Native American and other cultural stories provide students with a broader perspective on the world. In addition, cultural stories connect science content and knowledge about the world to cultural interpretations and people’s life ways. By implementing the ideas suggested in this article, you can select books that both enrich your science library and help students begin to appreciate the science contributions and connections from various cultures while enhancing cultural literacy among students.
[hide full abstract]

The sequence of activities presented here—Draw-a-Scientist and the Mystery Box Redux—were designed to help students better understand the nature of science (NOS) and engage them in the process of scientific inquiry. As a result, students begin to view themselves as scientists and realize that they already have the skills and thought processes necessary to be successful in the field.
[hide full abstract]

Developing literacy skills in science develops students’ voices. These voices give us representation, a role in decisions, a way to express ourselves, and a chance to participate. A voice is a profound gift that requires knowledge and responsibility. In this issue, we pay tribute to the creative ways our colleagues are accessing and enhancing students’ voices.
[hide full abstract]

This monthly feature contains facts and challenges for the science explorer.
[hide full abstract]

Members of a team of educators and university students participating in the project, Pittsburgh Partnership for Energizing Science in Urban Schools, addressed the issue of helping students develop investigative skills within the context of an introductory science unit for fourth graders. The unit focuses on data-collection techniques and is a component of the district’s required curriculum. It contains four hands-on investigations, each involving a different technique: rubbing, carbon printing, chromatography, and reflecting. The approach described here can be used as a model to transform the skills learned in a science classroom from general to investigative ones.
[hide full abstract]

To become good readers, students need experience in reading for information. Science class is an ideal place for students to develop motivation and strategies for informational reading. Yet with the promotion of hands-on science, many teachers get the message that reading may be inappropriate in science. Nothing could be farther from the truth. According to Norris and Phillips (2003), science could not exist without a written language to record and disseminate ideas in ways that allow them to be tested, elaborated, and sometimes refuted. This article explores the integration of science and reading, and offers research-based methods to make the most of reading in science.
[hide full abstract]

Science-themed books are wonderful tools for emphasizing the importance of observation and journaling. They can also be used to effectively promote literacy skills in science. This article shares a selection of nature books and the ways teachers and students used them to engage in the process of scientific inquiry.
[hide full abstract]

A good history book tells a story, much like a good novel. In reading those stories, one is able to read through the text relatively quickly and still get the main points. Science reading is a much slower process. You read science texts to understand specific concepts, and usually few of the words on a page are wasted; just about every word can be significant for understanding the concept at hand. This month’s column includes research findings to back up this view of science reading, and provides strategies for reading like an expert.
[hide full abstract]

A prop box is a teacher-created resource full of age-appropriate and meaningful activities focused on a central theme. Prop boxes work much like learning centers in an elementary classroom with the important addition of providing opportunities for socio-dramatic play. Prop box play engages students in self-chosen activities that promote critical thinking and learning. The prox box activities described here were developed around the central theme of weather because the concept is expansive enough to include many activities and concepts.
[hide full abstract]

The communication skills of reading and writing go hand in hand with science as natural partners for fostering students’ understandings of the world. The similarities that exist between reading and writing strategies and science-process skills add depth to instruction when these subject areas are brought together. In the following unit of study, students use science-process skills as they observe and record changes in the Moon’s appearance. Their growing knowledge of the Moon and its phases is strengthened through reading and writing strategies.
[hide full abstract]

A notebook is perhaps the single most important piece of equipment a naturalist takes into the field. But notebooks are not only for use by field scientists: They are also excellent tools for helping students record observations outdoors, develop communication skills, and mirror the work of real scientists. They may contain observations and drawings of plants, animals, and their habitats; tallies, tables, and graphs; ideas and inferences; scientific questions and thoughtful “wonderings”; narratives and reflections; and even poetry. The activities in this month’s column offer some engaging ways for students to use notebooks to record both what they observe and what they think about nature.
[hide full abstract]

Teachers can spark interest in a science topic by using “science tickets”—special objects offered to children as a way to transition to the science room or into a small group to do a science activity. Objects ranging from ordinary (shells, leaves, or sticks) to unusual (photos, crystals, or plastic worms) appeal to young children’s curiosity and can stimulate small group discussions, providing a forum for sharing discoveries while developing language.
[hide full abstract]

Thomas Locker’s book about nature entitled Water Dance (1997) provides the basis for this interdisciplinary project on Earth’s water cycles. Through thoughtful consideration of the text and art in Water Dance, students build and express deeper understanding of the water cycle (and the elements within). In addition, they develop the disposition of questioning and thinking about their learning experiences in creative and expansive ways.
[hide full abstract]

Peering through a thematic science lens—elementary students embarked on a one-week study of ants during a month-long summer school program. This integrated unit addressed reading and writing skills while developing the science-process skills of observation, inferring, and communicating in a motivating and authentic way.
[hide full abstract]