All Resources

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: Offering More Than “Here Is the Textbook”—Teaching Assistants’ Perspectives on Introductory Science Courses

Eight Earth science graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) participated in a semester-long seminar designed to facilitate change in their practice. The seminar used lesson-study methodology to facilitate discussion of GTAs’ beliefs about teaching whil...

Journal Article

Science via Photography

As an amateur photographer and science teacher, the author shares how to use digital media to enhance the study of habitat and adaptation. The author also helps you to discover how to use the camera to boost science vocabulary, especially for English...

Journal Article

Scope on Safety: Common sense and chemicals

This month’s column features two true stories about the use of chemicals in the middle school science classroom. The lesson of these stories is simple. Certainly, it is prudent to have age-appropriate experiences in science, given the developmental...

Journal Article

Clues to the Past

Students love a mystery. So what do America’s most majestic bird, a bag of habitat clues, and a soft-shelled egg have in common? This easy-to-do inquiry activity engages students as they connect clues to problem-solve how the bald eagle reached the...

Journal Article

Every Day Science: January 2010

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

Journal Article

Safer Science: Lab Fire Extinguishers—Here Today, Gone Tomorrow?

When renovations or new construction occur, fire extinguishers sometimes get lost in the mix. Unfortunately, whether to save money or because the fire code is misinterpreted, some schools do not install fire extinguishers in laboratories and other ar...

Journal Article

The Prepared Practitioner: Literature Circles

Using literature to help students better understand the nature of science often involves some combination of historical vignettes, case studies, or readers’ theater. Straits (2007) discusses a different approach for using historical nonfiction in t...

Journal Article

Predicting The Timing And Location of the Next Hawaiian Volcano

The wealth of geologic data on Hawaiian volcanoes makes them ideal for study by middle school students. In this paper the authors use existing data on the age and location of Hawaiian volcanoes to predict the location of the next Hawaiian volcano and...

Journal Article

Natural Resources: Close to Home

Learning about endangered or threatened species can be an extension of an adaptation or biodiversity lesson. It can also be tied into conversation and what students (and the rest of us) can do to help species in need. Before your students head outdoo...

Journal Article

Building Background Knowledge

Too often, students enter our classrooms with insufficient knowledge of physical science. As a result, they have a difficult time understanding content in texts, lectures, and laboratory activities. This lack of background knowledge can have an impac...

Journal Article

Science Shorts: How Symbiosis Creates Diversity

Diversity in habitats on Earth is astounding—whether on land or in the sea—and this is in part due to symbiosis. The lesson described in this article helps students understand how symbiosis affects different organisms through a fun and engaging g...