All Resources

Journal Article

Classic Lessons 2.0: Where Did the Leaves Go?

Investigating decomposition through an inquiry-based project. This lesson was designed to help students learn about the cycle of decomposition by having them investigate the decomposition of leaves....

Journal Article

Disequilibrium: The Connection Between Weather and Air Masses

This column shows how to use discrepant events to confront misconceptions. This month’s column helps explain how air masses flow from regions of high pressure to low pressure, causing weather at a fixed location to change over time as well as how s...

Journal Article

Science For All: Creating a Culturally Responsive Middle School Science Classroom

This column shares strategies for increasing student engagement. This article provides foundational strategies you can add to your classroom management repertoire to create a culturally responsive classroom. These strategies build the respect and tr...

Journal Article

Teacher To Teacher: Using Phenomena to Drive Student Questions

This column provides practical advice from your peers. Last summer’s flooding of Houston, Texas, left many wondering what caused this catastrophic event. To answer students' questions about these types of events, the authors suggest incorporating ...

Journal Article

Citizen Science: Cloudy With a Chance of “Cirrus” Science

This column highlights formal and informal science research projects that students can join and contribute to by gathering and sharing data. NASA Globe Observer (GO) Clouds is a citizen science project that combines cloud and sky observations from t...

Middle School Earth & Space Science Teaching Strategies Citizen Science Interdisciplinary

Journal Article

Interdisciplinary Ideas: Data Literacy 101

This column shares ways to bring other subjects into the science classroom. Every few months, this column will explore ways to incorporate data literacy into our classrooms. The authors will explore strategies and tips addressing common struggles mi...

Journal Article

Scope on the Skies: Ozone: The Protective Layer Above Us

This column focuses on astronomy throughout the year. This issue discusses the history of the ozone layer and what it protects humans from....

Journal Article

Earth’s Energy Budget

Unpacking the relationship between energy and temperature to understand climate change...

Journal Article

Learning Biology Through Molecular Storytelling

A storytelling approach to the connection between 3D shapes of biomolecules and their biochemical and cellular functions...

Journal Article

The Bold Fold

How a small cell does a big job...

Journal Article

Creative Visual Representation

Using science infographics to jump-start creativity in the classroom...

Journal Article

Data Jams

Promoting data literacy and science engagement while encouraging creativity...

Journal Article

Editor's Corner: Creative Science

The Science Teacher’s editor shares thoughts on the current issue....

Journal Article

Focus on Physics: Making Sense of Distribution Curves

This column helps teachers build an understanding of physical principles. This month's issue discusses simple explanations of distribution curves....

Journal Article

Career of the Month: Medical Artist

This column shares interviews with professionals using science in the workplace. This issue describes Duc Nguyen's career path to becoming a medical artist....

Journal Article

Right to the Source: Coloring the Russian Empire One Photograph at a Time

Exploring science and history with the Library of Congress. This issue discusses Prokudin-Gorskii’s work in the Library of Congress online exhibition entitled, The Empire that was Russia....

Journal Article

The Advanced Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory Course: Refinements, Reflections, and the Introduction of Earth Sciences

Recent Advanced Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory (AIRLab) course refinements—by way of the introduction of weekly reflection reports, a new digital project management platform, a revised course marking scheme with greater focus on teamwork con...

Journal Article

Polymers Course for Small Colleges and Universities

This article describes the course design and teaching methodology for a polymer chemistry and applications lecture class specifically aimed at small college and university instruction. This intermediate course for advanced undergraduates and masters-...

By Joseph Furgal

Journal Article

Water in Society: An Interdisciplinary Course to Support Undergraduate Students’ Water Literacy

The authors developed and taught an introductory undergraduate course—Water in Society—grounded in contemporary, real-world, “socio-hydrological” issues. The course, designed to serve the needs of both STEM majors and nonmajors, was designe...

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: Using POGILs and Blended Learning to Challenge Preconceptions of Student Ability in Introductory Chemistry

Success for students majoring in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) within undergraduate chemistry courses is crucial for retention in science degree programs, especially for students perceived as lacking content knowledge and s...

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: Student Identities in Authentic Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience

This study took place in a biotechnology laboratory course series that provided students with authentic research experiences. We documented student identities after the experience and explored how these identities related to future career aspiratio...

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: Higher Level Thinking Questions’ Impact on Scientific Models’ Complexity and Accuracy

Inclusion of model building in the learning process promotes a deep understanding of scientific content and concepts. Likewise, higher level questioning requires high cognitive demand and critical reasoning and leads to positive educational results. ...

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: Building Information Literacy Skills Using Science News Media: Evidence for a Hands-On Approach

News media reports of scientific discoveries are often oversimplified, lacking nuance and context. As a result, citizens need both science literacy and information literacy skills to both decode the science content in a media report and track down t...

Journal Article

Editorial: Succession

The Journal of College Science Teaching’s editor shares thoughts regarding the current issue....

Journal Article

Point of View: Critical Lesson Evaluation for Preservice Teachers

This column shares reflections or thoughtful opinions on issues of broad interest to the community. This issue discusses common science learning activites found online and the need to add thinking about how these types of activities can relate to thr...

Journal Article

Two-Year Community: A Foundation for STEM Success: A Simple and Successful Microscope Intervention in a General Biology Course at an Urban Community College

A variety of factors contribute to attrition in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education at the community college level including underpreparedness, lack of confidence, and broader socioeconomic issues. This article descri...

Journal Article

Case Study: Biology in the News: Beginning and Ending the Semester With the Big Picture

This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. In this article, the author describes how she uses current biology-related news articles to introduce...

Book Chapter

Reading Nature: Engaging Biology Students With Evidence From the Living World (Book Sample)

By making room for this book in your curriculum, you’ll have a fresh way to motivate your students to look at the living world and ask not only “Why?” but also “How do we know?” Unique in both its structure and approach, Reading Nature is a...

Book Chapter

Instructional Sequence Matters, Grades 6–8: Structuring Lessons With the NGSS in Mind (Book Sample)

Instructional Sequence Matters shows how to make simple shifts in the way you arrange and combine activities to improve student learning. It also makes it easy for you to put the NGSS into practice. After explaining why sequencing is so important, au...

Book Chapter

Engineering in the Life Sciences, 9–12 (Book Sample)

When the authors of this book took part in Project INFUSE, the National Science Foundation–funded teacher development program, they noticed something. Life science teachers were highly receptive to engineering ideas related to everything from genom...

Book Chapter

Modern Sequences of Instruction

This chapter discusses the key components of two contemporary sequences of science instruction. It presents the phases of the POE (Predict, Observe, and Explain) and 5E (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate) Instructional Models. The act...

Book Chapter

Content and Process Working Together

This chapter describes the construction of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The author shares some activities for you to reflect on lessons you currently use and the connection to components of the NGSS. By cultivating a way of thinkin...

Book Chapter

Investigating Change Using the Invisible Test Tube Demonstration

Chapters 6–9 share model lessons for putting the explore-before-explain mindset into practice using either a POE (Predict, Observe, and Explain) or 5E (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate) instructional sequence. In this chapter, the ...

Book Chapter

There’s More to Magnetism Than Certain Objects Being Attracted to Refrigerators

Chapters 6–9, share model lessons for putting the explore-before-explain mindset into practice using either a POE (Predict, Observe, and Explain) or 5E (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate) instructional sequence. This chapter explore...

Book Chapter

Making the Connection: Addressing Students’ Misconceptions of Circuits

Chapters 6–9 share model lessons for putting the explore-before-explain mindset into practice using either a POE (Predict, Observe, and Explain) or 5E (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate) instructional sequence. In this chapter, st...

Book Chapter

Gliding Into Understanding

Chapters 6–9 share model lessons for putting the explore-before-explain mindset into practice using either a POE (Predict, Observe, and Explain) or 5E (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate) instructional sequence. This chapter offers a...

Book Chapter

Leadership Can Make the Difference

This chapter takes you through five key lessons to putting an explore-before-explain mindset into practice using POE (Predict, Observe, and Explain) and 5E (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate) instructional sequences that incorporate t...