The Arnold Arboretum is a public “tree museum” that sits on more than 300 acres of parkland in Boston. Like many public parks, the arboretum uses a percentage of its funding to provide nature education for adults and schoolchildren, facilitated by trained volunteer docents. One such effort is the Head Start–Arboretum project, which provides children with authentic experiences with nature that gives context to their school life science activities. This article describes how the authors used this opportunity to get their preschoolers outside—and into science.
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By thinking about the concept of density and taking into account the research on children’s ideas about this concept, the authors were able to unpack the typical sink or float activity and realize that it has students unscientifically making comparisons between objects by changing two independent variables (mass and volume) at one time. With this realization, they were able to modify the activity so that students were making comparisons in which they were only changing one independent variable (mass). The end result went well beyond the common “prediction” objective found in the classic sink or float activity.
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Like peanut butter and jelly, kindergarteners and dinosaurs go well together. Therefore, the authors developed a cross-curricular unit based on the books All Aboard the Dinotrain (Lund and Fine 2006) and Dinosailors (Lund and Fine 2003). Dinosaur learning centers were used to engage students and address the National Science Education Standards to reinforce math, art, literature, and writing. These dinocenters helped students build skills that they will eventually use in full inquiry investigations in later grade levels.
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The setting: the science classroom. The characters: you and your students. The scene: Your students acting out scientific discoveries, modeling a frog’s life cycle, mimicking the transition from liquid to solid. This is dramatic science, a teaching approach that uses acting techniques to explore and develop young children’s ideas about science. This article describes how this creative approach can be used to develop science process skills and a passion for science in your students.
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We take for granted that students have some abilities in questioning, observing, predicting, planning an investigation, collecting data, interpreting information, and communicating their ideas. But, this is more than likely not the case. We must be deliberate in how we instruct students and encourage their development of these skills. We must be specific in how we direct them and teach them how to critically look at a phenomenon and question it.
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This monthly feature contains facts and challenges for the science explorer.
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Early-formed preconceptions can be explained by one of the intuitive rules identified by Stavy and Tirosh (2000) called More A – More B. By starting with students’ preconceptions, revealed through the use of a formative assessment probe, teachers can scaffold inquiry-based experiences that will confront children with their misconceptions and guide them through a process of conceptual change.
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Inquiry is central to science education today. But understanding its many nuances is still an issue according to research (Flick and Lederman 2004). And understanding is the first step to implementations. In this article, the author identifies six questions related to science inquiry that teachers ask frequently and considers them one at a time.
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Learning about what inferences are, and what a good inference is, will help students become more scientifically literate and better understand the nature of science in inquiry. Students in K–4 should be able to give explanations about what they investigate (NSTA 1997) and that includes doing so through inferring. This article provides some tips for teaching students about the importance of quality inferences.
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It is common practice for elementary classes to plant seeds so that students have the opportunity to observe them germinate and grow. Beyond introducing plant anatomy, this relatively simple activity has the potential to engage children as young plant scientists who investigate the basic needs and behaviors of plants. In this article, the authors describe how a four-stage measurement strategy can inform third- through fifth-grade students’ understandings in science.
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Flower petals, acorn hats, exoskeletons of beetles, and lichens are just a few of the objects students may find in a surprising array of vivid colors. These tiny examples from nature’s palette can be discovered in a school yard, a park, or even along the edges of a paved sidewalk… it simply takes careful observation! This article describes a color-wise investigation that allows budding ecologists to practice their skills of observation.
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NSTA initiated the student chapter program in 2001 to help preservice science teachers at universities and colleges gain access to professional development opportunities and provide support as they enter the profession. Here the authors share examples of how a student chapter contributes to professional development of preservice teachers and provides tips for NSTA members (both preservice and inservice teachers) on ways they can become involved with student chapters to strengthen the science teacher community.
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This is an appropriate question, especially in light of the recent news that the incidence of hearing loss in teens has been increased by a third. To understand how loud noise affects hearing, you need to know the basics of how your ear works. To understand how your ear works, it will help if you do the following activities and ignore that they seem to have nothing to do with hearing.
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“I’ve never heard of a small speck of dust that is able to yell” says Horton of a sound he hears well (Geisel 1954). It is always valuable to connect science to student’s interests and their everyday world—so what better way to teach concepts relating to sound than to read Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss? Here the authors present several activities that can be integrated with this timeless story, in which students use the process of scientific investigation, such as asking questions, forming a hypothesis, testing ideas, analyzing data, forming conclusions, and communicating results.
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The kitchen is a wondrous place for children to make observations and explore the basics of chemistry. Seize the opportunity and help students build process skills while cooking or baking. Almost everything we eat and certainly everything that is combined in the kitchen has some basis in the physical sciences—from mixtures to solutions to the glorious tastes of food.
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The “Magic” String is a discrepant event that includes a canister with what appears to be the end of two strings protruding from opposite sides of it. Due to the way the strings are attached inside the canister, it appears as if the strings can magically switch the way they are connected. When one string end is pulled, the observer’s expectation is challenged when an opposite end they do not expect is the one that moves. This article describes how the author uses the “Magic” String to teach students about differentiating the science process skills of observing and making inferences.
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We typically know children are learning when they are able to make sense of an object’s materials or a situation that was previously a bit mysterious and communicate what they have figured out. But what about observing? One of the process skills listed in the National Science Education Standards (NRC 1996), observation is something students have been practicing all their lives. The objective of this month's lesson is to have children make bubbles and observations about their shape.
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