All Resources

Journal Article

Send Your Students to MARS for Their Next Research Project

Alleviate the fear often associated with research papers through this interdisciplanary project that incorporates community support and technology into a fascinating discovery of the planet Mars....

Journal Article

Expert Biogeographers

Instead of having students read about biomes in a textbook, why not have them become expert biogeographers? Once students have learned what a biogeographer does through an on-line search, they will take on the role as expert biogeographer. In this hy...

Journal Article

Commentary: Science in Structure

Science learning does not have to stop at the classroom door. A well-designed construction project takes as many opportunities as possible to give students additional scientific stimulation. A periodic table on the ceiling of a chemistry lab/classroo...

Journal Article

Partners in Crime: Integrating Forensic Science and Writing

Partners is Crime is a project-based initiative, funded by various sources, including the Toyota Tapestry grant, which strives to keep education interesting while closing the achievement gap through collaborations with other teachers and members of t...

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Ask the Experts -- April/May 2006

The Experts address this thought-provoking question in this month's column: "How does the air quality, specifically the level of air pollutants, in the smoking section of a restaurant compare to air quality in smoke-free restaurants?"...

Journal Article

Idea Bank: Inquiry and the Collapsing Can

The Collapsing Can demonstration has reached classic status for illustrating pressure and properties of gases for students of all ages. But how effective is this demonstration for promoting learning? How can it be converted from simply a dramatic eve...

Journal Article

Scope on the Skies: Solar system update

Our knowledge of the solar system and of orbital dynamics has undergone some changes as telescope technology improved. This month's Scope on the skies discusses the newest developments within the solar system and redefines the meaning of the word "pl...

Journal Article

A Bermuda Triangle of Science

The Bermuda Triangle is famous for the unexplained disappearances of ships and aircraft, and for strange meteorological phenomena that allegedly have occurred within its boundaries. The following activity asks students to create their own geographica...

Journal Article

The Early Years: Feet First

Kids love animals, especially learning about them. Investigating the differences among an "animal part"--such as feet--of various species can be an intriguing way to help students develop classification skills and begin to make connections about the...

Journal Article

There's Life in Those Dead Logs!

If asked to describe the natural features of forests, students might start out by mentioning familiar plants and animals such as trees, mammals, birds, and flowers. Dead trees are not likely to make the list. Although it is unspectacular in appeara...

Journal Article

Tech Trek: Wordsmiths on the web

Based on authors Bob Tierney and John Dorroh's practical suggestions for promoting student writing and the learning of science, this column highlights a variety of websites that involve students in similar activities designed to help them become bett...

Journal Article

Science 101: If an insect grows to human size, will it have superhuman strength?

If insects grew to gigantic proportions, could they take over the world with their super-strength? To find and understand the answer, you have to understand a bit of basic geometry and how it applies to all kinds of organisms of different sizes....

Journal Article

Creating Deep Time Diaries: An English/Earth Science Unit for Middle School Students

Students love a good story. We all do. That's why incorporating literary fiction that parallels teaching goals and standards can be so effective. In the interdisciplinary, thematic six-week unit described here, the fictional book The Deep Time Diarie...

Journal Article

Kinesthetic Writing, of Sorts

The ability to clearly communicate what was learned as the result of an experiment is a key component of science in general, not just science in the middle school classroom. The trick in the middle school classroom is teaching students how to write w...

Journal Article

Teacher's Toolkit: Teaching for transferal

An area of cognitive science that may one day help connect neuroscience and education is the concept of transferal. Transferal refers to how the skills and knowledge learned in a classroom can be synthesized and taken into the real world. Of specific...

Journal Article

Learning to Make Systematic Decisions

How do communities deal with the needs of a growing population? How do they manage limited resources like land, energy, and water? How do they balance the needs of humans against the needs of native ecosystems? The case-based, environmental science c...

Journal Article

Tried and True: Write it, do it

Effective writing is a keystone in the process of developing scientific knowledge. Scientists must be able to successfully communicate their findings so colleagues can confirm the authenticity of their claims through the replication of experiments. S...

Journal Article

Every Day Science Calendar: May 2006

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

Journal Article

What's Bugging You?

"'Ooh, these things give me the willies, and I am not getting near them." "Wonder what those things are and what they eat?" Statements like these were heard amongst preservice students as they embarked on "bug" research. This article offers insight...

Journal Article

Knowing When You Don't Know

This article describes an alternative way of testing--a performance assessment--that is different both in process and goals from typical tests, but closer to what teachers believe assessment should be. Teachers who have helped to create, refine, and ...

Journal Article

Collaboration with Community Partners

Collaborations with community partners make problem-based learning experiences more authentic and exciting for students while ensuring that the experience is consistent with the community’s needs and interests. The authors describe a problem-based ...

Journal Article

Editor's Corner: Community Collaboration

Science activities that take students outside the school walls can combine the best aspects of service to the community, problem-based learning, and lessons in good citizenship. Over the past half-decade, The Science Teacher (TST) has published more ...