JoinAll Resources
Journal Article
A Rubric for Selecting Inquiry-Based Activities
One of the biggest challenges to the more widespread use of inquiry is the difficulty teachers have in identifying appropriate activities. Teachers can structure the use of inquiry in the classroom with this rubric based on the National Science Educa...
Journal Article
This case is based on the real-life incident of a boy whose arm was bitten off by a bull shark while he was swimming off the Florida coast in the summer of 2001. After the boy’s arm was retrieved from the shark’s mouth, it was then surgically rea...
Journal Article
Earth Odyssey is an outreach program for grades four to six developed by a Los Angeles museum. Museum instructors work with classrooms over the course of one month to conduct field observations of living things in the schoolyard and in a local park. ...
Journal Article
A motion picture company (c. 1950) is having problems with antiquated equipment. The director, actors, and crew all want the CEO of the company, who is notorious for being tight with money, to invest in a newly developed zoom lens. Students are asked...
Journal Article
This interrupted case study presents published data on the effect of coyote removal in Texas to teach students about trophic level relationships and the role of keystone species. Students are required to interpret data that are presented graphically ...
Journal Article
Assessing Students’ Ideas About Plants
This article contains an interview protocol that will help you gather information about your elementary students’ ideas related to plants. By implementing the protocol, you will be able to discover what kinds of organisms your students think are pl...
Journal Article
To help new teachers prioritize their responsibilities, a mentor teacher within the Columbus Public School District in Columbus, Ohio, developed a “New Science Teacher” checklist. The checklist was designed for participants of Columbus’s Peer A...
Journal Article
In this directed case study on the structure of the cell and functions of the major organelles, students examine one of the most important events of evolution: the origin of the eukaryotic cell. Students research the two major hypotheses involved and...
Journal Article
Science Sampler: Writing in Science—Beyond the lab report
“This isn’t English class!” but creative writing can be a useful tool for increasing comprehension of science topics, and writing skills are so necessary that they need to be practiced in all classes. Learn how the author developed a science wr...
Journal Article
Bones reveal many facts about the animals from which they come, making them a great hands-on educational tool. For several years, the Saint Louis Zoo has offered a summer course on bones, where children in grades three to five learn how animals move,...
Journal Article
The Kids In Nature (KIN) program is a partnership between Sedgwick Reserve and the UCSB Museum of Systematic and Ecology (MSE) to serve underrepresented elementary students in the surrounding Santa Barbara school districts. Read on to learn how coord...
Journal Article
Diving into Literature, Mathematics, and Science
Students dive into this integrated lesson structured around Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea....
Journal Article
Successful learning environments thrive in organized classrooms. Organization aids the new teacher in everyday instruction, and also provides stability for the students. The following is a rundown of organizational tips that can replace at least some...
Journal Article
Mentoring is a complex role that encompasses criticism and praise, pressure and nurturing, logistics, organization, and persistence. While many school districts have specific procedures and objectives for mentoring, the common focus is to provide the...
Journal Article
Scope on the Skies: The school year in space
This column focuses on astronomy throughout the year. This month’s issue features planet observations, eclipses, launches, and the International Space Station's (ISS) continued growth....
Journal Article
This article describes the structure and content of a one-semester course dealing with chemistry, science, and technology designed for nonscience majors. The course uses a hybrid of two active learning methodologies—problem-based team learning and ...
Journal Article
From Galileo to Snowflake Bentley: Using Literature to Teach Inquiry in Middle School Science
In this article, the authors create new possibilities for using award-winning literature to teach science. Paired texts, or two texts that are related conceptually, are used to integrate science and literacy standards. Literature clusters that addres...
Journal Article
Learn to differentiate between accuracy and precision with this data-collection activity from the Healthy Water, Healthy People Water Quality Educators Guide....
Journal Article
After the Bell: Parents as teachers—how teachers can help parents promote science literacy
This article contains three simple, highly effective strategies that can be shared with parents to encourage students' more active learning, thinking, and processing of information....
Journal Article
Editor's Note (September 2002)
Science and Children’s editor shares thoughts regarding the current issue. Many of the articles relate to nature....
Journal Article
Tech Trek: Who solved the longitude problem?
This activity is a practical example of how a middle school science teacher can use a variety of media to conduct an in-depth exploration....
Journal Article
Whether it takes the form of a tutorial, simulation, or educational game, computer-assisted instruction (CAI) is becoming a permanent part of science education. In this article, the author shares some of the current research that demonstrates the suc...
Journal Article
Picturing Physics: Using an image, students determine the distance from an object to the camera
To demonstrate the digital camera's use as a scientific instrument, this exercise challenges students' scientific creativity and provides an experience in the scientific research process. Students designed and carried out experiments to determine the...
Journal Article
Predict, Observe, and Explain (POE) centers can be used in the classroom to provide simple and focused activities that promote scientific inquiry skills. This article provides instructions for setting up a POE center, along with several suggestions f...
Journal Article
Energy is what makes things move, light up, and radiate warmth—energy makes things happen and makes our lives easier, too. But despite the importance of energy to every aspect of our lives, many Americans are not adequately armed with the basic ene...
Journal Article
Refocusing Natural Resource Management
Achieving scientific literacy requires students to understand how science is applied in the real world. A capstone class at Virginia Tech focuses on the role science and scientists play in the process of natural resource management. As a result, stud...
Journal Article
The Case Study: Twixt Fact and Fiction
What shall it be, a real case connected to the real world with blood, sweat, and tears or a fantasy, a twice-told tale by a spinner of yarns around a campfire on a summer night? When a teacher sits down to write a case, he is lured by the former and ...
Journal Article
Sharpen students' experimental design and observation skills with the help of gastropods. This article describes a five-day activity that incorporates guided and inquiry-based learning. Students spend some time observing the snails, then design and c...
Journal Article
Says Who? Students apply their critical-analysis skills to fight town hall
Biology students critique and challenge a public health proposal to limit citizen exposure to environmental toxins. They won the challenge and learned that while they are only in high school, their abilities to analyze and criticize a public documen...
Journal Article
Captivating young children is at the heart of teaching, making it fun and challenging. Rogoff (1990) argued that children learn how to think and act in various settings mostly through informal apprenticeships in everyday settings that include rich, s...
Journal Article
Are wolves actually “wicked” and do they eat people? Of course not, but folktales like Little Red Riding Hood perpetuate the misconceptions surrounding the endangered gray wolf. To dispel these misconceptions, this two-week unit on wolves weaves...