All Resources

Book Chapter

Is It Possible to Turn Coal Into Diamonds?

How cool would it be to be Lois Lane? Anytime she wants a diamond, she just has Superman use his super strength to squeeze a lump of coal. But is this really possible? Using a high enough temperature and enough pressure, can you turn coal into diamo...

Journal Article

Idea Bank: Wiffle Ball Physics

Projectile motion, a cornerstone topic of introductory physics, is usually a student’s first exposure to the problem-solving techniques used in this subject. Often, this is an inactive learning experience—students work with pencil and paper to re...

Journal Article

Science Sampler: Helping students write scientific explanations

Constructing explanations is an important scientific practice that brings meaning to all that scientists do. But just because it’s important to scientists doesn’t mean it’s going to be important to students. However, getting students to engage ...

Journal Article

Science Sampler: Getting into the habit of persistence

Habits of mind are the behaviors commonly exhibited by successful people when the solution to a problem is not immediately evident (Costa and Kallick 1992). In a science classroom, persistent students stop and think about a problem they encounter bef...

Journal Article

Becoming Wildlife Investigators

Students love learning outdoors, but how do you ensure they are absorbing the science and gaining skills as they do so? The authors found a way—a fourth-grade classroom teacher, a gifted/science resource teacher, and a group of fourth graders—emb...

Journal Article

Green Science: Building for the Future

This first Green Science column will focus on the environmental features of NSTA’s new headquarters, the John Glenn Center for Science Education. The new building, which is currently being designed, will be constructed next door to NSTA’s current...

Journal Article

The Gift of the Tree

A piece of children’s literature can be a powerful tool for teaching and learning science; however, it takes more than reading about a topic to qualify as “doing science.” Inspired by the book, The Gift of the Tree, the author developed an in-d...

Journal Article

Fostering Preservice Teachers’ “Nature of Science” Understandings in a Physics Course

In this paper, the authors examine an algebra-based physics course designed for preservice teachers and explore how the course integrated two pedagogical strategies to bridge the gap between inquiry-learning experiences and the teachers’ nature of ...

Journal Article

Science Sampler: Ecosystem Jenga!

To give students a tangible model of an ecosystem and have them experience what could happen if a component of that ecosystem were removed; the authors developed a hands-on, inquiry-based activity that visually demonstrates the concept of a delicatel...

Journal Article

Methods and Strategies: Role-Play in the Science Classroom

The activity shared here is an animal role-playing lesson developed, field-tested, and refined for Nature’s Neighborhood, a newly designed children’s education facility at the Toledo Zoo. The activity is targeted at students in kindergarten throu...

Journal Article

Thirsty Plants in Arid Places

In order to demonstrate how plants remove water from the soil and release it to the atmosphere, students compared open- and closed-growing systems using drought-tolerant and higher water requirement plants. Then, students designed a drought-tolerant ...

Journal Article

Science 101: How do plants move?

Just as with any organism, simple growth causes plants to move, but we’re going to focus on movements that are unique to plants and, in some cases, pretty creepy. Sorry for the pun. Here the author describes a bunch of plant movements and then expl...

Journal Article

Using Web Logs in the Science Classroom

As educators we must ask ourselves if we are meeting the needs of today’s students. The science world is adapting to our ever-changing society; are the methodology and philosophy of our educational system keeping up? In this article, you’ll learn...

Journal Article

Case Study: The Mystery of the Blue Death—A Case Study in Epidemiology and the History of Science

This case study introduces students to John Snow, considered to be one of the founders of both epidemiology and anesthesiology, and a remarkable figure in the history of science. Although historical case studies are often less popular with students t...

Journal Article

Health Wise: September 2009

What causes diabetes, and how does it affect a person’s health?...

Journal Article

Safer Science: EMFs: Pulling the Plug!

Over the past decade, many headlines have noted the potential dangers of extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic field (EMFs) exposures—especially for children and young adults. Unfortunately, the jury is still out on EMF(s) and their long-te...

Journal Article

Natural Resources: If You Build It…

They will come! Wildlife, that is, when you create the right conditions. A wildlife habitat can provide you with an outdoor classroom for studying the needs of organisms. It also provides a place to learn about soil, weather, and plants. If you want ...

Journal Article

Point of View: Saving Energy in the Chemistry-Teaching Process and Improving Student Learning

Somewhere between high school chemistry and first-year college chemistry courses, there is a disconnect. Whatever the reason, most students are not prepared for college chemistry. As a beginning chemistry educator, the author found this to be frustra...

Journal Article

Investigating Membranes

While not organic in nature, quick-“growing” artificial membranes can be a profound visual aid when teaching students about cellular processes and the chemical nature of membranes. Students are often intrigued when they see biological and chemica...

Journal Article

Editor’s Note: Classroom Windows

Little did Linda Froschauer know that she would one day find herself in the position of editor of the very journal that helped in the formation of her teaching… the journal that inspired her teaching and affected her students. She viewed Science an...

Journal Article

News Media Databases for Content Selection and Relevance in Introductory Geoscience Courses

A systematic assessment of media-based coverage of geoscience topics relative to those found in textbooks is presented here. The specific question addressed is to what extent fully indexed media and print news sources can provide a useful model for c...

Journal Article

Scope on the Skies: September Skies (2009)

There are many astronomy and space science resources that may be used to supplement or reinforce your teaching, or even as a stand-alone teaching tool. This month’s column brings together a collection of the author’s favorite, free online resourc...

Book Chapter

What Is Scale?

Scale is one of the big ideas that cross the science domains. Whether one is talking about the weight of a blue whale, the size of a galaxy or a molecule, or the age of a mountain range, scale is an essential tool in understanding the universe in a s...

Journal Article

Shrinking Our Footprints

In this unit, each student calculates his or her own ecological footprint as the basis for becoming more environmentally friendly. Over two weeks, students analyze their own lifestyles and use their understanding of environmental chemistry to synthes...

Journal Article

The Science Behind Nanosunscreens

In this article, the authors provide a brief overview of the emerging field of nanoscience and why it is an important area of education. They next explain the science behind the new nanoparticulate sunscreens, describe the different elements of the u...

Journal Article

Society for College Science Teachers: Farewell to a Colleague

Earlier this month, the author attended the memorial service for her good friend and colleague, Dr. Jerry Waldvogel. The service was held in the lovely Carillon Garden on Clemson’s campus where Jerry was—as it became obvious during the service an...