JoinAll Resources
Journal Article
Personal Care Chemistry as a Bridge to Careers in Science and Technology
This activity in personal care chemistry seeks to provide middle school girls with an opportunity to learn firsthand about science and engineering technology. The activities--the preparation of lip balm and hand lotion--are fun, easy to do, and they ...
Journal Article
Science Sampler: Success for all is just a heartbeat away
To unlock student understanding and enable a large percentage of the class to successfully complete a full range of inquiry activities, try using the differentiated instruction approach described in this article. Students of varying levels will thriv...
Journal Article
Scope on Safety: Collaborating safely
With the advent of inclusion legislation such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) or PL 105-17 Reauthorization Action of 1997, many schools have focused on teaching partnerships between regular education and special education te...
Journal Article
Scope on the Skies: The real shape of the Moon's orbit
In the typical Moon phase lesson, students learn that the rotation period for the Moon is approximately the same as its revolution period around the Earth. However, as your students complete the following activity, they will discover that the Moon's ...
Journal Article
Editor’s Corner: Small Science
We know that nanotechnology offers real possibilities. It already appears in commercial products such as computers, sunscreens, high-performance sporting equipment, and stain-resistant fabrics. The evolution from vacuum tubes to transistors and high-...
Journal Article
The National Center for Learning and Teaching Nanotechnology (NCLT) based at Northwestern University is developing “nanoconcept” materials to bring nanoscience into the classroom. These materials center around key new concepts in nanoscience, inc...
Journal Article
Science Shorts: Nothing But Blue Skies
Why is the sky blue? Why are sunsets orange and red? These are some of children’s favorite questions to ask, but answering them at a level appropriate for primary students’ level of understanding can be tricky, even for veteran teachers. In order...
Journal Article
Fats, Oils, and Colors of Nanoscale Materials
Phase changes and intermolecular forces are important physical science concepts but are not always easy to present in an active learning format. This article presents several interactive activities in which students plot the melting points of some fa...
Journal Article
Science Sampler: Mail time! Addressing student questions in science class
How can you encourage students to question and explore their day-to-day encounters with science and still get through the curriculum for the year? At a local hardware store--you'll discover the solution--a big metal mailbox. It has all the trimmings:...
Journal Article
That a relatively small piece of writing such as Albert Einstein's three-page paper of relativity could be so important certainly illustrates the significance of writing to science. A science class is not complete unless it helps students learn to th...
Journal Article
The Structures and Properties of Carbon
The four main forms of carbon—diamond, graphite, buckyballs, and CNTs—are an excellent vehicle for teaching fundamental principles of chemical bonding, material structure, and properties. Carbon atoms form a variety of structures that are intrins...
Journal Article
One third grade teacher reflects on her students living by the ocean and their frequent jaunts to the beaches where expansive slabs of granite jut out into the sea. During the summer, they run along the rocks and explore the cracks and crevices. Thro...
Journal Article
Science 101: 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 diamon...
Journal Article
Science Sampler: Rocket boys and girls
Teachers at a middle school located in West Virginia didn’t want their students to limit themselves to local jobs when faced with future career decisions. They wanted them to investigate a world of science within their state that they might not be ...
Journal Article
Soil is all around us, in fact there is so much of it that we often don’t think of it as a valuable natural resource, and we might even take it for granted! We rely on its productivity for our food and fiber and its firmness to support our building...
Journal Article
Commentary: Putting Nanotechnology Under the Microscope
Nanotechnology is all over the news: Particles that become translucent or change color according to size! Particles smaller than viruses in the shape of hollow soccer balls! Particles that can destroy tumors, prevent sunburn, and keep your windows cl...
Journal Article
Self-Assembly: How Nature Builds
Self-assembly or spontaneous assembly is a process in which materials build themselves without assistance (Goodsell 2000). Presented here is a simple in-class exercise that underlines the basic principles of self-assembly and helps students understan...
Journal Article
Making <em> Learning </em> a Never-Ending Story
Initially, middle school students and their parents displayed mixed emotions when shown 10-meter-long science murals at the beginning of the school year. However, once they discovered that story concepts illustrate and address the normally overwhelm...
Journal Article
Intrigued by the idea of offering creative ways to reinforce both fine-motor skills and early mathematics skills as well as being eager to work with young students, a group of five preservice teachers and their professor arranged to try a few activit...
Journal Article
Editor's Note: Geology Is Fundamental (December 2006)
Geology is fundamental. The usual triad of sciences (chemistry, physics, and biology) is also clearly important. Not much can be explained without physics, for example. But geology, the history of Earth, is an application of these sciences that deser...