As biology teachers, we should embrace the ever-increasing appearance of biology in movies and other media as an opportunity to engage students in active learning and to facilitate critical-thinking and investigative skills in the classroom. In this article, the author provides examples and strategies from his experience using popular movies in classes ranging from kindergarten to university-level courses. These strategies aim to convert students’ enthusiasm for cinema into science learning experiences that develop their ability to discover science in their everyday lives.
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When students understand content deeply, they recognize main concepts and understand the relationships among ideas. But the typical processes students use to study are generally not designed to generate conceptual understandings. Instead, they tend to become passive learners. In this article, the authors present three commonly used classroom techniques—bell work, worksheets, and laboratory investigations—that have been converted from passive to active learning strategies. They also draw on the active and passive learning research to help teachers examine the structure of typical classroom instruction (Bransford, Brown, and Cocking 2000).
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How did the first galaxies form? How old are the oldest stars? Much of the universe remains uncharted territory. As astronomers study the abundance of celestial objects and phenomena outside Earth’s atmosphere, they constantly make discoveries that change the way we see the universe. Because of the substantial amount of physics used, modern astronomers are often called astrophysicists. Astrophysicists, such as Shep Doeleman, apply the laws of physics to understand celestial marvels.

Unlike many astronomers, Doeleman did not spend his childhood gazing through a telescope at the night sky. It was not until later that he became hooked on the mysteries of the universe. After college, Doeleman spent a year in Antarctica working on several investigations, including an astronomy experiment that detected high-energy particles in space. Now he travels to telescope observatories all over the world and conducts cutting-edge experiments to discover unknown features of the cosmos.
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Science and science education have had many great leaders, some of whom may not have thought of themselves as leaders while engaged in their work. This holds true for many teachers, who think they do not have the time or experience to be a great leader. However, each educator can offer something to not only his or her students but also to colleagues beyond the classroom. This article outlines some of the top leadership opportunities for teachers.
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The end of the year is always a time for reflection and looking back. Even though December may feel more like midyear for teachers, the end of the calendar year inevitably brings top 10 lists, reviews of the best the year had to offer, and vows for improvement. But before we make those New Year’s resolutions, why not have a look back at The Science Teacher’s (TST) 2007–2008 year, and perhaps discover—or rediscover—an idea, activity, or teaching strategy that might be useful in your classes in 2009. To guide your reflection, we here provide an overview of each of the nine issues of TST in 2008.
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The implementation of standards and high-stakes testing has increased the pressure on classroom teachers to cover content in what seems like an ever-shrinking period of time. What if there was a way to help students pay better attention and remember more of their learning that could also reduce teacher stress? This article describes one way to accomplish just that—with energizers in the classroom. Using neuroscience research on how the brain focuses, teachers can apply specific strategies to maximize student engagement and attention.
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Teachers and students alike deal with certain levels of anxiety. But how much is too much, and what can students do to cope?
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During student-centered learning activities, students actively engage in their own learning based on individual prior understandings. It can be difficult for a teacher to know if students fully understand the concepts being presented, especially if they do not comment or ask questions because they are shy or afraid of getting something wrong. Teachers may not know students’ true ideas until they express themselves on a written summative exam, and then it is often too late to correct them before rushing off to the next topic. Therefore, the author uses pretests, daily learning logs, and posttests to assess student learning and change misconceptions. She shares her strategy in this month's Idea Bank.
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This article describes a thought-provoking lesson that compares various arrangements of lamp-battery circuits to help students develop the motivation and competence to participate in scientific discourse for knowledge construction. Through experimentation and discourse, students explore concepts about voltage, current, resistance, and Ohm’s law. The discourse encourages students to become deeply engaged in the process of making sense of their own observations and ideas.
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Mitosis and meiosis are essential for the growth, development, and reproduction of organisms. Because these processes are essential to life, both are emphasized in biology texts, state standards, and the National Science Education Standards. In this article, the authors present their methodology for teaching mitosis by having students produce stop-animation films. They have found that this approach is equally effective for teaching students about meiosis as well.
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How often are your eyewash stations flushed? Do all of your school’s science labs have a direct line of communication with the front office and outside support officials? These and other questions are the focus of what the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) calls administrative procedures, or work practices (WPs). WPs cover a variety of areas and are intended to protect occupants from accidents. Because of their academic preparation, on-the-job expertise, and professional certification, science teachers should have a major role in developing appropriate WPs. This month’s column contains a list of some basics to consider when addressing this issue.
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The algebraic concepts and major ideas that govern Newton’s laws of motion can often be a challenge for the majority of ninth-grade students. Therefore, to make learning these concepts less task-oriented and more enjoyable, the author developed lessons that allow students to construct and express their understanding of these ideas through cartooning. This article describes cartooning as an alternative activity in high school physical science, where students are able to demonstrate understanding of Newton’s laws of motion through cooperative learning and differentiated instruction.
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In general, moving from structured to guided to open inquiry means increasing student thinking and responsibility—at the highest level, students come up with questions to investigate, figure out how to answer those questions, decide what to observe, and interpret meanings behind the resulting data. However, students often begin the school year unfamiliar with the kind of thinking required at this level. Presented early on with an open-ended inquiry activity, students may react with confusion or—worse—a general feeling that inquiry “does not work.” How do you avoid this? In this month’s column, you’ll learn how to implement inquiry-based activities and investigations successfully in the high school science classroom.
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