NSTA - National Science Teachers Association

Featured This Month

• Help! I'm Teaching Middle School Science

  
  
  Like your own personal survival guide, Help! I’m Teaching Middle School Science is a nontechnical how-to manual—especially for first-year teachers. But even veteran teachers can benefit from the plentiful ideas, examples, and tips on teaching...  [view full summary]
  
  Like your own personal survival guide, Help! I’m Teaching Middle School Science is a nontechnical how-to manual—especially for first-year teachers. But even veteran teachers can benefit from the plentiful ideas, examples, and tips on teaching science the way middle-schoolers learn best.
  
  The book covers all the basics: what to do on the first day of school (including icebreaker activities), preparing safe and effective lab lessons, managing the classroom, and working with in-school teams as well as parents. But its practical—and encouraging—approach doesn’t mean it shortchanges the basics of effective pedagogy. You’ll learn how to handle cooperative learning and assessment, how to help students write effectively, and the importance of modeling for early adolescents.
  
  Applicable National Science Education Standards and helpful resources and references are provided throughout the text. In addition to a wealth of reproducible field trip permission forms, lab report formats, and measurement and safety quizzes, you get low-cost recipes for salt crystals, culture medium, fun putty, and the ever-popular “oobleck.” Help! is just the lively resource you need to see you through your first months—and beyond! [hide full summary]
  • Member Price: $16.76
  • Nonmember Price: $16.76

Teaching TechniquesView more in this category

• Outdoor Science: A Practical Guide

  
  Research shows that environment-centered education improves student achievement. Whatever your school’s setting—urban, suburban, or rural—you can create stimulating outdoor classrooms for your students, with a little help from Outdoor Science....  [view full summary]
  Research shows that environment-centered education improves student achievement. Whatever your school’s setting—urban, suburban, or rural—you can create stimulating outdoor classrooms for your students, with a little help from Outdoor Science. Author and state science specialist Steve Rich shows teachers how to create outdoor learning spaces that can be used from year to year—with little extra effort or resources.
  
  These practical suggestions for creating, maintaining, and using outdoor classrooms work for both elementary and middle school students. The simple and inexpensive lessons satisfy national standards and curriculum objectives in the areas of life, Earth, and environmental sciences—without a field trip permission slip in sight! Math, social studies, and language arts activities that can be easily integrated into the curriculum are also included. Additionally, Rich offers ideas for increasing community involvement and funding to help teachers develop their outdoor classrooms.
  
  Get your students thinking outside the traditional classroom walls. Outdoor Science: A Practical Guide can help you make it happen. [hide full summary]
  • Member Price: $19.96
  • Nonmember Price: $24.95

Activities and Field TripsView more in this category

• More Picture-Perfect Science Lessons: Using Children’s Books to Guide Inquiry, K-4

  
  Teachers raved when NSTA Press published Picture-Perfect Science Lessons in 2005.* They loved its lively mix of kid-magnet books, Standards-based science content and ready-to-teach lessons. So what could be more perfect? More Picture-Perfect...  [view full summary]
  Teachers raved when NSTA Press published Picture-Perfect Science Lessons in 2005.* They loved its lively mix of kid-magnet books, Standards-based science content and ready-to-teach lessons. So what could be more perfect? More Picture-Perfect Science Lessons! This volume offers 15 new lessons that combine picture books and inquiry to develop students’ interest in science and reading.
  
  The sequel follows the winning formula that made the first book an NSTA best seller. The lessons, following the 5E instructional model developed by the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) cover a variety of science content—physical science, life science, and Earth and Space Science. They include reproducible student pages and assessments. They feature embedded reading-comprehension strategies. And they make students yearn to learn from such engaging fiction and nonfiction books as Diary of a Worm, Sunshine On My Shoulders, How Big is a Foot? and Leo Cockroach, Toy Tester.
  
  The authors know how important it is for time-starved teachers to integrate science and reading in a natural way and how students with reading troubles can use an extra nudge to get engaged in science texts. More Picture-Perfect Science Lessons is the perfect supplement to your science program—and the perfect way to help students develop a love of reading and learning about science.
  
  *Teachers weren’t the only ones raving! Picture-Perfect won the 2005 Distinguished Achievement Award for Teacher Resource Books from the Association of Educational Publishers. [hide full summary]
  • Member Price: $23.96
  • Nonmember Price: $29.95

InterdisciplinaryView more in this category

• Activities Linking Science With Math, K-4

  
  Science does not exist in a vacuum and, therefore, shouldn’t be taught that way. In that spirit, Activities Linking Science With Math, K-4, is a hands-on guide for preservice and inservice elementary school teachers who want to connect science...  [view full summary]
  Science does not exist in a vacuum and, therefore, shouldn’t be taught that way. In that spirit, Activities Linking Science With Math, K-4, is a hands-on guide for preservice and inservice elementary school teachers who want to connect science instruction with other areas of study—including visual arts, social sciences, language arts, and especially math.
  
  The 20 discovery-based and academically rigorous activities provided in this volume enrich students’ awareness of the world around them, encourage their natural curiosity, and promote the development of their problem-solving skills. The lessons—such as Digging Into Soil, Exploring the Mysteries of Fingerprints, and What Makes a Boat Float?—are teacher friendly, too, requiring no advanced expertise in any subject area and using only inexpensive and easily accessible materials. Each includes a list of needed materials, a step-by-step procedure, discussion questions, and assessment techniques.
  
  Activities align with the latest national standards for both science and math and cover topics from all scientific disciplines.
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  • Member Price: $22.36
  • Nonmember Price: $27.95

BiologyView more in this category

• The Biology Teacher's Handbook, 4th Edition

  
  Biology teachers, you’re in luck—BSCS (Biological Sciences Curriculum Study) presents a wealth of current information in this new, updated edition of the classic The Biology Teacher’s Handbook.
  
  No matter the depth of your experience,...  [view full summary]
  Biology teachers, you’re in luck—BSCS (Biological Sciences Curriculum Study) presents a wealth of current information in this new, updated edition of the classic The Biology Teacher’s Handbook.
  
  No matter the depth of your experience, gain insight into what constitutes good teaching, how to guide students through inquiry at varying levels, and how to create a culture of inquiry in your classroom using science notebooks and other strategies. In addition, learn tactics for including controversial subjects in your courses, promoting scientific discussion, and choosing the right materials—information that would benefit the teacher of any subject.
  
  BSCS experts have packed this volume with the latest, most valuable teaching ideas and guidelines. Their suggestions include designing your courses around five questions—all answered in the book’s five sections: What are the goals of the program for my students and me? How can I help students understand the nature of science? How do I teach controversial topics? How can I create a culture of scientific inquiry in my classroom? Where has biology teaching been, and where is it going?
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  • Member Price: $23.96
  • Nonmember Price: $29.95

ChemistryView more in this category

• More Chemistry Basics: Stop Faking It! Finally Understanding Science So You Can Teach It

  
  Overwhelmed by orbitals? Terrified of thermodynamics? Agitated by acids and bases? Have no fear! This follow-up to the award-winning Chemistry Basics will clear up your chemistry woes.
  
  In More Chemistry Basics, the ninth book...  [view full summary]
  Overwhelmed by orbitals? Terrified of thermodynamics? Agitated by acids and bases? Have no fear! This follow-up to the award-winning Chemistry Basics will clear up your chemistry woes.
  
  In More Chemistry Basics, the ninth book in the bestselling Stop Faking It! series, author Bill Robertson introduces additional chemistry concepts, such as special reactions and half-lives, and expands on many previously discussed ideas, including electron energy levels and why we can’t know exactly what electrons are doing and where they are. Robertson explains science basics using easy-to-follow activities that help teachers learn the fundamentals and more.
  
  Like other books in the Stop Faking It! series, More Chemistry Basics will prove invaluable for teachers, parents, and home-school providers who want to feel greater confidence in the content they teach. Robertson’s humorous and honest approach will help you brush up on chemistry concepts and feel more prepared—even excited—to teach chemistry to your students.
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  • Member Price: $19.96
  • Nonmember Price: $24.95

Earth & Space ScienceView more in this category

• Earth Science Success: 50 Lesson Plans for Grades 6–9

  
  Designed as a ready-to-use survival guide for middle school Earth science teachers, this title is an invaluable resource that provides an entire year’s worth of inquiry-based and discovery-oriented Earth science lessons, including 33 investigations or...  [view full summary]
  Designed as a ready-to-use survival guide for middle school Earth science teachers, this title is an invaluable resource that provides an entire year’s worth of inquiry-based and discovery-oriented Earth science lessons, including 33 investigations or labs, and 17 detailed projects.
  
  This unique collection of astronomy, geology, meteorology, and physical oceanography lessons promotes deeper understanding of science concepts through a hands-on approach that identifies and dispels student misconceptions and expands student understanding and knowledge.
  
  In addition, this field-tested and standards-based volume is ideal for university-level methodology courses in science education. [hide full summary]
  • Member Price: $22.36
  • Nonmember Price: $27.95

Physical ScienceView more in this category

• Take-Home Physics: 65 High-Impact, Low-Cost Labs

  
  Take-Home Physics is an excellent resource for high school physics teachers who want to devote more classroom time to complex concepts while challenging their students with hands-on homework assignments. This volume presents 65 take-home physics...  [view full summary]
  Take-Home Physics is an excellent resource for high school physics teachers who want to devote more classroom time to complex concepts while challenging their students with hands-on homework assignments. This volume presents 65 take-home physics labs that use ordinary household items or other inexpensive materials to tackle motion and kinematics; forces and energy; waves, sound, and light; and electricity and magnetism. The result: Students learn background knowledge, reinforce basic process skills, practice discovery, and bridge classroom learning with real-world application—all while getting excited about homework. Teachers can also integrate science and literacy by requiring the use of lab notebooks with formal write-ups. Materials lists and safety notes, as well as both student activity pages and teacher notes are included.[hide full summary]
  • Member Price: $19.96
  • Nonmember Price: $24.95

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Using Picture-Perfect Science Lessons in your classroom is easier than ever! NSTA’s ClassPacks, each sufficient for a class of 28 students, are lesson-specific collections of materials—an unmatched time-saver and a great deal.

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