How Big Is Big? How Small Is Small?

Journal Article | March 1999

Using children's literature to enhance measurement sense is the focus of this article. Several science trade books used with children to build understandings of relative sizes and other measurement concepts are…

Idea Bank: Putting the “Science” in “Science Fiction”

Journal Article | June 2010

As practitioners, it can be difficult to incorporate reading and writing into the science classroom. Although linking science fiction to relevant research is hardly a new idea (Pierce 2001; ReadWriteThink 2009; Raham…

Science Sampler: Sculpt-A-Scientist—Confronting negative stereotypes of scientists

Journal Article | October 2008

Career choice is a process, not an event. Interest in science is a preliminary step toward and prerequisite for a career in science. Once interest in science is established, training and education can then provide the…

Helping Students Make Connections

Journal Article | February 2004

Science teachers want their students to attain scientific literacy for applications beyond the classroom. Unfortunately, many students view school, and especially school science, as disconnected from their lives and…

Formative Assessment Probes: Where Did the Water Go?

Journal Article | June 2012

This column focuses on promoting learning through assessment. This month’s issue discusses how formative assessment relates to standards-based teaching and learning.

Games Students Play: Teaming up in physics class leads to cooperative learning

Journal Article | March 2001

The case for motivating students through cooperative learning has been made and supported throughout the last two decades. Two well-known cooperative learning techniques—Student Teams-Achievement Divisions (STAD) and…

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

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.

Enquiry, the Science Teacher, and the Educator

Journal Article | December 1999

What our teachers need to teach is determined, first, by the first that our national need is a dual one. There is an urgent pressing need for an increasing number of fluid enquirers and original engineers. There is also…

Networking Antarctic Research Discoveries to a Science Classroom

Journal Article | September 2008

In 2006, a unique scenario transported eighth-grade Earth science students from the classroom into the cold, dry, pristine surroundings of Antarctica. The mission was to expose the students to hands-on science using…

Editorial: Bewilderment Disorder

Journal Article | June 2009

Once upon a time in a land far from here, there lived a farmer’s son. Stu was a hard-working and pleasant lad, always willing to put his shoulder against any project. He was cheerful, friendly, strong, and obedient,…

Science Shorts: Hypothesis Testing—It’s Okay to Be Wrong

Journal Article | January 2009

Students often seek affirmation from their teachers about their thinking and can be embarrassed at the thought of being “wrong.” In science, we want children to feel comfortable making hypotheses and to know that it’s…

Five Strategies to Support All Teachers

Journal Article | February 2011

Five strategies are outlined that have been used with elementary school teachers as they moved from a "cookbook" approach in science to an approach that is inquiry based. Suggestions to get off the slippery slope of "…

Making a Big Impact

Journal Article | March 1999

This article features a teacher on assignment to NASA who joined a NASA expedition to the Iturralde Structure, a suspected impact crater in Bolivia.

Soil, Weeds, and Computers

Journal Article | April 2004

After a 2001 wildfire in the state of Wyoming, scientists were interested in learning what hydrophobic layers existed in the heavily burned areas and at what depth. In a collaborative, inquiry-based project, high school…

Drawing Out the Quiet Voices: Making science lectures accessible to all students

Journal Article | December 2001

Lectures are still a key component of most science courses. During a survey of student groups who find lectures particularly challenging, a science teacher implemented “interactive lectures,” a method of conveying…