Building on the work of teacher noticing, this study investigated teachers' noticing of students' thinking evident in artifacts from their science teaching context. Prior work on teachers' noticing in science has generally focused on noticing students' thinking surrounding specific disciplinary content. We asked 20 elementary teachers to identify…

Research indicates that preservice teacher (PT) education programs can positively impact perceptions of scientific probeware use in K-8 environments. Despite the potential of probeware to improve science instruction and student engagement, its use in elementary education has been limited. Sixty-seven PT enrolled across three sections of an…

Background/Context: This study seeks insights into teachers' experiences implementing Garden-Based Learning (GBL) in an elementary school. The breadth of studies supporting the use of GBL in K-8 schools in the United States alongside the paucity of studies specific to teachers' experiences implementing GBL highlights the importance of this work.…

Statistical literacy is essential to scientific literacy, and the quest for such is best initiated in the elementary grades. The "Next Generation Science Standards and the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics" set forth practices (e.g., asking questions, using tools strategically to analyze and interpret data) and content (e.g.,…

Students in the 21st century are exposed daily to a staggering amount of numerically infused media. In this era of abundant numeric data, students must be able to engage in sound statistical reasoning when making life decisions after exposure to varied information. The context of nutrition can be used to engage upper elementary and middle school…

A national movement is underway to establish elementary school gardens, which can serve both academic and social purposes. These gardens can positively impact students' science achievement and provide the thematic and hands-on approach especially conducive to learning for students with disabilities. Garden-based learning (GBL) broadens the scope…

Teachers can use pedometers to facilitate inquiry learning and show students the need for mathematics in scientific investigation. The authors conducted activities with secondary students that investigated intake and expenditure components of the energy balance algorithm, which led to inquiries about pedometers and related data. By investigating…

Details an investigation concerned with the composition of a grape to illustrate how food and nutrition topics can drive inquiry-oriented science learning. Students design experiments that surround the development of a fictitious new beverage. (DDR)

Presents an activity that integrates mathematics and science and focuses on estimation, percent, proportionality, ratio, interconverting units, deriving algorithms mathematically, energy transformation, interactions of energy and matter, bioavailability, composition, density, inferring, and data gathering through scientific interpretation.…

The Health Science and Technology Academy (HSTA), a partnership between West Virginia University and primarily rural communities in West Virginia, provides after-school science clubs for financially disadvantaged and minority students and encourages their interests in science, technology, and health science careers. Science teachers participating…

Reports on a workshop on electronic concept mapping with a group (n=18) of science teachers in a Health Sciences and Technology Academy (HSTA). Suggests using this software for the academic enrichment of underserved students, regular classroom instruction, and inservice training for colleagues. Concludes that HSTA teachers embrace electronic…

This paper describes an evaluation by two science educators of the pilot offering of an interdisciplinary critical issues course in Science, Technology, and Society (STS) designed to fulfill the natural science general degree requirements at a major university. This social science general studies course is an STS interdisciplinary course that…

Arizona Community Nutrition Workers gain college credit and job competence through Personalized Systems of Instruction. (Author/BB)

Evaluation of a 45-hour nutrition education course for K-6 teachers revealed the technical content was too complex to be useful for preschool/elementary teachers. A revised course was taught and evaluated, focusing on more practical activities and lessons and less on content-specifics. Findings suggest that such courses should be less content- and…

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of two different types of post-instruction concept interviews: one that did and one that did not embed a concept mapping process as means of eliciting students' post-instruction conceptual understandings about the nature of, source of, and problems caused by chlorofluorocarbons…