All Resources

Journal Article

Science Sampler: Made to measure—Teaching the skill of estimation

Estimation is an important skill that we all use every day, often without realizing it. It might not seem very scientific, because we think of science as being accurate and precise—surely estimating is just a form of guessing. It seems unpredictabl...

Journal Article

Health Wise: January 2009

I have a lot of competitive athletes in my classes. If they decide to use steroids, what effect will this have on their health? ...

Acquired Book

Mathematics and Science for a Change: How to Design, Implement, and Sustain High-Quality Professional Development

You’ve decided it’s time for something different. A new way to teach mathematics and science that supports higher achievement in all students. And that means rethinking how you provide teacher professional development. Sounds like a tough task, b...

Journal Article

Point of View: Smooth Handoff—Alignment of Secondary and Collegiate Learner Goals in Science

A winning science education relay is tough to pull off if high school and college instructors misunderstand each other. Difficulties in learner transition to college science appear to have roots in miscommunication: what high school teachers think co...

Journal Article

Process Skills Practice and Standardized Tests

Faced with the prospect of giving fifth graders a state science test, teachers often review previous grade-level science content or use test-review booklets as a method of preparation. While this may allow students to understand testing rules, such t...

Journal Article

Exhausting Science

The fume hood: You know what it is, but have you ever used it? And if a safety issue arose, would you know what to do? Unfortunately, fume hoods are frequently included in a science room just for show. Little thought is often given to how they should...

Journal Article

Editor’s Roundtable: Threads of change

Egg, larva, pupa, adult, done! How easy it would be if teaching students to grasp the nature and role of change was that simple! Getting students to observe and attend to the changes around them—in their natural surroundings and in the laboratory�...

Journal Article

Science Shorts: Organizing Weather Data

Often in schools, children collect weather data as part of their morning meeting or calendar time. These common primary level activities lend themselves nicely to introducing the importance of organizing data. In this lesson, children and teacher wo...

Journal Article

Scope on the Skies: International Year of Astronomy

This year marks the 400th anniversary of when a telescope was used for astronomical observations, and 2009 has also been designated the International Year of Astronomy—a yearlong celebration of astronomy through various events and activities both o...

Journal Article

An O-“fish”-ial Research Project

In this “O-“fish”-ial” research project, third-grade students use multiple resources to research several fish species, write a research paper and develop a PowerPoint presentation to communicate their findings. In addition, students actually ...

Journal Article

A Simple Exercise Reveals the Way Students Think About Scientific Modeling

Scientific modeling is an integral part of contemporary science, yet many students have little understanding of how models are developed, validated, and used to predict and explain phenomena. A simple modeling exercise led to significant gains in und...

Journal Article

Take Off With NASA’s Kepler Mission!

Humans have long wondered about life in the universe. Are we alone? Is Earth unique? What is it that makes our planet a habitable one, and are there others like Earth? NASA’s Kepler Mission seeks the answers to these questions. Kepler is a space-ba...

Journal Article

Straight from the Mouths of Horses and Tapirs: Using Fossil Teeth to Clarify How Ancient Environments Have Changed Over Time

Clarifying ancient environments millions of years ago is necessary to better understand how ecosystems change over time, providing insight as to the potential impacts of current global warming. This module engages middle school students in the scient...

Journal Article

Integrating Interactive Notebooks

An interactive notebook can be a powerful instructional tool, allowing students to take control of their learning while processing information and engaging in self-reflection. The three-part learning cycle of an interactive notebook makes it easy to ...

Journal Article

Scope on Safety: Allergies—Nothing to sneeze at

The list from the nurse’s office of students with known allergies seems to get longer each year. Allergy symptoms can range from a simple red rash or itch to life-threatening anaphylactic shock. Interestingly enough, peanuts and tree nuts account f...

Journal Article

Enabling a Culture of Change: A Life Science Faculty Learning Community Promotes Scientific Teaching

Significant challenges to education transformation in lecture-oriented science departments include initiating and supporting a dialogue about teaching and learning among faculty whose priorities are primarily research. The authors established a facul...

Journal Article

Perspectives: ELLs and the Language of School Science

In science, language denotes the relationship among ideas (e.g., cause/effect; instance/generalization; individual/group member), with features that are often subtle and abstract. Such features of science language make school science difficult for al...

Journal Article

Science 101: How does a scientific theory become a scientific law?

A theory doesn’t become a law. End of story, end of this issue of Science 101. Just kidding—it’s all about the how and why, and that hasn’t been answered. See if this sounds familiar: Scientists begin with a hypothesis, which is sort of a gu...