Home Connections: Thumbs Are Handy Digits

Journal Article | January 2004

Hold your hand out in front of you and look a it carefully. The human hand is made up of four fingers and one thumb. Have you ever thought about how much you use your thumb? This month’s Home Connections activity…

Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K–12 (Books published in 2009)

Journal Article | February 2010

What makes an outstanding book for a young reader? Although it would be hard to create a rubric for every book, experienced teachers recognize them quickly. They fascinate and captivate with both their content and style…

Robotics on Water

Journal Article | June 2010

“Engineering Challenge for the 21st Century,” a weeklong teacher workshop sponsored by the National Science Foundation, uses project-based learning (PBL) to help students and teachers build science, technology,…

Early Exploration of Opportunities in Science and Careers Encourages Students to Pursue Science Majors

Journal Article | April 2011

The Brooklyn Opportunities in Science and Careers (BOSC) program aims to increase student participation in physics, environmental studies, geology, and teaching science using a career-focused strategy to recruit…

Weaving Science and Civics Through Interdisciplinary Courses

Journal Article | June 2010

Cross-curricular programming offers unique opportunities to connect non-majors with science. In this article, the author describes personal experiences related to a novel initiative uniting science, civics, and…

What's Missing?

Journal Article | February 2012

This article explores ways that people impact ecological systems and how those systems can influence our daily lives. Students use newspaper articles and case studies of scientific research to link daily human life and…

Science Sampler: ExploraVision's professional development opportunities

Journal Article | January 2004

Professional development can take many forms. One unusual approach recommended by the author is participation in NSTA's futuristic science event, ExploraVision. It requires teams of students to investigate a problem and…

Nematodes: Model Organisms in High School Biology

Journal Article | September 2007

In a collaborative effort between university researchers and high school science teachers, an inquiry-based laboratory module was designed using two species of insecticidal nematodes to help students apply scientific…

Teaching through Trade: Life-Cycle Science

Journal Article | March 2003

The lifecycle of the butterfly is commonly taught at the elementary level. This month's column focuses on the book Waiting for Wings. Background information and activities for grades K-3 and 4-6 are included.

Formative Assessment Probes: Seeing the Light

Journal Article | January 2012

This column focuses on promoting learning through assessment. This month’s issue discusses students' preconceptions related to the reflection of light.

Science Sampler: Inquiry goes outdoors—What can we learn at the pond?

Journal Article | August 2008

The Oregon 4-H Wildlife Stewards program has been training teachers and volunteers to convert school grounds to education sites by constructing schoolyard wildlife habitats since 1997. The publication What Can We Learn…

Phylogenetic Reconstruction as a Broadly Applicable Teaching Tool in the Biology Classroom: The Value of Data in Estimating Likley Answers

Journal Article | June 2006

This laboratory exercise introduces students to a fundamental tool in evolutionary biology--phylogenetic inference. Students are required to create a data set via observation and through mining preexisting data sets.…

Field Surveys of Amphibian Populations

Journal Article | September 2000

Amphibian Research, a course offered at Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana, introduces freshmen- and sophomore-level biology and environmental science majors to investigative field research. Students learn to…

Scope on Safety: Bloodborne pathogens—Be prepared, be protected

Journal Article | August 2007

Malaria, Lyme disease, Epstein-Barr syndrome, meningitis, syphilis, hepatitis B and HIV/AIDS—what do all of these diseases have in common? These belong to a group of over 100 microorganisms categorized as bloodborne…

Case Study: A Case of Respiratory Distress

Journal Article | December 2012

This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. This clinical case study pertaining to a patient with medication-…