JoinAll Resources
Book Chapter
This activity is for finding out what happens when materials stay in water for a long time. Give children an egg carton and let them put water in each compartment. Then choose different items for each compartment and predict which items will change. ...
Book Chapter
This activity is for making and testing different bubble makers. Put out materials listed and ask children how they could use the materials to create a bubble maker. Children love making bubbles! They will test all the materials you make available. E...
Book Chapter
This activity is for making things with sand and water. At a sand table or in a sandbox, let the children begin by exploring dry sand and then add water to the sand. Wet sand allows children to try out many more ideas than dry sand does. Encourage th...
Book Chapter
This activity is for mixing two primary colors to create a secondary color. When introducing mixing of colors, always start with the primary colors and choose only two. Point out the different shades that children are producing as they use more of on...
Book Chapter
This activity is for dipping paper towels and other materials in colored water to make designs and test absorption properties. Give children paper towels and encourage them to fold any way they want, and then to dip corners or sections into the diffe...
Book Chapter
This activity is for dropping water on a semi-absorbent surface to see what happens. Children can work in pairs with one dropping colored water from an eyedropper into a box, and the other one tilting the box to see what happens to the water. When ...
Book Chapter
This activity involves mixing water with cornstarch and exploring the result. Have children measure two cups of cornstarch and one cup of water into their bowls. Then have them compare oobleck, water, and cornstarch and describe how each feels and lo...
Book Chapter
This activity involves observing properties of a new material. Away from children, make a batch of snappy with recipe provided and put on table for them to use. Children will work with the snappy for a long time—pushing, pulling, rolling, and stre...
Book Chapter
This activity involves looking for seeds in fruit. Put out fruit for children to see and give them an opportunity to touch and smell each of them. Then cut the fruit and give each one. When one of them uses the word seeds, repeat the word and encoura...
Book Chapter
This activity is for observing seeds in fruits and vegetables. Show the children a small assortment of seeds and ask them what they think the seeds are and where they come from and then discuss their ideas. As a follow-up activity, provide children d...
Book Chapter
This activity is for observing and sorting seeds. Distribute an assortment of seeds to each child. Ask them to put together all the seeds that seem to be the same and encourage them to sort their seeds according to different properties or characteri...
Book Chapter
This activity involves sorting seeds by one attribute. Have sorting boxes ready for each child and distribute one set of seeds to each. Provide children with magnifiers and let them explore their seeds. After their initial exploration, call out a cha...
Book Chapter
This activity is about observing seeds while they absorb water, change size, and become soft. Give a lima bean seed and magnifier to each child and suggest putting it into water. Invite the children to look at their seeds several times during the day...
Book Chapter
This activity is about observing the inside of soaked lima bean seeds. Give each child two presoaked lima beans. Have them loosely wrap the seeds in a moist paper towel and place them on a plastic plate. Allow the children to carefully unwrap their ...
Book Chapter
This activity is about planting a terrarium. Have each child choose a container and a plant and then follow the planting procedure. Place the terrarium where it will get plenty of light and have the children observe and describe their plants regula...
Book Chapter
This activity is about exploring an ear of corn. Encourage children to describe how the cornhusks feel, smell, and look. After a few minutes encourage children to find out what is inside the cornhusks. Then cook the corn so they can taste it. A foll...
Book Chapter
This activity is for investigating how heat changes things. Hand out some unpopped popcorn kernels to the children for observation. Then make some popcorn! This is a science investigation that they can eat so allow children to describe how it tastes...
Book Chapter
This activity is for comparing and grinding fresh and dried corn. Let children handle the dried and fresh corncobs and talk about what they see and feel. Give children time to explore and then put all the dried kernels in one bowl to soak in water ov...
Book Chapter
This activity is for using a variety of seeds to make a collage or wreath. Have the children help you begin saving seeds from fruits and vegetables and also from the plants around the schoolyard. Observe which seeds children seem to be most intereste...
Book Chapter
Pondering Pumpkins: The Outsides
This activity is for investigating the exterior of pumpkins. Select a few pumpkins of different sizes for small groups of children to observe and compare. Give the children time to look at and touch the pumpkins and then challenge them to figure out ...
Book Chapter
Pondering Pumpkins: The Insides
This activity is for investigating the insides of pumpkins. After finding out what children think the insides of pumpkins are like carefully cut the pumpkins in half horizontally around the middle. After their observation, ask the children to share w...
Book Chapter
This activity is about finding interesting objects in nature to make into a bracelet. Give children a bracelet by placing a piece of masking tape around the wrist, sticky side out. Then take a nature walk so they can make “nature bracelets” by pi...
Book Chapter
This activity is about looking for weeds when taking children on a walk. When back in the classroom, have them observe the weeds they pulled and put in their bags. Then have them tape all the weeds together on a big piece of paper to display with a h...
Book Chapter
This activity is about going for a walk to look for animals in the neighborhood. Encourage children to talk about how animals look, how they move, and what they eat and make a list on chart paper of all the animals they remember seeing. As a fun foll...
Book Chapter
This activity is about making observations of a tree over time. Choose a tree that is near the school and one that changes through the year. A deciduous tree—one that loses its leaves—makes the best subject. Visit the tree and repeat this activit...
Book Chapter
This activity is about visiting a nursery to observe plants, flowers, and trees. Encourage them to look for many different colors, shapes, and smells. If possible, bring back plants from the nursery for children to plant at school or to take home. ...
Book Chapter
This activity is about putting pieces of a branch together to make a whole branch. Take the children for a walk and encourage them to observe trees, with focus on the trunk and branches. Then show them the branch puzzles and challenge them to put a p...
Book Chapter
This activity is about exploring the shapes, sizes, and colors of fall leaves. Take the children on a walk to collect leaves and challenge them to find something interesting about the leaves. Back in the classroom, have them sort the leaves in differ...
eBook
Supporting Emergent Multilingual Learners in Science, Grades 7–12 (e-book)
Many middle and high school teachers are educated to teach science content—they don’t anticipate that one day they may be teaching it to students who need to learn both content and English. If the day has come when you’re facing that two-pronge...
NSTA Kids
This book will get young readers buzzing about bees! Next Time You See a Bee reveals the big impact these little insects have on the world. It shows how the physical features of bees make them pros at collecting and spreading pollen. It explains how ...
NSTA Kids
Next Time You See a Bee (Hardcover)
This book will get young readers buzzing about bees! Next Time You See a Bee reveals the big impact these little insects have on the world. It shows how the physical features of bees make them pros at collecting and spreading pollen. It explains how ...
eBook
A Head Start on Science, Second Edition: Encouraging a Sense of Wonder (e-book)
Imagine what fun it could be for 3- to 7-year-olds to engage in a game of Prism Play or Magnetic Scavenger Hunt or Where Did the Shadows Go? Then imagine how convenient it would be for you if such activities came with the connections, standards, and ...
eBook
Have you been wanting to probe your students’ thinking about major concepts in matter and energy? Have you been wishing for formative assessment tools in both English and Spanish? Then this is the book you’ve been waiting for. Like the other ...
eBook
Discovery Engineering in Physical Science: Case Studies for Grades 6–12 ( e-book)
Who knew that gecko feet inspired scientists to develop a stickier adhesive or that cockleburs in dog fur led to the invention of Velcro? Discovery Engineering in Physical Science uses these and other surprising cases of innovations sparked by accide...
Virtual Conference
Archive: English Learners in STEM Subjects, May 4, 2019
English learners (ELs) bring a wealth of ideas, perspectives, and solutions to STEM education. However, according to a report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2018), the nearly 5 million students classified as ELs i...
eBook
Understanding Climate Change, Grades 7–12 (e-book)
Get help teaching one of the hottest topics in science with Understanding Climate Change, Grades 7–12. This nine-session module is written to be practical and accessible. It provides both extensive background and step-by-step instructions for using...