All Resources

Journal Article

Playful Activities for Young Children: Assessment tasks with low reading and writing demands

Alternative assessments in science instruction have been developed for the upper elementary grades but are limited in the area of early childhood instruction. Because younger children have limited abilities in reading and writing, teachers have diffi...

Journal Article

After the Bell: Modeling museum collaboration

Entering a partnership with a local museum is a great way to gain access to materials, facilities, and science expertise that might be unavailable at the school. This article contains a description of a museum/school collaboration that can serve as a...

Journal Article

Tech Trek: Science on the fringes

Conducting investigations over extended periods of time that use process skills in context is important but it's hard to find the time for such an investigation. This article proposes a solution—“science on the fringes”—ongoing low-maintenanc...

Journal Article

Teaching Teachers: Taking the Good from the Bad

Creating an environment where preservice teachers can reach an understanding about the merits and problems of science activities was the rationale for development of a favorite assignment—The Worst Activity. This assignment helps develop critical t...

Journal Article

Science Object Boxes: Using object boxes to promote hands-on exploration of both concrete and abstract science topics

Object boxes—plastic shoe boxes containing carefully selected figures, toys, and household items—can provide a hands-on opportunity for students to explore both abstract concepts, such as scale, and more concrete topics, such as bird body adaptat...

Journal Article

Editor's Note: Is There Nothing New . . .

Science and Children’s editor shares thoughts regarding the current issue....

Journal Article

H₂ O Olympics

Have you ever noticed that the water level in a measuring cup is higher at the sides than at the center? Can you explain how it is possible for water striders to walk on water? What are the physical properties of water that make these phenomena possi...

Journal Article

Celtic Science

Playing with toys isn’t always child’s play. Designing activities that use toys to improve student’s observation skills and problem-solving techniques can lead to serious science. To that end, the authors developed the following weeklong activi...

Journal Article

Girls Only, Please: An after-school science club for girls promotes understanding and involvement

Many girls come to school with few out-of-school experiences that properly prepare them for science in the classroom; however, boys often play with science toys and tinker with mechanical devices. Furthermore, when compared to boys, girls might not r...

Journal Article

Activity Selection: It’s More Than the Fun Factor—An easy-to-use evaluation form to help select effective science activities

Many people assume that if an activity is published or popular, it is a good one. This is often the case when teachers select science activities because they are fun or address a particular science topic, not because they provide a quality learning e...

Journal Article

Dig Into Mining Reclamation during Earth Science Week

Mining reclamation is defined as the process of returning mined land to productive and beneficial use. How this is accomplished depends on the type of mine, its location, and the degree to which the land was disrupted during mining operations. This i...

Journal Article

Wheelin’ and Squirtin’: Announcing the 1999 Craftsman/NSTA Young Inventors Awards Program Regional Winners

When students in grades 3–8 design a new tool or make adaptations to an existing tool, the results showcase the extraordinary creative talents of our children. This article features the winners of the 1999 Craftsman/NSTA Young Inventors Awards Prog...

Journal Article

Electrifying Encounters: Linking the elementary school, university, and community through science and technology

In this “electrifying encounter,” fifth-grade students teamed up with elementary education students for a celebration of science and technology learning. A problem-solving-through-technology approach was used to give the preservice teachers valua...

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: Cooperating with Constructivism—Getting the Word Out on the Meaning of “Constructivism”

When science educators gather together and the word “constructivism” is used, many people pause and ask for clarification of that person’s definition of constructivism. In this article, the author gives a brief overview of constructivism. Some ...

Journal Article

Editor's Note: Hey, Look Us Over

Science and Children’s editor shares thoughts regarding the current issue....

Journal Article

Creative Conflict Resolution

Creative Conflict Resolution is an instructional technique tailor-made for examining science and society issues. This technique provides an excellent forum for students to present data and discuss their findings with their peers. Conflict exists when...

Journal Article

Assessing Students’ Ideas About Animals: Participate in a new study that examines students' ideas about animals

This article is an interview protocol that you can use to gather information about your students’ ideas about animals. Specifically, you will be able to determine which organisms your students think are animals and identify what students consider t...

Journal Article

Scope on the Skies: Coming soon to a sky near you

This column focuses on astronomy throughout the year. In this month’s issue learn about September skies and the opportunities this year for students to join in the exploration of space....

Journal Article

Tech Trek: Create a critter

Two things students are interested in are computers and bugs. In this article, students work in pairs to create their own imaginary insect, design it on a computer, construct a model, and animate the computer design....

Journal Article

Urban Bird-Watching II

In “Urban Bird-Watching,” previously published in Science Scope, the author described an activity designed to get students out of the classroom and into the outdoors (Rodenberg, 1993). In that activity, suggestions were offered to familiarize stu...

Journal Article

Developing Inquiring Minds: Students use chromatography to separate the colors in fall leaves

In this scientific inquiry experience, students brainstormed observations of the autumn trees, noticing the patterns in certain trees and which parts of the trees turned color first. These observations led to questions such as “Where were the red a...

Journal Article

Taking Flight with NASA

Our lives are integrally connected to airplanes. The products we buy, the mail we send and receive, and the vacations or business trips we take are all made more efficient by flight. We take for granted the airplanes that move across our skies, far a...

Journal Article

A Mentoring Program with Hands-on Laboratory Experiments: Bridging the Needs of Elementary School Students and Women Undergraduates in a Science Community Program

This article describes a program in which middle-school girls are paired with women undergraduate science majors to carry out hands-on laboratory experiments that relate everyday life. The goal of this science mentoring program is to encourage middle...

Journal Article

Research vs. Teaching: Can the Roles Be Combined? An Interview with Physiologist Barbara Horwitz of the University of California-Davis

Recognized researcher and distinguished teacher Dr. Barbara Horwitz of the University of California-Davis shares her thoughts on her career as both a researcher and an educator, explaining her teaching practices and philosophies as well as her resear...

Journal Article

Sizing Up Science Competitions: Guidelines for choosing a science contest for students

Each fall, teachers receive many packets in the mail announcing exciting science contests for students. Because many of these contests promise prizes, trips, and awards for winning students and their teachers, it is tempting for teachers to try to en...

Journal Article

Editorial: Thoughts on Electronic Publication: Edging into the Future—Electronically

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