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I’ve noticed my students don’t seem to have a lot of motivation in science class. They are sometimes afraid they’ll make mistakes, and they’re often reluctant to try something new. What can I do to encourage more student engag...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
NSTA's K-12 Science Education Journals: December Issues Online
The holidays are upon us, but you don’t get a break from teaching quite yet. You need science education resources that you can use in your classroom tomorrow, and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) has them for you! Written by edu...
By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
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Science + Literacy Featured at NSTA’s Conference in Denver, CO, December 12-14
Learn about science + literacy from experts in the field (your peers!) at NSTA’s Conference on Science Education in Denver, CO, December 12–14....
By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
Blog Post
What is your favorite children's or young adult book?
Recently, NSTA and the Children’s Book Council (CBC) announced the winners for the annual list of Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K–12 (books published in 2013). Previous year’s lists and winners also include books that are...
By Christine Royce
Blog Post
Science in Washington, DC at the NAEYC 2013 annual conference
Meeting to plan the ECSIF annual meeting. ...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Developing critical consumers of science
Each month, the NSTA journals have many ideas for helping students become producers of knowledge, through science investigations and engineering problems. This issue, however, looks at how students can become informed consumers of science and enginee...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
DC State Board of Education Considers NGSS
Yesterday I appeared before the DC State Board of Education and urged them to adopt the Next Generation Science Standards (see my testimony below). I spoke about how the NGSS would bring positive changes to District classrooms with its new approach t...
By David Evans, NSTA Executive Director
Blog Post
The RSC’s (Royal Society of Chemistry) Chemistry Week is a themed week of events that is held every two years to promote a positive image of chemistry and increase the public understanding of the importance of chemical science in our everyday...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Dissolving the Barriers to Measuring Dissolved Oxygen
The amount of dissolved oxygen (DO) in water is a critical component in the aquatic ecosystem. While measuring the level of DO is a common practice in water quality studies, the sensors often used to capture the data were far from the instantaneous m...
By Martin Horejsi
Blog Post
NAEYC conference this week in Washington, DC. See you there!
Wednesday through Saturday I’ll be attending sessions at the annual conference of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). I love that the worlds of science teaching and early childhood teaching overlap!...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Translating the NGSS for Classroom Instruction
Rodger Bybee’s new book Translating the ...
By Carole Hayward
Blog Post
If you’re not a high school physics teacher, don’t put this issue aside! There are many ideas for interdisciplinary activities and strategies that apply to other subjects and grade levels. And many of them can be done even on a shoestring...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
The House Subcommittee on Research and Technology began work on reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act with a hearing on Wednesday, November 13. Lawmakers are reviewing draft legislation introduced by committee Republicans to reauthorize this ke...
By Jodi Peterson
Blog Post
After a lab activity I try to engage students in a discussion of their findings. I use a variety of strategies to involve the students, but I find they don’t really know how to have a meaningful discussion without interruptions, off-topic state...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Problem solving and investigating the properties of materials
Does the way a child approaches finger-painting or eating a somewhat messy snack tell us anything about how she or he will approach building with blocks or participating in a science activity?...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Brush up on your science content knowledge
At NSTA’s recent fall conferences in Portland and Charlotte, NSTA Press author Bill Robertson led teachers in refresher courses on physical science topics such as sound, light, and force and motion. Robertson’s bestselling book series, Stop Fakin...
By Claire Reinburg
Blog Post
NSTA's K-College Journals: Live for November
You’ve turned the clocks back an hour, but you’re still short on time—that’s what most teachers tell us! How can the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) help? With grade-level journals targeted to your needs, written by e...
By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
Blog Post
Assessment products and processes
What is the purpose of an assessment? The featured articles in this issue show assessment as a true part of the instructional process, not an add-on to get a score for a grade. As I read the articles, I was impressed at how the assessments were desig...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
#NSTA13 Charlotte Twitter Contest
Join the #NSTA13 Charlotte Twitter contest! If you’ll be attending the National Science Teachers Association’s Conference on Science Education in Charlotte, NC, November 7–9, 2013, tweet for a chance to win NSTA Gear or a $50 Gift Certifica...
By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
Blog Post
I’m a new elementary teacher, and I love seeing how students get excited doing hands–on science activities. But the students can get out of hand and I have a hard time focusing them on the activity. Any advice on channeling their enthusiasm with ...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Fall changes in trees bring science and art together
The colors of the autumn leaves in my area call out to me for attention and to bring inside in a basket for the kitchen table. Outside I arrange them into patterns pleasing to myself....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
I’ve talked with teachers who are concerned about the E in STEM. “I barely have time for science, and now I’m supposed to teach engineering, too? I’ve never studied engineering!”...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
The classroom as learning center
Last year (my first year teaching) I floated among several classrooms. A few days before the beginning of this year, I learned that I have my own biology lab! I didn’t have much time, so I just put up a few posters. Now I want to make this plai...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Reading to support science learning begins with babies
Welcome back to guest blogger Sarah Erdman! Sarah writes about her first-hand observations of sharing books with a toddler....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
So – who’s ready for Mole Day? Rather than competing with the commercial hoopla around Halloween, perhaps we science teachers could get a head start on October 23 (10/23) from 6:02 a.m. to 6:02 p.m. The timing of this event celebrates Avogadr...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Documentation and discussion at the fish tank
An aquarium in the classroom may be a science center and the site of a morning separation ritual for some children. In addition to daily feeding and casual observation, children can make scientific drawings and notes. To encourage close observation, ...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Science for the Next Generation: Preparing for the New Standards
If you’re an elementary school teacher who teaches grades K-5, the authors and editors of ...
By Carole Hayward
Blog Post
Putting Science Words on the Wall
I’ve seen “word walls” in elementary classrooms, but I wonder whether older students would find them helpful in dealing with vocabulary. What should I consider in trying this idea? —Wendy, Chattanooga, Tennessee...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Science of Golf: physics of the golf swing
What do the trebuchet, said to have been invented in China in about 300 BC and Paula Creamer, the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open champion, have in common? They both owe their success to the double pendulum effect. Find out why in Science of Golf: Physics o...
By admin
Blog Post
This December, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) will feature a special strand “Engineering the Engineering: Connecting the Why to the How” at our Conference on Science Education in Denver, CO, December 12–14....
By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
Blog Post
Earth Science Week Resources from the National Science Teachers Association
Earth Science Week is October 13–19, 2013. Take a world tour, solve a mystery, apply to be named the Environmental Science Educator of the Year, or delve into an entire year’s worth of lessons with this resource collection from the National S...
By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
Blog Post
This December, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) will feature a special strand “PreK–8 Science: A Playground for Literacy and Mathematics” at our Conference on Science Education in Denver, CO, December 12-14. Classrooms are the p...
By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
Blog Post
Citizen Science: Engaging Students Through Public Collaboration in Scientific Research
Too often, students think of science as a static collection of facts rather than an ongoing process of discovery in which they can play a part. Citizen science offer opportunities for students to engage in authentic investigations....
By Carole Hayward
Blog Post
Chemistry: Strategies and activities
October — The school year is well underway and it’s the month in which science teachers celebrate Mole Day (so who needs Halloween to have some fun?) It’s also the month for featured articles on chemistry....
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
October K-12 Journals Available from the National Science Teachers Association
October’s K–12 journals from the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) highlight unique trends in science eduction....
By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
Blog Post
One of Apple’s more recent releases may cause problems in your classroom: You and your students will be fighting over it to see who can create the splashiest electronic books! Given Apple’s remarkable success with its iPad, the company has moved ...
By Ken Roberts
Blog Post
Using "kits" in science
I’m a second-year teacher at a small elementary school. I was poking around the supply closet and found several unopened science kits. Last year, I did some basic science activities that I did while student teaching, but this year, I’d ...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Assessments: Part of the learning process
Do you have advice on assessments that would be helpful for sharing with my mentee, a new teacher? —Shirley, Lexington, Kentucky Assessing student learning can (and should) include more than final tests. The process has components before, during, a...
By Mary Bigelow