JoinAll Resources
Journal Article
Creating Science Assessments That Support Inquiry
This article discusses the resources available for teachers to apply higher-level thinking and cognitive complexity to their instruction and assessments....
Journal Article
Students engage in inquiry science to solve the mystery of bones....
Journal Article
Applying Scientific Principles to Resolve Student Misconceptions
Using sinking and floating as an example, this article introduces a method to guide students to solve misconception problems by using scientific principles....
Journal Article
Everyday Engineering: It's Stuck on You
This column provides an inside look at the marvels of engineering in everyday life. This month's issue takes a closer look at adhesive bandages....
Journal Article
This article describes using learning centers to advance English language learners' linguistic fluency....
Journal Article
A Traveler's Guide to the Universe
Summer enrichment activities about space keep students' minds engaged wherever they travel....
Journal Article
Engaging Students in the Scientific Practices of Explanation and Argumentation
This article examines the sixth and seventh practices concerning explanation and argumentation, found in A Framework for K–12 Science Education....
Journal Article
Guest Editorial: Misunderstanding Misconceptions
An opinion piece about the different ways teachers view misconceptions....
Journal Article
Formative Assessment Probes: Food for Plants: A Bridging Concept
This column focuses on promoting learning through assessment. This month’s issue discusses whether students think plants need food or not....
Journal Article
Science 101: How Do Binoculars Work?
This column provides background science information for elementary teachers. In this month’s issue the author reveals the science behind binoculars....
Journal Article
This article shows how teachers can use common instructional methods to ensure that students, including ELLs, understand the language of science, construct new concepts, and simultaneously develop academic English abilities....
Journal Article
This article provides ideas for introducing students to herpetology....
Journal Article
Students explore a new kind of testing—of soil—and learn about plant needs and how to analyze results....
Journal Article
Science Shorts: Truffula Tree Troubles
This column provides classic classroom activities that emphasize science process skills. In this month’s issue the author discusses how to use The Lorax to engage students in a rich exploration of renewable and non-renewable resources....
Journal Article
Tech Trek: A Coruscating Star in the Calvalcade of Electronic Devices: The iPad
This column provides a look at the latest technology for science educators. This month's issue focuses on the iPad....
Journal Article
Engaging Students in the Scientific Practices of Explanation and Argumentation
This article examines the sixth and seventh practices concerning explanation and argumentation, which are highlighted in A Framework for K–12 Science Education....
Journal Article
Investigating Students' Ideas About the Flow of Matter and Energy in Living Systems
In this article we describe strategies for eliciting student thinking, common responses to elicitation prompts, and implications for moving students' thinking forward....
Journal Article
By using a preassessment of chemical and physical change, teachers can become better equipped to bridge conceptual gaps through instruction....
Journal Article
The Early Years: Summer Science
This column discusses resources and science topics related to students in grades preK to 2. This month’s issue discusses summer science notebooks....
Journal Article
Scope on the Skies: "I'm Your Venus"
This column focuses on astronomy throughout the year. This month’s issue centers on Venus, the Kepler Mission, and the annular solar eclipse....
Journal Article
Folding Inquiry Into Cookbook Lab Activities
Learn how to convert teacher-directed, highly structured lessons into more open-ended inquiry experiences that allow for student input, wonder, and individual exploration....
eBook
Forensics in Chemistry: The Case of Kirsten K. (e-book)
Forensics seems to have the unique ability to maintain student interest and promote content learning…. I still have students approach me from past years and ask about the forensics case and specific characters from the story. I have never had a stu...
eBook
Uncovering Student Ideas in Astronomy: 45 New Formative Assessment Probes (e-book)
What do your students know—or think they know—about what causes night and day, why days are shorter in winter, and how to tell a planet from a star? Find out with this book on astronomy, the latest in NSTA’s popular Uncovering Student Ideas in ...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the shape of the Earth. The probe is designed to find out how students reconcile the idea that the Earth is round, represented by the globe that they are taught about in school...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about relative size. The probe is designed to find out how large students think the Earth is compared with the Sun. ...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the changing length of daylight with the change in seasons. The probe is designed to find out if students can relate the apparent path of the Sun as seen from Earth to the length of dayli...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about why the constellations change with the seasons. The probe is designed to find out how students use the Earth’s spin and orbit to explain why different constellations are visi...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about when we can see the Moon. The probe is designed to reveal whether students recognize that the Moon can be seen at different times during the daylight hours as well as at night...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about why the Moon appears to have different shapes at different times. The probe is designed to find out if students confuse the explanation for a lunar eclipse with the explanation...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the shape of the Earth. The probe is designed to find out if students grasp the idea that the spherical Earth applies to the actual Earth beneath their feet. ...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ understanding of the Earth- Sun-Moon system well enough to explain the causes of Moon phases and solar eclipses and how these two phenomena are related. ...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the Moon’s motion. The probe is designed not only to find out if students know how long it takes for the Moon to make a complete rotation but also to uncover whether they thi...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about Moon phases when observed from different locations. The probe is designed to determine if students are able to take the “space point of view” when thinking about Moon phas...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about how much of the spherical Moon is lit by the Sun at any point in time. The probe is designed to reveal whether students recognize that at any point in time the Sun shines on ha...
Book Chapter
Does the Earth Go Through Phases?
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about “Earth phases” and “Earth sets.” The probe is designed to find out if students understand the Earth-Sun-Moon system well enough to imagine how the Earth would appe...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about gravity. The probe is designed to determine whether students understand the role of gravity in maintaining the Moon in its orbit....
Book Chapter
What’s Inside Our Solar System?
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the solar system. The probe is designed to find out if students can distinguish between objects in the solar system and objects outside of the solar system and recognize that t...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about representations of the solar system. The probe is designed to reveal students’ ideas about the overall shape of the solar system and the planets within it. ...