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Scientists as Partners in K–12 Science: Engineering, Science, and Technology Careers

Book Chapter

Scientists as Partners in K–12 Science: Engineering, Science, and Technology Careers

While scientific specialization has been responsible for many remarkable and rapid advances within scientific disciplines, this strength becomes a weakness when it comes time for members of various disciplines to cooperate. The Iowa Academy of Scienc...

Science Olympiad: Inspiring the Next Generation of Scientists

Book Chapter

Science Olympiad: Inspiring the Next Generation of Scientists

As our nation faces a decline in homegrown scientists and engineers, Science Olympiad continues to provide content and experiences that motivate teachers and students to become (and remain) passionate about STEM. Science Olympiad events provide a wea...

Active Learning as a Way to Interest More Students in Science Careers

Book Chapter

Active Learning as a Way to Interest More Students in Science Careers

In this chapter, the experiences of a science educator and two technology education (TE) classroom teachers are offered. The school is a rural middle school in a Midwestern state where authors collaborated to promote active learning environments, whi...

Why STEM? Why Now? The Challenge for U.S. Education to Promote STEM Careers

Book Chapter

Why STEM? Why Now? The Challenge for U.S. Education to Promote STEM Careers

The authors began this chapter with two central questions: (1) Will revitalizing STEM education, especially in America’s high schools, guarantee that graduates will choose STEM pathways in college or STEM careers when they graduate? And (2) Is it w...

Using Inquiry-Based Teaching and Kids Inquiry Conferences to Strengthen Elementary Science Instruction and to Encourage More Students to Pursue Science Careers

Book Chapter

Using Inquiry-Based Teaching and Kids Inquiry Conferences to Strengthen Elementary Science Instruction and to Encourage More Students to Pursue Science Careers

The authors begin the chapter with an assessment of the current state of science teaching and learning in elementary schools. This is followed by an examination of our collaborative work with elementary teachers. The authors describe their approach t...

NSTA’s Efforts to Interest More K–12 Students in Pursuing STEM Careers

Book Chapter

NSTA’s Efforts to Interest More K–12 Students in Pursuing STEM Careers

The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) has inspired and coordinated science education in the United States for 64 years. As the largest professional organization in the world supporting excellence and innovation in science teaching and lear...

Creating a Pipeline to STEM Careers Through Service-Learning: The AFT Program

Book Chapter

Creating a Pipeline to STEM Careers Through Service-Learning: The AFT Program

The Academy for Future Teachers (AFT) is a STEM education and career recruitment program for Metro Atlanta high school students, hosted by Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. This program was developed in response to the changing demographi...

Preparing Students for Careers That Do Not Yet Exist

Book Chapter

Preparing Students for Careers That Do Not Yet Exist

The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA), as a self-described “teaching and learning laboratory for imagination and inquiry,” has a history of pursuing innovations closely aligned with the vision and framework of the National Science E...

Learning From Successful Cooperative Models

Book Chapter

Learning From Successful Cooperative Models

Since some schools lack even a modest representation of free-living animal and plant life, it is important that school districts consider giving high priority to the establishment of cooperative off-campus teaching and research areas for nature studi...

Listening In on a Naturalist’s Experiences

Book Chapter

Listening In on a Naturalist’s Experiences

Field trips that focus primarily on wild nature are one of the quickest ways to start the nature-bonding process. The chapter details a field trip the author conducted in which he used a hands-on approach to get students directly involved, as well as...

NSTA Press Book

Integrating Engineering and Science in Your Classroom

“I still remember my very first day as a teacher. A few days earlier, my principal had given me advice: ‘Whatever you do, do not start with an overview of your course. Do something active and set the tone….’ As I nervously awaited the arrival...

Elementary High School Informal Education Middle School Engineering General Science Life Science Instructional Materials Inquiry Lesson Plans Teaching Strategies Interdisciplinary New Science Teachers Preservice Science Education Professional Learning old Teacher Preparation

Integrating Engineering and Science in Your Classroom (e-book)

eBook

Integrating Engineering and Science in Your Classroom (e-book)

“I still remember my very first day as a teacher. A few days earlier, my principal had given me advice: ‘Whatever you do, do not start with an overview of your course. Do something active and set the tone….’ As I nervously awaited the arrival...

Exemplary Science for Building Interest in STEM Careers (e-book)

eBook

Exemplary Science for Building Interest in STEM Careers (e-book)

National standards encourage science teachers to help “increase student economic productivity through the use of the knowledge, understandings, and skills of the scientifically literate person in their careers.” Exemplary Science for Building Int...

Introduction To Safety In Science

Book Chapter

Introduction To Safety In Science

This sample chapter provides an overview of general safety practices for the classroom. Topics discussed are Making Adjustments for Mobility- Impaired Students, Laboratory Safety: Welcome Aboard!, Yes, You Need a Chemical Hygiene Officer, NSTA’s Po...

Get a Grip! A Middle School Engineering Challenge

Book Chapter

Get a Grip! A Middle School Engineering Challenge

Get a Grip! is a problem-based unit that places middle school students in the role of engineers who are challenged to design and construct prosthetic arms for amputees in a war-torn country. The students use common materials to build arms that accomp...

Science Beyond the Laboratory: The Intriguing Career Paths of 14 Scientists and Engineers

Book Chapter

Science Beyond the Laboratory: The Intriguing Career Paths of 14 Scientists and Engineers

A planetary scientist working on human rights issues? A bird brain researcher hosting a radio show? In this chapter, the authors present vignettes of real scientists who found themselves traveling unique career paths that put them in jobs they didn�...

Changes Needed in Science Education for Attracting More Students to STEM Careers

Book Chapter

Changes Needed in Science Education for Attracting More Students to STEM Careers

Dr. Alberts’s editorials—Why I Became a Scientist; On Becoming a Scientist; Prioritizing Science Education; Reframing Science Standards; and An Education That Inspires—provide a “setting” for meeting Goal Four of the NSES, encouraging more ...

Designed to Invent: Camp Invention, A 21st-Century Program

Book Chapter

Designed to Invent: Camp Invention, A 21st-Century Program

With the support of foundations and corporations, Invent Now works to provide programs for all children, including traditionally underrepresented groups such as girls, minorities, inner-city youth, and families who lack the financial resources to pay...

Educating Students About Careers in Science: Why It Matters

Book Chapter

Educating Students About Careers in Science: Why It Matters

In this chapter, the authors’ analyze why school science needs to attend more to educating students about opportunities for scientific careers. The arguments of this chapter are twofold: (1) School science education fails to recognize what it is ab...

NSTA Press Book

The NSTA Ready-Reference Guide to Safer Science, Volume 2

“Most science teachers and supervisors have anemic preservice preparation on securing and maintaining safer work environments in academic laboratories. The purpose of this volume is to raise awareness of safety issues and of how to develop a safer ...

By Kenneth Russell Roy

Elementary Informal Education Middle School General Science Curriculum Instructional Materials Professional Learning old Safety Teacher Preparation

NSTA Press Book

Exemplary Science for Building Interest in STEM Careers

National standards encourage science teachers to help “increase student economic productivity through the use of the knowledge, understandings, and skills of the scientifically literate person in their careers.” Exemplary Science for Building Int...

Postsecondary Elementary High School Middle School Assessment Curriculum Instructional Materials Inquiry Lesson Plans NGSS Teaching Strategies Interdisciplinary Preservice Science Education Professional Learning old Research Teacher Preparation

Ensuring The Ethical Conduct of Research

Book Chapter

Ensuring The Ethical Conduct of Research

In this lesson, students explore the federal regulations and guidelines that have been established to help ensure the correct treatment of animals, such as the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). Students discuss acceptable and unacceptable research activities...

Measuring Student Understanding in a Portfolio-Based Course

Journal Article

Measuring Student Understanding in a Portfolio-Based Course

In this study, the authors examined student portfolio-based assessment that has been implemented in an upper-level biology course. The two sections of the portfolios analyzed were students' written reflections and questions from the inquiry section. ...

Open-Ended Inquiry

Journal Article

Open-Ended Inquiry

In this article the authors describe how to help chemistry students develop a method to answer their own research question, called open inquiry, using the reaction of hydrochloric acid and aluminum foil as an example....

Health Wise: Fight Obesity in the Classroom

Journal Article

Health Wise: Fight Obesity in the Classroom

This column provides up-to-date information on current health topics—along with classroom activities that help students make healthy choices. This month’s issue describes a classroom activity that focuses on sugar and fats in our food and drink, ...

This is Inquiry ... Right?

Journal Article

This is Inquiry ... Right?

Strategies for effectively adapting elementary science lessons....

Now You're Cooking

Journal Article

Now You're Cooking

This article discusses four labs—centered on the science of heat transfer—that define the procedure, include meaningful scientific content, and ask interesting questions. The simple extensions described lead to more complex issues and opportuniti...

Increasing Student Participation in Science Fair Competitions

Journal Article

Increasing Student Participation in Science Fair Competitions

Discover how to engage students from a population that is often underrepresented in science fairs....

Idea Bank: Adding Inquiry to Cookbook Labs

Journal Article

Idea Bank: Adding Inquiry to Cookbook Labs

The Idea Bank provides tips and techniques for creative teaching, in about 1,000 words. This month’s Idea Bank presents a new approach to add inquiry to two common biology labs: Environmental Effects on Catalase Reactions and Determining the Sucros...

Eight Ways to Do Inquiry

Journal Article

Eight Ways to Do Inquiry

This article provides a study of over 300 inquiry activities from a variety of curriculum resources and identified eight common strategies available to classroom teachers and other instructional planners....

Editor's Roundtable: Math and Science: Finding Common Ground

Journal Article

Editor's Roundtable: Math and Science: Finding Common Ground

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

Teacher's Toolkit: Recommendations for Using Computers in Science Classes: Making a Positive Impact

Journal Article

Teacher's Toolkit: Recommendations for Using Computers in Science Classes: Making a Positive Impact

This column provides how-to strategies and practical advice for the science teacher. This month’s issue provides three examples of using computers and scientific models to prepare for or engage in science lab activities....

A Virtual Tour of Plate Tectonics

Journal Article

A Virtual Tour of Plate Tectonics

This article describes how teachers can use Google Earth to support inquiry instruction in both general and Earth science classrooms....

Safer Science: Chemical Spills: Absorbing Safety

Journal Article

Safer Science: Chemical Spills: Absorbing Safety

This column provides best safety practices for the science classroom and laboratory. This month’s issue discusses how the teacher should respond to an incidental chemical spill in the school science laboratory....

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