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Journal Article
Focusing Labs on the Nature of Science
After learning about the scientific method, students are often left with mistaken impressions about how scientists work. This article seeks to give students a better understanding of the nature of science through laboratory work. Open-ended exercises...
Journal Article
In contrast with statements by institutions and science organizations about why science should be studied, nonscience majors at two- and four-year institutions said they were enrolled in a science course because it was required rather than because it...
Journal Article
Incorporating History into the Science Classroom
The use of history in science courses can humanize science, help students refine their critical thinking skills, promote a deeper understanding of scientific concepts, and address common student misconceptions that often resemble those of past scient...
Journal Article
The authors conducted a research case study to ascertain the effect of a bridge program on fostering self-growth and academic readiness for college. Academic wholism provided the vehicle to promote self-awareness, self-motivation, and academic maturi...
Journal Article
Point of View: Mommy Love and the Sciences
At the university level, instructors who embody Mommy-love give high marks for effort, are very charismatic, and often have a large and vocal following of dedicated students. However, the science faculty is more likely to be populated by Daddy-love i...
Journal Article
Tech Trek: A different phase change
In physical science, we often use water to demonstrate change of state. However, this teacher demonstration will expose students to unfamiliar substances whose phase changes can be compared to those of water. Subsequently, a phase change that is in r...
Journal Article
Writing, in conjunction with other activities such as reading and hands-on experiences, contributes to greater critical thinking, thoughtful consideration of ideas, and better concept learning. This article discusses a comprehensive approach toward s...
Journal Article
Keys to Teaching the Nature of Science
Despite continuous and well-reasoned recommendations that students need to have an understanding of science as a human endeavor and the nature and history of science across all grade levels, some students and teachers alike still fail to understand e...
Journal Article
Science Sampler: On the shoulders of giants
To help students understand that what they learn in science class is the product of the hard work of those who have come before them, and to encourage them to be future contributors to our understanding of how nature works, the author developed The G...
Journal Article
Editor's Corner: News Flash—<em>Science Is Important</em>
This issue of The Science Teacher is our attempt to give you some tools to move the understanding of science to the majority, to help provide a more secure future for the scientific habit mind. In our classes, we must help students understand the s...
Journal Article
After the Bell: Mapping for geographic awareness -- Part I
Maps and mapping are of great importance in the field of education because mapping concepts are linked to the development of students’ thinking and cognitive structures. In addition, mapping concepts are based on students’ experiences and learni...
Journal Article
The project described here involved the design, implementation, and evaluation of an upper-level, undergraduate elective course for science majors. Specific course goals were to help students gain an appreciation of the interdisciplinary nature of as...
Journal Article
Society for College Science Teachers: Facilitator Versus Teacher
Educational fads in higher education are interesting phenomena. They seem to bubble up from the K-12 sector, but have little substantial research to support their use in the college setting. Fads seem to gain footholds easily but are not so easily di...
Journal Article
Science Sampler: Making an impact -- Shatter cones
In this geology activity, students visited the Beaverhead, Montana site of a meteor impact and mapped the locations of shatter cones, which are geologic formations characteristic of an impact site. Using a global positioning (GPS) device and the proc...
Journal Article
In this month’s column, the experts address the following question: My students wondered how scientists give scientific names to hybrids such as mules?...
Journal Article
This exercise provides a simple method to visually demonstrate the third step in the calcium/calmodulin signal transduction pathway, that is, the activation of a target protein phosphodiesterase without the use of radioactivity. Using hands-on method...
Journal Article
Tried and True: Sensations of sound
"The hills are alive with the sound of music," and now your classroom can be too! This series of tried and true activities explore the nature of sound. They can be set up as stations around the room, which students should be able to cycle through in ...
Journal Article
Idea Bank: Look Before You Leap
Induction and deduction are important to logical thinking in general and to science specifically, and should be important elements of the science curriculum. These two logical tools are the foundation of science and understanding them would benefit a...
Journal Article
Editor's Note (November/December 2004)
At a time in which teachers are pressured to teach more and more to higher standards, writing in the content areas can provide an authentic way to teach writing skills. This selection includes notes from the field editor of Science and Children on i...
Journal Article
The Art of Reviewing Science Journals
Science journals are wonderful tools. They offer a glimpse into children’s science understandings, and they are both diagnostic and pedagogically informative to teachers. Examining and reflecting on children’s journal work lets teachers embed ass...
Journal Article
Introduction to Biological Investigations
Introduction to Biological Investigations is a course that was developed to introduce the scientific method through practical application. This active, student-centered experience fosters fundamental skills that promote creativity, critical thinking,...
Journal Article
Bands to Books: Connecting Literature to Experimental Design
This interdisciplinary unit of study on the inquiry process and experimental design that seamlessly integrates math, science, and reading using a rubber band cannon. The authors begin by describing a series of interrelated curricular engagements that...
Journal Article
Science Shorts: Understanding Acid Rain
You may have heard acid rain mentioned as an environmental problem. It doesn't mean that a strong chemical is raining from the sky. The term acid rain describes rain, snow, or fog that is more acidic than normal precipitation. However, a small ch...
Journal Article
The Nature of Science: Always Part of the Science Story
Understanding how science works is crucial to scientific literacy because bound up in content and public policy decisions involving science are issues regarding what science is, how knowledge in science comes to be accepted, and what science can and ...