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The Coldest Time of the Day

Book Chapter

The Coldest Time of the Day

The purpose of this story used in this chapter is to help students learn about the source of heat energy that warms their planet. Of course that is the Sun, and it only has an effect on the temperature of the Earth when it is shining on a particula...

Frosty Morning

Book Chapter

Frosty Morning

The theme of the story can be summed up in one word: microclimates. Have you noticed that there are variations among the temperatures broadcasted on your radio or TV and your own thermometer? Have you noticed that there are differences in temperature...

Master Gardener

Book Chapter

Master Gardener

This story is designed to spur an inquiry activity about the process of weathering and soil formation. Evidence lies all around us if we look closely enough and ask the right questions. Eddie is helping us by asking some of these questions and the au...

A Day on Bare Mountain

Book Chapter

A Day on Bare Mountain

Students may have the idea that all mountains are volcanoes and were formed by eruptions. The story in this chapter brings up questions about the geology of mountains and the weathering and erosion that takes place as nature breaks down the higher la...

What Are The Chances?

Book Chapter

What Are The Chances?

Your students will probably not be aware of the amount of water that covers the Earth’s surface. The story in this chapter will help introduce students not only to a clearer idea of the characteristics of our planet, but also to the concepts of pro...

Here’s The Crusher

Book Chapter

Here’s The Crusher

Many of your younger students do not believe that air around us has mass or weight, let alone exerts pressure on us and on everything around us. So, the idea that the atmosphere in which we walk actually has mass and can exert pressure on our world m...

Rotten Apples

Book Chapter

Rotten Apples

In 1991 and 1992, John Leach, Bonnie Shapiro, and the author did a study in which they interviewed approximately 400 students from the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States about their beliefs surrounding the decay of an apple over a year’s...

Is the Earth Getting Heavier?

Book Chapter

Is the Earth Getting Heavier?

The author’s research and that of others show that children have a difficult time understanding the recycling of organic matter in an ecosystem. The story in this chapter aims to have students speculate about what happens to organic material over t...

The Case for STEM Education: Challenges and Opportunities (e-book)

eBook

The Case for STEM Education: Challenges and Opportunities (e-book)

If you’re an education leader concerned with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) initiatives, this book will help you both understand and implement STEM action plans. The book starts by putting STEM in context, as the early cha...

Including Students With Disabilities in Advanced Science Classes (e-book)

eBook

Including Students With Disabilities in Advanced Science Classes (e-book)

Are you an experienced science teacher who needs a foundation in special education basics when students with disabilities are placed in your advanced classes? Then this book is the resource for you. Both practical and readable, this book will help yo...

Diagnosis for Classroom Success, Student Edition: Making Anatomy and Physiology Come Alive (e-book)

eBook

Diagnosis for Classroom Success, Student Edition: Making Anatomy and Physiology Come Alive (e-book)

“When I entered the teaching profession, I was stunned by the lack of interest my high school students had in science education. The traditional model of teaching science, often referred to as ‘chalk-and-talk’ with the occasional laboratory mix...

Diagnosis for Classroom Success, Teacher Edition: Making Anatomy and Physiology Come Alive (e-book)

eBook

Diagnosis for Classroom Success, Teacher Edition: Making Anatomy and Physiology Come Alive (e-book)

“When I entered the teaching profession, I was stunned by the lack of interest my high school students had in science education. The traditional model of teaching science, often referred to as ‘chalk-and-talk’ with the occasional laboratory mix...

How Is STEM Education Reform Different From Other Education Reforms?

Book Chapter

How Is STEM Education Reform Different From Other Education Reforms?

“How is this education reform different from any other reform?” In the context of this chapter, the answer to this question is what differentiates STEM reform from other reforms, such as the Sputnik era. This chapter has three parts. The first pa...

Let’s Diagnose Them, Lab 3:<i>Blood Smears</i>

Book Chapter

Let’s Diagnose Them, Lab 3:<i>Blood Smears</i>

In the student version of this activity, your students are beginning to think that some of their patients’ symptoms may be caused by either a pathogen or a genetic disorder. The students will analyze the red blood cells. This sample chapter also in...

Teacher Guide for Let’s Diagnose Them, Lab 3: Blood Smears

Book Chapter

Teacher Guide for Let’s Diagnose Them, Lab 3: Blood Smears

In the teacher version of this activity, your students are beginning to think that some of their patients’ symptoms may be caused by either a pathogen or a genetic disorder. The students will analyze the red blood cells. This sample chapter also in...

Introduction To The <i>NGSS</i>

Book Chapter

Introduction To The <i>NGSS</i>

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) consists of a series of standards for grades kindergarten through 12. In rather straightforward terms, the NGSS has only two specific purposes beyond its broad vision for science education, namely (1) to ...

The Framework and History

Book Chapter

The Framework and History

The best preparation for the NGSS is a thorough understanding of the Framework. This chapter provides a brief overview of portions of the Framework, including Part I, Part II, and Part III. A brief history of the Framework's development is also prov...

Getting Started

Book Chapter

Getting Started

The new standards promote a vision that the instruction and the learning your students experience should change significantly. An early piece of front matter in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) that lists the conceptual shifts called for ...

Moving From the <i>NGSS</i> to Instruction

Book Chapter

Moving From the <i>NGSS</i> to Instruction

This chapter outlines a dynamic, active process for understanding how each component of a standard interacts with the other components by developing an instructional sequence starting with one or possibly two performance expectations. It is a roadmap...

A Guide for Leading a Study Group on the Total Curriculum

Book Chapter

A Guide for Leading a Study Group on the Total Curriculum

The procedure outlined in this chapter is the next step in understanding the full array of what is in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and will prepare your team for the more comprehensive step of examining what is in the entire document,...

Implementation

Book Chapter

Implementation

The vision of the Framework and the Next Generation Science Standards will be realized only if significant changes in instruction, instructional materials, assessments, curriculum, and professional development are implemented at the state and local l...

Earning Your White Coats:<i> Medical School Research</i>

Book Chapter

Earning Your White Coats:<i> Medical School Research</i>

In order to graduate medical school, all students must complete the research portion of this project. All medical students are required to investigate, as thoroughly as possible, the causes of, symptoms of, and potential treatments for four health c...

What's Wrong With Me, Doc? <i>Analyzing Medical Records</i>

Book Chapter

What's Wrong With Me, Doc? <i>Analyzing Medical Records</i>

This chapter focuses on a residency program at Vanguard Hospital. The students are asked to analyze four patients’ medical records containing their symptoms, lifestyle habits, and family medical histories. With respect to privacy, these records are...

Let's Diagnose Them, Lab 1: <i>Urinalysis</i>

Book Chapter

Let's Diagnose Them, Lab 1: <i>Urinalysis</i>

In medical school, students learn about the excretory system and its urinary track. A urinalysis can determine the state of one’s health by examining physical and chemical properties of urine. In this chapter, four patients have submitted urine sam...

Let's Diagnose Them, Lab 2:<i> Digestive By-Products and Body Mass Index Analysis</i>

Book Chapter

Let's Diagnose Them, Lab 2:<i> Digestive By-Products and Body Mass Index Analysis</i>

In this chapter, two of the four patients are experiencing digestive issues. A team of doctors will run tests on the digestive by-products of these two patients, while the students will be expected to formulate an even deeper hypothesis about the con...

Let's Diagnose Them, Lab 4: <i>HIV Test</i>

Book Chapter

Let's Diagnose Them, Lab 4: <i>HIV Test</i>

In this chapter, based on blood samples recently analyzed, one of the four patients has a very low white blood cell (WBC) count. This is alarming since it might indicate the patient is suffering from a viral infection. Since all of the patients reque...

Let's Diagnose Them, Lab 5:<i> Lung Capacity</i>

Book Chapter

Let's Diagnose Them, Lab 5:<i> Lung Capacity</i>

In this chapter, all four patients are experiencing difficulty breathing. Students will determine the lung capacity of each patient using a spirometer, which requires the patient to exhale deeply in order to determine if diseases such as asthma, pne...

Let's Diagnose Them, Lab 6:<i> Hormone Test</i>

Book Chapter

Let's Diagnose Them, Lab 6:<i> Hormone Test</i>

The endocrine system produces hormones that help regulate the body’s internal organs. Hormones are chemical messengers sent through the bloodstream and when too little or too much is produced, it is often an indication that something is wrong. In t...

Emergency! Lab 7:<i> Performing Surgery</i>

Book Chapter

Emergency! Lab 7:<i> Performing Surgery</i>

In this chapter, doctors are unsuccessful in reviving a patient who is an organ donor. Students are called upon to perform the donation surgery, with the job of identifying and removing various organs from the patient’s body. In the United States, ...

The Ominous Phone Call

Book Chapter

The Ominous Phone Call

A diagnosis for each of the four patients has finally been developed. Before releasing them from the hospital, students must complete the medical charts and provide the pharmacist with the information under the sections Diagnosis, Treatments, and Pro...

Evaluating the Docs

Book Chapter

Evaluating the Docs

In this chapter, students are asked to present their findings for evaluation. They are asked to develop a presentation that encompasses appropriate data tables and graphs to explain the patients’ conditions. For more information on how to implement...

Overview

Book Chapter

Overview

This overview covers the approach to the book, why this approach, and how this approach can fit into classroom routines. It also provides the best way to use the Teacher Edition and recommends reading the Before the Lesson, During the Lesson, and Aft...

Aligning to Standards

Book Chapter

Aligning to Standards

This chapter explicitly states how the book aligns with both the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), so that science educators can easily express to administrators, parents, students, and fellow collea...

Teacher Prep Made Easy

Book Chapter

Teacher Prep Made Easy

This chapter provides a list of supplies required for implementing all activities within this book. It is highly recommended that science educators purchase these supplies in advance to ensure that all materials are available for use....

Teacher Guide for Earning Your White Coats: Medical School Research

Book Chapter

Teacher Guide for Earning Your White Coats: Medical School Research

In order to graduate medical school, all students must complete the research portion of this project. All medical students are required to investigate, as thoroughly as possible, the causes of, symptoms of, and potential treatments for four health c...

Teacher Guide for What's Wrong With Me, Doc? Analyzing Medical Records

Book Chapter

Teacher Guide for What's Wrong With Me, Doc? Analyzing Medical Records

This chapter focuses on a residency program at Vanguard Hospital. The students analyze four patients’ medical records containing their symptoms, lifestyle habits, and family medical histories. Once the team has developed a hypothesis for each patie...

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