Skip to main content
  • NSTA Press® Sample Chapters

    Page |

    NSTA Press® Sample Chapters Looking for Science Activities? NSTA Press publishes science activities for teachers of kindergarten through college on a wide range of topics. We've posted sample chapters and activities from our books for free download so you can look inside. Be sure to search our online bookstore for…

  • Science Formative Assessment, Volume 2: 50 More Strategies for Linking Assessment, Instruction, and Learning

    NSTA Press Book |

    A Copublication of Corwin Press and NSTA Press This book shows readers how to use assessment to inform instruction and learning in the science classroom. In the bestselling first volume, Page Keeley shared 75…

  • Science Formative Assessment, Volume 1: 75 Practical Strategies for Linking Assessment, Instruction, and Learning - 2nd Edition

    NSTA Press Book |

    A Copublication of Corwin Press and NSTA Press Formative assessment informs the design of learning opportunities that take students from their existing ideas of science to the scientific ideas and practices that…

  • Developing the Next Generation of Elementary Science Teachers

    Journal Article |

    National science education documents emphasize new learning outcomes of elementary students; therefore, the preparation of elementary teachers should be revised to meet these challenges. This article describes how…

  • Vibrating Insects

    Journal Article |

  • Is It Melting?

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the physical process of melting. The probe is designed to find out if students recognize melting as a change in state from solid to liquid that…

  • Is It Matter?

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about matter. The probe is designed to reveal the characteristics students use to describe and define matter.

  • Ice Cubes in a Bag

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about conservation of matter (or mass). The probe is designed to reveal whether students think matter (or mass) is conserved during a change in state.

  • The Mitten Problem

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about energy. The probe is designed to find out whether students think “warm clothes,” like a mitten, produce their own energy, manifested as heat.

  • Gazing at the Moon

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the Earth-Sun-Moon system. The probe is designed to uncover students’ ideas about Moon phases and whether they think the phase of the Moon changes…

  • Going Through a Phase

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about Moon phases. The probe is designed to find out if students recognize the role of light reflection and the positional relationship between the Earth…

  • Objects and Temperature

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about temperature. The probe is designed to find out whether students recognize that non–heat-producing objects exposed to the same ambient conditions…

  • Ice-Cold Lemonade

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about transfer of energy. The probe is designed to determine whether students recognize that heat flows from warmer objects or areas to cooler ones.

Asset 2