All Resources

Journal Article

Teaching Teachers: A Passion for Science—One educator shares how she turned a fear of teaching science into excitement over hands-on science

By introducing the Hands-On Science Program at Hanson Park Elementary School in Chicago, performance improved and the fear of teaching science turned into excitement. The message is clear—develop a passion and it can become the centerpiece of learn...

Journal Article

idea Bank

The Idea Bank provides tips and techniques for creative teaching, in about 1,000 words. In this month’s Idea Bank, find out how writing physics poems can be fun and helpful, how a simple cookie can illustrate percent composition and introduce basic...

Journal Article

Chemistry Wrap Up

Class activities and independent projects for high school students using household plastic wraps can help students understand more about the chemistry of everyday objects. The activities described in this article reinforce one of the fundamental prin...

Journal Article

Earthquake Analysis

Earth science students are expected to master the travel-time curves of the seismic waves generated at the focus of an earthquake and recorded at seismograph stations. Commonly, students are required to calculate the distance to the epicenter and the...

Journal Article

Comments on Students’ Writing

As science teachers, we must provide feedback on both the science content and quality of writing demonstrated in their assignments. Unfortunately, our schedules do not always allow us to hold individual writing conferences or ask for extensive rewrit...

Journal Article

Students as Teachers

As an extra credit activity, teachers can let students take turns teaching class using the “each one teach one” approach. Student groups select an activity, write a lesson plan, create a worksheet, and then present their inquiry-based activity. T...

Journal Article

Dissecting Light

White light is composed of the entire visible light spectrum, but how do you teach this to students in a hands-on way? The answer is simple: by using a spectroscope. This easy-to-make tool allows students to dissect light and in the process, develop ...

Journal Article

Commentary: Starry Starry Night

An opinion piece about what a truly dark sky looks like—the magic, the infinity, the glorious majesty, and the overwhelming feeling of being a part of something far greater than everyday life....

Journal Article

Science Scenarios

In recent years, the scientific community has emphasized the importance of making science content more meaningful to high school students. One effective technique that helps teachers facilitate student learning is role-playing. By participating in ro...

Journal Article

What Might Happen If . . .?

The lessons many students learn in traditional school curricula are too removed from the problems they encounter in daily life to be useful. One tool that can be used in the classroom to help students analyze and understand the consequences of events...