Spring Means It’s SCONYC

Spring Means It’s SCONYC

Every year in early spring, science teachers, book publishers, and environmental organizations convene at Stuyvesant High School in NYC for the SCONYC (Science Council of New York City) conference. This year, SCONYC’s 34th annual conference took place on Saturday, April 2 and, as always, Amsco had a presence there. Our company had a table at which we displayed and discussed our science texts, and the science department staff attended various workshops.

Two of our own Amsco authors presented workshops at the conference from 8 to 9 A.M., which we attended. Midge attended the workshop called “Basic Skills,” which was presented by our Mastering Basic Skills in Science author, Donald Abramson. The author discussed techniques for helping students learn basic skills and facts in science, such as how to remember the six major elements that compose the tissues of the human body. Madalyn and I attended the “Marine Science: The New General Science” session, presented by our Marine Science: Marine Biology and Oceanography author Thomas Greene. He gave tips on how to prepare a marine science curriculum, explaining that it is interdisciplinary, combining topics from biology, chemistry, earth science, and physics. This makes marine science the perfect choice for either a general science course before a specific Regents science class or as an elective after one or more Regents science classes have been completed. The teachers in the workshop were interested in learning more about Greene’s curriculum and about our textbook.

At 9 A.M, all three of us attended the Keynote Address: “Forensics for All!” presented by the author of a Forensic Science textbook, Anthony “Bud” Bertino, who has over 40 years of teaching experience. Bertino emphasized that “techniques used in crime solving can model observational skills … for students” and that forensics “can also teach math, scientific principles, technology, manipulative skills, logical thinking and team-building” in classrooms of different grade levels. After this presentation, we joined other Amsco employees at our table, where we responded to teacher inquiries about our various science texts. There was a good amount of interest in our books, which is always nice to see! While there, we took the opportunity to get a look at other publishers’ books.

Science teachers examine Amsco science books.

We attended three more sessions after helping at the Amsco table. Madalyn attended the “NYSED Science Update,” presented by Joseph Selch of the NYSED, who discussed how national and state-level education reform will affect science education at all levels throughout the state. Midge attended the “Pollen Analysis Workshop” presented by Bud and Patti Bertino, in which they discussed how pollen can be used as an investigative tool in forensic analysis; they presented hands-on activities with pollen that teachers could then use with their own students. I attended the “Engaging Students in Biology Through Real-World Connections” workshop, given by Alan Ascher and Barbara Poseluzny. The purpose of this workshop was to show teachers how they can enhance the teaching of biology with hands-on activities that have real-world applications. One activity demonstrated how termites follow chemical trails, which was interesting to observe. The chemical trail was from the ink of a ball-point pen! Another activity concerned the spread of cholera in tropical regions, and how this related to local water supplies.

All in all, it was a productive day in which Amsco editors learned more about the world of science education, and science educators who came to our table learned more about the world of Amsco science publications!