All Resources

Journal Article

Favorite Demonstration: Localization and Visualization of the Pancreas—Making the Pancreas Visible to Students

This demonstration describes a simple procedure that helps students to identify the entire pancreas, including its boundaries. The method exposes the head, body, and tail of the pancreas so students may learn to appreciate its structure and the way i...

Journal Article

An Inquiry Primer

The science education community has embraced no idea more widely than “inquiry,” or “inquiry-based instruction.” In fact, developing an inquiry-based science program is the central tenet of the National Science Education Standards (National R...

Journal Article

Humble Advice for New Science Teachers

By understanding the relationship between practical knowledge and teaching techniques, new teachers can improve upon the learning experiences of students. The author shares approaches to teaching that she found effective in creating a meaningful scie...

Journal Article

Discovering Diversity

Multicultural education seeks to “affirm cultural pluralism within a culturally diverse society and in an interdependent world” (Bennett, 1999). Therefore, the authors helped a group of preservice teachers develop an awareness for and an apprecia...

Journal Article

Guest Editorial: Lallapalooza—Celebrating a Gift Extraordinaire for Case Study Teaching in Science

An opinion piece about the use of stories in the teaching of science—case study teaching....

Journal Article

Libros de Ciencias en Español: A selection of recent science trade books in Spanish

This list of recently published Spanish books will appeal to Spanish-speaking children....

Journal Article

Science as a Second Language

High school and middle school science teachers should include English language learners (ELLs) in interactive science learning, thereby increasing the opportunities for these students to learn science. Creating opportunities to interact within famili...

Journal Article

Journal Clubs—A Successful Vehicle to Science Literacy: Reversing Roles in the Classroom With Student-Led Discussions of Primary Literature

As part of a developmental biology course at New Jersey’s Kean University, students present a current research paper on developmental biology, emphasizing important experiments, data analysis, and major theories. This journal club format teaches st...

Journal Article

Ingredients for Success

To help with unexpected moments in teaching science, the author put together a “recipe” for success. Professionalism and dedication are important ingredients in this recipe, as are enthusiasm and commitment to science teaching and learning. By us...

Journal Article

Tap Into Informal Science Learning

As a new science teacher, you will no doubt encounter obstacles while preparing lessons and organizing activities. However, assistance in these areas is available from one source—informal science learning environments. Informal science learning env...

Journal Article

Water: A Sticky Subject? Learning about the cohesion and adhesion properties of water

In this activity, students learn that water particles (molecules) have a “sticky” property that allows water to overfill a container and that the strength of this property is altered with the addition of soap. When water molecules stick to each o...

Journal Article

Space Day 2000: Students are invited to solve problems of living and working in space

The Challenger Center for Space Science Education created three Design Challenges and invited students to submit solutions to any of the three challenges that involve living and working in space. This allows students to use traditional and technologi...

Journal Article

Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children for 2000—Books published in 1999

The books that appear in this bibliography were selected as outstanding children's science trade books by a review panel appointed by NSTA and assembled in cooperation with The Children's Book Council (CBC). NSTA and CBC have cooperated on this proje...

Journal Article

A Multidimensional Approach to Teaching Biology: Injecting Analytical Thoughts Into the Scientific Process

This article describes a series of investigative courses that emphasize the process of science using original research projects. Each course is tailored to different types of students including biology majors, nonscience liberal arts majors, and earl...

Journal Article

Designing and Implementing a Constructivist Chemistry Laboratory Program: Tinkering With the Laboratory Curricula To Get It Right

The author, an educational program specialist at the University of California, Davis, developed a constructivist chemistry laboratory where students had the opportunity to develop their own experimental procedures. This article describes some of the ...

Journal Article

All-Female Computer Science

Young women pursue educational and occupational careers in computer-related fields less frequently than do young men. One approach to increasing female enrollment and interest in computer science is to give female students at the high school level th...

Journal Article

Teaching Essentials Economically

The vision the author has for her students, who are mainly African American females, can be summarized in one word—success. They need to know that access to science is not limited to the Albert Einsteins of the world but also is available to the An...

Journal Article

Choosing Primary Literature in Biology to Achieve Specific Educational Goals

A professor at SUNY Geneseo, the author reports on her experiences using primary literature as the major focus of a seminar on evolutionary biology. The author, having discovered that the choice of articles can be the key to student understanding of ...

Journal Article

Blast Off into Space Science with Fuses

Batteries and bulbs electrify middle school students. In fact, one of the most engaging activities in the authors’ classroom is building fuses. When it comes time for students to close the circuits and let the sparks fly, they really get excited! T...

Journal Article

What's the Buzz? A classroom simulation teaches students about life in the hive

The opportunity to be a part of a functioning hive and the experiential nature of the lesson enabled students to learn how each bee's job contributes to the survival of the hive. Through this simulation students learned both content and process skill...

Journal Article

Editorial: Where There's a Market, There's a Way: Student Entrepreneurs—Filling a Niche in Education

The Journal of College Science Teaching’s editor shares thoughts regarding the current issue. ...

Journal Article

Scuba Science

To bridge the textbook compartmentalization of science courses and to bring the spirit of interdisciplinary investigation into the classroom, the author uses scuba technology as a high interest, practical example that requires a working knowledge of ...

Journal Article

How Big Are Raindrops?

Wilson A. Bentley, an American naturalist, studied precipitation whenever he could spare a few moments away from his dairy farm. Rain, sleet, hail, snow—it made little difference—Bentley simply loved precipitation! Almost a century ago he develop...

Journal Article

Observational Journals: An Aid to Sky Watching: A Stellar Exercise—Predicting Events in the Sky

The endless procession of the Sun, Moon, and stars allows science students to fashion predictive models by keeping their own observational journals. Through careful recordkeeping, classroom discussion, and reflective writing, students’ work progres...

Journal Article

Blow-by-Blow Inquiry: Students use their minds and lungs in this engaging inquiry activity

To promote the spirit of science as inquiry, this article presents an engaging activity that capitalized on students’ interest in the homerun-hitting race between professional baseball players Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Third-grade students were ...