JoinAll Disciplinary Core Ideas resources
NSTA Press Book
Exemplary Science in Grades 5-8: Standards-Based Success Stories
Do the Standards really matter in middle school? Nine years after the National Science Education Standards’ release, just how well do science teachers in grades 5 to 8 actually use them to plan content, define improved teaching, and assess real lea...
NSTA Press Book
Virus and the Whale: Exploring Evolution in Creatures Small and Large
With this lively book of activities as their guide, students can follow seven scientists into their labs and out to the field to discover how evolution works. Meanwhile, you’ll benefit from the practical help the book provides with the twin challen...
NSTA Press Book
Teaching With Purpose: Closing the Research - Practice Gap
The best science teachers don’t just get up in front of the class and start talking. They draw from a plan… a rationale… a purpose. This book helps you create and implement a detailed, research-based teaching rationale that works even with stud...
By John E. Penick, Robin Lee Harris
NSTA Press Book
Sound: Stop Faking It! Finally Understanding Science So You Can Teach It
Muddled about what makes music? Stuck on the study of harmonics? Dumbfounded by how sound gets around? Now you no longer have to struggle to teach concepts you really don’t grasp yourself. Sound takes an intentionally light touch to help out all...
By William C. Robertson, Ph.D.
NSTA Press Book
Invasion Ecology (Teacher’s Guide—Includes Full Student Edition)
Strange intruders are invading our part of the world, threatening our environment and our economy. These newcomers and their impact on our ecological balance are the focus of Invasion Ecology, a new book that teaches students to investigate the beha...
By Marianne E. Krasny, The Environmental Inquiry Team
NSTA Press Book
How to ... Ask the Right Questions
Questions, questions, questions! They are a large part of a teacher’s stock-in-trade. We use questions to help students review, to check on comprehension, to stimulate critical thinking, to encourage creativity, to emphasize a point, to control cla...
By Patricia E. Blosser
NSTA Press Book
Global Environmental Change: Deforestation
Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula contains some of America’s only old-growth forest. Its timber supports local, regional, and even global economies. It also supports many biological species and provides a link in biogeochemical cycling. How ca...
By NSTA Press, Environmental Protection Agency