JoinAll Resources
Journal Article
Translanguaging as an Essential Practice in Socially Just Science Classrooms
In this interaction, Manuel and Rico (all names are pseudonyms) expertly mix Spanish and English to communicate as they collect data in a ninth grade physics lab. Your reaction to this mixture of English and Spanish, what users sometimes call “Span...
By Sarah Braden and Taylor Dexter
Journal Article
Teaching Students to Read Equations
The laws of nature are expressed in equation form in all physics courses. How these laws are taught can vary widely. In this article, I expand on previous Focus on Physics articles, particularly the March 2022 article “The Importance of Reading Equ...
By Paul G. Hewitt
Journal Article
Science concepts connect us to the wonders of the natural universe. Why is the sky blue? [Air molecules behave much like tiny little tuning forks.] Is there gravity in space? [Yes, it extends to infinity.] What do fish “breathe” underwater? [It�...
By John Suchocki
Journal Article
Promoting Learning for All Through Explore-Before-Explain
The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) highlight the importance of creating more equitable learning environments and engaging all students in science (NGSS Lead States 2013). In professional learning, we target the hands-on, minds-on experience...
By Patrick Brown, Jay McTighe, and Rodger Bybee
Journal Article
Scientific Literacy: Lives could depend on it!
Carl Sagan famously said “We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology” (Sagan, 1990, p. 264). As demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic, all adults ne...
By Charlotte Moser
Journal Article
Preparing for the Great American Eclipse of 2024
The Great American Eclipse of 2017 path of totality passed across the United States on Monday August 21, 2017, from Madras, Oregon to Columbia, South Carolina (NASA 2017). The Great American Eclipse of 2024 will likewise pass across the United States...
By Kurtz Miller
Journal Article
Beavers are social mammals who live in groups, known as colonies, and they construct dams and lodges, which modify the surrounding landscape. In their role as “ecosystem engineers,” beavers are considered to be a “keystone” species. A keyston...
By Jill Nugent
Journal Article
Writing these columns often requires a considerable amount of reading and then thinking—both alone and always out loud to my wife as I try to explain to both of us what I have been reading. To be honest, this column reminded me of what I used to jo...
By Bob Riddle
Journal Article
Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins said, “There are those who fear reason as cold, bleak, cheerless, unpoetic. That’s not just untrue; it’s the very opposite of true. Science is the poetry of reality” (Dawkins 2016). Science is reminiscen...
By Katie Coppens
Journal Article
Outdoor Teaching and Learning in Natural Spaces and Outdoor Classrooms
On a humid, sunny day in late July, a group of middle school science teachers closed out three days of teacher professional development (PD) on a nature hike at a forest preserve. Here they engaged as learners, looking for evidence of life cycles to ...
By Samantha Lindgren, Meghan McCleary, Susan Gasper, Amanda Nieves, Kara Stengren, and Amira Shabana
Journal Article
Inheritance: It’s More Complicated Than That
For the past 60 years, teaching and learning the science of inheritance and biological variation has largely been centered in Mendelian genetics. In classrooms, genetics instruction generally focuses on traits controlled by a single gene, with genoty...
By Whitney Thwaite, Sara C. Porter, and Hilleary Osheroff
Journal Article
Using iNaturalist to Support Place-Based Learning and Data Analysis
Often, we think that to learn about nature, students must be in a “natural” place to experience the environment, but this assumption can be problematic on multiple levels. Not all schools have the resources to take hundreds of students on a field...
By Amanda V. Garner and Joshua Rosenberg
Journal Article
Questions are powerful tools teachers can use to understand and scaffold students’ thinking (Clough 2007). However, not all questions are equally effective at eliciting students’ ideas or scaffolding their thinking. For example, open-ended questi...
By Jesse Wilcox, Kean Roberts, Jacob Kaemmer, Jessica McKenzie, and Carson McClain
Journal Article
Teach Sublimation With Markers!
Sublimation, the change of state from solid to gas, is a challenging concept for many students to grasp and a curious phenomenon to investigate. Our everyday experiences teach us about melting, freezing, and evaporation, but it is rare to witness sub...
By Christine G. Schnittka and Mark Brenneman