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Journal

Connected Science Learning January/February 2024

Journal Article

Three Transformative Leadership Practices

What does it take to prioritize science instruction in an elementary system? In this article, we’ll examine three transformative leadership practices underway in a Title-1 school district in Central Phoenix and their role in shifting the district c...

By Rebecca Abbott, Meredith Moran, and Alicia Baier Wideman, 

Elementary Administration Leadership

Journal Article

Making Science Accessible for All

It’s time for a change in mindset. We must shift our focus toward recognizing the assets and strengths of our students as a pivotal starting point. While it’s easy to identify deficits, gaps, and challenges, we must also acknowledge our students�...

By Elizabeth Barrett-Zahn

Kindergarten Pre-K Early Childhood Elementary Equity Inclusion Pedagogy Teacher Preparation Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

Career of the Month: Industrial Engineer

Industrial engineers apply math and engineering principles to make systems—comprised of humans, machines, information, materials and/or energy—more efficient and effective. They can work in a wide variety of industries, as well as academia. Eliza...

High School Careers Engineering STEM

Journal Article

How Can We Make Our Students’ Thinking Visible?

Understanding our students’ thinking is paramount to moving a lesson forward and seeing where misconceptions exist. By providing particular prompts, we can uncover their thinking, take action, and enhance the overall learning experience for our stu...

High School Equity Inclusion Inquiry Literacy News Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

Becoming Scientifically Literate: Developing Epistemic Practices through Reading Scientific Papers

To help students confront pseudoscientific claims and misinformation in their everyday lives, it is important to develop the epistemic practices of scientists in the classroom. Many of these practices can be illuminated by challenging students to rea...

By ,

High School Instructional Materials Literacy Preservice Science Education Teacher Preparation Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

Concentrating on Cross-Disciplinary Connections: Using reaction rates to help students make connections between chemistry and biology.

Too often, science courses (e.g, biology, chemistry, and physics) are disconnected from one another. When this happens, students often don’t see how the different disciplines relate to one another. For example, we have heard students ask, “Which...

By , ,

High School Biology Chemistry Crosscutting Concepts Interdisciplinary Physics Science and Engineering Practices

Journal Article

Multiple Representations and Multiple Expressions: Simulating Enzymatic Reactions to Showcase Learning

The purpose of this article is to describe a lesson aimed at teaching students the function of enzymes in order to obtain mastery of NGSS Standard HS-LS1-2. The lesson is designed to engage learners through the frameworks of the 5E process and sensem...

By ,

High School Biology Chemistry Instructional Materials Interdisciplinary Labs NGSS Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

Exploring Student Perceptions of Engagement During Maker-centered Instruction

This article explores the levels of engagement that students experience during maker-centered instruction, with a particular focus on students in two secondary STEM classrooms. The authors first define key terms related to making and maker-centered i...

By , , ,

Instructional Materials Makerspace Robotics STEM Teacher Preparation Teaching Strategies Technology

Journal Article

Teaching for Tomorrow: Scientific Literacy in the Classroom

This article describes the integrated Coding, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (CSTEM) full-year course that aligns mathematical skill-building and computational thinking while applying them to real-world problems and the ways in whi...

By , ,

Literacy Preservice Science Education Teacher Preparation Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

Conceptual and Mathematical Evolutionary Fitness models

Biological evolutionary models have become popular tools for inquiry. Models can help expose complex systems and guide experimentation. Not all research questions require modelling. However, evolutionary models are helpful at quantitative predictions...

High School Biology Evolution Mathematics Teacher Preparation Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

Using Photo-journals to Support Real-World Connections to Classroom Content

Many teachers are asked by their students how the science content they are learning in class matters in the "real world." Although these connections may be clear to expert teachers, students often require additional support and scaffolding to see how...

High School Biology Instructional Materials Interdisciplinary Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

Science L.I.A.R.S.: A Game to Combat Misinformation

Science in the wild — misinformation beyond the boundaries of the science classroom and curated media sources — threatens our culture Here, I present one fun classroom activity, in an engaging game format, that fits in the NGSS framework and can ...

Instructional Materials Literacy Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

A Solar Panel Modeling Project for Chemistry

The Solar Panel Modeling Project challenged 10th-grade chemistry students to apply knowledge of Atomic Models to explain electricity generation in a solar panel, deepening their scientific literacy about climate solutions. Here, I describe the proje...

High School Chemistry Instructional Materials Interdisciplinary Labs NGSS Physical Science Teaching Strategies