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Exploring the properties of clay
Finding bits of clay pottery made and discarded by people hundreds of years ago reminds me of how this useful material can be a valuable addition to a preschooler’s experience. Of the earth but not commonly found on playgrounds, clay could be r...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
ESEA (No Child Left Behind) Reauthorization Bill Scheduled for Senate Action July 7
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By Jodi Peterson
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Drifters Take Students on Scientific Ocean Journeys
The Charger, a 5-foot-long drift boat, has been launched from larger vessels several times throughout its journey across the Atlantic Ocean....
By Lynn Petrinjak
Blog Post
Get Lost in the Magic of Learning with the Celestron Flipview Digital Microscope
One of the wonderful things about the amazing science education technology available to teachers today is that the tech can disappear—in a good way. The Celestron Flipview digital microscope is one of them. ...
By Martin Horejsi
Blog Post
What science teachers are reading June 2015
Here are the most-read books, e-books, and children’s trade books on NSTA’s website this month. Click over to the NSTA Science Store and catch up on what’s hot this June on science teachers’ reading tables and tablets....
By Claire Reinburg
Blog Post
Just about four years ago, A Framework for K-12 Science Education appeared on the scene, and just over two years ago the Next General Science Standards were published and released. Since that time, there has been much effort put into and collective...
By Christine Royce
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Bruce Alberts’ Grand Challenges Offer Reforms Sought by Science Educators
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By Robert Yager
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Classrooms as ecosystems: The physical environment
(This is a continuation of Classrooms as ecosystems: Social interactions, in response to a question about creating a classroom that is a positive place for learning: The physical environment...
By Mary Bigelow
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Classrooms as ecosystems: Social interactions
During my student teaching, I was impressed with how the classroom was a very positive place for learning. I wasn’t there at the beginning of the year when the teacher set things up, so I’m wondering what to do when I get my first classroom. �...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Va-cation, stay-cation, and edu-cation
But teachers get the summers off!! How many times do we see that in op-eds and online conversations? Those who make that comment obviously have never been a teacher, a family member of a teacher, or friend of a teacher....
By Mary Bigelow
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Garden observations and questions
Gardening with children may turn up questions voiced by the children or suggested by their behavior. As you observe children in the garden or a natural area, take a few notes about what they look at or touch....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
NSTA at NAESP: Hands-On Science + Literacy Solutions
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By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
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Go Big with Vernier's Go Wireless pH Sensor
The Vernier Go Wireless (Bluetooth) pH sensor...
By Martin Horejsi
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Our new principal wants us to come up with goals to accomplish in the next year. He hasn’t provided much guidance yet, so I don’t know what to do. How can I do this meaningfully? —J., Delaware...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Ecosystem experiences away from home
For children who visit the ocean beach or shore this summer, the experience of visiting a very different ecosystem can inspire interest in animals that inhabit it, and wonder about “how did it get this way?” Children who experience the beach and ...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
America COMPETES Act Reauthorization
Earlier this spring the U.S. House of Representatives passed the America COMPETES Act Reauthorization Act of 2015 (HR 1806) by a vote of 217-205, with 23 Republicans joining every Democrat present in voting against the bill....
By Jodi Peterson
Blog Post
On a recent trip to visit friends in Lewes, Delaware, I had a bagel from Surf Bagels for the first time. This delicious and perfectly constructed bagel got me thinking about how they are produced. It turns out there are a number of STEM topics in ba...
By Becky Stewart
Blog Post
Systems: "Science Areas" and lining-up for transitions
Organizing systems for materials and people are necessary for a productive day in school. If they are held in common by the school or classroom community they operate smoothly. Sometimes changes made by an individual interrupt the flow. In those mome...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
The most recent NSTA K-12 journals have suggestions, lesson ideas, and resources for helping all students engage with the disciplinary content, crosscutting concepts, and science and engineering practices that make up the NGSS. Science & Childre...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Formative Assessment with Online Tools
[youtube]http://youtu.be/YPKSOkkSZuY[/youtube] In this video, columnists Ben Smith and Jared Mader share information from their Science 2.0 column, “Formative Assessment with Online Tools,” that appeared in a recent issue of The Science Teacher. ...
By sstuckey
Blog Post
There’s a cartoon making its way around the internet – the standard outlets – Facebook, Pinterest etc. that highlights what “normal people see on vacation” and how “scientists view their vacation.” It has scientific subtitles for all ...
By Christine Royce
Blog Post
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By Juliana Texley
Blog Post
I want to encourage elementary students to spend time outside. We don’t have a lot of funds for field trips, and I think it would be better to have an ongoing project. I also want to involve teachers and students of all grade levels and subject...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Teaching for Conceptual Understanding in Science
Author Richard Konicek-Moran spent years studying and researching children’s alternative conceptions in science and author Page Keeley acquired her passion for improving conceptual understanding using formative ass...
By Carole Hayward
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Webinars for K-5 on teaching the NGSS: making sense of phenomena using evidence
The National Science Teachers Association’s Web Seminars are free, 90-minute, live professional development experiences....
By Peggy Ashbrook
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Explore Outstanding Educational Resources: 2015 REVERE Awards Finalists
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By Claire Reinburg
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What time of day is best for science?
When scheduling science at the elementary level, which is better for students: having science class in the morning or the afternoon? We have always had reading and math in the morning with science and social studies in the afternoon. But now my colle...
By Mary Bigelow
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NSTA's K-12 April/May Science Education Journals Online
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By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
Blog Post
Building with Blocks: Exploring stability and change in systems
In my neighborhood, flowing rainwater from rooftops and yards is making a small gully in the hillside before it runs into the street and goes into the storm sewer. The hillside used to be just a grassy slope. As the original bare patch deepened, root...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Do you have any suggestions on how to help students review and apply what they learn during a unit? I’ve tried creating games and contests, but the students don’t seem to get much out of them. —C., Minnesota Many teachers have special revie...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Designed to provide an interactive laboratory experience to science students across a wide range of ability levels, the einstein Tablet+ is a mobile device produced by Fourier Education designed to provide an interactive laboratory experience to scie...
By Edwin P. Christmann
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Create Teachable Moments for Your Students
Like classroom teachers at all levels and disciplines, you have probably experienced teachable moments....
By Carole Hayward
Blog Post
Ideas from visiting another classroom
Visiting other schools always makes me think about classroom organization, I get new ideas about how to document children’s learning, and gets me thinking about changes I want to implement in my teaching. Changes in weather often lead to changes in...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
NSTA’s SciLinks has a searchable database of vetted websites with information, graphics, and lesson plans. These cover topics K-12 in the life, physical and earth sciences as well as health and engineering. The sites are correlated to specific...
By Mary Bigelow