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Journal Article
This article presents a lesson in which students examine current field research on global change. In particular, students investigate the effect of carbon dioxide and tropospheric ozone on ecosystems by applying their knowledge of scientific inquiry ...
Journal Article
The Prepared Practitioner: Intro to Research
As a K-12 teacher, should you pay attention to the research done by “those university people up in their ivory towers?” To understand some of what academic research offers you, an analogy might be helpful. As a driver, you are aided by reporters ...
Journal Article
Space travel, even low Earth orbit, is probably several years away for most of us; however, students and teachers can research the edge of space by participating in the BalloonSat program. BalloonSat is an offshoot of the Space Grant Consortium’s v...
Journal Article
Professors of an online graduate-level paleontology class developed the concept of marquee fossils—fossils that have one or more unique characteristics that capture the attention and direct observation of students. In the classroom, Marquee fossils...
Journal Article
Multiple Modes of Inquiry in Earth Science
To help teachers enrich their students’ understanding of inquiry in Earth science, this article describes six modes of inquiry used by practicing geoscientists (Earth scientists). Each mode of inquiry is illustrated by using examples of seminal or ...
Journal Article
Idea Bank: Connecting Students to Seismic Waves
Have you ever wanted your Earth science students to have a controlled, concrete experience to learn about earthquakes? SeisMac, a free Mac OS X application, can help students develop a concrete foundation for learning about earthquakes. SeisMac turns...
Journal Article
Redefining Earthquakes and the Earthquake Machine
The Earthquake Machine (EML), a mechanical model of stick-slip fault systems, can increase student engagement and facilitate opportunities to participate in the scientific process. This article introduces the EML model and an activity that challenges...
Journal Article
Idea Bank: Ring Species through Space and Time—A Class Demo
Several educators feel that teaching evolution is critical to science education, yet the issue of human evolution is sometimes avoided due to cultural pressures. The class exercise described here was developed to help educators teach this controversi...
Journal Article
Commentary: Reflections from an NSTA High School Committee Member
Membership on the NSTA High School Science Committee has been an “eye-opening and professionally rewarding experience” for Jim Redmond. In this month’s opinion piece, he discusses how his involvement with NSTA and Hawaii’s local chapter, HaST...
Journal Article
A typical card sort is an activity in which students are given a set of cards with a single concept written on each card and asked to organize the cards by grouping related concepts. The nontraditional card sorts described in this article foster crit...
Journal Article
The Prepared Practitioner: A Free Library
The internet has been a wonderful invention for making resources easily available to anyone with access. As a science teacher and NSTA member, you probably have a list of favorite internet sites for teaching-related information, including NSTA’s we...
Journal Article
Science as a Moving Experience for All Learners
Students with disabilities (SWDs), students at risk, and even honors students can have a hard time relating to traditional science instruction and often disengage. However, research has shown that when science teachers use inquiry or activities-based...
Journal Article
The end of a year is always a time for reflection and looking back. Even though December may feel more like mid-year for teachers, the end of the calendar year inevitably brings top-10 lists, reviews of the best the year had to offer, and vows for im...