JoinAll Blog Posts
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Gain Valuable STEM Teaching Strategies and Resources at the Elementary STEM Showcase
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By Carole Hayward
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Back in 1986, David Vernier wrote a book titled “How to Build a Better Mousetrap: And 13 other science projects using the Apple II.” The premise of the book was to use software, hardware, and materials to construct what David called “Laboratory...
By Martin Horejsi
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I hope 20 years from now I can still get excited about being a part of kids’ lives. I am looking for suggestions on how to enjoy teaching for a long time. — J., Missouri...
By Gabe Kraljevic
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Ideas and inspiration from NSTA’s February 2019 K-12 journals
In addition to an overview/review of the 5E model and the STEM disciplines, the Guest Editorial: Using the BSCS 5E Instructional Model to Introduce STEM Disciplines (in Science & Children)has a framework and suggestions for integrating the Model ...
By Mary Bigelow
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10 Reasons High School Teachers Should Join NSTA in St. Louis in April
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By Carole Hayward
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Sensory play for science learning
Children and people of all ages continually explore and learn through their senses. Prior experiences that build understanding of how we use our senses to learn about the world are the foundation for understanding the Next Generation Science Standard...
By Peggy Ashbrook
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Ed News: Higher Ed is Pushing STEM Diversity, But is Change Happening Fast Enough?
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By Kate Falk
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Interactive eBook Introduces Young Readers to Beavers, Nature’s Furry Engineer
As a member of her local nature preserve, Katie Dunbar learned so much about the symbiotic relationship between animals and their environment. Take beavers, for example. The absence or presence of this one species has the ability to completely alter ...
By Carole Hayward
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By Gabe Kraljevic
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Plan Your #NSTA19 St. Louis Elementary Science Experience
The biggest science education conference of the year is happening in St. Louis this spring! Elementary teachers who want to be the student for a few days should join us. Here are 11 reasons why....
By Carole Hayward
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The Go Direct SpectroVis Plus Spectrophotometer: Listening to Plants (Part 2)
Continuing the story of the Vernier Go Direct SpectroVis Plus Spectrophotometer, we will now apply its power it for a more traditional use; to inspect the transmission and absorption of fluid or a material suspended in a fluid. And that fluid can be...
By Martin Horejsi
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Introduction: Pitsco’s Straw Rocket Launcher and its Getting Started Package gives students an introductory rocket activity where they can grasp a variety of subjects including force and motion, thrust, center of gravity, prediction, measureme...
By Edwin P. Christmann
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Reflecting on the Flipped Classroom
Doug Stith uses a form of the flipped classroom he calls Learner-Paced Science with his sixth graders at Londonderry Middle School in Londonderry, New Hampshire. Older students serve as his assistants....
By Debra Shapiro
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I am currently reading a book about childhood trauma in the classroom. How do we as teachers help students who have had a traumatic experience? — A., Iowa ...
By Gabe Kraljevic
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Preparing Future Teachers to Put Investigation and Design at the Center of Their Classrooms
The recently released report Science and Engineering in Grades 6–12: Investigation and Design at the Center makes a strong statement right in the title: engaging students in scientific investigations and engineering design should be the core of wha...
By Cindy Workosky
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Learn How to Build Community Partnerships at the 8th Annual STEM Forum & Expo
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By Carole Hayward
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Too cold? Observing animals in winter
With very cold weather settling into many areas, children’s outdoor time may be restricted due to temperature and wind chill limits set relative to the temperature ranges normally experienced in their area....
By Peggy Ashbrook
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“Arguably, the most pressing challenge facing U.S. education is to provide all students with a fair opportunity to learn” (Framework; NRC 2012, p. 282). This challenge is of great importance as we continue to embrace changing demographics in our ...
By Carole Hayward
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It’s too time-consuming… We haven’t been properly trained… Assessment is too difficult… Subject integrity may be relaxed… There are many reasons teachers find it challenging to make cross-curricular connections. But the benefits far outwe...
By Carole Hayward
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Merriam-Webster has several definitions for phenomenon—among them are “an observable fact or event” and “an object or aspect known through the senses rather than by thought or intuition.” And just as they find varied ways to look at the wor...
By Carole Hayward
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Explorers Lewis and Clark began their westward trip from the St. Louis area in 1804, trying to find a better way to the west coast; as they made their way to the Pacific Ocean, they mapped the area and cataloged its natural resources. If you’re fee...
By Carole Hayward
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Books Your Young Readers Will Want to Open and Explore
Engaging students in crosscutting STEM concepts is made so much easier when talented storytellers and gifted illustrators produce the kinds of books that young readers immediately want to open up and explore. The Beaks of Birds...
By Carole Hayward
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I consistently see a variety of forms of plagiarism occurring in the classroom. How can I combat this? – O., Ohio...
By Gabe Kraljevic
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The Vernier Go Direct SpectroVis Plus Spectrophotometer: A picture is worth 570 wavelengths (Part 1)
Of all the cool things invented by the universe, light is one of the most amazing. It solves all kinds of problems, can travel great distances with little effort, and its very existence has become possibly the greatest metaphor ever. And on the sci...
By Martin Horejsi
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I am struggling with the students being on their cell phones. I was hoping that I could get some advice or tips to handle the situation. – E., Ohio In my 27-year career, the worst incident I ever had with a student was over a phone....
By Gabe Kraljevic
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Rolling from Inquiry into Engineering Design
Guest blogger Jill Jensen began her 24th year as a science educator this fall. For the past twelve years she has been an Inquiry, Design, Engineering, Art & Science (IDEAS) Coach at Glacier Hills Elementary School of Arts and Science in Eagan, MN...
By Peggy Ashbrook
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Laboratory Evacuation Training for Science Teachers
School science labs need to be evacuated in the event of a fire, chemical spill, gas leak, the release of chemical toxins, or other laboratory incident or building issue. The top priority in an emergency evacuation is to ensure all laboratory occupan...
By Kenneth Roy
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It seems the same students answer my questions and I wonder if they are answering so fast that maybe the other students just need a little more time to think. Any suggestions on how to not deter these types of students from answering while allowing o...
By Gabe Kraljevic
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Science Teachers and the Course Forward for STEM Education
Science teachers’ voices do count—and are being heard—in Washington, D.C. On December 4, the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) published Charting a Course for STEM Education, which presents a five-year strategic plan for how fed...
By David Evans, NSTA Executive Director
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English Learners in STEM Subjects
Conducting a review of the research literature on science education with English learners (ELs) would be a demanding task. Reimaging what is possible for ELs in science education would be an even more demanding task. Consider the enormity of the task...
By Kate Falk
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Engaging English Learners in K-12 Engineering
Engineering is now part of the Next Generation Science Standards as well as many state standards. As schools and teachers begin to think about how to introduce engineering in their classrooms, they should do so in ways that support all students, incl...
By Christine M. Cunningham
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Ideas and inspiration from NSTA’s January 2019 K-12 journals
Happy 2019! This is a milestone year for science teachers: Message From the President: NSTA’s 75th Regardless of what grade level or subject you teach, check out all three K-12 journals. As you skim through titles and descriptions of the articl...
By Mary Bigelow