Wednesday, May 12 marked the first annual National Lab Day, a nationwide initiative to build local communities of support that will foster ongoing collaborations among volunteers, students, and educators and bring discovery-based science experiences to students in grades K-12. Our guest blogger today is Charley Cook, Kendall Hunt’s vice president of Pre-K – 12 publishing. 
Charley writes:

As a strong supporter of National Lab Day, Kendall Hunt Publishing and its employees decided to recognize the inaugural event by spending time in classrooms working with students on hands-on science activities. Kendall Hunt is known for publishing research-based, NSF-funded, and inquiry-based science programs, so National Lab Day was a perfect opportunity for us to step to the forefront and lend a hand.

I had the opportunity to join fellow KH employees Joe Haverland, Pam Roth, and Wayne Schnier at John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Dubuque, IA, where we conducted hands-on science activities with their 1^st and 4^th grade classrooms.  Joe facilitated a Physical Science activity focusing on Equilibrium and Center of Gravity, which challenged the 4^th grade students to work in groups to try to figure out a way to balance eight nails on the head of one nail. The students worked in pairs, which promoted teamwork that is critical to the inquiry process. It was great to walk around the classroom and hear students collaborating and sharing ideas. Although they were only 4^th grade students, the problem-solving skills they exhibited are those they need to have to not only cope, but also be competitive as they advance through school and enter the working world. The students did a great job and by the end of the exercise, each group was successful in balancing all of the nails.

Wayne and Pam were in a “stickier” situation when they worked with the first graders on the “Gloop” activity from the BSCS TRACKS Investigating Properties Kit. Gloop is a mixture of glue, starch and borax that is sealed in a plastic container to keep moist and somewhat hardened that was made the day before the activity. Wayne and Pam made up 10 bags of Gloop for teams of two students to share. Before the students could open the bag, they had to guess what ingredients were in the gloop. That exercise provided an entertaining and informative classroom conversation. Next, the students were allowed to open the bag and then listed the properties of what was contained in gloop. They also tried to come up with ideas on how gloop could be used if it was manufactured for the public. The kids were having a great time with this activity. It is clear that the gloop itself adds to the excitement, but it makes science fun for kids and as you can imagine, they use all of their senses for this experiment.

For Kendall Hunt, National Lab Day was a big success. I was proud of the fact that our employees volunteered to spend time in these classrooms to help students experience science in a hands-on way and gain problem-solving skills that will last a lifetime. As a nation, we are learning how important science is if our country and its citizens are going to remain competitive in the future. At Kendall Hunt, we want to make Lab Day an everyday event for all students, and we are eager to play a role in their success.

To learn more about National Lab Day and how you can bring hands-on learning activities to classrooms in your community, click here. To learn about Kendall Hunt’s elementary school science textbooks and high school science textbooks, visit kendallhunt.com. 

I’m wondering about the differences in public school textbooks versus those used in private and parochial schools. Do most private schools use different elementary school textbooks, or high school science textbooks than the surrounding public schools? 

This is something we’re talking about a lot here at Kendall Hunt as we’re expanding our offerings for private and parochial schools. It’s a good point, what’s the added value to paying for private school if the textbooks are the same? Of course I know there are other reasons people send their children to private school: religious considerations, class size, special classes, and many others; but wouldn’t it be an even greater incentive to tell parents, “Yes, we have a curriculum we designed ourselves, around the educational philosophy of our school.

KH has been publishing Pathways, a reading program used in Seventh Day Adventist schools, for several years now, and we will soon be publishing an elementary school science program to accompany it. We’re working on several other exciting projects too, so if you have a chance, take a look at our private & parochial school offerings!
 

About EDC

The Center for Science Education (CSE) is a division of Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC). CSE’s roughly 35 staff members comprise a diverse group of professionals—scientists, science educators and administrators, curriculum writers and developers, policy analysts, journalists, social and educational researchers, and educational program evaluators. We count among our staff experts who have an almost unrivalled depth of experience in the improvement of science education, here and abroad, and authors who have created some of the most highly regarded science instructional materials in the field. Together, our CSE team develops and supports projects and programs that are internationally recognized for their innovative approaches to the teaching and learning of science.

From after-school science programs to teacher mentoring to research into pedagogy, CSE’s work covers a broad range of science education initiatives. Most often, our initiatives fall into the following three categories:

• Research and evaluation of such facets of science education as inquiry teaching, teacher retention, capacity building, and the sustainability of reform efforts
• Professional development and technical support programs—online, and in-person—to encourage leadership and to build the capacity of teachers and administrators
• Development of science instructional materials, resources, and tools both for use in school for grades preK–12 and out of school

Working with funders, foundations, and corporations, we identify needs in the science education community and respond with programs and initiatives. Through this work, we develop resources and publications, provide customized services and support, and conduct comprehensive research and evaluation studies covering topics such as assessment, curriculum implementation, leadership, literacy, and that cover all grade levels—early childhood through high school.

Instructional Materials

Since 1958, EDC has produced high-quality science instructional materials. An in-depth understanding of education and scientific research and knowledge about how students learn and teachers teach continues to provide the foundation for all of our curricula.
Our materials are not only about students; they also support teachers. We acknowledge the professionalism of teachers by offering strategies to enhance their own skills and knowledge in science teaching and learning.

All of our curricula reflect the National Science Education Standards, adapted to the needs and interests of all students. They have been extensively pilot- and field-tested in classrooms across the country. All of our materials reflect:

• a focus on depth of understanding, rather than breadth of information.
• academically rigorous content framed in contexts relevant to students’ lives.
• a focus on scientific thinking and reasoning through a careful balance of direct experience with phenomena, use of secondary resources, discourse, and writing.
• close attention to the needs of a diverse student body.
• the use of formative assessment to guide instruction and learning.

We know that knowledge of science has many facets and to attain science literacy, students must master the concepts of subject matter, understand the nature of scientific inquiry, and gain insight into the many ways scientific knowledge affects them and their world.

Last time I started explaining the role of permissions in the publishing process. As a school textbook publisher, like any other publisher, we must get permission to use other people’s material in our products, be it elementary school science textbooks, or a high school physics textbook.  We’ll finish this discussion in this post about fair use, public domain and citations.

Fair Use

The "fair use" clause comes into play if the writer wants to use an excerpt or quote from a work of substantial length; they still need to cite the source. Generally, we consider up to 250 words from the text of a book, magazine or journal fair use.

Public Domain

There are some items that are considered "public domain." These are works that have either expired or were not protected by copyright.  They can be used freely with applicable citation. Once they become public domain due to expiration, the copyright protection cannot be restored.

Works that cannot be copyrighted are those consisting of information that is common property with no specific authorship such as calendars, height/weight charts and rulers. Also items with standard information such as tables, schedules of sporting events, blank forms designed to record rather than convey information are also public domain. Official U.S. government works cannot be copyrighted, but the original source must be cited, for example NASA photographs.

Citations

The materials that are borrowed require a credit line list to be published within the textbook. Some require the credit line be printed with the actual image/article; others are generally listed in the back of the book or on the copyright page.

Next time, a few words about our Permissions Department.

In previous posts regarding developing a high school science textbook at Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, I've touched on acquisition, planning, manuscript development and copy-editing, cover design and interior design.

I was going to discuss composition at this stage; however, I want to touch on a very important step having to do with manuscript and art package development: permissions! Whether it’s a high school chemistry textbook or a primary school textbook, we use the same permissions process.

Copyright Law

While writing and developing art packages, our K-12 authors have to be aware of the rules of permissions regarding copyright laws. KH has a permissions department that helps our authors understand the copyright laws and helps them with these needs. Basically, if they are utilizing any material beyond what they are creating, they need to request permission for the borrowed materials.

Copyright protection extends to the authors of all original works including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic and certain other intellectual material. The law of copyright gives the owner the sole and exclusive right to reproduce the copyrighted work in any form and to authorize others to do so.

The following chart provides a quick reference to copyright duration.

Next time I’ll talk about “fair use” and “public domain.” You’ll be a permissions guru before you know it!