JoinAll Elementary resources
Journal Article
Editor's Note: The “Fundamental Tools” of Science
Science and Children’s editor shares thoughts regarding the current issue....
Journal Article
The Early Years: Taking Math Outside
This column discusses resources and science topics related to students in grades preK to 2. This month’s issue uses children’s interest in collecting outdoor objects to develop their number sense and to build their understanding of math concepts...
Journal Article
Teaching Through Trade Books: Becoming a Citizen Scientist
This column includes activities inspired by children’s literature. Both of this month’s activities focus on students identifying potential citizen science topics and contributing to actual research....
Journal Article
The Poetry of Science: The Math of Science
Building literacy in playful, meaningful ways. Use this poem to point out that scientists use clocks, timers, and stopwatches to collect and record information....
Journal Article
Science 101: Q: How Do Self-Driving Cars Work?
This column provides background science information for elementary teachers. This month’s issue discusses the science behind self-driving cars....
Journal Article
This column shares exercises to challenge content knowledge. This month's issue presents a new challenge and answers The Sound of One Hand Clapping challenge from last month....
Journal Article
Methods and Strategies: Ask the Right Question
This column provides ideas and techniques to enhance your science teaching. This month’s issue shows how teachers can use literature and higher-level thinking questions to enhance science instruction....
Journal Article
Engineering Encounters: The Internet of Things for Kids
This column presents ideas and techniques to enhance your science teaching. In the “Talking Window Garden” project, students create “smart” plant pots that use sensors to collect and analyze data on the health of their plants....
NSTA Press Book
Picture-Perfect STEM Lessons, 3-5: Using Children’s Books to Inspire STEM Learning
"Teachers in our district have been fans of Picture-Perfect Science for years, and it’s made a huge impact on how they fit science into their school day. We are so excited to do more of the same with these Picture-Perfect STEM books!"—Chris Gible...
By Emily Morgan, Karen Ansberry
Blog Post
Using the Crosscutting Concepts to Scaffold Student Thinking
At the recent NSTA National Conference in Los Angeles, three-dimensional learning was, of course, a major topic of discussion. When those discussions focus on classroom instruction, though, the crosscutting concepts are often the forgotten dimension....
By Cindy Workosky
Blog Post
Introducing Crosscutting Concepts in the Elementary Grades
Four years ago, I moved from teaching middle school science to teaching grades 2–5 STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) labs. One of the biggest challenges I faced was limited lab time in our elementary school. Because we ...
By Cindy Workosky
Interactive E-book Kids
Investigating Weather and Climate
Clear patterns emerge from weather data collected over time. These patterns are the foundation of what we understand as a location’s climate. By investigating the data of different climates for long-term patterns, students begin to notice that not ...
Interactive E-book Kids
The Sound All Around interactive e-book uses a variety of everyday events to introduce the concept of sound. Students explore how to make sounds, how sound travels, and how sounds are used. Characters Molly and Juan guide students to explore as they ...
Interactive E-book Kids
I Live Where I Live Because...
In order to survive in an environment, organisms have many different physical characteristics that help regulate their temperature, move, find food, and protect themselves. The students’ first analyze data from a case study on the peppered moth, le...