It’s Time for Science--outdoors! At the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) conference in Atlanta (March 2023), host Tom Racine interviewed two amazing educators about the importance of going outside when you teach. Autumn Rivera, the Colorado Teacher of the year, and a Finalist for National Teacher of the Year, talks about the importance of taking kids outside and on day trips to local areas. She discusses the power of science to help integrate disciplines across the school and how to work with other curriculum areas. We also chat about teacher burnout and strategies on how to help both teachers and students recover after the pandemic. Then it’s Andrea Burrows’ turn! Ms. Burrows is an award-winning science teacher in Santa Clara, California with many years of classroom experience. She talks about focusing on exploring the outdoors of your local area to give students real-life context and how science affects us all. We also touch on how impactful garden programs in schools can be, as well as the importance of teacher leadership and connecting with other teachers across all disciplines. Producer David Lippman also reviews the game Photosynthesis from Blue Orange Games. It’s Time for Science! To get in touch with us, whether to offer some feedback, ideas for future episodes or reviews, or just to say hi, send us a message at
[email protected]. We’d love to hear from you! Look for School Specialty and FOSS on Twitter and Facebook. It’s Time for Science is produced by School Specialty and the Full Option Science System (FOSS) at the Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley.