Science & Children

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Read Science & Children, NSTA’s award-winning, peer-reviewed practitioner journal for elementary-level science teachers. All articles are published by our trusted partner, Taylor & Francis—bringing your work to a global audience through one of the world’s leading academic publishers. NSTA members enjoy access to all five NSTA journals, making it easier than ever to discover trusted research, innovative ideas, and valuable resources in science education.

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Featured Issue

Building Science Literacy for Lifelong Learning

May/June 2026

Volume 63, Issue 3

The articles in this issue provide some excellent tips, tricks, and ideas for teaching scientific literacy and preparing lifelong learners. They range in grade level from preschool through fifth grade and cover a multitude of science topics that connect to everyday experiences and foster lifelong learning such as using playground equipment to explore pendulums and using experiences in forests to develop an understanding of ecosystem dynamics.

Table of Contents

Open Access Articles:

“Not by the Hair of My Chinny Chin Chin”
Centering Children’s Voices While Learning in Places: Field-Based Science Wondering That Cultivates Inquiry
How Hot Is Our Yard? Studying the urban heat island effect on elementary schoolyards
Pesticide Safe Zones: Building on the cultural wealth of Latine teacher candidates for climate justice teaching

Science & Children May-June cover

Latest Issues

March/April 2026

Creating Meaningful Cross-Curricular Activities

January/February 2026

Data Science for Science Education: Exemplars for K–12 Teaching and Learning

November/December 2025

Making Space for Creativity

September/October 2025

Empowering Student Voice

July/August 2025

Exploring Real-World Problems

May/June 2025

Prioritizing Play

Recent Issues

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Science and Children—November/December 2026

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Science and Children—September/October 2026

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Science and Children—July/August 2026

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Science and Children—May/June 2026

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Science and Children—March/April 2026

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Science and Children—January/February 2026

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Science and Children—November/December 2025

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Science and Children—July/August 2025

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Science and Children—May/June 2025

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Science and Children—March/April 2025

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Science and Children—January/February 2025

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Science and Children—November/December 2024

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Science and Children—September/October 2024

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Science and Children—July/August 2024

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Science and Children—May/June 2024

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Science and Children—March/April 2024

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Science and Children—January/February 2024

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Science and Children—Fall 2023

Special Double Issue—Eclipses Across AmericaFall 2023...

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Science and Children—July/August 2023

Volume 60, Number 6 July/August 2023 We’ve all wondered how a seemingly fragile spiderweb can be both delicate and unbreakable, or how a small frog can effortlessly cling to a glass window. When we slow down to observe nature and see what i...

Biology Evolution Life Science

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Science and Children—May/June 2023

Volume 60, Number 5 May/June 2023 Environmental Science: Natural Disasters Opening just about any newspaper or tuning into a local newscast will inevitably reveal a story about a recent disaster or the possibility of an impending one....

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Science and Children—March/April 2023

Volume 60, Number 4 Ten Years of NGSS: Lessons Learned In the 10 years since the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) were released, 44 states have implemented standards influenced by A Framework for K–12 Science Education and/or the NG...

Early Childhood Elementary Administration Curriculum NGSS

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Science and Children—January/February 2023

Volume 60, Number 3 Energy In this issue of Science and Children, we address energy by examining how it can be a starting point for deeper learning, help build student-generated testable questions, foster scientific explanations, and allow st...

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Science and Children—November/December 2022

November/December 2022 Volume 60, Number 2 Earth's Place in the Universe Younger elementary students begin to wonder and ask questions about where they live, beyond their homes or neighborhoods. These early learners start to see their worl...

Astronomy Earth & Space Science

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Science and Children—September/October 2022

Volume 60, Number 1 Joyful Science This school year, let’s find ways to make learning joyful. When I think of joyful learning, I do not think only about the development of lifelong learners ready to ask questions, who actively dive into an ...

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Science and Children—July/August 2022

Volume 59, Number 6 ...

Literacy

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Science and Children—May/June 2022

Volume 59 Issue 5 Activities and Investigations ...

Early Childhood Elementary

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Science and Children—March/April 2022

March/April 2022 Volume 59, Number 4 Water in Our World: Where is there a time when water isn’t essential? Water plays an indispensable role in our very existence, and its properties are almost magical in its abilit...

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Science and Children—January/February 2022

Volume 59, Number 3 Design Thinking is a mindset that values perspectives and embraces failure. Students are encouraged to iterate and think flexibly, promoting innovation through outside-the-box thinking. Creativity and ingenuity are invaluable...

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Science and Children—September/October 2021

Volume 59, Number 1 September/October 2021 In this issue of Science and Children, we focus on how teachers plan for and implement three-dimensional lessons for a wide variety of topics for all grades....

Three-Dimensional Learning

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Science and Children—November/December 2021

Volume 59, Number 2 In this issue of Science and Children, we explore ways to support science learning and language acquisition for all students. Whether through questioning, assistive technology, scientific modeling, or guided exploration,...

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Science and Children—July/August 2021

July/August 2021 Volume 58, Number 6 In our ever-increasingly connected world, accessible through the convenience of travel and extensive improvements in digital communication, we routinely interact with people across the globe in business ve...

Early Childhood Elementary

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Science and Children—May/June 2021

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Science and Children—March/April 2021

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Science and Children—January/February 2021

Volume 58, Number 3...

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Science and Children—November/December 2020

Volume 58, Number 2 Earth and Space Science for Young Learners ...

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Science and Children—September/October 2020

Volume 58, Number 1 Beyond the Field Trip ...

Early Childhood Elementary

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Science and Children—July/August 2020

Volume 57, No. 9 Engaging Families...

Early Childhood Elementary

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Science and Children—April/May 2020

Environmental Health Literacy Volume 57, No. 8 ...

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Science and Children—March 2020

Volume 57, Number 7 Mindful Modeling   ...

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Science and Children—February 2020

Volume 57, Number 6...

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Science and Children—January 2020

Volume 57, Number 5 This month we take a look at ideas for exploring science and engineering at home. Helping families create a culture of curiosity and wonder with thoughtful suggestions for explorations, connections to literature, ideas for ex...

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Science and Children—November/December 2019

When we listen to student conversations, we have a window into their thinking, and knowing what students think can help determine their needs and advance them toward deeper understandings. This month, we take a look at cultivating classroom conversat...

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Science and Children—October 2019

Preschool and early childhood elementary students are constantly faced with inherent problems to solve in their daily lives. In this issue of Science & Children, find out how you can engage young learners in engineering design....

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Science and Children—September 2019

Learning is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Yet differentiation can feel overwhelming and insurmountable in terms of how to address each child’s need separately. With the strategies found in this issue of Science and Children, educators will be a...

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Science and Children—August 2019

Teachers often rely on making connections to other subject areas to enhance or enrich science learning experiences. The features and columns found in this issue of Science and Children offer ideas for cross-curricular integration of learning....

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Science and Children—July 2019

When formative assessment is part of pedagogy, teaching and learning canbecome more meaningful, differentiated, and authentic. This month’s issue of Science and Children focuses on formative assessment and how the information gathered from students...

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Science and Children—April/May 2019

Even the most exquisitely designed science kit will fall short. The articles in this month’s issue of Science and Children transcend cookbook-type teaching approaches and strategies by providing students with wholesome, fully balanced learning sit...

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Science and Children—March 2019

The kid-friendly topic of Motion and Stability allows students to make predictions, carry out investigations, and make claims supported by evidence. So, let’s get the marbles rolling and bring on the pushing and pulling in the classroom as we learn...

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Science and Children—February 2019

In classrooms today, elementary teachers work tirelessly to fit STEM into an already jammed, packed day. This month’s focus on STEM offers ideas for incorporating all four elements of STEM and provides support and guidance in creating STEM lessons ...

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Science and Children—January 2019

The concept of problem-based learning has been vigorously applied in the classroom and touted as a panacea to the traditional curriculum. This month, we take on PBL in all its iterations to share practical and applicable teaching methods and learnin...

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Science and Children February 2013

Science & Children

Featured Issue

Building Science Literacy for Lifelong Learning

May/June 2026

Volume 63, Issue 3

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