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Blast From the Past: Do We Still Need a Space Program?
Book Chapter |
In this lesson, suggested for grades 3-5, the flight of Apollo 11 serves as a context for learning about forces and motion as students explore rocket launches and parachute landings. They then examine the scientific,…
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“Mined” Your Own Business: Was the California Gold Rush Good for the United States?
Book Chapter |
In this lesson, suggested for grades 3-5, students simulate panning for gold within the context of the California gold rush to examine the properties of pyrite, or fool’s gold, and compare them with the properties of…
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Fueling Around: Which Energy Sources Are Best?
Book Chapter |
In this lesson, suggested for grades 3-5, students begin an exploration of energy by reading the true story of a Danish island that became completely energy independent, relying only on renewable energy sources…
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Watch Your Step: Should Distracted Walking Be Illegal?
Book Chapter |
In this lesson, suggested for grades 3-5, students are introduced to the problem of “distracted walking,” which occurs when people use their phones for calling, texting, or taking photos. They are introduced to the…
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What Have You Heard About Climate Change?
Book Chapter |
The goal of this session is to set the stage for student investigations into the complex topics of global warming and climate change. Students first participate in a networking activity to introduce them to the Climate…
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Book Chapter |
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about solids. It is designed to reveal the macroscopic and/or microscopic properties students use to decide whether a material is a solid. Elementary…
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Book Chapter |
This chapter contains information on teaching reading strategies that can help students improve their reading and help them to begin to view reading as an active search for meaning. The first step is to create a…
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How Do You Know That? Helping Students With Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning
Book Chapter |
At one time, teachers were not familiar with the concept of scientific argumentation—the process of making claims and supporting them with evidence. Since that time, both the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and…
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Book Chapter |
This chapter has two main goals. The first is to ease students into the reading procedures by featuring two reading passages. One allows students to practice using codes to record what they are thinking as they read and…
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Book Chapter |
This lesson is designed to introduce students to the key ideas and vocabulary associated with erosion. Students will see erosion at work in a simulation and try out some different ways to lessen the effect. Then they…
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Book Chapter |
Plate tectonics is the primary theory that drives explanation in geology, but the idea that land masses drift around the Earth can sound as crazy to students as it did to geologists in the early 1900s. Spending time on…
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The Ocean on Top of a Mountain
Book Chapter |
In this chapter, students will simulate the “life” of a mountain and then think about what traces of each stage of the mountain’s life are present at the end of the simulation. Then they will read about the Burgess…
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Book Chapter |
Many students have never looked carefully at rocks. For this reason, looking closely at several different types of rocks is important for preparing them to learn about how rocks are classified. In this chapter, one goal…
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Book Chapter |
In this lesson, it is assumed that students have had some encounter with the water cycle previously, but may not understand the important role of groundwater in the cycle. Karst terrain provides a hook for studying…
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Book Chapter |
Many middle school students still struggle with the concept of density, without which it is difficult to understand overturning circulation. This chapter begins with physical models of temperature and saline density…
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