For two days, I was in State College for multiple purposes, but the primary reason for the trip was to attend the Advisory Board meeting for a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant on which I am a co-principal investigator.  The main subject of my research is focused on a NSF/Targeted Math-Science Partnership grant, titled Middle Grades Earth and Space Science Education (see NSF abstract).  It was really rewarding to be able to share what our team of Penn State faculty members, plus one middle school teacher from Philadelphia, have been doing with learning progressions work and the development of the Pennsylvania Earth Science Teachers (PAESTA) organization.