All Resources

Journal Article

Science Sampler: Familiar toys and abstract ideas

In this article, learn how to use some toys to teach students various abstract science concepts, such as ratios, percentages, and conservation of mass....

Journal Article

It's Alive: Students observe air-water interface samples rich with organisms

After collaboration with a university researcher, students found that the air-water interface was a thin biofilm on the surface of still water composed of a rich variety of living microorganisms. Samples exposed to day-night intervals and in total da...

Journal Article

A Pond Investigation

What lives in the pond? Did frogs hop from another pond to ours? How do tadpoles get into the pond? And Could our pond be polluted? These questions were addressed in a professional development program that takes advantage of a school pond to teach en...

Journal Article

Rolling on the River: Professional mentors motivate students to learn environmental science

Students participate in an interdisciplinary project, Research@the.River.com. By collaborating with their professional mentors while working in the field, students learned environmental science curricula through discussion and interaction. Most impor...

Journal Article

Idea Bank: Fruit Fundamentals

The Idea Bank provides tips and techniques for creative teaching, in about 1,000 words. This month’s Idea Bank features a unique activity using halved apples, oranges, and onions as the "specimens" that teaches necessary dissection skills to prepa...

Journal Article

Writing a Statement of Teaching Philosophy

Writing a statement of teaching philosophy is a cornerstone of reflective and scholarly practice in teaching and learning. A strategic set of practical and philosophical guidelines, including a definition, elements, and structure of a statement of te...

Journal Article

Weekly Reports: Student Reflections on Learning

Weekly reports, a structured journal form of formative assessment, allow instructors to receive information from the students, to address students’ difficulties in a timely manner, and to alter their instruction based on the students’ needs. In a...

Journal Article

Wacky Machines: A unit on simple machines gets a new twist with old junk

The next community yard sale might be a repository of old, quirky items that are just the things to get students thinking about simple machines. By introducing some "wacky machines" at lab stations as mystery objects, teachers can watch students' min...

Journal Article

Editor's Note (May 2002)

Science and Children’s editor shares thoughts regarding the current issue, and also the neighborhood excitement of a bird building a nest on the front porch. ...

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: Practical Considerations for Assessing Inquiry-Based Instruction

Research shows that inquiry learning promotes achievement and positive student attitudes toward science. One obstacle to implementing inquiry learning, however, is the development and use of appropriate assessments. This difficulty can be eased by ta...

Journal Article

Pond Life Magnified

An aquatic insect aquarium is a great tool for teaching students about life cycles, food webs, environmental niches, and adaptations to pond life. Complete directions for setting up the aquarium are provided, along with several ideas for investigatio...

Journal Article

Students as Storytellers

Students enrolled in an Enhanced Bioscience Education (EBE) program maintained two documents: a group notebook to record observations made in the bioscience laboratory and a personal journal to note reactions to the literature read in the humanities ...

Journal Article

What Do Amphibians Have to Offer? Students monitor and map amphibians in local pond habitats

Scientists have expressed concern over amphibian decline. In a cooperative project with a university and a local high school, students monitor and map amphibians in local pond habitats and try to distinguish population fluctuations from actual declin...

Journal Article

What A Puzzle!

At its heart, science is fundamentally about solving questions, or puzzles. Puzzles are those things to which the solution is unknown—now. Each generation of scientists tackles an array of problems, solving some and leaving many more to future gene...

Journal Article

Acting Out Science

Role-playing is an effective summative activity that aids student learning and integrates science information and concepts. The authors describe the use of a role-play activity. Senate hearings centered around the theme of global climate change, and ...