JoinAll Blog Posts
Blog Post
“It Gets Easier”: A Teacher’s Notes from the NGSS Trenches
It gets easier....
By Korei Martin
Blog Post
Is "instant snow" a good model for actual snow?
Children often use ordinary objects to represent other objects—a block might become a phone, or a rock might become a cookie, during their play....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
I’m exhausted. I just got back from a whirlwind NSTA ed-venture. I had to check to see what the students covered with the SUB while I was gone, I had to submit lesson plans for the week. I have to catch up on grading as the quarter comes to a close...
By Korei Martin
Blog Post
Congress Agrees to Final FY18 Spending Package
This week both the House and Senate have <finally> passed legislation on federal funding for fiscal year 2018, and President Trump is expected to sign the bill into law, ending the threat of another government shutdown. The news is goo...
By Jodi Peterson
Blog Post
Breakerspaces are areas where students demolish, repurpose, fix, or disassemble appliances, electronics, toys, and other devices to learn how they work, what components were used to create them, and how they were designed. Like any type of ...
By Kenneth Roy
Blog Post
Ed News: Want More Girls In Science Fields? Check The Images On Your Classroom Walls
...
By Kate Falk
Blog Post
The Vernier Go Direct Radiation Monitor: Well Worth the 90-Year Wait
Stephen Hawking died recently marking 2018 as another date in science history from which events will be measured. Isaac Newton was born in 1642, the same year Galileo died. And it is that 1642 date that is often used as a convenient moment in time to...
By Martin Horejsi
Blog Post
It is day 2 of the NSTA National Conference! One of my favorite ways to start the day is the Elementary Extravaganza—it’s a great event with lots of hands-on activities and demonstrations specifically for elementary educators....
By Lynn Petrinjak
Blog Post
What a day! If your shoulders are not throbbing, bags not over-flowing, and brain not racing… you may have not been at the same conference as I was. I teach middle school Earth & Space Science and Environmental Science at an Independent school...
By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
Blog Post
Ron Clark's Opening Session: "We need to inspire the next generation!"
Ms. Valeria (@GA_ScienceRodva) captured the essence of Ron Clark’s dynamic presentation to thousands of science teachers first thing Thursday morning with her sketchnotes. More About the 2018 National Conference on Science Education...
By Carole Hayward
Blog Post
#NSTA18 Atlanta: Tweet All About It!
The 2018 NSTA National Conference started with selfies, and quickly evolved into group shots! Science selfies at the Alabama booth in the registration area! #NSTA18 pic.twitter.com/TxebvjxlAI — Cindy Willingham (@cwscience) March 15, 2018...
By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
Blog Post
Online community on learning science through play
Play may mean many things, but in early childhood education it can include learning science concepts. Looking for resources on “Learning Science Concepts Through Play“?...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Congress Scrambles to Introduce Bills to Address School Violence & Mental Health
In the wake of the school shootings last month in Parkland, Florida that claimed the lives of 17 people, key leaders in both the Senate and the House have introduced legislation they believe will improve school safety and bring more mental health cou...
By Jodi Peterson
Blog Post
Ideas and inspiration from NSTA’s March 2018 K-12 journals
Regardless of what grade level or subject are you teach, as you skim through the article titles, you may find ideas for lessons that would be interesting your students or the inspiration to adapt/create your own. All three journals this month include...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Guest blogger Cindy Hoisington is an early childhood science educator at Education Development Center Inc. in Waltham, Massachusetts. She brings to her work more than 20 years of experience teaching young children, developing educational materials, a...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
New Book Helps Teachers of Young Children Discover the Wonders of Science Exploration
Curiosity, joy, and wonder. Our youngest students possess an over-abundance of these qualities, and when their teachers successfully tap into them, they help nurture a lifelong love of science....
By Carole Hayward
Blog Post
NSTA Student Chapters Cultivate Professional, Community Ties
Coryn Cange, a member of the NSTA Student Chapter at Stony Brook University, guides high school students as they study water filtration in a chemistry teaching lab. Photo courtesy of Judy Nimmo...
By Lynn Petrinjak
Blog Post
Science Activity Safety Checklist
The “Science Activity Safety Checklist,” written by NSTA’s Science Safety Advisory Board, allows teachers to vet any new demonstration, activity, laboratory, or field investigation before using it in the classroom or laboratory. The checklist r...
By Kenneth Roy
Blog Post
Go Direct® Gas Pressure Sensor
Introduction The Go Direct Gas Pressure Sensor is used to monitor pressure changes during gas-law experiments. Subsequently, science teachers can use it for graphical analysis and integrate its use in both mathematics and science instruction. In addi...
By Edwin P. Christmann
Blog Post
Using Science and Children: Appreciating editors’ notes
A colleague mentioned that he has a few recent issues of Science and Children to catch up on. Reading an issue of the journal doesn’t have to be front to back. Like preschoolers making a play plan, educators can make a reading plan so a journal can...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Evolving 'Controversy' in School
I was considering sending a general email to our staff after learning a few teachers are telling students that evolution is wrong. At the very least I would like for my colleagues to be benign and not detrimental. What are your thoughts? – G., Ohi...
By Gabe Kraljevic
Blog Post
Choosing Instructional Materials: Lessons Learned
Throughout my career as an educator, I’ve had many opportunities to select instructional materials. One experience is particularly memorable because I learned then that how you select instructional materials can be as important as what materials ar...
By Cindy Workosky
Blog Post
Seeds of Science, Roots of Reading Program Helps Students Develop Explanations
The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) encourage three-dimensional thinking in students. 3-D thinking, and the process of developing scientific explanations, are curiosity-driven: They involve wondering, posing questions, and making observation...
By Jim McDonald
Blog Post
As a former elementary science specialist, I am familiar with the elementary teacher’s skill set. They excel at managing a classroom, are very organized, and love a great mentor text—a text that is an example of good writing. However, many don’...
By Cindy Workosky
Blog Post
Why Don’t Antibiotics Work Like They Used To?
Why don’t antibiotics work like they used to? is an NGSS-aligned storyline developed by the Next Generation Science Storylines Project that focuses on natural selection and other mechanisms of evolution. Wayne Wright and I (Holly Hereau) teac...
By Holly Hereau and Wayne Wright
Blog Post
My middle school would like to host a science night for the district. Do you have any ideas? —S., Illinois...
By Gabe Kraljevic
Blog Post
President Releases FY2019 Budget
President Trump released his budget for FY2019 programs on Monday, February 12, and, as expected, has requested significant cuts to key grant programs in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The Administration is requesting $63.2 billion in disc...
By Jodi Peterson
Blog Post
Ideas and inspiration from NSTA’s February 2018 K-12 journals
Regardless of what grade level or subject are you teach, as you skim through the article titles, you may find ideas for lessons that would be interesting your students or the inspiration to adapt/create your own....
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
What do you typically do after administering a test or a midterm to help students make necessary corrections and, thereby, reinforce the concepts that were not understood? – J., New York ...
By Gabe Kraljevic
Blog Post
Farm: animals & a beginning understanding of hereditary
Figure 1 — Pie chart showing estimated proportions of different groups of organisms on Earth today, by numbers of species....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Congress Agrees to Two-Year Budget Deal that Will Increase Ed Funding
Congress Reaches Agreement on FY2018 Budget After a short (five hour plus) government shutdown, and last minute debate (and drama) in both the Senate and House over spending, immigration, and more Congress agreed to a two year spending d...
By Jodi Peterson
Blog Post
My school requires science fairs for all ninth graders. How do you encourage students to ask questions that don’t just come from books or websites? – L., Massachusetts ...
By Gabe Kraljevic
Blog Post
Unlocking Science in Breakout Games
Dean Goodwin, upper-school science teacher at The Tatnall School in Wilmington, Delaware, uses breakout box games that allow his students to...
By Debra Shapiro