All Resources

Journal Article

The Tablecloth Trick, Take II

Through a pedagogical sequence, students learn the physics behind a popular magic trick. After students have the opportunity to try the sequence of activities the grand finale begins—pulling the tablecloth out from under a real set of dishes. ...

Journal Article

Alphatome—Enhancing Spatial Reasoning

Using refrigerator magnets, foam blocks, ink pads, and modeling clay, students manipulate the letters of the alphabet at multiple angles, reconstructing three-dimensional forms from two-dimensional data. This exercise increases students’ spatial re...

Journal Article

It's a Frog's Life

When a preschool teacher unexpectedly found tadpoles in the school's outdoor baby pool, she recognized an unusual opportunity for her students to study pond life up close. By following the tadpoles' development, students learned about frogs, life cyc...

Journal Article

Favorite Demonstration: A Bright Idea

The typical approach to teaching the scientific method entails presenting a series of steps meant to make the logic behind the scientific method more intelligible. Unfortunately, this alone does not fully instill an understanding of testable-hypothes...

Journal Article

Expanding the 5E Model: A proposed 7E model emphasizes "transfer of learning" and the importance of eliciting prior understanding

Research on how people learn and the incorporation of that research into lesson plans and curriculum demands that the highly successful 5E model be expanded to a 7E model. The 7E model proposes the addition of eliciting prior understanding and exten...

Journal Article

Career of the Month: An Interview with Volcanologist Jeffrey Byrnes

This column features interviews with professionals using science in the workplace. In this month’s issue, Jeff Byrnes shares how his education and career path inspired him to be a volcanologist....

Journal Article

To Review or Not to Review? Review techniques help foster student achievement

Review techniques are implemented to enhance student understanding of material and assessment performance. Reviewing materials before an exam gives students more exposure and experience with the subject matter, and the review techniqes ensure that di...

Journal Article

Learning by Doing: Teaching the Process of Inquiry

Through this "blind" observation exercise, you can bring science alive using inquiry to link the needs, interest, and experiences of your students. The authors provide a general model for inquiry lessons as well as specific examples....

Journal Article

Light Students' Interest in the Nature of Science

The nature of science is a vital part of students’ educational experience. Learn how to apply the study of electrical circuits into an activity that seamlessly unites content, process, and the nature of science....

Journal Article

Idea Bank: Traveling Safely Overseas

Overseas field trips can be exciting and rewarding for both teachers and students. To ensure a healthy and safe return, this article features certain steps that MUST be taken before embarking on an overseas adventure. ...

Journal Article

Home Connections: Act Fast!

This simple, at-home activity explores reaction time. Working with a partner, a student drops a ruler for the partner to catch. Measuring the distance that the ruler fell before being caught can be used to calculate reaction time....

Journal Article

Commentary: A Message from the NSTA President—Teaching With Purpose

An opinion piece about "Teaching with Purpose." In essence, it means having a research-based rationale to guide your daily classroom teaching....

Journal Article

The Human Side of Science

More and more plays dealing with science are coming to the stage. This provides a wonderful opportunity for science teachers to engage humanities students in a serious exploration of science. This article describes how four plays (Michael Frayn’s C...

Journal Article

Scope on the Skies: A year in the skies

This column focuses on astronomy throughout the year. This month’s issue highlights the astronomical events for the 2003-2004 school year....

Journal Article

Web-Based Warm Up Exercises in Just-in-Time Teaching

The authors used warm-up exercises in Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) to reveal students’ prior knowledge and misconceptions in biology, chemistry, and physics. This article demonstrates how the use of preparatory warm-up exercises and analysis of stu...

Journal Article

Counting Dots: Students engage in a coal mining activity to interpret geology

With techniques used by actual geologists, students apply their understanding of contour lines, maps, area, density, and volume through a coal mining activity. ...

Journal Article

Tried and True: Solving problems scientifically

This simple guided lesson based on the "black box" activity proved to be a great way to introduce simple inquiry. It encourages students to ask questions, make predictions, make observations, conduct test, and draw conclusions. ...

Journal Article

Sand: Up Close and Amazing!

Discover the surprising diversity and scientific value of sand from around the world....

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: The Visionlearning Project

Although the proliferation of teaching resources on the Internet is extensive, little is known about these materials’ use or utility. The Visionlearning project is a multiyear effort to design and evaluate web-based interdisciplinary science teachi...

Journal Article

Science Sampler: Narrowing student investigations

Learn how to teach students science by using single-lesson investigations. This technique complements longer-term investigations by allowing students to practice narrowing questions and to plan and conduct their own investigations....

Journal Article

Teaching through Trade Books: Dealing with Data

The elementary classroom is full of opportunities to collect and organize information—or data—of all kinds. This article suggests two trade books that help children explore concepts of measurement. A background section and data-gathering activiti...