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With 101 easy and inexpensive activities to do on school grounds, Schoolyard Science can help students develop their observation and inquiry skills as well as an appreciation of their outdoor environment. Covering topics such as lower plants, gardens, insects and other invertebrates, energy, and Earth science, Thomas Lord and Holly Travis provide activities that will help teachers become more comfortable with incorporating the outdoors into their curriculum.
With 101 easy and inexpensive activities to do on school grounds, Schoolyard Science can help students develop their observation and inquiry skills as well as an appreciation of their outdoor environment. Covering topics such as lower plants, gardens, insects and other invertebrates, energy, and Earth science, Thomas Lord and Holly Travis provide activities that will help teachers become more comfortable with incorporating the outdoors into their curriculum.
How well can your students …
• Explain the distribution of earthquakes?
• Model volcanic eruptions?
• Demonstrate plate motions and interactions?
• Describe seafloor changes?
• Think in terms of geologic time?
How well can your students …
• Explain the distribution of earthquakes?
• Model volcanic eruptions?
• Demonstrate plate motions and interactions?
• Describe seafloor changes?
• Think in terms of geologic time?
How well can your students …
• Illustrate the reason for Earth’s seasons?
• Explain how far a light year is?
• Simulate the phases of the Moon?
• Describe the effects of greenhouse gases?
• Connect astronomy to other Earth system science?
How well can your students …
• Illustrate the reason for Earth’s seasons?
• Explain how far a light year is?
• Simulate the phases of the Moon?
• Describe the effects of greenhouse gases?
• Connect astronomy to other Earth system science?
Authors Susan Koba and Carol Mitchell introduce teachers of grades 3–5 to their conceptual framework for successful instruction of hard-to-teach science concepts. Their methodology comprises four steps: (1) engage students about their preconceptions and address their thinking; (2) target lessons to be learned; (3) determine appropriate strategies; and (4) use Standards-based teaching that builds on student understandings.
Authors Susan Koba and Carol Mitchell introduce teachers of grades 3–5 to their conceptual framework for successful instruction of hard-to-teach science concepts. Their methodology comprises four steps: (1) engage students about their preconceptions and address their thinking; (2) target lessons to be learned; (3) determine appropriate strategies; and (4) use Standards-based teaching that builds on student understandings.

Companion Classroom Activities for Stop Faking It! Force and Motion

Never has it been so easy for educators to learn to teach physical science with confidence. Award-winning author Bill Robertson launched his bestselling Stop Faking It! series with Force and Motion—offering elementary and middle school teachers a jargon-free way to learn the background for teaching physical science with confidence. Combining easy-to-understand—if irreverent—explanations and quirky diagrams, Stop Faking It! Force and Motion helped thousands of teachers, parents, and homeschoolers conquer topics from Newton’s laws to the physics of space travel.
Never has it been so easy for educators to learn to teach physical science with confidence. Award-winning author Bill Robertson launched his bestselling Stop Faking It! series with Force and Motion—offering elementary and middle school teachers a jargon-free way to learn the background for teaching physical science with confidence. Combining easy-to-understand—if irreverent—explanations and quirky diagrams, Stop Faking It! Force and Motion helped thousands of teachers, parents, and homeschoolers conquer topics from Newton’s laws to the physics of space travel.

Hard-to-Teach Science Concepts: A Framework to Support Learners, Grades 3–5

Authors Susan Koba and Carol Mitchell introduce teachers of grades 3–5 to their conceptual framework for successful instruction of hard-to-teach science concepts. Their methodology comprises four steps: (1) engage students about their preconceptions and address their thinking; (2) target lessons to be learned; (3) determine appropriate strategies; and (4) use Standards-based teaching that builds on student understandings.
Authors Susan Koba and Carol Mitchell introduce teachers of grades 3–5 to their conceptual framework for successful instruction of hard-to-teach science concepts. Their methodology comprises four steps: (1) engage students about their preconceptions and address their thinking; (2) target lessons to be learned; (3) determine appropriate strategies; and (4) use Standards-based teaching that builds on student understandings.
 

Twitter in your toolkit?

By Mary Bigelow

Posted on 2011-05-28

A wise professor once told us, “If the only tool you have is a hammer, pretty soon everything starts to look like a nail.” My takeaway from that class was that teachers need a variety of tools, from basic strategies to more specialized ones. And adding tools to the toolkit is part of professional development.
Recently, I’ve added Twitter to my toolkit. At first, I must admit, tweeting seemed like a pleasant diversion, but I’m experiencing its potential for professional development and communication. The other evening, I “attended” an event that began with a podcast of background information on a specific topic. Then the participants (several hundred from across the country) began conversations by tweeting questions/answers, observations, comments, and suggesting websites for further information. I had another person with me during the event, so we had the best of both—social media and face-to-face interactions. How did I learn about this podcasting/tweeting event? From Facebook (another item in my toolkit)—not bad for someone who started a career in science with a slide rule.
More on Twitter as a classroom, communication, or PD tool:

Be on the alert for NSTA’s next tweetchat—join in (or just lurk) and learn.
 
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bekkchen/441704675/sizes/m/in/photostream/

A wise professor once told us, “If the only tool you have is a hammer, pretty soon everything starts to look like a nail.” My takeaway from that class was that teachers need a variety of tools, from basic strategies to more specialized ones. And adding tools to the toolkit is part of professional development.

• How can water and a penny demonstrate the power of mathematics and molecular theory?
• Do spelling and punctuation really matter to the human brain?
• How can water and a penny demonstrate the power of mathematics and molecular theory?
• Do spelling and punctuation really matter to the human brain?
• What can a chocolate chip cookie tell us about the Earth’s resources and the importance of environmental conservation?
• How can a clear, colorless spray solution unveil a hidden message on a blank sign?
• What can a chocolate chip cookie tell us about the Earth’s resources and the importance of environmental conservation?
• How can a clear, colorless spray solution unveil a hidden message on a blank sign?
 

Student blogs replace worksheets

By Eric Brunsell

Posted on 2011-05-23

Blogs provide a great way to extend the classroom beyond your 45 minute class period.  They can be used in a variety of ways to spark discussion and student research.  Chris Ludwig, a high school science teacher in Colorado, wrote this blog post to show how he used blogs this year to fundamentally change the way he assigned homework.

One of the major changes that I made this year was to switch to using individual student blogs as the centerpiece of student assessment (the other major change was to implement standards-based grading). I started using student blogs for a number of reasons including:

  1. I was tired of grading worksheets with the same copied answers on them.
  2. I realized that these worksheets weren’t always helpful in learning content, and in fact, much of the time they got in the way of learning.
  3. Student in my classes have access to a MacBook cart whenever they are in my classroom and we have fantastically dependable wireless internet connectivity for these laptops (yay tech support!).
  4. Blogging platforms like Blogger and WordPress are free.
  5. I’m increasingly wary of multiple choice anything as real assessment and wanted students to write more.
  6. I wanted students to have a permanent, online record of their achievement throughout the year, not some pile of papers shoved in a binder (or trash can).
  7. I wanted students to have an audience for their work that would include each other, their families, the community, and the world.

Ludwig continues,

So how did we use the blogs? They became the go-to location to post assignments for me to read and grade. For a week or two, though, I operated a lot like I did last year, posting assignments on Edmodo and using its great assignment features to have students turn things in online, as well as posting them to their blogs. I realized that this was a duplication of effort and soon instead of sending out “assignments” in Edmodo, I just sent files and links as “notes.” This meant that these resources no longer came with a due date and that I was not using Edmodo to see who turned in which assignments.

Read the full post here.

Blogs provide a great way to extend the classroom beyond your 45 minute class period.  They can be used in a variety of ways to spark discussion and student research.  Chris Ludwig, a high school science teacher in Colorado, wrote this blog post to show how he used blogs this year to fundamentally change the way he assigned homework.

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