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Mixing It Up: Integrated, Interdisciplinary, Intriguing Science in the Elementary Classroom


Edited by: Susan Koba

$17.56 - Member Price  
$21.95 - Nonmember Price


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Details

Type of Product:NSTA Press Book (also see downloadable PDF version of this book)
Publication Date:1/1/2003
Pages:184
Stock Number:PB175X
ISBN:978-0-87355-231-8
Grade Level:Elementary School

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Description

This book—a compilation of 25 practical articles from NSTA’s elementary school journal, Science & Children—offers a wealth of lesson plans and idea starters using interdisciplinary, integrated, and thematic approaches. Discover how a language arts unit on survival can include student inquiry into properties of ice, ways to improve students’ observational skills as they write haiku about nature, how to use data collection and math in mapping the ocean floor, and more. To engage students schoolwide or in the great outdoors, several articles offer project-based interdisciplinary units that are widely adaptable.

Each article is categorized by grade level, the National Science Education Standards it addresses, and whether it is interdisciplinary, integrated, thematic, or a combination of the three. Even teachers who lack a strong science background will find these concrete techniques especially valuable for teaching science through other subjects (and vice versa).


Additional Info

Intended User Role:Curriculum Supervisor, Elementary-Level Educator, Middle-Level Educator, Parent, Teacher
Educational Issues:Assessment of students, Classroom management, Community involvement, Curriculum, Inquiry learning, Instructional materials, Integrating technology, Interdisciplinary, Teacher content knowledge, Teacher preparation, Teaching strategies

Contents

Introduction

Quick-Reference Chart of Articles

SciLinks

Section 1 – Helping Students Build Connections

A - Engaging and Exploring: Students and Inquiry

Leaders, Readers, & Science
Survival stories led students to interdisciplinary, hands-on science
investigations.
Arlene G. Terrell

Puppets & Prose
Using puppets and children’s literature in the science classroom.
Joy L. Lowe and Kathryn I. Matthew

Habitat Sweet Habitat
Literature forms the basis of this simple activity that teaches young
children about camouflage.
Roberta J. Aram, Sherry Whitson, and Rosemarie Dieckhoff

B – Explaining and Elaborating: Language and Fine Arts

Taking Science Dialogue by Storm
One teacher examines classroom discourse through a unit on tornadoes
and natural catastrophes.
Jacqueline Leonard

A Bat Is Like a …
Teaching science concepts using analogies.
Audrey C. Rule and Cynthia Rust

Someone’s in the Kitchen with Science
Teachers use food and art to help young children build a foundation for
science learning.
Patricia K. Lowry and Judy Hale McCrary

The Sky’s the Limit
Parents and first-grade students observe the sky.
Deborah Roberts

Analyzing Children’s Science Journals
What can students’ science journals tell us about what they are
learning?
Daniel P. Shepardson and Susan J. Britsch

The Nature of Haiku
Students use haiku to learn about the natural world and improve their
observational skills.
Peter Rillero, JoAnn V. Cleland, and Karen A. Conzelman

Drawing on Student Understanding
Using illustrations to invoke deeper thinking about animals.
Mary Stein, Shannan McNair, and Jan Butcher

C - Explaining and Elaborating: Mathematics

Out of Sight: Investigating Unseen Objects
Discovering and mapping hidden objects.
Jennifer Hoffman

Crash into Meteorite Learning
An interdisciplinary study on craters makes a big impact.
David A. Wiley and Christine Anne Royce

Convection Connections
Integrated learning cycle investigations that explore convection—the science behind wind and waves.
Ann M. L. Cavallo

Mission to Mars: A Classroom Simulation
Building a scale-model habitat that links science-process skills and
mathematics in an original way.
Katie Rommel-Esham and Christopher Souhrada

Section 2 – School and Community Connections

A - Schoolwide Themes

Diving into a Schoolwide Science Theme
Interdisciplinary lessons for an all-school theme in science, art, and
music classes.
Michele Lee, Maria Lostoski, and Kathy Williams

Testing the Waters
The Standards saturate a schoolwide water theme.
Roberta J. Aram, Mary Brake, David Smith, Gina Wood, and Pat Hamilton

B - Project-Based and Interdisciplinary Science Units

Our Growing Planet
Interdisciplinary population activities for elementary students.
Elizabeth Lener

Curriculum with a Common Thread
Teachers create a project-based interdisciplinary curriculum with science as the foundation.
Maureen M. McMahon, Susan P. O’Hara, William G. Holliday,
Bernadette B. McCormack, and Elizabeth M. Gibson

Rev Up Your Veggies!
Building model race cars lets students explore physical science concepts and promotes cooperative learning.
Melissa DiGennaro King

Project Reptile!
When kindergarten students explore a topic of their own choosing, the result is good science learning.
Deborah Diffily

Box Up Your Habitat
Visit different habitats using an envirobox.
Lynn Astarita Gatto and Reeda Stamper Hart

C - Outdoor Projects: Authentic Science and Environmental Citizenship

Lessons from a Lake
You don’t have to live near the ocean to study a water ecosystem.
Susan Goethals

A Garden Story
A garden project motivates children to learn science in an urban school.
Linda Keteyian

Project FLORA
A small school district in southwestern Texas comes together to protect its own backyard.
Mary Nied Phillips, Melissa Forsythe, and DJ Sanders

http://World Wide Weather
Involving students in GLOBE’s real-life scientific research.
Kay Berglund Newhouse


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