All Resources

Journal Article

Sims for Science

Since 2002, the PhET Interactive Simulations project at the University of Colorado has been working to provide learning tools for students and teachers. The project has developed over 85 interactive simulations—or sims—for teaching and learning s...

Journal Article

Taking the Time to Read Aloud

Reading aloud is a widely accepted and successful practice in elementary school classrooms, but is rarely found in middle school classrooms (Allen 2000). However, results from initial research on reading aloud in secondary classrooms support the prac...

Journal Article

Inference or Observation?

Learning about what inferences are, and what a good inference is, will help students become more scientifically literate and better understand the nature of science in inquiry. Students in K–4 should be able to give explanations about what they inv...

Journal Article

The Early Years: Developing Observation Skills

We typically know children are learning when they are able to make sense of an object’s materials or a situation that was previously a bit mysterious and communicate what they have figured out. But what about observing? One of the process skills li...

Journal Article

Science Sampler: Finding learning beneath the surface—Monitoring student progress with Science Practice Learning Progressions

If we want our students to become capable practitioners of scientific inquiry, we should not stop at providing opportunities to do inquiry. We need to be intentional about assessing and teaching the competencies necessary for inquiry. However, the ab...

Journal Article

The Take Action Project

The Take Action Project (TAP) was created to help middle school students take informed and effective action on science-related issues. The seven steps of TAP ask students to (1) choose a science-related problem of interest to them, (2) research their...

Journal Article

Science Sampler: An inquiry into the phases of matter

The “What’s the matter With XOD” activity addresses students’ misconceptions and refines their ideas about phases of matter. This activity introduces the characteristics for solids, liquids, and gases, and begins a discussion about physical a...

Journal Article

Juan's Dilemma

When life hands you lemons, make a battery! In this article, the authors describe an activity they refer to as Juan’s Dilemma, an extension of the familiar lemon-battery activity (Goodisman 2001). Juan’s Dilemma integrates oxidation and reduction...

Journal Article

Formative Assessment Probes: “More A – More B” Rule

Early-formed preconceptions can be explained by one of the intuitive rules identified by Stavy and Tirosh (2000) called More A – More B. By starting with students’ preconceptions, revealed through the use of a formative assessment probe, teachers...

Journal Article

The Green Room: Introducing The Green Room!

Today, there is a lot out there about “going green”—in your car, at home, for your kids, yourself, your planet. But what about teaching green? In this new column, Amanda Beckrich explores ways to make your classroom, your teaching, and—hopefu...

Journal Article

Science Sampler: The science of soil textures

Off-road motorcycle racing and ATV riding. Gardening and fishing. What do these high-adrenaline and slower-paced pastimes have in common? Each requires soil, and the texture of that soil has an effect on all of them. In the inquiry-based lessons desc...

Journal Article

Dinocenters

Like peanut butter and jelly, kindergarteners and dinosaurs go well together. Therefore, the authors developed a cross-curricular unit based on the books All Aboard the Dinotrain (Lund and Fine 2006) and Dinosailors (Lund and Fine 2003). Dinosaur lea...

Journal Article

Every Day Science Calendar: October 2010

This monthly feature contains facts and challenges for the science explorer....

Journal Article

Scope on the Skies: Moon phases

When teaching Moon phases, the focus seems to be on the sequence of Moon phases and, in some grade levels, how Moon phases occur. Either focus can sometimes be a challenge, especially without the use of models and observations of the Moon. In this mo...

Journal Article

Dramatic Science

The setting: the science classroom. The characters: you and your students. The scene: Your students acting out scientific discoveries, modeling a frog’s life cycle, mimicking the transition from liquid to solid. This is dramatic science, a teaching...

Journal Article

Scope on Safety: Glue guns—Aiming for safety

While glue guns are very useful, there are safety issues. Regardless of the temperature setting, glue guns can burn skin. The teacher should demonstrate and supervise the use of glue guns and have a plan should a student get burned. There should be a...

Journal Article

The New Teacher’s Toolbox: Teaching in the Digital Age

New technologies are engaging today’s students the way PowerPoint did a decade ago. The pressure to go digital can seem especially overwhelming to new teachers, but fear not! Teaching in the digital age is easier than you think. This month’s colu...

Journal Article

Teaching With Technology

Technology can be a powerful tool to increase motivation, engagement, and achievement (Park, Khan, and Petrina 2009). In this article, the authors describe their collaborative approach to integrating technology with a lab on bacterial transformation....

Journal Article

Idea Bank: Skyping Science

Last year, the author of this month’s Idea Bank had his 11th-grade physics students in Shanghai, China work with students from Chicago, Illinois. Both sets of students were given a list of questions and problems and asked to work together via Skype...

Journal Article

Health Wise: October 2010

Is organic food healthier?...

Journal Article

The Case for Cyberlearning

GENIQUEST is a cyberlearning computer program that allows students to investigate biological data using a research-based instructional model. In this article, the authors make the case for using cyberlearning to teach students about the rapidly growi...

Journal Article

Safer Science: “Chemicals of Interest” and More

In the science classroom, developing security involves more than just looking up chemicals. Securing high school science laboratories, preparation rooms, and storerooms is an integral part of protecting schools and the general public from terrorist-t...

Journal Article

Nature’s Palette

Flower petals, acorn hats, exoskeletons of beetles, and lichens are just a few of the objects students may find in a surprising array of vivid colors. These tiny examples from nature’s palette can be discovered in a school yard, a park, or even alo...

Journal Article

PD Pathways: A New Chapter

NSTA initiated the student chapter program in 2001 to help preservice science teachers at universities and colleges gain access to professional development opportunities and provide support as they enter the profession. Here the authors share example...

eBook

Exemplary Science for Resolving Societal Challenges (e-book)

Amid a flurry of national standards and high-stakes assessments, it’s easy to overlook the curiosity and invention that is inherent to science and that should be central to any science lesson plan. Similarly, the connections between what students l...

Book Chapter

A Perspective on the Reform of Science Teaching

This chapter presents a perspective on reform. It begins with a brief review of the instructional core, then turns to a larger view of reform, one that includes broader questions of goals and progresses to the most fundamental area—classroom practi...

Journal Article

Scope on Safety: Negligence—Some things you can’t afford to ignore

Governmental immunity statutes may not shield science teachers from lawsuits if the teachers fail to take appropriate safety measures in the face of known hazards or dangers in the laboratory. The lesson then seems simple: Understand your “duty of ...

Journal Article

Message from the NSTA President: Imagine and Invent—Create a Great Future

The time is right for an emphasis on imagination and innovativeness in science education, both in students and in teachers. Change now dominates our economy and culture, and can only be realized through imagination and creativeness. Therefore, our ne...

Journal Article

Case Study: Using Photographs as Case Studies to Promote Active Learning in Biology

If a picture is worth a thousand words, think about how long it takes your students to read a thousand words. Case studies are effective and stimulating ways to teach a variety of subjects, including the biological sciences. In learning the details o...

Journal Article

Making the Case for Action Research

As any contemporary teacher knows, credit and credibility are showered on those who engage in research-based practices. And not just any research. It must be tied to a study with a large enough number of participants; a clear intervention; control an...

Journal Article

Supporting Right-Brained Thinking

In his book, A Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink champions the benefits of right-brained thinking: creativity, flexibility, empathy, and meaning. He stresses the need to not only be logical, but also aware of emotion; to not only be sequential, but also co...

Journal Article

Science 101: What and how do insects see?

Insect vision is both simple and complex. It’s simple in that insects can’t focus and generally see a blur. It’s complex in that insects are very good at detecting motion, they can see in almost any direction, they can use polarized ultraviolet...

Journal Article

Developing a “Gateway” Course to Prepare Nontraditional Students for Success in Upper-Division Science Courses

In times of economic downturn, college enrollments often increase. Entering students may come from diverse educational backgrounds and bring variable skill sets. In this article, the authors describe a skills-focused course developed to ensure that t...

Journal Article

Career of the Month: An Interview With Audiologist Brian Fligor

Hearing is an important sense that many of us take for granted. Unless we are affected by hearing loss, we often do not think twice about listening to our favorite tunes or a neighbor’s conversation. Many things—from a viral infection to turning ...

Journal Article

The Art of Electrospinning

Electrospinning has been used to create nanofibers for filtration devices, tissue engineering, and protective clothing. Although electrospinning is now widely studied, because of the expensive equipment required and the advanced nature of this topic,...

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: Using a Student-Manipulated Model to Enhance Student Learning in a Large Lecture Class

Despite years of formal education, approximately one-third of all undergraduate students still cannot explain the causes of the seasons. Student manipulation of a handheld model is one approach to teaching this concept; however, the large number of s...