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DC State Board of Education Considers NGSS
Yesterday I appeared before the DC State Board of Education and urged them to adopt the Next Generation Science Standards (see my testimony below). I spoke about how the NGSS would bring positive changes to District classrooms with its new approach t...
By David Evans, NSTA Executive Director
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The RSC’s (Royal Society of Chemistry) Chemistry Week is a themed week of events that is held every two years to promote a positive image of chemistry and increase the public understanding of the importance of chemical science in our everyday...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Dissolving the Barriers to Measuring Dissolved Oxygen
The amount of dissolved oxygen (DO) in water is a critical component in the aquatic ecosystem. While measuring the level of DO is a common practice in water quality studies, the sensors often used to capture the data were far from the instantaneous m...
By Martin Horejsi
Blog Post
NAEYC conference this week in Washington, DC. See you there!
Wednesday through Saturday I’ll be attending sessions at the annual conference of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). I love that the worlds of science teaching and early childhood teaching overlap!...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Translating the NGSS for Classroom Instruction
Rodger Bybee’s new book Translating the ...
By Carole Hayward
Blog Post
If you’re not a high school physics teacher, don’t put this issue aside! There are many ideas for interdisciplinary activities and strategies that apply to other subjects and grade levels. And many of them can be done even on a shoestring...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
The House Subcommittee on Research and Technology began work on reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act with a hearing on Wednesday, November 13. Lawmakers are reviewing draft legislation introduced by committee Republicans to reauthorize this ke...
By Jodi Peterson
Blog Post
After a lab activity I try to engage students in a discussion of their findings. I use a variety of strategies to involve the students, but I find they don’t really know how to have a meaningful discussion without interruptions, off-topic state...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Problem solving and investigating the properties of materials
Does the way a child approaches finger-painting or eating a somewhat messy snack tell us anything about how she or he will approach building with blocks or participating in a science activity?...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Brush up on your science content knowledge
At NSTA’s recent fall conferences in Portland and Charlotte, NSTA Press author Bill Robertson led teachers in refresher courses on physical science topics such as sound, light, and force and motion. Robertson’s bestselling book series, Stop Fakin...
By Claire Reinburg
Blog Post
NSTA's K-College Journals: Live for November
You’ve turned the clocks back an hour, but you’re still short on time—that’s what most teachers tell us! How can the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) help? With grade-level journals targeted to your needs, written by e...
By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
Blog Post
Assessment products and processes
What is the purpose of an assessment? The featured articles in this issue show assessment as a true part of the instructional process, not an add-on to get a score for a grade. As I read the articles, I was impressed at how the assessments were desig...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
#NSTA13 Charlotte Twitter Contest
Join the #NSTA13 Charlotte Twitter contest! If you’ll be attending the National Science Teachers Association’s Conference on Science Education in Charlotte, NC, November 7–9, 2013, tweet for a chance to win NSTA Gear or a $50 Gift Certifica...
By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
Blog Post
I’m a new elementary teacher, and I love seeing how students get excited doing hands–on science activities. But the students can get out of hand and I have a hard time focusing them on the activity. Any advice on channeling their enthusiasm with ...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Fall changes in trees bring science and art together
The colors of the autumn leaves in my area call out to me for attention and to bring inside in a basket for the kitchen table. Outside I arrange them into patterns pleasing to myself....
By Peggy Ashbrook