All Resources

Journal Article

The Early Years: An Activity for Every Child

This column discusses resources and science topics related to students in grades preK to 2. This month’s issue has students developing a seed-planting activity that allows all children to actively participate and document their understanding of see...

Early Childhood Elementary Pre-service Teachers Preschool Disabilities Equity Inclusion Inquiry Life Science NGSS Science and Engineering Practices Teaching Strategies

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Formative Assessment Probes: Uncovering Representations of the Water Cycle

This column focuses on promoting learning through assessment. This month’s issue explores the effect of representations on children’s thinking about evaporation and the water cycle....

Elementary Earth & Space Science Environmental Science Assessment

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Teaching Through Trade Books: Energy Explorations

This column includes activities inspired by children’s literature. Young students should understand that sunlight warms the Earth and be able to make decisions about maximizing energy by using different types of materials and locations to keep obje...

Early Childhood Elementary Preschool 5E Instructional Materials

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The Poetry of Science: Seeing Clearly

Building literacy in playful, meaningful ways to learn about vision correction....

Elementary General Science Lesson Plans Teaching Strategies Literacy

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Science 101: Why Do Computers Keep Getting Smaller and Smaller?

This column provides background science information for elementary teachers. This month’s issue discusses the history of why computers have reduced in size....

Elementary Middle School Computer Science Engineering Physics Technology Professional Learning old

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Science 102: A Bunny of a Different Color

This column shares exercises to challenge content knowledge. This month's issue presents a new challenge and answers the Ghostly Images challenge from last month....

Elementary High School Middle School Life Science Inquiry Phenomena Labs

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Engineering Encounters: Identifying an Engineering Design Problem

This column presents ideas and techniques to enhance your science teaching. Engineering a pancake recipe gives fifth graders a taste of chemistry in everyday life....

Elementary Physical Science

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Teaching Teachers: The Scientist Showcase

This column enhances the repertoire of preservice and inservice teachers. A tool for highlighting diverse scientists in the elementary classroom....

Elementary General Science Preservice Science Education Teacher Preparation

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Methods and Strategies: Teaching the Nature of Science to Elementary Students

This column provides ideas and techniques to enhance your science teaching. This month’s issue shares activities so that elementary students can learn about Nature of Science. When effectively integrated into inquiry investigations through proper s...

Elementary Preschool Earth & Space Science General Science Crosscutting Concepts Instructional Materials Learning Progression Lesson Plans NGSS Pedagogy Teaching Strategies Multicultural New Science Teachers Preservice Science Education Teacher Preparation

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Where Does the Energy Go?

Using evidence-based reasoning to explore relationships between energy and motion....

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A Compound Problem

Modeling how CFCs deplete the ozone layer....

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A Polarizing View

An unconventional use of microscopes for teaching high school geology and physics....

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Build an Interactive Word Wall

Connecting scientific concepts with academic vocabulary....

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Where the Money Is

A framework for applying for grants....

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Editor’s Corner: New Year, New Look

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

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The Green Room: The Top 5 Environmental Stories of 2017

This column focuses on making your teaching more environmentally friendly. This month’s issue highlights top environmental news....

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Focus on Physics: Our Molecular Selves

This column helps teachers build an understanding of physical principles. This month's issue discusses atoms and molecules....

Journal Article

Career of the Month: Robotics Engineer

This column shares interviews with professionals using science in the workplace. This month’s issue describes Kevin Dowling's career path to becoming a Robotics Engineer....

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Right to the Source: Invention vs. Innovation

Exploring science and history with the Library of Congress. This month's issue discusses the content of photographs of Thomas Edison and Emile Berliner....

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Re-Formative Assessment: One Teacher’s Approach to Integrating Science Within Science to Reassess Student Understanding

Create open-ended prompts that integrate prior knowledge....

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Creating a Positive Feedback Culture: Eight Practical Principles to Improve Students’ Learning

Learn how to elicit evidence of student learning, provide effective feedback, and extend student learning beyond the assessment....

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Wilderness Water Crisis: Next Generation Science Standards–Aligned Assessments for an Energy Activity

Use a real-world scenario to engage in the scientific practice of collecting, analyzing, graphing, and interpreting data....

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Integrating Technology: Bringing Science to Life

This column shares how teachers use technology for assessment, student learning, or classroom management. Using social learning to make real-world connections in science....

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Teacher’s Toolkit: The Four Elements of the Claim, Evidence, Reasoning, and Rebuttal (CERR) Framework

This column provides how-to strategies and practical advice for the science teacher. The CERR framework helps students synthesize science investigations, data analysis, and scientific concepts by having them focus on four elements: Claim, Evidence, R...

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From the Editor’s Desk: Engaging Students in Learning Through Assessment

Science Scope’s editor shares thoughts regarding the current issue....

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Commentary: Installing Glass Walls and Doors in the Science Classroom

An opinion piece about a science teacher team framework for improving student achievement....

Journal Article

Citizen Science: Birds, Binoculars, and Biodiversity

This column highlights formal and informal science research projects that students can join and contribute to by gathering and sharing data. Count birds and contribute to citizen science with the Great Backyard Bird Count....

Journal Article

Disequilibrium: Why Is Regular Soda Denser Than Diet Soda?

This column shows how to use discrepant events to confront misconceptions. This month’s discrepant event helps students visualize the difference between the densities of diet and regular soda and learn about the nutritional differences between the ...

Journal Article

Listserv Roundup: Technology tools for paperless formative assessment

This column shares recent conversations taken from the NSTA listserv community about current science education topics. This month’s column focuses on technology tools that NSTA e-mail listserv members use for formative assessment....

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Science for All: Encouraging Academic Talk

This column shares strategies for increasing student engagement. Strategies for engaging all learners in classroom conversations....

Journal Article

Teacher to Teacher: The Steps of a Conceptual Storyline

This column provides practical advice from your peers. This month describes the steps involved in writing a conceptual storyline, a sequence of lessons designed to clarify relationships between concepts....

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Scope on the Skies: Timely Motions of the Earth and Moon

This column focuses on astronomy throughout the year. During the first few days of January, the Earth reaches perihelion, the closest it will come to the Sun each year. The Earth’s perihelion does not occur on the same day or time. When the Earth r...

Journal Article

Data Modeling for Preservice Teachers and Everyone Else

Although data modeling, the employment of statistical reasoning for the purpose of investigating questions about the world, is central to both mathematics and science, it is rarely emphasized in K–16 instruction. This article focuses on developing ...

Journal Article

Providing Opportunities for Argumentation in Science Exam Settings

This article explores undergraduates’ efforts to engage in scientific argumentation during exam settings....

Journal Article

Integration, Authenticity, and Relevancy in College Science Through Engineering Design

An engineering design problem-solving framework was used to create a general chemistry lab activity focused on an important environmental issue—dead zones. Dead zones impact over 400 locations around the world and are a result of nutrient pollutio...

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Physics Meets Art in the General Education Core

This article describes a general education course offering, Physics and the Arts. During the development of this course, physics and arts faculty collaborated closely. Goals of the course are to increase students’ engagement with physics and to dev...

Journal Article

Two-Year Community: Tools for Success: A Study of the Resources and Study Habits of General Chemistry I Students at Two Community Colleges

Recruitment and retention in the sciences is both difficult and crucial, especially in the community college setting. In this study, the resources used by General Chemistry I students at two different public, predominantly two-year colleges in two s...

Journal Article

Case Study: Skinny Genes? An Interdisciplinary Look at a Complex Behavioral Disorder

This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. This directed case study uses a progressive disclosure model to expose students to the multiple facet...

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: Assessing the Effectiveness of Sustainability Learning

This study investigated the interaction of disciplinary and interdisciplinary learning in a team-taught, first-year, interdisciplinary sustainability course. We surveyed (pre/post) both STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and non...

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: Structure and Evaluation of a Flipped General Chemistry Course as a Model for Small and Large Gateway Science Courses at an Urban Public Institution

In this article, the authors describe their approach to flipping the General Chemistry sequence at two different colleges within the City University of New York, a large, urban public university system. Our results indicate that the flipped model le...