JoinAll Blog Posts
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Plan Labs with Assessments, School Calendars in Mind
I have written a lab about quarks. The problem is there are no Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) about quarks. The only standards that refer to the nucleus is about protons and neutrons. How can I align my lab with standards that don’t e...
By Sharon Delesbore
Blog Post
I’m a first-year high school science teacher seeking desperately the best way to connect with my freshman biology students who are very smart but are not use to being pushed to comprehend a rigorous curriculum. Any suggestions would be greatly appr...
By Sharon Delesbore
Blog Post
100 days of school–weather watching and documenting plant growth
Just as numerals marking the number of in-school days are sometimes posted in one long line stretching across walls of the classroom, weather data can be collected and posted throughout the year. Using symbols that both children and scientists recog...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
How PLCs Helped Move Us Toward Equitable High School Assessment Practices
My colleagues and I began using units intentionally designed for the NGSS for biology in early 2017. We started with a high-quality unit evaluated by my colleagues on the Science Peer Review Panel, and eventually used a full program from the unit’s...
By Holly Hereau
Blog Post
PLNs + High-Quality Units = NGSS Success
In June 2013, Kentucky’s Board of Education officially adopted the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which not only set a new course for science education in Kentucky, but also started me on a new professional journey. As the newly-minted s...
By David Grossman
Blog Post
Improving Elementary Science Programs Through Professional Learning Communities
“I’m not good at science.” It’s a declaration that far too many students have made in classrooms. Their beliefs are often based on lack of exposure to science, not their true potential to do science. So how do we change their minds and get th...
By Edel Maeder
Blog Post
Matter and Energy for Growth and Activity
The human body is an amazing mechanism. For students, learning how the human body works can prove to be an exciting educational adventure. Matter and Energy for Growth and Activity from NSTA Press provides in-depth and meaningful lessons that explor...
By Carole Hayward
Blog Post
Middle and high school science teachers often have or should have the task of retrofitting their chemical storeroom. Critical issues such as what chemicals are acceptable for use and grade appropriate, how should they be labeled, how should they be s...
By Kenneth Roy
Blog Post
Introducing the STEM Teacher Leadership Network
By Joni Falk, Co-director of the Center for School Reform at TERC @STEMTLnet.org The STEM Teacher Leadership Network (https://STEMTLnet.org), funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), is inviting teacher leaders, aspiring teacher leaders, ...
By Korei Martin
Blog Post
Intentionally providing materials to sort
In addition to providing materials for children, we can ask ourselves, “What is my role as an educator when I provide materials for sorting?” If we were picking through lentils to sort out any wee stones before cooking, our job would be to give ...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
I was planning a lesson for fifth grade about constellations. If you have any ideas, I would love to hear them. —B., Illinois...
By Gabe Kraljevic
Blog Post
Bring STEM Practices Into the Secondary Classroom
STEM—Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics—is discussed in the news, politics, and education journals, yet what does it really mean for classrooms? The Council of State Science Supervisors (CSSS) works to support secondary science in ...
By Juan-Carlos Aguilar, Anne Petersen, Megan Schrauben
Blog Post
Identifying and Implementing Instructional Materials in Middle School
Identifying and implementing science instructional materials that equitably engage students in active learning of science concepts, practices, sensemaking, problem-solving, and decision-making can be overwhelming for schools. The Council of State Sci...
By Michael Heinz, Erin Michael Escher, Ellen Ebert
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Ensuring All Elementary Students Have Access to Science Learning
Ensuring all students have access to science learning is part of the vision in A Framework for K–12 Science Education. Yet in many elementary schools, teachers have little time for science. This is such a disservice, as engaging in the science and ...
By Kathy Renfrew and Amber McCulloch
Blog Post
New NSTA Press Books Help Young Students Apply Science to the Real World
Would you like to help your students understand the connections between learning science in school and using it in their everyday lives? The STEM Road Map Curriculum Series from NSTA Press was developed to do just that. With the goal of infusing rea...
By Carole Hayward
Blog Post
Late last month the House Education and Labor Committee passed H.R. 4674, the Democratic bill to revise the Higher Education Act (HEA)....
By Jodi Peterson
Blog Post
If a student receives a bad test score, how do you interpret it? Would you allow the student to retake a modified version of the test? — B. , Ohio There are many possible interpretations of a poor score on a test....
By Gabe Kraljevic
Blog Post
Experts Agree: Connecting STEM Learning and Teaching Works!
On December 7, NSTA is offering a virtual conference designed to bring together some of the best thinkers in the field focused on learning and teaching by connecting in-school and out-of-school STEM experiences....
By Carole Hayward
Blog Post
<i>“Why Do We Need to Know This?!”</i>
Hubble Deep Field Image How do you explain to your students that what you’re teaching is important even if there is no obvious real-world application? — B., Ohio I’m sure every teacher has heard this refrain!...
By Gabe Kraljevic
Blog Post
Science Festivals Focus on Community, Diversity
According to Marc Schulman, executive director of the USA Science and Engineering Festival (USASEF), “the modern era of science festivals…was kicked into gear” when the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a grant to four institutions in 2...
By Lynn Petrinjak
Blog Post
When a construction site is next door
Street closures and high noise levels from construction on or near school grounds or other early childhood programs may disrupt the daily routine....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
What advice would you give to first-year teachers who want to give life to their lessons, yet they have a budget that is small or non-existent? — J., Iowa I always had living things in my classrooms— just going to a park or garden you can find so...
By Gabe Kraljevic
Blog Post
Students at Chillicothe Women’s Correctional Center in Chillicothe, Missouri, examinelunar rocks from NASA in Mary Haskins’ environmental science course. Photo credit: SHONA SIMPSON, CCC STAFF...
By Debra Shapiro
Blog Post
What happens in your block area?
When playing and building with blocks, children experience the way the properties of matter, shape, weight, and proportionality affect balance, stability, and position within their structures. Beginning with open exploration, children measure as th...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Why must we meet so much as a physics team when I need time alone to prepare for my classes? —M., Indiana ...
By Sharon Delesbore
Blog Post
Teacher Cohorts to Support Science Instruction
Written by Debbie Ericksen ...
By Korei Martin
Blog Post
Safety Training for Non-Science Instructors
Unlike science teachers, non-science educators have little to no training in hazard analysis, risk assessment, or safety-related issues. As a result, non-science employees, such as teachers of other subjects or special education and paraprofessionals...
By Kenneth Roy
Blog Post
My third-grade class created models of plant and animal cells with various items that they found around the house. Many of the kids did a great job, and their projects were very colorful. I brought samples to my Professional Learning Community (PLC)...
By Sharon Delesbore
Blog Post
Making Cooperative Learning Groups Work
How can I keep my students more engaged in their science cooperative learning groups? —A., California...
By Sharon Delesbore
Blog Post
Sample new science lessons from NSTA Press books
NSTA Press authors offer a rich selection of fresh lessons and strategies in their newest books, and you can download samples from each of them through the ...
By Claire Reinburg
Blog Post
When informal science institutions (ISIs) offer professional learning opportunities to teachers to support science in schools, they create the potential for dynamic science educators and classrooms that can support high-quality science learning for s...
By Dr. Vanessa Lujan
Blog Post
Out-of-School Time (OST) organizations play a vital role in our education system by providing youth with ways of discovering and exploring the world of STEM that complement the learning they experience during the school day. But OST programs often fa...
By Dr. Irene Porro
Blog Post
The Wade Institute for Science Education has long valued the power of informal institutions to create precisely the kind of student-led inquiry-based learning and real-world problem solving envisaged by the three-dimensional learning of NGSS. Through...
By Angela Damery
Blog Post
Helping Educators Develop Young Ocean Problem-Solvers
Myrtle, the green sea turtle. Photo credit: W. Chappell Informal science centers are in perfect alignment to provide rich NGSS supports using three-dimensional learning and real-world connections....
By Corrine Steever
Blog Post
House Leaders Introduce The College Affordability Act
Democrats Introduce Bill to Reauthorize Higher Education Act House Democrats introduced a long-awaited bill earlier this week that would update the Higher Education Act for the first time in more than a decade....
By Jodi Peterson