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Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about complete circuits involving lightbulbs. It reveals whether students recognize the pathway of electricity in a complete circuit, including its path through a lightbulb, in order...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about forces. It is designed to find out whether students recognize that balanced forces act on a stationary object. It is most appropriate for middle and high school students. Eleme...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about circular motion. It is designed to determine whether students recognize that an object will move in a straight line unless acted upon by an outside force. Elementary students m...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about falling objects. It is designed to find out if students think the weight or mass of an object affects how fast it falls. For elementary students investigations of the motion of...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the nature of science. It is designed to find out if students distinguish scientific theories from the common use of the word theory and if they understand how theories differ ...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about scientific investigations. It is designed to find out if students recognize that scientists investigate the natural world in a variety of ways depending on the question they po...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about hypotheses. It is designed to find out if students understand what a hypothesis is, when it is used, and how it is developed. Elementary students typically engage in inquiry to...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about life cycles. The probe can be used to determine whether students recognize that although life cycles vary in length and developmental stages, all multicellular organisms go thr...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the size of cells. It can be used once students understand that all organisms are made up of cells and to determine whether students recognize how small a cell is relative to o...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about growth. It can be used to determine whether students recognize that growth occurs as a result of cell division, which increases the number of body cells. Elementary school stud...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about respiration. It is designed to find out whether students recognize respiration as a process that all living things use in order to obtain energy or whether they have a restrict...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about decay and decomposers. It can be used to determine whether students recognize the need for a biological agent to break down once-living material as it uses it for energy. Eleme...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the cycling of matter. It can be used to determine whether students recognize that once-living matter breaks down and cycles through ecosystems without subtracting or adding ma...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about an everyday object in the sky—clouds. It is designed to determine whether students recognize that clouds are made up of tiny droplets of water or tiny ice crystals. Elementar...
Book Chapter
Where Did the Water Come From?
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about condensation. It is designed to determine whether students recognize that condensation comes from the water vapor in the air. Elementary students’ emphasis is on observing a...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about precipitation. It is designed to determine whether students understand what causes the water in clouds to fall as rain. Elementary students’ emphasis should be on observing a...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about seasons. It can be used to determine whether students recognize the effect of the Earth’s tilt on its axis and the resulting intensity of sunlight as the reason for seasons. ...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about light and shadows. It is designed to find out students’ ideas about how shadows change throughout the day. Observing changes in shadows is a common activity for elementary sc...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about stars. It is designed to examine students’ ideas about the location of stars in the daytime. Elementary students make observations of the day and night sky and question where...
eBook
All in a Day's Work, 2nd Edition: Careers Using Science (e-book)
“Almost all careers in the 21st century require a working knowledge of science and mathematics,” says Steve Metz, The Science Teacher field editor, in his introduction to All in a Day’s Work, 2nd edition. “The pending retirement of 78 million...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about solids. It is designed to reveal the macroscopic and/or microscopic properties students use to decide whether a material is a solid. Elementary school students describe the pro...
eBook
The Biology Teacher's Handbook, 4th Edition (e-book)
Biology teachers, you’re in luck—BSCS (Biological Sciences Curriculum Study) presents a wealth of current information in this new, updated edition of the classic The Biology Teacher’s Handbook. ...
eBook
Uncovering Student Ideas in Science, Volume 4: 25 New Formative Assessment Probes (e-book)
Wouldn't it be helpful to know what your students' ideas are about a science concept before launching into a new lesson or unit? Newly released Uncovering Student Ideas in Science, Volume 4, offers 25 more formative assessment probes to help reveal s...
eBook
Inquiry: The Key to Exemplary Science (e-book)
Science teachers aiming to foster inquiry in their classrooms will find the sixth title in the Exemplary Science monograph series, Inquiry: The Key to Exemplary Science full of helpful advice and new techniques....
eBook
Professional Learning Communities for Science Teaching: Lessons From Research and Practice (e-book)
What would it take to move your school or district closer toward a culture that supports and sustains professional learning communities (PLCs)?...
eBook
Reforming Secondary Science Instruction (e-book)
Science education reform can seem a daunting task to high school science teachers. So, you might ask, why should I be bothered? The answer is that today’s students simply do not have the skill sets necessary for life in our global economy....
eBook
40 Inquiry Exercises for the College Biology Lab (e-book)
Drawing from the author’s own work as a lab developer, coordinator, and instructor, this one-of-a-kind text for college biology teachers uses the inquiry method in presenting 40 different lab exercises that make complicated biology subjects accessi...
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eBook
Activities Linking Science With Math, 5-8 (e-book)
Science does not exist in a vacuum and, therefore, shouldn’t be taught that way. In that spirit, Activities Linking Science With Math, 5-8, is a hands-on guide for preservice and inservice elementary and middle school teachers who want to connect s...
eBook
Interpreting Assessment Data: Statistical Techniques You Can Use (e-book)
Are you properly evaluating the results of the tests you give to students? Can you explain the difference between classroom assessment and standardized assessment? Are you on solid ground with your grading system? Demystify—and even use—statistic...
eBook
Extreme Science: From Nano to Galactic (e-book)
Whether we are imagining microbes or mammoths, dinosaurs or diatoms, molecules or stars, people of all ages are fascinated with the very large and the very small. New technologies have enabled scientists to investigate extremes of science previously ...