Middle School Resources

Grades 6-8, is a time of tremendous physical, emotional, and cognitive changes for students. It is also a pivotal time for understanding and gaining enthusiasm for science.

Featured Resources

Sandy and Dusty Worlds

Journal Article

Iguanas from Above

Journal Article

Playing With Garbage

Journal Article

The Birds and the Bees, the Flowers and the Trees

Journal Article

Journal and Lesson Plans

Middle School Journal

Lesson Plans

NSTA Competitions

Shell Science Lab Challenge

For teachers

eCYBERMISSION

For teachers and students, grades 6-9

Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision

For students, grades K-12

Bestselling Middle School Books

NSTA Press Book

Novel Engineering, K–8: An Integrated Approach to Engineering and Literacy

New in 2020! Download and read a sample chapter from this book to learn more.With the Novel Engineering approach, “students become excited about wha...

NSTA Press Book

The NSTA Atlas of the Three Dimensions

New in 2020! Download and read a sample chapter from this book to learn more.A key aspect of learning in K–12 education is the idea that what studen...

NSTA Press Book

Uncovering Student Ideas About Engineering and Technology: 32 New Formative Assessment Probes

New in 2020! Download and read a sample chapter from this book to learn more.Have you been wondering how well your students understand engineering and...

NSTA Press Book

Creating Engineering Design Challenges: Success Stories From Teachers

If you’ve ever wished for advice you can trust on how to make science and math more relevant to your middle or high school students, Creating Engine...

Latest Resources

Blog Post

Science Instructional Space Safety Signage

Reports Article

Freebies and Opportunities for Science and STEM Teachers, November 28, 2023

Reports Article

Freebies and Opportunities for Science and STEM Teachers, November 21, 2023

Reports Article

Freebies and Opportunities for Science and STEM Teachers, November 14, 2023

Web Seminar

Science Update: The Grand Challenge of Coral Reef Sustainability, March 7, 2024

Join us on Thursday, March 7, 2024, from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM ET, for an edition of NSTA’s Science Update about coral reef ecosystems. Even optimis...

Web Seminar

Web Seminar: Fostering Community: Ideas and Best Practices for Diversity in Science Education, December 12, 2023

Join us on Tuesday, December 12, 2023, from 7:00 PM to 8:15 PM ET, for a thought-provoking web seminar aimed at fostering a deeper understanding of di...

Reports Article

Freebies and Opportunities for Science and STEM Teachers, November 7, 2023

Journal Article

Beavers From Space!

Beavers are social mammals who live in groups, known as colonies, and they construct dams and lodges, which modify the surrounding landscape. In their...

Journal Article

Poetry in Science

Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins said, “There are those who fear reason as cold, bleak, cheerless, unpoetic. That’s not just untrue; it’s ...

Journal Article

Using iNaturalist to Support Place-Based Learning and Data Analysis

Often, we think that to learn about nature, students must be in a “natural” place to experience the environment, but this assumption can be proble...

Journal Article

Questioning the Relationships

Questions are powerful tools teachers can use to understand and scaffold students’ thinking (Clough 2007). However, not all questions are equally ef...

Journal Article

Teach Sublimation With Markers!

Sublimation, the change of state from solid to gas, is a challenging concept for many students to grasp and a curious phenomenon to investigate. Our e...

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