A Place for Content Literacy

Journal Article | December 2010

To help students learn and apply science content, teachers can embed content literacy instruction within science instruction. This involves teaching the content and the literacy skills students need to learn that…

Hats Off to Science

Journal Article | October 2012

Students bring vocabulary to life by creating science-themed hats for a fifth-grade parade.

The New Teacher’s Toolbox: Homeless Not Hopeless—Tips for the Traveling Teacher

Journal Article | December 2010

In a world of expanding class sizes and shrinking budgets, it’s rare to find a new teacher with his or her own classroom. New teachers often juggle multiple sections of multiple preps in different rooms—sometimes…

Scope on the Skies: Location, location, location

Journal Article | December 2005

While traveling from home to distant locations, it is easy to feel both a sense of unfamiliarity as well as familiarity with the change in location, especially when considering the view of day and night skies. The…

Science Sampler: Setting the scene for summer

Journal Article | April 2002

Students are much more likely to remember science concepts when they are presented in an entertaining way. Learn how the author uses a science play to reinforce concepts presented in the unit on genetics and mutations.

Using School-Yard Restoration to Engage Students in Water Stewardship

Journal Article | February 2013

Engage in conservation activities that help students understand that their choices and actions have a local and global impact.

Talking Science

Journal Article | June 2009

Science is a social process—one that involves particular ways of talking, reasoning, observing, analyzing, and writing, which often have meaning only when shared within the scientific community. Discussions are one of…

Beyond Slopes and Points

Journal Article | February 2013

Teaching students how graphs describe the relationships between scientific phenomena.

Editorial: Belly of the Beast

Journal Article | June 2012

The Journal of College Science Teaching’s editor shares thoughts regarding the current issue.

Idea Bank: Explaining Biological Phenomena

Journal Article | August 2010

In this Idea Bank, the author provides two classroom activities that integrate argumentation, explanation, and the use of evidence with biology content. The first example fits within an ecology unit; the second works…

Integration of Field Studies and Undergraduate Research Into an Interdisciplinary Course: Natural History of Tropical Carbonate Ecosystems

Journal Article | April 2007

According to Carl Sagan (1987), “Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.” Field studies and undergraduate research provide students with the best opportunities for thinking about science,…

Rubric for Content Classification

Journal Article | October 2002

Are teaching strategies such as collaborative learning, student-centered classrooms, and guided inquiry always appropriate? How do we decide what topics to teach? The Rubric for Content Classification is a taxonomy of…

The Tree of Life

Journal Article | February 2003

This article describes how interdisciplinary, thematic lessons about plants, animals, and the environment were introduced with children’s literature. First-grade students created a display of the African baobab tree and…

Capturing Student Interest in Astrobiology Through Dilemmas and Paradoxes

Journal Article | April 2006

Astrobiology is an interdisciplinary science course that combines essential questions from life, physical, and Earth sciences. An effective astrobiology course also capitalizes on students' natural curiosity about…

Teachers Who Care

Journal Article | December 1999

This article is one of a series that grew out of the question: Just what does educational research have to say to science teachers? In the case of the topic dealt with here, however—the effects of caring teachers on…