Vernier, NSTA Technology Awards Go to 7 Teachers
The
2016 Vernier/National Science Teacher Association
(NSTA) Technology Awards have gone
to seven educators, ranging from one teaching fifth-graders to a college
professor.
The
seven educators — one elementary school teacher, two
middle school teachers, three high school teachers and one
college-level
educator — received awards for their innovative use of data-collection
technology using a computer, tablet or other handheld device in the
science
classroom.
The
winners received $1,000 in cash, $3,000 in Vernier
products and up to $1,500 in expenses to attend the NSTA National
Conference in
Nashville.
"We
believe providing opportunities for science students to
engage in practical experience will better prepare them for real-world
science
exploration," said Vernier Software & Technology CEO John
Wheeler.
The
winners are:
- Sherie
Ryan-Bailey, of Oakley Elementary School. Using
Vernier probes, a
weather station and resources from a local university, Ryan-Bailey's fifth-grade students learned weather patterns and how different factors
influence weather conditions in their area.
- Greer
Harvell, of Walton
Middle School. Harvell's seventh-graders used Vernier's probeware to
act as "citizen scientists" and monitor the water quality of a lake
located less than a block from their middle school.
- Aaron
Mueller, of Scullen Middle School. Mueller's cross-grade-level
collaborative project encouraged students to use Vernier probeware to
explore
the causes of non-point source pollution in retention ponds and natural
waterways near their school.
-
Richard
Erickson, of Bayfield
High School. Erickson and his students spent the school year
investigating the seiches in Lake Superior,
a standing wave oscillation created by atmospheric forces.
- Dan
Starr, of Green
Lake School. Starr's
students used Vernier
data-collection technology to study the Big Green Lake's water
resources and
determine which management decisions are necessary to improve the
watershed.
- Ben
Smith, of Peninsula
High School, Smith's project encouraged students to launch
inquiry-based field and laboratory investigations that explore the
relevance of
insects to fundamental ecological issues.
- Kasey
Wagoner, of Philadelphia
University. Wagoner,
a physics professor, created a project-based
physics course for non-science majors that incorporates Vernier probes
and
software.
About the Author
Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.