Google Earth (GE) is proving to be a valuable tool in the science classroom for understanding the environment and making responsible environmental decisions (Bodzin 2008). GE provides learners with a dynamic mapping experience using a simple interface with a limited range of functions. This interface makes geospatial analysis accessible and feasible for classroom use. Therefore, the authors developed a four week land-use-change curricular unit in which students use geospatial information technology tools including GE and other remotely sensed images to investigate modern-day land-use issues and land-use change over time.
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In the set of activities, explorations, and discussions described here, students apply healthy eating information when they make nutrition choices both at home and when eating out. These lessons introduce considerations such as portion size and caloric nutrients, while also exploring tools and resources for understanding both nutritional guidelines and for evaluating the nutritional value of a food. This progression of data collection and analysis culminates with students applying their knowledge as they author position statements that answer the question, “Is it possible to include fast food as part of a healthy lifestyle?”
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The Madagascar hissing cockroach gromphadorhina portentosa) is one of the most exciting and enjoyable animals to incorporate into your science curriculum. Madagascar hissing cockroaches (MHCs) do not bite, are easy to handle, produce little odor compared to many terrarium animals, have a fascinating social structure, are easy to breed, teach students how to properly care for animals, and are very cool looking! This article describes an inquiry-based MHC activity and further questions for your students to explore. The activity and questions address basic concepts of nutrition.
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Answering a question or proposing an explanation based on evidence gathered from observations and measurements is at the heart of scientific inquiry. To develop this ability, teachers should provide repeated opportunities for students to generate questions, figure out what data must be collected, decide what tools they must use to gather it, and determine the best way to organize and display it. The activities in this issue of Scope will show your students how to properly represent and analyze the data they collect firsthand and to examine and use existing databases and images to craft explanations and make important decisions.
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Today’s classrooms have no real walls! Students explore the world on field trips, during virtual journeys on the world wide web, and through the books they read. These pathways help them fly to the ends of the universe to satisfy their scientific curiosity. Again this year, the professionals of the NSTA/CBC Review Panel for Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K–12 have been pleased to serve as travel guides, identifying the best in trade books for student explorations. Not only are these books accurate, up-to-date, and attractive, but they also represent a new, creative path to inquiry. The journey begins here—come along!
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The process of inspiring students into framing authentic questions and then providing them structured support in answering the questions through scientific research is widely recognized as a key element, if not the heart and soul, of inquiry-based science education. Large online databases, when combined with appropriate data-manipulation tools and data-visualization tools, provide excellent tools for teaching an integrated curriculum that includes science process skills, science content, mathematics, and technology. This paper examines one tool for inspiring such questions and supporting their exploration: the Forestry Outreach Site (FORSITE) roadkill database.
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What do you get when you cross an electronic whiteboard, online videos, and a room full of sixth graders? This may perhaps sound like an uncontrollable mix, but these simple ingredients create an interesting way to reinforce student understanding of Newton’s laws of motion. This activity can be completed in one class period if each group of three students has access to a computer. If not enough computers are available, you may need additional time for all groups to complete the activity.
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Examining data provides a unique opportunity to have students work actively with various technologies, such as computers or graphing calculators. Students can import data into spreadsheet software, execute mathematical calculations, create data graphs, and use this material in reports to present the results of their inquiry. Reinforcing the use of technology in a classroom environment, as well as generating reports to communicate information, is another goal of the National Science Education Standards. Defining these objectives reinforces the link between science and math and brings relevance to both topics. The following activity example details how students can explore and try to make sense of data.
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In this lesson, a ready-to-teach cooperative reading activity, students learn about the effects of plastics n our environment, specifically that certain petrochemicals act as artificial estrogens and impact hormonal activities. Much of the content in this lesson was synthesized from recent medical research about the impact of xenoestrogens and spun off from a curriculum project sponsored by the U.S. Army Research office.
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NSTA’s Science Safety Advisory Board has developed a new online resource for science teachers, Safety in the Science Classroom. The document introduces the Standards of Student Conduct in the laboratory and in the Field (SSCLF)—a list of behavioral expectations that should be in place for students to properly conduct themselves in the laboratory or field. This month’s column provides examples of standards taken from the SSCLF that deal with personal protective equipment for the eyes and appropriate attire.
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In astronomy, the brightness of a star is described in terms of a star’s magnitude. Stellar magnitude is expressed two different ways, using the terms apparent magnitude and absolute magnitude. For both magnitudes, the numbering scale is the same, with negative numbers being brighter stars and positive numbers being dimmer stars. This month’s column sheds light on the stars and how astronomers measure distances to these celestial objects.
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One problem we face as teachers of sixth-grade science is how to teach the process of inquiry to students who are still used to learning everything concretely. Indeed, even after walking students through an inquiry lab while modeling the lab-report-writing process and providing think-alouds along the way, we find that students still do not master experimental design. As a remedy to this problem, the authors have, in addition to immersing students in inquiry activities, incorporated short reading passages to give students extra practice in understanding specific parts of the process of inquiry. Their method is described in this month’s column.
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One of the many ways to engage students in science is by using probes or computerized devices that respond in real time to changes. In the following learning cycle lesson, an after-school science and mathematics club consisting of about 20 students uses a computerized pressure sensor to evaluate the rates at which effervescent tablets (such as Alka-Seltzer) dissolve. By using the data-collection devices, students were able to see, in real time, the variables that affected the pressure in the bottle. They were also able to apply the “message in the bottle” to effervescent rockets.
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Who hasn’t heard of Einstein? Science educators everywhere are familiar with Einstein’s genius and general theory of relativity. Students easily recognize Einstein’s image by his white flyaway hair and bushy mustache. It is well known that Einstein was a brilliant physicist and an abstract thinker who often used his creativity and imagination in his scientific thought process (Parker 2003). Clearly, if students had opportunities to study Einstein and other scientists, it might increase their interest in science and encourage them to think more like scientists. To that end, this article describes how Einstein can be highlighted in a biography unit for the middle grades.
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