JoinAll Blog Posts
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Ideas and information from NSTA’s September K-12 journals
Start off the school year with ideas and resources from your NSTA colleagues. Science and Children – Sharing Products: Science Exhibitions and Beyond...
By Mary Bigelow
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As preschool and child care continue and a new school year begins, it’s a good time to refresh our memories about safety practices....
By Peggy Ashbrook
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I’m a first-year middle school life science teacher. After a few weeks, I am really stressed with all of the planning and paperwork. Any resources or words of encouragement? —L., New York Welcome to science teaching! Every teacher has gone th...
By Mary Bigelow
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According to a recent article in Safety + Health magazine, Honeywell Safety Products had to recall about 9,700 bottles of Eyesaline emergency eyewash solution due to “a low risk of contamination” of bacteria that can cause eye infections (NSC 201...
By Kenneth Roy
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With the fall harvest season coming up, planning begins for family and class fieldtrips to local farms and farm markets. People who live in farming communities have a much different understanding of what a farm can be than those who live in urban or ...
By Peggy Ashbrook
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Transforming Science Education With New Tech Standards
Using Web Tools to Support Learning Standards play an important role in developing a strong curriculum and preparing students for the future. Science teachers are currently adjusting their curriculum to meet the Next Generation Science Standards, but...
By sstuckey
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Ideas for a new mentor teacher
My principal asked me to be a mentor for a new science teacher. I received a checklist of high school policies to review, but how can I help him in other ways? – T., New Jersey...
By Mary Bigelow
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Science Teachers "Speak Up" About Technology in the Classroom
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By Guest Blogger
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Focus on Physics: When Our Round Earth Was First Measured
Building an Understanding of Physical Principles Our Earth is round, although it was not always thought to be that way. It looks flat. But if the Earth is viewed from a tall building, especially near the ocean when the horizon is clear, its curvature...
By sstuckey
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Science cafés—events held in casual, social venues where attendees can listen to and interact with scientists—have become common worldwide. Many U.S....
By Debra Shapiro
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By Korei Martin
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8 sessions during #NSTA16 for Teaching in this Technology Driven World
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By Korei Martin
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Vernier Go! Link: Hand Dynamometer
/sites/default/files/blog/2016/08/GoLink_USB_Interface_Overview-2.mp4 Vernier’s Go!...
By Edwin P. Christmann
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I want to study my middle school students’ perceptions of what and how they are learning in science. Do you have any suggestions other than a traditional survey? —R., Ohio...
By Mary Bigelow
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The TOMODACHI Academy: Friendship Beyond Borders
How can two countries with vast cultural differences maintain a relationship in which they can share ideas on how to improve their educational system and focus on STEM literacy? That is the goal of a partnership between the United States and Japan—...
By Guest Blogger
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The Vernier LabQuest Stream: The Absolute Hub of Discovery
“Stream” Nouns are useful, but verbs are educational. So when Vernier released their LabQuest Stream sensor interface into the wild, the familiar grey box quickly proved to be much more than just a powerful and innovative radio station ...
By Martin Horejsi
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The Power of Children’s Ideas: Thoughts about Science Learning and Teaching in the Early Years
Guest post by Cindy Hoisington, with thanks to Karen Worth and other dear colleagues for their inspiration...
By Peggy Ashbrook
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Recess: Outdoors and sometimes indoors
When the children and I leave the school building for playground time or recess, I feel a sense of relaxation and heightened awareness. We can see farther and the input from the surrounding environment to our senses changes every minute as the wind b...
By Peggy Ashbrook
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Preventing Overcrowding in K–12 Science Labs
Of all the safety concerns expressed by science teachers, class size is high on the list. Thus, occupancy loads in science laboratories should be restricted to create and maintain a safer learning environment....
By Kenneth Roy
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NSTA Back-to-School Science Resources For Parents
Keshia Gardner via Today.com...
By Cindy Workosky
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Engineering activities for students
If you’re concerned about how to teach engineering concepts in a K-12 environment, here are two resources that may be helpful....
By Mary Bigelow
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I meet with more than 100 students per day in my Earth science classes. As a relatively new teacher, I need suggestions on how to get to know them better including learning their names and interests in a timely manner. – L., Connecticut...
By Mary Bigelow
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Tips for the First Days of School...
By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
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Upon reflection on last year’s practice of taking children on “nature walks” outside, I see how much they enjoyed nature, made gains in vocabulary and became familiar with diversity in plants. In June, at the end of the school y...
By Peggy Ashbrook
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What Can NSTA Do for You This New School Year?
Turning the calendar to the month of August signifies the excitement of another school year. Early on in my teaching career, a colleague jokingly stated when the date stamped on the breakfast orange juice container read August 15 it was a reminder t...
By Guest Blogger
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Career of the Month: Paleoseismologist
Based on Interviews With Professionals Using Science in the Workplace Paleoseismologists study geologic records to learn about earthquakes that happened thousands of years ago and then use that data to create models to forecast the probability of fut...
By sstuckey
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Right to the Source: Sketching the Double Helix
Exploring Science and History With the Library of Congress. In 1869, 25-year-old Swiss physician Friedrich Miescher first identified and isolated deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), calling it nuclein. Decades later, scientists identified the DNA molecule�...
By sstuckey
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I just took a fifth-grade position, and the principal showed me the classroom I’ll have. It’s a brand-new building, and there’s nothing in the classroom—just the student tables, bare bulletin boards, a few empty bookshelves, and a...
By Mary Bigelow
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Starting the New School Year: Seven Safer Science Strategies
Before starting the new school year, in terms of safety, a little planning can go a long way. Science teachers, supervisors, and administrators should check out the Safer Seven checklist below for strategies that improve laboratory safety. Know...
By Kenneth Roy
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Could a Species Like Bigfoot Have Evolved? 17 Mysteries Revealed at #STEMforum Last Week
2016 STEM Forum and Expo Denver, Colorado, July 27–29 As Seen on Twitter...
By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
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I’m moving to a different state to take a teaching position. I don’t know anyone there, so where can I look for guidance on state standards and other resources that would be helpful in my new job? —W., Pennsylvania Congratulations on fi...
By Mary Bigelow
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The Anatomy of the STEM Pipeline: Dissecting Misconceptions at the 2016 #STEMforum
Anatomy: The subject tend to make teachers freeze up, or make the obligatory “gross” puns. But it’s a great topic for STEM, and a career field more students need to know about....
By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
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Health Wise: Countering Poverty’s Effects on Learning
Poverty is a student health problem, according to the 64,000-member American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP; 2016a)....
By Guest Blogger
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Manipulating Contents & Containers, and representing 3-D objects in block play
It is so fascinating how obvious it is that children have different prior experiences, different developmental ages, and different interests when we teachers present them with a set of materials and don’t ask them to use them in a particular way! T...
By Peggy Ashbrook
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Wooden unit blocks and representing their use in early childhood education
Working with and reading about the work of other educators is inspiring. While observing or mentoring in different programs I am given an education and opportunity to reflect on my own practice....
By Peggy Ashbrook
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Once Upon an Earth Science Book
Do your middle school or high school students have trouble comprehending scientific reading? If you answered yes, we’ve got just the book for you! Here’s another question: Are you ready to have some fun in your classroom? Yes, again? Well, Once U...
By Carole Hayward