Available May 2013
“The old models of teaching as simply telling, and learning as passive sit-and-get listening, will not meet the needs of tomorrow’s citizens.”
—Thomas O’Brien in the Overview to Science for the Next Generation

Preparing for tomorrow is what this multifaceted book is all about. If you’re an elementary school teacher, you’ll see your unique perspective reflected in material designed to get you ready for both a new generation of science students and the new Framework for K–12 Science Education and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

A combination of theoretical and practical, the book is written by experts in science and education as well as experienced classroom teachers. They explain
• the latest research on how children learn and what this evidence tells you about the most effective classroom practices;
• what you need to understand about the new standards; and
• how literacy must be connected to science lessons.

Plus: Perhaps most useful, you get eight sample activities that demonstrate how to use the NGSS in your lessons on physical, life, and Earth and space sciences.

Whether science is one of several disciplines you teach or your primary area of expertise, Science for the Next Generation is an invaluable resource. It offers the essential background, content, and practices you need to implement the new standards at the K–5 level.
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Available May 2013.
“The number one compliment we hear from teachers is that the lessons are complete and ready to take back to their classrooms and use.”
—Emily Morgan and Karen Ansberry, coauthors of the Picture-Perfect Science Lessons series

Since the debut of the Picture-Perfect Science books and workshops more than 10 years ago, authors Emily Morgan and Karen Ansberry have learned one thing for certain: Elementary school teachers are constantly clamoring for even more ways to engage children in reading and science through picture books! To meet that demand, the 15 all-new lessons in Even More Picture-Perfect Science Lessons bring you:

• Even more convenience: You can cover reading and science content simultaneously and save time with ready-to-use student pages and assessments.
• Even more confidence in your own expertise: You get relevant science concepts and reading comprehension strategies to keep your teaching on track.
• Even more ways to entice even reading-phobic children: Each lesson makes students yearn to learn science from such captivating fiction and nonfiction picture books as Houdini the Amazing Caterpillar; Captain Kidd’s Crew Experiments With Sinking and Floating; and The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.

Plus: This latest volume even connects the lessons to A Framework for K–12 Science Education and the English Language Arts and Literacy Common Core State Standards.

Just as teachers like you have been hoping, Even More Picture-Perfect Science Lessons delivers the whole package: teacher-friendly lessons, strong standards-based science content, and a kid-magnet formula that will get your students engrossed in science while they improve their reading skills.
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Print edition available May 2013. E-book is now available for download!

Not since the 2011 release of A Framework for K-12 Science Education has a document held such promise and significance for the science education community as does the Next Generation Science Standards.

The NGSS aims to better prepare U.S. students for the rigor of career and college-level scientific study by stressing the importance and integration of the three dimensions: science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts. They will provide for a more integrated and cohesive approach to science instruction, leading to a more scientifically literate citizenry.

However, the NGSS also marks a change in how we think about science instruction and the task at hand, the adoption of these new standards and their incorporation into instruction, will require a significant amount of support.

The key to unlocking the full potential of the NGSS is a deep understanding of the interrelationship of its core ideas, scientific and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts. This brief and easy-to-use Reader’s Guide offers teachers, principals, district and state administrators—anyone with a vested interest in improving the quality of science education—the tools they need to fully absorb the new standards and begin to implement them, effectively, into classroom practices.
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If you’re an education leader concerned with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) initiatives, this book will help you both understand and implement STEM action plans. The book starts by putting STEM in context, as the early chapters outline the challenges facing STEM education, draw lessons from the Sputnik moment of the 1950s and 1960s, and contrast contemporary STEM with other education reforms. The author then explores appropriate roles for the federal government as well as states, districts, and individual schools. Finally, the book offers several ideas you can use to develop actual action plans for STEM. Throughout the book, author Rodger W. Bybee puts an emphasis on both thinking and acting. That’s why The Case for STEM Education is a must-read for leaders at all levels: national and state policy makers, state-level educators responsible for STEM initiatives, college and university faculty who educate future STEM teachers, local administrators who make decisions about district and school programs, and teachers who represent STEM disciplines.
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“When I entered the teaching profession, I was stunned by the lack of interest my high school students had in science education. The traditional model of teaching science, often referred to as ‘chalk-and-talk’ with the occasional laboratory mixed in, was not working. The vast majority of my students were not going home and reading the textbooks. I knew I had to make the most of our face-to-face time.”
—Author Nicole Maller

After conducting research at a rigorous medical school, your students arrive for their first day of hospital duty only to be confronted with four sick patients, each with a different mystery ailment. How can your teams of student-physicians come up with the correct diagnoses? This attention-grabbing narrative and the corresponding role-plays are the basis of Diagnosis for Classroom Success: Making Anatomy and Physiology Come Alive. This high school curriculum gets your students deeply involved in inquiry-based science as it acquaints them with major body systems, sickle cell anemia, HIV, pregnancy, and diabetes. This Teacher Edition (which includes the Student Edition) spells out the book’s relevance to the Framework for K–12 Science Education and provides rubrics, answer keys, and prep tips to use before, during, and after the lessons. By blending the power of story with engaging investigations, Diagnosis for Classroom Success will cure what ails your lecture-weary biology classes.
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“When I entered the teaching profession, I was stunned by the lack of interest my high school students had in science education. The traditional model of teaching science, often referred to as ‘chalk-and-talk’ with the occasional laboratory mixed in, was not working. The vast majority of my students were not going home and reading the textbooks. I knew I had to make the most of our face-to-face time.”
—Author Nicole Maller

After conducting research at a rigorous medical school, your students arrive for their first day of hospital duty only to be confronted with four sick patients, each with a different mystery ailment. How can your teams of student-physicians come up with the correct diagnoses? This attention-grabbing narrative and the corresponding role-plays are the basis of Diagnosis for Classroom Success: Making Anatomy and Physiology Come Alive. This high school curriculum gets your students deeply involved in inquiry-based science as it acquaints them with major body systems, sickle cell anemia, HIV, pregnancy, and diabetes. The Student Edition guides students while they examine medical records, form hypotheses, and conduct simulated lab tests. By blending the power of story with engaging investigations, Diagnosis for Classroom Success will cure what ails your lecture-weary biology classes.
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Available September 2013.
What ideas do young children bring to their science learning, and how does their thinking change as they engage in “science talk”? Find out using the 25 field-tested probes in the newest volume of Page Keeley’s bestselling Uncovering Student Ideas in Science series, the first targeted to grades K–2. This teacher-friendly book is:

• Tailored to your needs. The content is geared specifically for the primary grades, with an emphasis on simple vocabulary as well as drawing and speaking (instead of writing). The format of the student pages uses minimal text and includes visual representations of familiar objects, phenomena, or ideas.
• Focused on making your lessons more effective. The assessment probes engage youngsters and encourage “science talk” while letting you identify students’ preconceptions before beginning a lesson or monitor their progress as they develop new scientific explanations.
• Applicable to a range of science concepts. This volume offers 8 life science probes, 11 physical science probes, and 6 Earth and space science probes that target K–2 disciplinary core ideas.
• Ready to use. The book provides grade-appropriate reproducible pages for your students and detailed teacher notes for you, including clear and concise explanations, relevant research, suggestions for instruction, and connections to national standards.

Uncovering Student Ideas in Primary Science is an invaluable resource for classroom and preservice teachers and professional development providers. This age-appropriate book will help you teach more effectively by starting with students’ ideas and adapting instruction to support conceptual change.
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Are you an experienced science teacher who needs a foundation in special education basics when students with disabilities are placed in your advanced classes? Then this book is the resource for you. Both practical and readable, this book will help you

• think of new ways to design your instruction with individual needs in mind,
• find new and creative ways to manage lab experiments so all your students will benefit,
• overcome fears of behavioral flare-ups in the classroom, and
• become more confident when working with your special education counterparts and the IEP team.

Including Students With Disabilities in Advanced Science Classes starts by acquainting you with special education terms and laws and concludes with ways to approach end-of-year testing. In between, you receive straightforward guidance on real-life situations, plus problem-solving strategies, behavior contracts for students, and workable ideas for you. Authors Lori A. Howard and Elizabeth A. Potts encourage you to embrace including students with disabilities in your advanced classes and give you the tools to help all of your students succeed.
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What can make a ball roll faster? Does the temperature of wood affect the heat of a fire? How can old-fashioned tin can telephones teach today’s students about sound and technology? By presenting everyday mysteries like these, this book will motivate your students to carry out hands-on science investigations and actually care about the results. The 21 open-ended mysteries focus exclusively on physical science, including motion, friction, temperature, forces, and sound. The stories come with lists of science concepts to explore, grade-appropriate strategies for using them, and explanations of how the lessons align with national standards. They also relieve you of the tiring work of designing inquiry lessons from scratch.

“What makes this book so special is the unique way science is integrated into the story line, using characters and situations children can easily identify with.”—Page Keeley, author of the NSTA Press series Uncovering Student Ideas in Science
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How do tiny bugs get into oatmeal? What makes children look like—or different from—their parents? Where do rotten apples go after they fall off the tree? By presenting everyday mysteries like these, this book will motivate your students to carry out hands-on science investigations and actually care about the results. These 20 open-ended mysteries focus exclusively on biological science, including botany, human physiology, zoology, and health. The stories come with lists of science concepts to explore, grade-appropriate strategies for using them, and explanations of how the lessons align with national standards. They also relieve you of the tiring work of designing inquiry lessons from scratch.

“What makes this book so special is the unique way science is integrated into the story line, using characters and situations children can easily identify with.”—Page Keeley, author of the NSTA Press series Uncovering Student Ideas in Science
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What are the odds that a meteor will hit your house? Do you actually get more sunlight from Daylight Saving Time? Where do puddles go? By presenting everyday mysteries like these, this book will motivate your students to carry out hands-on science investigations and actually care about the results. These 19 open-ended mysteries focus exclusively on Earth and space science, including astronomy, energy, climate, and geology. The stories come with lists of science concepts to explore, grade-appropriate strategies for using them, and explanations of how the lessons align with national standards. They also relieve you of the tiring work of designing inquiry lessons from scratch.

“What makes this book so special is the unique way science is integrated into the story line, using characters and situations children can easily identify with.”—Page Keeley, author of the NSTA Press series Uncovering Student Ideas in Science
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“This book provides research-based justification for the types of inquiry-based science practices we want K–6 teachers to be doing. It answers the questions ‘Why does science need to be in an elementary classroom?’ and ‘What are the most effective approaches to teaching science in an elementary classroom?’ ”
—Editors Deborah Hanuscin and Meredith Park Rogers

Here’s a time-saving way to learn what research tells you about teaching elementary science and applying the findings both inside and outside your classroom. It’s a collection of 27 “Perspectives” columns from Science and Children, NSTA’s award-winning elementary-level journal. The book is organized in six science-specific sections, including general teaching goals, strategies to facilitate learning, student thinking and misconceptions, and your own professional development. The columns are written to make it easy to grasp the material and then use what research tells you about issues of specific interest to K–6 science instruction.

Each column
• starts with a classroom vignette highlighting a particular challenge—from using analogies to blending science and reading instruction to effective ways to ask questions;
• provides a synthesis of key research findings, organized as a series of questions; and
• concludes with specific advice you can use right away.

This useful compendium is ideal for K–6 teachers as well as science supervisors and preservice elementary science methods professors who want more students to benefit from what research tells us.

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“This book will help the reader to design and evaluate varying professional development options, thereby making better and more efficient use of limited professional development dollars.”
—The editors of Exemplary Science: Best Practices in Professional Development

If you want to make the most of your precious professional development budget—and who doesn’t?—look for inspiration in this updated edition from the Exemplary Science series. This essay collection is designed to spark new ideas while encouraging high-quality learning opportunities for teachers at all grade levels. The book features:

• An overview of current research on quality professional development and how it aligns with the National Science Education Standards.
• Fourteen professional development programs that provide real-life models of how to train current or future teachers to carry out the constructivist, inquiry-based approach recommended by the Standards. End-of-chapter questions help you relate the material to your own situation.
• A reader’s guide that includes suggestions for using the book in professional learning communities and other collaborative settings.

Some of the collection’s authors contributed to the first edition and have updated their chapters to share additional data and communicate what they’ve learned that might support your work. Additional chapters describe programs and approaches new to this edition. Whether you’re a teacher, staff development provider, administrator, or preservice science methods instructor, you’ll find this collection to be a fresh and highly useful professional learning tool.

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“Individuals who are proficient in science should be able to understand the language of science and participate in scientific practices, such as inquiry and argumentation. Empirical research, however, indicates that many students do not develop this knowledge or these abilities in school. One way to address this problem is to give students more opportunities to engage in scientific argumentation as part of the teaching and learning of science. This book will help teachers with this task.” —Authors Victor Sampson and Sharon Schleigh

Develop your high school students’ understanding of argumentation and evidence-based reasoning with this comprehensive book. Like three guides in one, Scientific Argumentation in Biology combines theory, practice, and biology content.

It starts by giving you solid background in why students need to be able to go beyond expressing mere opinions when making research-related biology claims. Then it provides 30 thoroughly field-tested activities your students can use when learning to:
• propose, support, and evaluate claims;
• validate or refute them on the basis of scientific reasoning; and
• craft complex written arguments.

Detailed teacher notes suggest specific ways in which you can use the activities to enrich and supplement (not replace) what you’re doing in biology class already.
Scientific Argumentation is an invaluable resource for learning more about argumentation and designing related lessons. You'll find it ideal for helping your students learn standards-based content; improve their biological practices; explain, interpret, and evaluate evidence; and acquire the habits of mind to become more proficient in science.
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To the teacher:

Although this book is intended as a guide for your students, NSTA has you covered as well! Science Fair Warm-Up, Teachers Guide: Learning the Practice of Scientists provides all of the information you need to guide your students through the activities included in this book.

To the student:

Have you ever entered a science fair or carried out a real scientific investigation? Now is your chance!

Science Fair Warm-Up, Grades 5–8 provides you with the opportunity to choose a great science project. For instance, you might carry out experiments about the best designs for paper helicopters or the best ways to prevent rusting, among other possibilities. If you prefer, you can select an inquiry of your own and even work with a partner.

As you work on your project, your teacher will give you help along the way. Together you will explore problems other students have encountered—problems of designing and carrying out experiments, collecting and making sense of your findings, and sharing and displaying what you have learned.

As you follow in the footsteps of scientists, you will learn about the ways in which scientists carry out scientific research and begin to understand how they have uncovered so much about how our universe works.
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To the teacher:

Although this book is intended as a guide for your students, NSTA has you covered as well! Science Fair Warm-Up, Teachers Guide: Learning the Practice of Scientists provides all of the information you need to guide your students through the activities included in this book.

To the student:

If you have used Science Fair Warm-Up, Grades 5–8, you already have a pretty good idea of what a science fair project or real scientific investigation is like; if not, don’t worry.

Science Fair Warm-Up, Grades 7–10 provides you with the opportunity to choose a great project. For instance, you might carry out experiments that explore the mysteries of suffocating candles when they are deprived of air or the possibility of improving a water pump designed by the great Greek scientist Archimedes. If you prefer, you can select an inquiry of your own and even work with a partner.

As you work on your project, your teacher will give you help along the way. Together you will explore some of the more difficult problems other students have encountered: problems of designing and carrying out experiments, collecting and making sense of your findings, and sharing and reporting on what you have learned.

As you follow in the footsteps of scientists, you will learn about the ways in which scientists carry out scientific research and begin to understand how they have uncovered so much about how our universe works.
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To the teacher:

Although this book is intended as a guide for your students, NSTA has you covered as well! Science Fair Warm-Up, Teachers Guide: Learning the Practice of Scientists provides all of the information you need to guide your students through the activities included in this book.

To the student:

If you have used the other books in the Science Fair Warm-Up series, you already have an idea of what a science fair project and real scientific investigation is like; if not, don’t worry.

Science Fair Warm-Up, Grades 8–12 provides you with the opportunity to choose a great project. For instance, you might carry out experiments that explore the pollution of our planet’s water or the possibility of growing plants on the Moon. If you prefer, you can select an inquiry of your own and even work with a partner.

As you work on your project, your teacher will give you help along the way. Together you will explore some of the challenging problems other students have encountered: problems of designing and carrying out experiments, collecting and making sense of your findings, and sharing and presenting what you have learned.

As you follow in the footsteps of scientists, you will learn about the ways in which scientists carry out scientific research and begin to understand how they have uncovered so much about how our universe works.
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Even science fair enthusiasts may dread grappling with these two questions:
1. How can you organize many students doing many different projects at the same time?
2. How can you help students while giving them the freedom of choice and independence of thought that characterize genuine inquiry?
Answer the questions—and face science fairs without fear—with help from the Science Fair Warm-Up series.

The Science Fair Warm-Up series, which was originally designed as a three-year program for middle school students, now covers grades 5–12. The book for grades 5–8 introduces students to science fairs and invites them to investigate various scientific problems as they work on their projects. This book lays the foundation for the editions for grades 7–10 and 8–12, in which students encounter increasingly more challenging problems. Over the course of the series, the students are encouraged to become more independent.

The series’ material—field tested over the course of six years with students at different levels—will help your students develop the inquiry skills to carry their projects through, whether they’re middle schoolers preparing for their first science fair or high schoolers ready for very challenging investigations. It aligns with national standards and the new Framework for K-12 Science Education. Science Fair Warm-Up uniquely provides an authentic picture of how scientists carry out research.

To help you meet these teaching goals, this series is based on the constructivist view that makes students responsible for their own learning and will prepare both you and your students for science fair success

"An exciting publication that engages students and fills a need for innovative and conscientious teachers. Students and teachers are likely to encounter real science with the ideas, approaches, and questions the materials encourage.”
—Robert Yager, Professor Emeritus at the University of Iowa and past president of NSTA
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In Inquiring Scientists, Inquiring Readers, science educators Jessica Fries-Gaither and Terry Shiverdecker help teachers blend literacy into elementary science instruction. This unique book will show teachers how to teach science using a variety of nonfiction text sets (such as field guides, reference books, and narrative expository texts) and replace individual lessons with a learning-cycle format (including hands-on investigations, readings, directed discussion, and problem solving).

Research-based and teacher-friendly, Inquiring Scientists, Inquiring Readers shows how inquiry can engage your students in reading nonfiction texts, discussing important science concepts, and writing to both develop understanding and share information. Here are some of the book’s special features:

• Eight units covering life, physical, Earth, and space science—from “Drip Drop Detectives: Exposing the Water Cycle” to “Classroom Curling: Exploring Forces and Motion” to “Beaks and Biomes: Understanding Adaptation in Migrating Organisms.” Two additional units cover the nature of science. All units have been classroom-tested for effectiveness and align with the National Science Education Standards and the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.

• Detailed scientific background, common misconceptions associated with the content, an annotated list of the texts in the text set, safety considerations, reproducible student pages, and suggested assessments.

• Authentic, inquiry-based contexts for reading, writing, and discussion through read-alouds, collaborative activities, graphic organizers, and writing prompts.

Inquiring Scientists, Inquiring Readers will change the way you think about engaging your students. The authors show that it’s possible to integrate literacy into elementary-level science instruction without sacrificing quality in either area.
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“No one would find it strange to see a geologist poring at length over a single rock, or an entomologist over a moth, or botanist over a leaf. Examining a specimen closely can help scientists develop new understandings. That’s just what we hope to achieve in poring over moments of student thinking.” —From Becoming a Responsive Science Teacher

Becoming a Responsive Science Teacher offers
• A philosophical framework for understanding the beginnings of scientific thinking in high school students.
• Five real-life case studies, four of which are captured on videos—and accompanying transcripts—stored on the NSTA website.
• Suggestions for how to use the case studies to practice recognizing, interpreting, and responding to the vital nuances of your own students’ thinking in real time.
• Advice on next steps, including how to overcome systemic impediments and maintain your focus on student thinking.

Becoming a Responsive Science Teacher is ideal for teacher educators as well as current and preservice teachers. The book holds out the promise that when you consciously strive to help students work through their ideas about science, the result can be more effective instruction from you—and much deeper understanding for your students.
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“I still remember my very first day as a teacher. A few days earlier, my principal had given me advice: ‘Whatever you do, do not start with an overview of your course. Do something active and set the tone….’ As I nervously awaited the arrival of my first-period physical science students, I wondered how they would react. To my relief, they jumped right in and remained engaged throughout the entire class—building, testing, and revising prototypes of paper towers. Since that day, I have continued to use design challenges as a way to engage students and teachers in classes and professional development.”
—From the Introduction by Editor Eric Brunsell

From the very first day you use them, the design challenges in this compendium will spur your students, too, to jump right in and engage throughout the entire class. The activities reinforce important science content while illustrating a range of STEM skills. The 30 articles have been compiled from Science and Children, Science Scope, and The Science Teacher, NSTA’s journals for elementary through high school.

Integrating Engineering and Science in Your Classroom will:
• Excite students of all ages with activities involving everything from light sabers and egg racers to prosthetic arms and potatoes.
• Apply to lessons in life and environmental science, Earth science, and physical science.
• Work well in traditional classrooms as well as after-school programs.

Next time you need an engaging STEM activity, you’ll be glad you have this collection to help you blend meaningful and memorable experiences into your lessons. As Editor Eric Brunsell promises, “By exposing students to authentic engineering activities, you can help students uncover the profession that makes the world work.”
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