All Resources

Journal Article

A message from the NSTA President: Meeting the Needs of the New World Student (September 2007)

To succeed in the 21st century, students have to learn how to be creative problem solvers who can work in collaborative groups. These new-world students must have the ability to think critically, use technology efficiently, and communicate effectivel...

Journal Article

Scope on Safety: Bloodborne pathogens—Be prepared, be protected

Malaria, Lyme disease, Epstein-Barr syndrome, meningitis, syphilis, hepatitis B and HIV/AIDS—what do all of these diseases have in common? These belong to a group of over 100 microorganisms categorized as bloodborne pathogens. With the HIV epidem...

Journal Article

Guest Editorial: Happy anniversary, traveling companion!

Fifty years ago, on Friday, October 4, 1957, a 184-pound, silver-colored, metal ball caused an event that would change the world forever and reshape science education in the United States for decades to come. That beach ball-sized object was the man-...

Journal Article

Editor’s Roundtable: Share your passion for science

We are not only teachers of science content, processes, and attitudes, but also teachers of writing and reading. The articles in this month’s issue of Science Scope contain numerous strategies to improve student achievement and understanding in s...

Journal Article

Methods and Strategies: Teaching About Animals

When asking about animals, it is hard to find a person who doesn’t recall a beloved pet or share that they’ve always loved dolphins, snakes, or ladybugs. A study of animals in an early childhood classroom, then, would seem an easy entry into scie...

Journal Article

Through the Bugscope

The projection screen in the dimly lit auditorium was ready and an online chat window was open on the computer screen. Computer experts and entomologists were ready on the other end. One by one, students filled up the rows of seats eagerly anticipati...

Journal Article

Goodbye Critter Jitters

What invertebrates make the best classroom pets? How should we care for each invertebrate? What type of inquiry activities could invertebrates support? How do elementary students respond to invertebrates? These were the questions investigated in The ...

Journal Article

The Early Years: Animal Adventures

Children can have a new favorite animal every week or even every hour. The more familiar the children become with an animal, the more they will be able to understand how its body form and behavior allow it to survive. Learning about the characteristi...

Journal Article

President’s Message: Meeting the Needs of the New World Student

To succeed in the 21st century, students have to learn how to be creative problem solvers who can work in collaborative groups. These new-world students must have the ability to think critically, use technology efficiently, and communicate effectivel...

Journal Article

Science Sampler: Using direct instruction to teach content vocabulary

The magnitude of vocabulary students need to know in the middle school science curriculum is vast and can be daunting. As educators, it is our job to efficiently and effectively teach students so that they are not only able to apply the new vocabular...

Journal Article

Scope on the Skies: Between the planets

This year, Scope on the Skies will highlight members of our solar system, featuring current information about these objects and exploration missions to them. We will begin with an area of the solar system that could serve as a dividing line between t...

Journal Article

Science Sampler: Using trade books to improve science education

For students to be successful in science, they must be able to examine information, make predictions, and comprehend what they are reading (Miller 2006). By incorporating trade books, (such as fictional story books, informational story books, and inf...

Journal Article

Science 101: How do animals navigate during migration?

Migrating animals do amazing things. Homing pigeons can find their way “home” across hundreds of miles; salmon return to their spawning location thousands of miles away; turtles travel over eight thousand miles to lay their eggs in the spot where...

NSTA Press Book

The Story of Science: Einstein Adds a New Dimension

Now, it’s time for your students to look over Albert Einstein’s shoulder as he develops a new kind of physics that points the way to more recent theories of particle physics and quantum mechanics. Joy Hakim will demonstrate how scientific thought...

By Joy Hakim

Elementary High School Informal Education Middle School General Science Assessment Curriculum Instructional Materials Science and Engineering Practices Professional Learning old

Book Chapter

A Boy with Something on His Mind

Fifteen-year-old Albert Einstein is miserable. He is trying to finish high school in Germany, but he hates the school; it’s a strict, rigid place. To make things worse, his parents have moved to Italy. They think he should stay behind until his sch...

Elementary High School Middle School Assessment Curriculum Instructional Materials Teaching Strategies Research Teacher Preparation

Journal Article

Idea Bank: Literature Circle Roles for Science Vocabulary

The study of science is often vocabulary intensive. An analysis of high school chemistry, biology, physics, and Earth science textbooks showed that approximately 1,000 to 3,000 novel science terms are contained in each (Groves 1995). Given the shear ...

Journal Article

Editor's Note: Investigating Water (Summer 2007)

Water is a major world currency and continues to be critical for all. We can figure out how to live without oil but it is quite a cumbersome task to consider living without water. In this month’s installment of the Editor’s Note section we rece...

Journal Article

Can Inexperienced Researchers Teach Open-Ended Laboratories?

Using exit surveys of biology students we examine whether undergraduate instructors can teach investigative labs, and share perspectives on the challenges of working with undergraduate lab instructors....

Journal Article

Solstice, Science, and Summer Reading

Like generations before them, teachers often use the energy of the summer Sun to nurture seeds of growth (both real and virtual) for another year. Whether you believe the ancient legends or not, summer provides catch-up time. You can turn off your ...

Journal Article

Favorite Demonstration: A Candle Lights the Way to Scientific Discourse

The science conversation cited in this article showed the development of an inquisitive attitude, scientific reasoning skills, the motivation and competence to participate in a scientific discourse, and a deeper understanding of the nature of science...

Journal Article

Ask the Experts—Summer 2007

The experts address the following question in this month’s column: How do fireflies get their light power?...

Journal Article

Teaching through Trade Books: Down the Drain

In developed countries such as the United States, it is easy to take water for granted. Americans use more water per capita than anywhere else in the world, up to 100 gallons a day. That’s 10 times the amount of the water that an average person l...

Journal Article

Mentoring New Science Teachers

Most experienced high school science teachers are asked at some point to serve as a mentor to a novice teacher. While mentor-training programs have been established in many states, they often only focus on how the mentor can help new science teachers...

Journal Article

WebGURU: The Web-Based Guide to Research for Undergraduates

Undergraduate research (UR) is widely promoted by faculty, administrators, institutions of higher learning, government laboratories, private industry, professional associations, and funding agencies as an effective method of training college students...

Journal Article

Bringing Light onto Shadows

“What starts out long but gets shorter then longer each day?” Shadows! This students clever riddles was an opportunity to investigate how the Sun’s daily position in the sky influences shadow length. Thus began a mini-lesson which was create...

Journal Article

Extreme Arthropods: Exploring Evolutionary Adaptations to Polar and Temperate Deserts

In this activity, Namib and Antarctic arthropods are used to illustrate several important biological principles. Among these are the key ideas that form follows function and that the environment drives evolution. In addition, students will discover t...

Journal Article

Science 101: How can an ocean liner made of steel float on water?

Sinking and floating is a subject covered in many science classes, from kindergarten through college physics. Even the audiences of late-night talk shows get to predict whether an object will sink or float in water. And of course, we all know that wi...

Journal Article

Celebrate Summer with Reading

School is out and the summer is full of both official and unofficial holidays that prompt us to enjoy science and the profession of sharing it. As in past years, the reviewers and editors of NSTA Recommends—ready and willing to share their enthusi...

Journal Article

Do Open-Book Exams Impede Long-Term Learning in Introductory Biology Courses?

Students in an introductory biology course who were given open-book exams during the semester earned significantly higher grades on these exams, but significantly lower grades on the closed-book final exam, than students who took in-class, closed-boo...

Journal Article

Science Sampler: Building bridges between scientists and teachers to bring the joy of science to British Columbia students

Although it is hard to claim that one or two school visits by a scientist will change how students think about science and their place in it, the authors’ experience suggests that, for many students, a school visit by a scientist makes a big and lo...

Journal Article

Scope on Safety: Shedding light on laser pointer safety

With the introduction of physics concepts at the elementary and middle school grades resulting from the National Science Education Standards and No Child Left Behind legislation, teachers are looking for exciting technology that will turn kids on to ...

Journal Article

A Drop Through Time

Did you know that the water you use today is the same water that was used millions of years ago? How is this possible? Water is continuously replenished through a naturally occurring process known as the water cycle. To help students learn about thi...

Journal Article

Editor’s Corner: Supporting New Teachers

Many new teachers who leave schools after the first year report lack of support and poor working conditions as the primary reasons for leaving. New teachers can feel alone and vulnerable even working in a school building alongside scores of other tea...