Boot Camp Tour 2008 Learn How to Make Science Even More Meaningful and Fun!

Steve Spangler's Hands-on Science Secrets™ training is guaranteed to provide you with a whole new perspective on teaching science. It is complete with techniques that will move the effectiveness of your teaching to a whole new level. You'll leave with all the tools you need to make you the best science teacher possible.

Steve's 2008 Workshop Tour

• Atlanta, Georgia - April 9th, 2008
• Anaheim, California - April 23rd, 2008
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - May 6th, 2008

  

• New York Area - May 8th, 2008
• San Antonio, Texas - September 24th, 2008
• Houston, Texas - September 26th, 2008
• Orlando, Florida - October 8th, 2008
• Tampa, Florida - October 10th, 2008
• Dallas, Texas - November 4th, 2008

It's a Hands-on Science Boot Camp for Teachers

Join Steve Spangler for an intensive one-day, training that is guaranteed to change the way you teach science... forever! This fast-moving seminar is for pre-k and elementary teachers who need creative science integration strategies... who are tired of trying to "squeeze" science into their already packed teaching schedule... and who want to make science even more fun and meaningful in their classroom. Stop squeezing and start integrating!

• Develop inquiry-based activities that strengthen critical thinking skills and challenge students to ask the important "Why?" questions
• Use elements of the story line in popular pieces of children's literature to teach and reinforce fundamental building blocks of your science curriculum

  

• Discover ways to use attention-grabbing science experiments as daily writing prompts
• Develop classroom safety procedures to protect yourself and students against common accidents
• Turn ordinary science activities into unforgettable learning experiences

In just one day, you'll be well on your way to using Steve's strategies for creating unforgettable learning experiences for your students. You'll learn how to reinforce concepts with hands-on activities and examples of classroom applications. Hands-on Science Secrets focuses on developing inquiry-based activities that promote exploration and strengthen critical thinking skills. You'll leave this seminar with the knowledge, presentation skills and tools to make science a favorite part of your teaching day.

More than just cute ideas... we need solutions!

When Steve Spangler asked primary teachers what would be the best way to teach science, teachers responded with a no nonsense approach. "Give us easy science activities that help our students build critical thinking skills... use the scientific method... and make them so engaging that kids want to learn more on their own." Let's face it, science is already fun, but it also has to be relevant to the curriculum and to the real world. And teachers need science lessons that can be easily integrated into all areas of the curriculum. "The days of trying to squeeze science in at the last minute are over... we need something new and easy." Steve Spangler's Hands-on Science Secrets is different than any other workshop you have ever experienced.

Bottom line... Steve Spangler will help you take the fear out of teaching science and become a more effective science teacher using simple and inexpensive materials... guaranteed!

About the Hands-on Science Curriculum

This seminar is designed to meet the practical needs of busy elementary school teachers who want to make science more exciting, stimulating and meaningful. The curriculum covers themes such as air, color, light, magnets, weather, states of matter, chemistry, force and motion and Steve's ooey, gooey supermarket science. You'll participate in more than 30 eye-catching demonstrations and hands-on activities that help children pursue the why-factor of wonder, discovery, and exploration. Explore a number of great science ideas that encourage children to "play with a purpose." By the end of the day, your head will be filled with creative ideas that you can put to use immediately. You'll leave this seminar with the knowledge, presentation skills, and tools to make science the favorite part of your teaching day.

Take-Home Materials and Learning Resources

You'll receive a take-home "Survival Kit" filled with gizmos, gadgets and learning tools the moment you walk through the door. This is not your ordinary sit-and-watch lecture. Be prepared to perform dozens of amazing science activities and take-home all of the necessary materials to get your students excited about science the very next day.

Mission Control... We Have a Serious Problem

Dr. Joanne Vasquez, member of the National Science Board, recently delivered the bad news in an open letter to the education community.

"The recently released Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2003 (TIMS)-an international student assessment conducted in 15 countries and released on December 14, 2004-tells us that American fourth-graders are doing no better in science than they did in 1995. Ten years later, and still no progress has been made with our youngest learners. But why should we care if six-year olds take science or not? The answer is simple: because future innovations in science, technology, engineering, defense, national security, and a whole lot more could be at stake.

Science instruction has come to a dismal halt or been severely curtailed in far too many elementary classrooms across the United States. While we do not argue that these subjects are also important, science, like all subjects, requires a developmental building of conceptual understanding that must start in kindergarten. Yet many students reach the intermediate and middle grades with little or no science instruction, and if they receive any, it happened when the teacher could squeeze it in.

To effectively improve elementary science, schools and administrators need to value the science education they offer, and they must provide quality professional development, mentoring, and resources to our elementary teachers. This will be vital if as a nation we want to truly see students achieve in science."

The theme for teacher training workshops 20 years ago was, "Science is Fun!" Dozens of professional development workshops and institutes did everything possible to get teachers turned on to teaching science. Steve Spangler refers to this as the "arts & crafts" period of science education training. A survey of principals in the Cherry Creek School District in Colorado revealed that students were having fun doing lots of hands-on activities, but the translation from 'real fun' to 'real learning' didn't happen in most instances. "Just because kids are doing a hands-on activity doesn't mean they're learning," according to Steve Spangler. "We as teachers need to learn how to effectively use inquiry-based activities to teach our students how to better use the scientific method and to stimulate their problem-solving skills."

Yes, science is fun, but now we need creative ideas and strategies for integrating science into our curriculum. The goal of this Boot Camp is to show early childhood educators (pre-K to 3) how to use proven best practices and teaching strategies to make science more exciting, more engaging, more interactive and more meaningful in their classroom.