Methods and Strategies: Need Money? Get a Grant!

Journal Article | June 2007

There is no one single place for grants—grants are everywhere, even places you might not think. The internet is one of the easiest ways to locate potential grants. Grants for specialized areas are also often sent…

Uncovering Student Thinking in Science Through CTS Action Research

Journal Article | August 2010

Curriculum top study (CTS) action research is a specific type of inquiry that combines curriculum topic study (Keeley 2005) with an examination of students’ thinking using formative assessment probes (Keeley, Eberle,…

Inquiry-Based Investigation on the Internet: Sound and the Human Ear

Journal Article | December 2005

This online exploration of sound energy and the human ear includes an activity where students formulate, justify, and evaluate a number of predictions about sound. The investigation, which is intended for two class…

How Deductive Are You?

Journal Article | August 2004

Students use deductive reasoning and their powers of observation to identify mystery items in a sealed, brown-paper bag. By using items such as bells, bags of water, coffee beans, and bags of frozen vegetables, teachers…

Explaining Glaciers, Accurately

Journal Article | March 2009

What happens when a geology graduate student and two fourth-grade teachers collaborate on lessons for the classroom? They discover interesting and practical ways to explore geology and other scientific concepts, that's…

Research and Teaching: Field Trips and Their Effect on Student Achievement and Attitudes -- A Comparison of Physical Versus Virtual Field Trips to the Indian River Lagoon

Journal Article | February 2005

This study examined the effect of physical and virtual field trips on undergraduate, nonscience majors. No significant differences were seen in achievement, attitudes, learning styles, interactions between field trip…

Crash into Meteorite Learning: An interdisciplinary study on craters makes a big impact

Journal Article | April 2000

“An asteroid the size of Texas is hurtling toward Earth!” Blockbuster films like Armageddon and Deep Impact have focused on catastrophic meteor impacts and captured public imagination. Why not capitalize on the…

Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12: Books Published in 2002

Journal Article | February 2003

These books were selected by members of a book review panel appointed by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and assembled in cooperation with the Children’s Book Council (CBC). NSTA and CBC have cooperated…

Using Video Games to Understand Thermoregulation

Journal Article | March 2007

Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, a research project was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of video games as inquiry-based learning experiences for the science classroom. As a result, the video game,…

Intellectual Energy Flow

Journal Article | October 2005

Exploring New Environments, a half-day workshop developed by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's DESTINY Traveling Science Learning Program, takes an interdisciplinary approach to teacher professional…

The Method in Motion

Journal Article | December 1998

In this activity, students are challenged to see how problem solving can be applied to all aspects of their lives. Students learn how to separate and control variables, identify relationships, and make predictions in…

Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K—12: Books Published in 2006

Journal Article | February 2007

Apples and oranges … and lychees and loquats—how can one compare? That’s the challenge when a team of NSTA’s best science educators attempt to select the best of each year’s science trade books. It’s been 34 years since…

Learning to Remember: Building memory cues into a geology lesson

Journal Article | October 2001

Current neuroscience and psychology research has tremendously affected what we know about how people learn. Recent insights into the brain’s natural tendencies can help educators align strategies and activities to…

Idea Bank: Roller Coaster Inquiry

Journal Article | August 2004

This project, which centers on roller coaster design, engages students in learning about physics and activates their prior knowledge in an open-inquiry environment. The activity also gets students involved with inquiry…

Sketching in Nature

Journal Article | December 2004

Science students will discover the beauty of communing with nature by utilizing a Nature journal during field observations. Nature journaling is a useful skill, independent of whether students consider themselves…