All Resources

Journal Article

Scientific Literacy for Today's Students

This article identifies some of the obstacles of teaching science, technology, and society (STS) education issues in the classroom. Featured is an effective teaching tool—the three-level study guide—a tool for guiding students in their analysis ...

Journal Article

The Case Study: What To Do About Mother—Investigating Fetal Tissue Research and the Effects of Parkinson's Disease

This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. This month’s issue is a real case dealing with one of the medical prolems besetting the aging popul...

Journal Article

Prints to Ponder

This is a valuable paper-and-pencil activity that can be used as an introductory Earth science lesson or part of a broader integrated lesson on science processes. Students develop higher-level thinking skills as they work together to synthesize infor...

Journal Article

The Search for the Lost Wichita Expedition

This project began upon discovering that a fellow science teacher's farm was located in the general vicinity of where the Lost Wichita Expedition had patrolled in southern Oklahoma. Participating in an archaeological dig is a great interdisciplinary ...

Journal Article

Elementary Science Study Groups

Initially, the main purpose of the science study group was to make science teaching and learning more exciting and available. This goal has been accomplished. The continuing goal is to maintain the excitement—members thinking and doing science, and...

Journal Article

The Earth Day Groceries Project: Students decorate paper grocery bags with messages about the environment

This project is an Internet-based environmental project. Paper grocery bags are borrowed from local stores and students decorate the bags with environmental messages. The bags are then returned to the store and on Earth Day customers receive grocerie...

Journal Article

Virtual Field Trip to Antarctica: An integrated unit of science, language arts, and technology

Using a private, interactive Internet site, students took a virtual field trip to Antarctica. This activity was a collaborative project between science and language arts teachers to help fifth-grade students learn how to use the Internet for educatio...

Journal Article

How Big Is Big? How Small Is Small?

Using children's literature to enhance measurement sense is the focus of this article. Several science trade books used with children to build understandings of relative sizes and other measurement concepts are described. These understandings are the...

Journal Article

Making a Big Impact

This article features a teacher on assignment to NASA who joined a NASA expedition to the Iturralde Structure, a suspected impact crater in Bolivia....

Journal Article

Scope on the Skies: What's red and retrogrades?

This column focuses on astronomy throughout the year. This month’s issue features the position of Earth and Mars and Mars reaching opposition....

Journal Article

After the Bell: Radio astronomers for a day

In this activity, students take a field trip to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Green Bank, West Virginia. This interactive field experience helped make science come alive and helped convey the nature and processes of science throu...

Journal Article

Editor's Note: Do I Agree With That?

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

Journal Article

Tech Trek: Windows to the universe

As a national research facility, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Green Bank, West Virginia, is in a unique position to give science teachers and students a glimpse into the world of the research scientist. The partnership between N...

Journal Article

Sorting Out Seeds

This activity—Classifying Seeds—is designed to bring students and their surroundings together. By the conclusion of the activity, students have been exposed to a variety of situations requiring them to observe, categorize, compare, contrast, eva...

Journal Article

Pizza Box Mining

This month's insert teaches students how science and technology help make the most of our limited resources and limit the environmental impact of mining operations. This article provides information to help you integrate the activity into your scienc...

Journal Article

Completing the Study: High School Students' Views of Scientists and Science

In a study of K-8 students, teachers used an expanded version of Draw-A-Scientist Test (DAST) to gain insights to students' perceptions related to scientists, studying science, and using science outside the classroom. It provided an interesting profi...

Journal Article

How Do You Know That Science is Going On? Questioning the criteria that determine whether science is taking place

In this article, the author questions the criteria used to determine if science is taking place and also suggests some criteria and provides examples. But, the main purpose for this article is to initiate discussion among those interested in and resp...

Journal Article

Teaching Teachers: Lessons in Cooperative Learning

In this article, the author provides a list of suggestions, based on personal experience, to help preservice teachers start using cooperative learning....

Journal Article

Off the Beaten Path: A learning camping experience

"Off the Beaten Path" is a program that takes at-risk students out of the traditional classroom and into a camping atmosphere. The program's purpose is to help increase academic achievement, improve self-esteem, and promote better social skills. It a...

Journal Article

Libros de Ciencias en Español

This listing of recently published science books in Spanish are just right for Spanish-speaking scientists-to-be....

Journal Article

Brain Awareness Week Open House

Brain Awareness Week (BAW) has been established for people of all ages to learn about the brain, nervous system, and current research and to celebrate the brain's wondrous workings....

Journal Article

Is Teaching Instinctive? No, I'm Afraid Not: Adjusting Teaching Practices to Accommodate Student—Not Teacher—Learning Styles

While there may be a strong human instinct to try to teach, how to teach is not instinctive—it’s habitual—and this leads to very different implications for the classroom and teacher preparation. College classroom teachers must strive to attain ...

Journal Article

A Thematic Integration of Physical and Earth Science for Elementary Education Students: Unifying the Breadth of Science Topics Around Common Themes in a Class for Prospective Teachers

This article features an activity-based science course for elementary education students. The course uses a thematic approach that naturally integrates chemistry, physics, and Earth science with activities and themes relevant for elementary school sc...

Journal Article

The Magic of Science

Throughout the year students learn basic scientific principles that may become fodder for magic tricks later on. This article features hands-on year-end events where students perform magic tricks and explain the basic science concepts behind them. St...