Preparing Undergraduates for Professional Writing

Journal Article | June 2004

The inability to write scientific papers effectively remains a problem for many college students. To identify pedagogical constructs that help undergraduates write well in scientific formats, the authors evaluated the…

Targeted Test Revision—Another Approach to Science Testing: Treating Physics Learning as a Work in Progress

Journal Article | October 1998

The essential feature of the "targeted test revision" process is that students are encouraged to rework exam problems that they did not complete successfully. Instead of punishing students for not doing their best work…

Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12 (2005 List)

Journal Article | February 2006

The annual list of Outstanding Science Trade Books for K-12 students was selected by a committee of National Science Teacher Association members. This comprehensive list of selected books were all published in 2005.

Sticking Together: A learning cycle investigation about water

Journal Article | October 2002

Science educators are consistently challenged to seek ways to help students make meaning of difficult and often abstract concepts. This learning cycle investigation was designed to serve this purpose on important…

Creativity in the Science Classroom

Journal Article | August 2008

Though many teachers would like to incorporate creative activities into their teaching, there are few practical suggestions to help them accomplish this goal (Yager 2000). In this article, the authors introduce four…

Learning Genetics with Paper Pets

Journal Article | February 2006

By the end of the eighth grade, students are expected to have a basic understanding of the mechanisms of basic genetic inheritance (NRC 1996). However, these concepts can be difficult to teach. To make these concepts…

Capitalizing on Curiosity

Journal Article | June 2011

The author describes how to facilitate the inquiry experience so that teachers can generate wonderful settings for students to develop their own ideas regarding science.

After the Bell: Measure for measure

Journal Article | September 2002

Students are asked to measure objects almost every day, but a number of students omit units when providing an answer. In this article learn why units are so important.

Outbreak Investigators

Journal Article | October 2003

Teach students about microbes, with an emphasis on those that cause sickness, and introduce them to careers in epidermiology with the simulated outbreak.

Science Sampler: The science of skin color

Journal Article | October 2007

For many teachers of life science, one of the favorite parts of the curriculum is the unit on heredity. Students love to discover how and from whom they’ve inherited certain traits such as tongue rolling, earlobe shape…

Using the Past in Class: Learning from historical models of cell membranes

Journal Article | October 2001

Studying the history of science shows students how science is a process that occurs over time. A sample lesson in which secondary life science students examine the history of the development of the cell membrane model…

Formative Assessment Probes: Representing Microscopic Life

Journal Article | November 2011

This column focuses on promoting learning through assessment. This month’s issue discusses the formative assessment probe "Pond Water," which reveals how elementary children will often apply what they know about animal…

Science Sampler: Using science journals to encourage all students to write

Journal Article | October 2008

It seems that everyone is using science journals or notebooks lately. As middle school science teachers, the authors use science journals as a tool to enhance students' knowledge and understanding of content and…

After the Bell: Radio astronomers for a day

Journal Article | March 1999

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…

Science, Technology, and YA Lit

Journal Article | September 2011

This article provides three engaging projects science teachers can use to help students develop environmental consciousness and global awareness using young adult literature and technology.