JoinAll Blog Posts
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My students are working on research papers about inventions or chemical processes set mostly during the Industrial Revolution. I was wondering if you had any suggestions about peer editing. —Jaime, Goffstown, New Hampshire...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
When I was in elementary/middle school, the earth and space sciences were largely ignored in the curriculum. We looked at some rocks and learned the names of the planets and a few constellations, but that was about it. In high school, earth and space...
By Mary Bigelow
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So what is a “must do” at an NSTA Conference?
This month we are looking for comments and recommendations on what you are most looking forward to at the upcoming conference on science education in Boston! Help our fellow educators by highlighting your “must do” session along with the reason w...
By Christine Royce
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Going Wild with the Go Wireless Temp Sensor
The sensor is fairly small compared to an iPad Air....
By Martin Horejsi
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“Think globally, act locally” is a phrase we hear, and for younger students, thinking locally is important, too. Earth Day is celebrated on April 22, but the activities and investigations described in this month’s featured articles ...
By Mary Bigelow
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New teacher "nightmare"
I am looking forward to my first teaching job, but I’m concerned about how parents will react to my being a “newbie” in the science department. Will this be an issue? What can I do to start off the year on a positive note?...
By Mary Bigelow
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Watching children and teenagers use computers, tablets, and smartphones, it’s easy to assume that these digital natives are very familiar with all of the new technologies. I’ve found that while they know what relates to their interests, m...
By Mary Bigelow
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It's Debatable! Using Socioscientific Issues to Develop Scientific Literacy
“Should schools charge more money for ‘unhealthy’ foods?” “Should animals perform in circuses?” Should rare Earth elements be mined in the United States?” “Should prescription drugs be advertised directly to consumers?”...
By Carole Hayward
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Breathe new life into your STEM lessons
Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) hold tremendous interest for students at all grade levels. The breadth of the topic areas teachers can cover in STEM lessons reinforces for students that these fields are interconnected and linked to ...
By Claire Reinburg
Blog Post
NSTA’s K-College Science Education Journals: March 2014 Issues Online
Interactions are our focus this month—in ecosystems and classrooms, among science teachers teaching a variety of disciplines, and using the latest technology. This month’s K-College journals from the National Science Teachers Association have...
By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
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Ecosystems: Interactions, energy, and dynamics
In an NSTA discussion forum, a question was raised about studying ecosystems and food chains at the elementary level. I pointed the readers to articles in this month’s edition of Science & Children, which has a variety of classroom resource...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Ecosystems outside the school door
Since it is now March and in my area we just had our 10th snow day, I am dreaming of planting seeds rather than actually planting them. What should the children plant in the raised bed school garden, a tiny sliver of ground that could not be incorpor...
By Peggy Ashbrook
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Sylvia Shugrue Award winner 2013
As Director of Distance Learning for University of Minnesota’s Bell Museum of Natural history, each year Chris Tower created and provided professional development for more than 300 teachers throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin via two distance–lear...
By admin
Blog Post
At the end of a unit, there are always students who haven’t completed some assignments. Coming in before or after school is not an option for most of my students. Rather than moving on to the next unit, knowing they’ll fall even further behin...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Observing students as an assessment
As part of a science methods class, we’ve been assigned to create an observation tool to assess students. I’ve seen many articles and suggestions online for helping students become good observers and tools for administrators to use when o...
By Mary Bigelow
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What science teachers are reading February 2014
From lessons on writing in science class to exploring and debating socioscientific issues to translating NGSS for classroom instruction, take a look at what science teachers are reading in February on NSTA’s website....
By Claire Reinburg
Blog Post
Afterschool Science Engagement
In this month’s Reaching the Stakeholders section of the Leaders Letter, there is mention of a feature on NPR which raised the point about engagement of students in science in the classroom. A follow up point about engaging students in science op...
By Christine Royce
Blog Post
Science Literacy and Pseudoscience
A recent blog post “Whole Foods: America’s Temple of Pseudoscience” got me thinking about a topic of deep personal concern. As head of the National Science Teachers Association, one of my overarching goals is to improve science literacy in the ...
By David Evans, NSTA Executive Director
Blog Post
I’ve recently switched from a self-contained sixth-grade classroom to a middle school science position where I meet with five different classes each day. I find it challenging to connect with students the way I used to when I had the same students ...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Science of the Winter Olympics: Stability & Vibration
You think the 2014 Winter Olympic Games are over? Not by a long shot. Glue your eyes back on NBC for the Paralympic Winter Games March 7–16. There, you’ll watch Iraq war veteran and Paralympian Heath Calhoun take advantage of the same technology ...
By Judy Elgin Jensen
Blog Post
This is a wonderful themed issue, with all of the articles focusing on helping younger students investigate and understand the science of sound. Unfortunately for secondary students, the science of sound might not get a lot of attention in the curric...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Early childhood science in preschool—a conversation on Lab Out Loud
Listen in on a conversation between early childhood educator and researcher Karen Worth and the science teachers hosts of Lab Out Loud, Dale Basler and Bria...
By Peggy Ashbrook
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Science of the Winter Olympics: Movement & Robotics
Did you see an Olympic performance (perhaps Davis & White’s gold-medal ice dance) that looked so perfect, so flawless, that it seemed almost robotic? If so, you’ll want to watch Olympic Movement & Robotic Design—another installment in t...
By Judy Elgin Jensen
Blog Post
Are you attending the NSTA conference in Boston this spring?...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Science of the Winter Olympics: Physics of Figure Skating
Many would call the figure skating events the most elegant of all of the winter Olympic sports. The spins. The tosses. The leaps. How on earth do they stay in balance? Find out by watching the latest installment of the Science and Engineering of the ...
By Judy Elgin Jensen
Blog Post
Planning and carrying out investigations
According to the editor, “Although the practice of planning and carrying out investigations has always been a part of good science instruction, the student focus often has been more on carrying out than on planning, with teacher-structured inve...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Science of the Winter Olympics: Faster & Safer Bobsleds
Controlled violence. That’s what Steve Langton of the U.S. Bobsled Team calls his sport, in which he’s huddled in a bullet-shaped, finned shell made of carbon fiber and Kevlar hurtling down a curving track at speeds over 70 miles per hour. The te...
By Judy Elgin Jensen
Blog Post
Social Science Teachers: Meet Us at #NSTA14
How do you start an #organellewar? Create a virtual Professional Learning Community? Use Facebook with preservice teachers? Flip your classroom? Use YouTube in your science classroom?...
By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
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DiscoverE brings us Engineers Week
Next week is Engineers Week, February 16-22, “a time to:...
By Peggy Ashbrook
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NSTA’s K-12 Science Education Journals: February Issues Online
It’s February, and many of us are focused on groundhogs, candy, and hoping never to hear the words polar vortex again! Spring is still a few months away, so this is a good time to bundle up and get a fresh look at what your science teaching pee...
By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
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If you think that the “history and nature of science” means students reading biographies of scientists of the past, your thoughts may change after browsing this issue of Science Scope. These articles represent lessons that incorporate the...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Engineers Week Resources from the National Science Teachers Association
Engineers Week is February 16–22, 2014. Engineering is in the spotlight right now—and science teachers need to know how to incorporate it into their STEM curriculum, what resources really work, and where to get online PD to stay current....
By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
Blog Post
Science of the Winter Olympics: Science of Snow
SUPERCOOL! More than just an expression, this state of water figures prominently in snow formation. Find out more about snow and how snow conditions might impact winter Olympians whose gold medals are inextricably linked to this frozen base material....
By Judy Elgin Jensen
Blog Post
Science of the Winter Olympics: Engineering the Halfpipe
Imagine locking both feet onto a board, hurtling down a vertical face and up the opposing one before becoming airborne, where you twist and flip with near abandon. Now, imagine doing that with the equivalent weight of five people clinging to your bac...
By Judy Elgin Jensen
Blog Post
This April, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) will feature a special strand “Engineering and Science: Technological Partners” at our 2014 National Conference on Scie...
By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
Blog Post
What the new NSTA Early Childhood Science Education position statement means to me
The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) has adopted a new position statement, the Early Childhood Science Position Statement. This thoughtful document was inspired by the clamor of early childhood educators looking for guidance informed by ...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
My colleague and I are early–career science teachers at a middle school. Rather than our reinventing the wheel, do you have any suggestions how to make lab days run more smoothly, especially at the beginning and end of the class? –Sean, Oakla...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Each month, columns on safety in the science lab are featured in NSTA’s Science Scope (Scope on Safety) and The Science Teacher (Safer Science). These columns are written by Ken Roy, Director of Environmental Health and Safety for Glastonbury P...
By Mary Bigelow
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Concepts that cut across science disciplines
Patterns…cause and effect: mechanism and explanation…scale, proportion, and quantity…systems and system models…energy and matter: flows, cycles, and conservation…structure and function…stability and change…...
By Peggy Ashbrook