here to read more or to buy:
Click here for the newest titles from NSTA Press:
To receive the latest NSTA catalog for your specific grade level,
The U.S. Department of Education recently launched
"Teachers Ask the Secretary," a new feature of its website
According to U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, "This
easy-to-use page will help teachers learn answers on a wide range
of subjects: teacher quality, professional development, state
academic standards, and more. We will share best practices and
success stories under the No Child Left Behind Act. And we will
listen to your concerns." To ask a question or to view what
other teachers are asking, go directly to http://www.ed.gov/teachersask.
NSTA Web Seminars: Investigating Safely
Join NSTA for two, free, Web Seminars featuring the authors of
the NSTA Press publication Investigating Safely. The
presenters will showcase special safety requirements of specific
disciplines-physics, chemistry, Earth and space sciences, and
biology. Other topics that will be covered include equipping labs;
storing and disposing of chemicals and other hazardous materials;
maintaining documentation; and organizing field trips. Safety
concepts will be discussed in the context of common situations
in real classrooms.
For more information, visit http://institute.nsta.org/web_seminars.asp.
An additional opportunity to work face-to-face with
the authors of Investigating Safely will take place
at the Nashville Convention. For more information, visit http://institute.nsta.org/fall05/is/symposium.asp.
Americans and Chinese Differ in Their World
"Richard E. Nisbett of the University of Michigan
and his colleagues conducted a series of experiments in which
Chinese and American students were shown a number of images, each
depicting a single subject against a realistic and complex background.
The participants—who wore an eye-movement tracker during
the tests—were then shown pictures containing the same subjects
on either old or new backgrounds and asked to judge whether they
had seen the subjects before." This article from the August
23 issue of Scientific American examines the results
of these experiments and their bearing on differences in socialization
To read the rest of the article, visit
Call for Papers
The Science Teacher (grades 912)
has issued a Call for Papers on specific topics. Click here
to find out more:
and Children (S&C) and NSTA have established
a blog devoted to early childhood science (see http://science.nsta.org/earlyyearsblog).
Here you’ll find teaching advice, management tips, favorite
resources, and activity ideas specifically for teachers of grades
preK–2. The blog accompanies Science and Children’s
column The Early Years. To view the first column, visit http://www.nsta.org/main/news/stories/science_and_children.php?category_ID=86&news_story_ID=50933.
Highlights from the online conversations will appear
in the print column. Teachers who post a comment that gets chosen
for publication in S&C will receive one free
book from a select group of NSTA Press publications.
in the Laboratory
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