All Resources

Journal Article

Sky Observations by the Book

The National Science Education Standards (NSES) state that students in grades K—4 are expected to understand that astronomical objects in the sky, including the Sun, Moon, and stars—have properties, locations, and patterns of movement that can b...

Journal Article

Creativity in the Science Classroom

Though many teachers would like to incorporate creative activities into their teaching, there are few practical suggestions to help them accomplish this goal (Yager 2000). In this article, the authors introduce four strategies to help integrate creat...

Journal Article

Case Study: To Boldly Go… Or Not

This public-hearing case study is centered upon the recent decision by President George W. Bush to set NASA’s primary goal as a return to the Moon, followed by a mission to Mars. The members on the expert panel are fictitious and the transcript con...

Journal Article

No Child Left Inside

Earth Science Week (ESW) 2008 encourages people around the globe to open doors and investigate new opportunities. This year’s theme, “No Child Left Inside,” is a call to explore our natural environments. The celebration urges everyone—especia...

Journal Article

Methods and Strategies: The Science Representation Continuum

Research indicates that people more easily understand abstractions when they are preceded by concrete representations (Lawson 2002). This article describes how educators can use science representations to help students form lasting understandings of ...

Journal Article

The Prepared Practitioner: Supporting New Teachers

New school years bring new challenges, students, lessons, and colleagues. Some teachers at your school may be just starting out with their first teaching job. Looking ahead to a new school year is a great time for all of us to think about understandi...

Journal Article

Ice Core Investigations

What can glaciers tell us about volcanoes and atmospheric conditions? How does this information relate to our understanding of climate change? Ice Core Investigations is an original and innovative activity that explores these types of questions. It b...

Journal Article

Teaching Through Trade Books: Moon Phases and Models

From the time they are very young, children are naturally curious about the Moon. They may wonder about the different shapes of the Moon when they look up at the night sky. In this month’s primary lesson, students discover through direct observatio...

Journal Article

Idea Bank: Presidential “Periodic Table”

The Presidential “Periodic Table” is an engaging activity that encourages high school chemistry students to match the names of the elements with their chemical symbols in order to spell out the names of the 43 U.S. presidents. By completing the p...

Journal Article

Science Sampler: Using grading systems to promote analytical thinking skills, responsibility, and reflection

As educators, we know that math must be integrated into our subject to best communicate the essence of scientific investigation. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done when students learn subjects in isolated classrooms on a daily basis. As you...

Journal Article

Point of View: The Scientific Method and School Science

Can we assume that science teachers and graduates understand the scientific method and the meaning of key terms such as theory, law, and fact? Selby (2006) notes that the “current debate about teaching Intelligent Design in science classes is revea...

Journal Article

Career of the Month: An Interview with Shark Advocate Sonja Fordham

Most sharks are the top predators in their ecosystems, yet they are often at the bottom of the conservation priority list. Because they are under-protected and exceptionally slow growing, and therefore valuable to overfishing, most of the world’s s...

Journal Article

Mapping for Conceptual Change

Students’ understanding of science develops through everyday experiences. As a result, they come to the science classroom with their own notions of how the world works. As teachers, we often must help students overcome their prior naïve notions an...

Journal Article

Idea Bank: Emphasizing Safety in the Classroom

With the popularization of inquiry-based learning in science classes at all levels, laboratory instructors must be proficient in the proper handling of hazardous substances. This care in dealing with potentially harmful materials should also be commu...

Journal Article

Take a Planet Walk

Physical models in the classroom “cannot be expected to represent the full-scale phenomenon with complete accuracy, not even in the limited set of characteristics being studied” (AAAS 1990). Therefore, by modifying a popular classroom activity ca...

Journal Article

A Message from the NSTA President: Science Education—The Times They are A-Changin’

Inspired by her favorite Bob Dylan song of 1964, “The Times They Are A-Changin”—NSTA President Page Keeley’s presidential theme during her 2008-09 tenure will be “From Transition to Transformation—Striving for a Science-Literate Nation.�...

Journal Article

Enzyme Inquiry

In this article, the authors describe a two-phase inquiry lesson in which students explore the catalytic activity of amylase on starch (Rungruangsa and Panijpan 1979). In the first phase, students’ prior knowledge about the reaction is assessed thr...

Journal Article

Science Sampler: Inquiry goes outdoors—What can we learn at the pond?

The Oregon 4-H Wildlife Stewards program has been training teachers and volunteers to convert school grounds to education sites by constructing schoolyard wildlife habitats since 1997. The publication What Can We Learn at the Pond? 4-H Wildlife Stewa...

Journal Article

A Message from the NSTA President: Science Education—The Times They are A-Changin’

Inspired by her favorite Bob Dylan song of 1964, “The Times They Are A-Changin,” NSTA President Page Keeley’s presidential theme during her 2008—2009 tenure will be “From Transition to Transformation—Striving for a Science-Literate Nation...

Journal Article

SCST: Society for College Science Teachers—We Know How to Improve Science Understanding in Students, So Why Aren’t College Professors Embracing It?

It’s difficult for most professors to realize that what’s worked in the past won’t necessarily work with today’s students. Adopting new strategies and technologies is always hard, yet it’s amazing how quickly professors take to new instruct...

Journal Article

A Simple Activity to Facilitate Proportional Reasoning in the Contexts of Density, Dissolving, and Nanoparticles

To address the confusion resulting from difficulties with proportional reasoning among preservice physical science students, a cube-assembly activity was used to bring a sense of concreteness to abstract ideas. The activity took students from the con...

Journal Article

Science Sampler: The use of stations to develop inquiry skills and content for rock hounds

Teaching the rock cycle can overwhelm even the most enthusiastic rock hound. As middle school science teachers, we constantly struggle with an appropriate balance between Earth system content and experiential activities. The authors have found that s...

Journal Article

The Moon’s Phases and the Self Shadow

In this article, the authors present a new way of teaching the phases of the Moon. Through the introduction of a self shadow (an idea of a shadow that is not well-known), they illuminate students’ understanding of the phases of the Moon and help th...

Journal Article

Scope on Safety: Safety is always in fashion

Unfortunately, what looks good on the runway often clashes with the science laboratory when it comes to safety. Therefore, given the potential risks associated with science activities in lab and on field experiences at the middle school level, the me...

Journal Article

Perspectives: A (Mis)Understanding of Astronomical Proportions?

Misconceptions are ideas formulated by children as they try to make sense of the world. By focusing on students’ ideas, using the strategies suggested in this article, teachers can help students move toward more accurate understandings of the solar...

Journal Article

Tried and True: Taking flight with an inquiry approach

This paper airplane lesson has been used with sixth-grade students to introduce scientific terms and concepts that students need to know before they design and conduct their own inquiry experiments. In addition to science concepts, mathematics skills...

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: Characterizing the Level of Inquiry in the Undergraduate Laboratory

Discrepancies abound in use of the word “inquiry.” In this paper, the authors propose a quantitative rubric designed to characterize the level of inquiry in laboratory activities and laboratory curricula. They do not wish to answer the question, ...

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: A Teaching Intervention to Increase Achievement of Hispanic Nonscience Majors Taking Physical Science Courses

This quasi-experimental pilot study of nonscience majors taking a physical science course at a university in South Texas was conducted on Hispanic undergraduate students, and is theory based—an application of attribution theory. That the treatment ...

Journal Article

No Child Left Inside!

Earth Science Week (ESW) 2008 encourages people around the globe to open doors and investigate new opportunities. This year’s theme, “No Child Left Inside,” is a call to explore our natural environments. The celebration urges everyone—especia...

Journal Article

Using Natural History Interpretation as an Authentic Assessment Tool

Natural history interpretation offers college science instructors an educationally challenging alternative or complement to traditional evaluation methods, such as multiple-choice testing. Because it asks students to draw connections among varied con...

Journal Article

Editor’s Corner: Working Wages

Because of teacher retirement and other factors, our nation will need almost a quarter of a million new middle and high school science teachers over this decade (NSB 2006). If we want to recruit and retain the most talented individuals, science teach...

Journal Article

Every Day Science Calendar: September 2008

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

Journal Article

A Message from the NSTA President: Science Education—The Times They are A-Changin’

Inspired by her favorite Bob Dylan song of 1964, “The Times They Are A-Changin,” NSTA President Page Keeley’s presidential theme during her 2008—2009 tenure will be “From Transition to Transformation—Striving for a Science-Literate Nation...

Journal Article

Materials Repurposed

Few teachers find themselves with the support to purchase all of the materials they ideally need to supply their classrooms. Buying one or two simple, ready-made items can put a serious strain on anyone’s budget. However, materials for science in t...

Journal Article

Society for College Science Teachers: I’m in the “Thinking Business”

Teaching through inquiry doesn’t come automatically—professors have to think of instruction in a different way. Instead of describing information that students should know, they must challenge students to think at a higher, critical-thinking leve...

Journal Article

Coupling Scientific Journalism and Poster Sessions as Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Tools in the Nonmajors Science Classroom

Scientific journalism, by definition, is writing concise, scientifically accurate, and engaging articles for nonexpert or lay audiences. When coupled with in-class poster sessions, it is a powerful and efficient mechanism for engaging and assessing s...

Journal Article

Science Books for Professional Pleasure Reading

The next time you hear someone say, “I was never good at science” or “I don’t know enough about science to teach it well,” share this list. There’s bound to be something there for everyone. After all, Science and Children readers love sci...

Journal Article

The Nature of Science in Popular Nonfiction

To help make science relevant to student’s everyday lives, the authors required their 10th-grade summer school students to read selections from a popular nonfiction science book. By doing so, they were able to promote literacy and provide an authen...

Journal Article

Environmental Service Learning: Relevant, Rewarding, and Responsible

At Georgia Southern University (GSU), a regional university of 17,000 students, environmental science is a required introductory course for all students. Consequently, environmental-biology class sizes are large, often approaching 1,000 students each...