All Resources

Journal Article

Science Sampler: Bees in the news—Connecting classroom science to real-life issues

While news articles are commonly used as resources for teaching and learning in language arts classes, their use in science classrooms is often limited. In this article, the authors share their experiences (in Ming’s class) using a newspaper report...

Journal Article

Fishbone Diagrams: Organize Reading Content With a “Bare Bones” Strategy

Fishbone diagrams, also known as Ishikawa diagrams or cause-and-effect diagrams, are one of the many problem-solving tools created by Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, a University of Tokyo professor. Part of the brilliance of Ishikawa’s idea resides in the simp...

Journal Article

Science Sampler: Teaching toward a more scientifically literate society

To teach scientific literacy to eighth graders, the authors created a yearlong project that emphasizes the various components and skills required to be a scientifically literate citizen. This project is broken into four separate components: skeptical...

Journal Article

Leaving the Ivory Tower

It all began with casual conversation between a university supervisor and classroom teachers and approval to use an unused classroom at a local elementary school. The space became the hub of an exciting professional development (PD) opportunity for c...

Journal Article

Scope on the Skies: Bird watching

In addition to offering great opportunities for planet viewing, this summer is also a god time for observing Earth-orbiting satellites, or “bird-watching.” There are several thousand satellites (not counting our Moon) in orbit around our planet. ...

Journal Article

Idea Bank: Putting the “Science” in “Science Fiction”

As practitioners, it can be difficult to incorporate reading and writing into the science classroom. Although linking science fiction to relevant research is hardly a new idea (Pierce 2001; ReadWriteThink 2009; Raham 2004), helping students learn to ...

Journal Article

Editor’s Corner: The History of Science, in Real Life

Students sometimes think of the history of science as the dry recounting of the lives of long-dead scientists like Antoine Lavoisier and Isaac Newton. But today’s older generations arguably witnessed history’s most remarkable period of scientific...

Journal Article

Idea Bank: Start the Year Off Green!

With summer upon us, now is a good time to think about incorporating green practices in the year ahead. This Idea Bank presents a few tips to help decrease your classroom waste, increase recycling, and make students more knowledgeable about green pra...

Journal Article

Case Study: The Scientific Method Ain’t What It Used to Be

Remember the time when all you had to do was memorize these five steps: ask a question, formulate a hypothesis, perform experiment, collect data, and draw conclusions? And you received full credit for defining THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD. Well, those days ...

Journal Article

Green Science: How green is your lawn?

The perfect American lawn—green, lush, weed- and pest-free—is pursued by millions of Americans, who expend a massive amount of resources to attain this ideal. Americans spend an estimated $25 billion a year on lawn care, and a one-acre lawn costs...

Journal Article

Everybody Needs a Betsy

The author’s most meaningful professional development (PD) experience was not a workshop or institute; nor did it result from a course or professional reading. Rather, it came in the form of Betsy—the second-grade teacher down the hall. This arti...

Journal Article

The Division of Chemical Education Revisited, 25 Years Later

This paper examines what has happened over a period of 25 years since a separate Division of Chemical Education was created within the Department of Chemistry at Purdue University. It argues that the faith in the chemical education graduate program t...

Journal Article

Editor’s Note: One Size <em>Doesn’t</em> Fit All

Content is a vital component of what we personally need to know and understand if we are to teach children to know and understand. But understanding how students learn, acquiring strategies to assure that will happen, and then knowing if they underst...

Journal Article

Frontloading Classroom Management

In this article, the authors describe a systematic approach to planning for the first days of school that is appropriate for today’s demanding high school science classrooms. These strategies apply to any science subject and benefit student teacher...

Journal Article

Promoting Science Literacy Through Research Service-Learning—An Emerging Pedagogy With Significant Benefits for Students, Faculty, Universities, and Communities

Research service-learning (RSL) is an emerging pedagogy in which students engage in research within a service-learning context. This approach has great potential to promote science literacy because it teaches students how to use scientific knowledge ...

Journal Article

Natural Resources: Summer Camp for Teachers

We can’t all have easy access to nature, so if we want students to appreciate the outdoors, we must seek out nature experiences. But what if you feel intimidated by the outdoors yourself? Whether you are an outdoor aficionado seeking more knowledge...

Journal Article

Generate an Argument: An Instructional Model

The Generate an Argument instructional model was designed to engage students in scientific argumentation. By using this model, students develop complex reasoning and critical-thinking skills, understand the nature and development of scientific knowle...

Journal Article

Science 2.0: Summer Surfing

What better way to spend a sunny summer day than surfing—the web, that is! With so many web 2.0 applications out there, it’s hard to know what’s really useful. In this month’s column, the authors share some of their favorite free sites for ed...

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: An Inquiry-Based Biology Laboratory Improves Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Attitudes About Science

Inquiry-based instruction is gaining favor in college classrooms because it improves scientific skills as well as critical thinking. As we seek ways to improve science education, elementary school is increasingly becoming an embattled component becau...

Journal Article

Current Research

Take your summer reading to the next level! Check out these recent publications suggested by NSTA’s affiliate committees. The articles cover a variety of topics that are relevant to elementary science teachers, such as vocabulary, inquiry, modeling...

Journal Article

Lessons Learned

Have you participated in professional development (PD) programs that never met your expectations? Have you found it difficult to find a program that fits well with your academic and pedagogical needs? If so, the author shares your sentiment. In this ...

Journal Article

Collaborative Distance Learning

How can you connect teachers in two different school districts, separated by more than 50 miles, on a weekly basis to provide ongoing professional development (PD)? The answer: videoconferencing. In this article, the authors describe their use of vid...

Journal Article

A Diverse Summer Reading List

In 2010, the United Nations and your fellow science professionals have invited citizens of the world to recognize the value of biodiversity. The theme of biodiversity is ideal for a personal program of reading and discovery. We’ve again asked the r...

Journal Article

Should We Continue Space Travel? A Technology-Supported Approach to Engaging Students

It often seems that as the school year draws to a close, students lose their enthusiasm for learning. So the question becomes, how do we design meaningful curricula that places students at the heart of the learning? After all, intrinsically motivatin...