JoinAll Blog Posts
Blog Post
Check out this digital resource
One of my roles on the SciLinks team is to find resources for a specific topic. Using several search engines, I browse through the lists and select sites for a more intense review and approval process. You as a SciLinks user then have a list of we...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Today I visited the Rainbow Preschool, a half-day preschool with extended care in the Laurelhurst neighborhood of NE Portland....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
A few years ago, one of the speakers at our school’s career day was a graduate who was an environmental scientist. A student asked her what she did all day. The audience expected her to say things such as I do chemical tests. I spend all day on...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Do you have any suggestions for grantwriting? I’ve just been told that the budget may be very lean next year, and I’d like to try to get additional funding for the science department. —Shug, Stillwater, OK...
By MsMentorAdmin
Blog Post
“I have to do a science project.” These words can produce a feeling of dread for students and parents, with visions of Styrofoam planets or tri-folds for science fairs....
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
What do you want in your science lab?
If you could have the science lab of your dreams for preK through 2 students, what would it include?...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Every year my students come to class with the idea that it’s colder in the winter because the earth is farther away from the sun. Where did they get this idea? —Lauren, Aurora, Illinois ...
By MsMentorAdmin
Blog Post
Supporting children's observation: what will they remember?
Two particularly inquisitive and bright former preK students (siblings) unexpectedly attended a workshop I gave for early childhood teachers about bringing local butterflies into the classroom for observation. Instead of distracting from the planned ...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
I see that NSTA has just published the Tool Kit for Teaching Evolution by Judy Elgin Jensen. According to its description,...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Science activities that children initiate motivate teachers to extend and expand the activity. Children learn more details about their area of interest and make connections with other concepts when they work more than once on activities about the sam...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
I want to use more essay-type questions on my unit assessments, but with 150 students I feel swamped trying to grade all of the papers and provide feedback. Any suggestions for making this a good learning process? —Brian, Reading, Pennsylvania ...
By MsMentorAdmin
Blog Post
Sink? Float? Try it with pumpkins
For an activity to explore buoyancy—what materials and which objects sink or float in water—I gave each child in a small group an object to hold....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Earth materials, features, and processes
Which branch of science seems to attract lifelong learners? You can make a strong case for the life or physical sciences, but my vote would go to the earth sciences!...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Yes, a science teachers' conference IS the place for early childhood teachers
I’m looking forward to the NSTA Regional Conference in Portland, Oregon, in November, a cornucopia of a conference so full of interesting presentations that each of my time slots is double (sometimes triple) booked with workshops and fieldtrips....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Little children love to ask questions such as Why? How come? But it seems that in school, it’s the teacher who asks most of the questions. This issue provides some suggestions and examples for helping students to apply their curiosity to scienc...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Do you have any suggestions for a brand-new science department chairperson? —Derek, Chillicothe, Ohio First of all, congratulations on assuming a leadership role in your school! This is a wonderful opportunity to share your expertise and to le...
By MsMentorAdmin
Blog Post
Research in science classrooms
Wow — students doing real research! This adds a different dimension to the “labs” that students do. There is certainly a time and place for replication or follow-the-directions activities (for example, to learn how to use various eq...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Observing, Learning about, Appreciating, and (Maybe) Holding Small Animals Such As Insects
In the fall we may begin to see more spiders in our houses and schools. Why is that? Are they moving indoors as the weather cools?...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
I’ve been asked to chair a committee to look into using science “kits” for our elementary classes. We’re interested in this, but where do we start? —Mariana, Manchester, New Hampshire...
By MsMentorAdmin
Blog Post
Understanding and using symbols
It was Monday morning and a sharp corner on a large immovable object (left by another group sharing the space used by the preschool…sound familiar?) unexpectedly turned into a chance to assess the understanding of symbols by one three-year-old....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
It’s interesting in this issue to see how teachers can incorporate inquiry learning into topics such as Bernoulli’s Principle, bridge design, photosynthesis, a beach clean-up program, rocks, paper airplanes, maple seeds, and ponds....
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
As a preschool teacher I try to be aware of how my work might introduce or reinforce misconceptions in my students’ understanding of concepts. In the Perspectives column in the September issue of Science and Children, Michele H. Lee and Deborah L. ...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
At our inservice last month, we learned several strategies for writing in science classes. But when I tried one in my classroom, it went over like a lead balloon. What was I doing wrong? —Rosalind, Denver, Colorado...
By MsMentorAdmin
Blog Post
The big fish died. The constant silent presence of the plecostomus—now hiding in the cave, now sucking algae off the aquarium wall—is gone. Donated by a parent who has moved on to high school PTSA duties, the odd fish taught 10 years of prescho...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Who hasn’t looked into the night sky and wondered about the stars and the universe? But upper elementary and middle school may be the last chance for many students to study or be exposed to concepts in astronomy. Earth and space science is not offe...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
The S&C astronomy issue article Sky Observations by the Book (NSTA membership required) presents lessons specifically for teaching young children astronomy concepts with picture books....
By ManagingEditorSC
Blog Post
Walking fieldtrips to draw nature
A walking fieldtrip can bring much needed outdoor time and opportunity for scientific observation to a class schedule. The objective can be to view the sky, look for birds, find seeds, or to inventory the surrounding environment. Whether just a walk ...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Planting flower bulbs in the fall
Planting spring-flowering bulbs connects the seasons of Fall and Spring in the minds of young children as they wait all winter for the bulbs to sprout and to see the flowers blooming in the spring. Following the growth of daffodils or tulips reinforc...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
No child (or teacher) left inside, and we're having a ball!
OK, it’s almost October and it’s time to celebrate science. Get ready for Earth Science Week this year (October 12-18, 2008). The theme is “No Child Left Inside.”...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Formative assessments: real-time responses
My principal is talking to us about using “formative” assessments. Does this mean taking time away from instruction for more tests? When will I have time to teach? —W.S., Overland Park, KS...
By MsMentorAdmin
Blog Post
Displaying children's science learning
One way I like to show the science learning that goes on in school is by posting my photos or children’s work under headings borrowed from, or inspired by, Barbara Lehn in her book What is a Scientist? (1999....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Scientific literacy comes in handy
The importance of being scientifically literate, that is, being able to sift through the information and decide what seems likely to be true, was brought home (literally) to me this month when I discovered a “colony” of bed bugs in our house. Col...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
“Don’t smile until Thanksgiving.” When I started teaching, that was the advice from a few veterans on the staff. Fortunately for my students, I disregarded that advice and followed the example of my advisor: “Be fair, firm, an...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Scoring objective tests is easy: the answer is either correct or incorrect. But with essay questions, lab techniques, writing assignments, reports, cooperative or group work, presentations, or other projects (including multimedia ones), it gets more ...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Finding materials for science activities
So many times I wish I had everything I need to do an activity with my five classes of two to five-year-olds—all in a kit. Managing materials in a way that doesn’t distract from the concept being explored, but keeps it foremost in the children�...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Each chapter in my science textbook is loaded with new vocabulary. How can I help students to deal with this specialized vocabulary? —Dan, Ramapo, New Jersey This task can be overwhelming. High school texts may have more than 3,000 specialized ...
By MsMentorAdmin
Blog Post
Some of you may remember the pre-Internet days when if you didn’t subscribe to a mailed publication, you had to trek to a public or university library to catch up on your reading on science topics. I must confess that for me back then, it was diffi...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Using science notebooks with young students
Science Notebooks can be useful tools, even with young students who are just learning to read and write. See how kindergarten teacher Kathryn Kaatz incorporated science writing and drawing as she took her students on “A Walk in the ‘Tall,...
By ManagingEditorSC
Blog Post
Weekly Wondering: What Are You Doing to Get Ready for the New School Year?
August is here, and that can only mean one thing: The new school year is right around the corner! Teacher Vision offers some tips for starting off the school year, such as organizing portfolios for students and designing bulletin boards. There is al...
By ManagingEditorSC