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Teaching the big ideas of science
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Table of Contents My introduction to teaching and learning with “big ideas” was as an undergraduate in the required US History course. Rather than presenting history as a laundry list of factoids (names, dates,…
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My principal encourages all teachers to have students do class presentations during the year. I like the idea, but the thought of listening to 150 “oral reports” on a chemistry topic is mind-boggling, not to mention…
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Beginning the year with a plan to support science talk
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Calling on experienced teachers—what do you advise new teachers to do to establish routines that support discussion, especially discussion where children share their ideas and evidence for those ideas? Discussion can…
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Have you been to a meeting or conference presentation and seen people typing or texting? I often wondered: Are they taking notes? Checking email? Making dinner plans? Playing a game? I found this a little disconcerting…
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You say derecho, I say “what?”
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Like many other residents of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states, I learned a new weather term this week: derecho. After scrambling to the dictionary and Wikipedia, I learned that the word is pronounced deh-RAY-cho and…
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Recently, I had the opportunity to test out the Power- Wheel by R.B. Manufacturing. The PowerWheel is a micro hydro generator that can be hooked up to a faucet or hose. It is designed to model how electricity…
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While mechanical, single-channel, adjustable-volume pipettes are most commonly found in research laboratories, I use them with high school chemistry students to introduce them to the concepts of accuracy,…
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What teachers can learn from students
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I’m a first year physics teacher. I hear my colleagues talk about what they learn from their students. This puzzles me—what can I learn from students who don’t have the content knowledge that I do? —Wendy, Elizabeth…
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What are science teachers reading in June?
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Science teachers are reading an eclectic selection of teaching resources this month, judging by the top content on NSTA’s website. You can look inside these books by downloading a free sample chapter at the NSTA Science…
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Wrapping Up the Old Year, Preparing for the New Year
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We’ve heard that after the school year ends, many teachers spend time catching up on NSTA Reports articles they didn’t have a chance to read thoroughly earlier. To help you make the most of this precious downtime and…
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In the July 2012 Science & Children I wrote about establishing a “Teach and Tell” circle time at the beginning of the school year. This sharing circle has several purposes—to provide a focused time to learn about…
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At an NSTA conference this year, I got really charged up about using more inquiry with my students. But when I look at our curriculum, it’s full of traditional “cookbook” labs that we are required to do. How can I make…
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Getting more science teachers to model “doing” science
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–Occasional commentary by Robert E. Yager (NSTA President, 1982-1983) Why is there not more attention for getting all students (and teachers) actually “doing” science in every K-16 science classroom? The…
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Bright ideas for instruction and assessment
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Several resources appeared on my iPad this morning that made me put my coffee mug down and read (rather than tag for later on). A few were mentioned on MSP2 (Middle School Portal 2–Math and Science Pathways). Even if…
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Migration—It's all about navigation and timing
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I wouldn’t call it a misconception, but my middle school science students had an incomplete understanding of migration. They all knew that “birds fly south in the winter,” but they didn’t realize that for many birds,…
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