While the science of sound can be taught by explaining the concept of sound waves and vibrations, the authors of this article focused their efforts on creating a more engaging way to teach the science of sound--through engineering design. In this article they share the experience of teaching sound to third graders through an engineering challenge…

It seems each new school year brings its own opportunities to grow as an educator. As teachers in a STEM focused school that serves primarily at-risk students, the authors face a new challenge in rethinking their instruction to align with the "Next Generation Science Standards". This involves changing the focus of units previously taught…

Exploration of making and changing sounds is part of the first-grade performance expectation 1-PS4-1, "Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate" (NGSS Lead States 2013, p. 10; see Internet Resource). Early learning experiences build toward…

Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with their environment, and the best place to see these interactions is outside in natural habitats. Pillbugs (roly-polies) provide an excellent opportunity for students to learn ecological concepts through inquiry. Because of their fascinating behaviors, pillbugs are ideal organisms to introduce…

Kindergartners have an energizing sense of wonder and an insatiable desire to learn about the world around them. For this reason, the study of ecosystems and how organisms interact within their environment is very exciting for these young learners. An appropriate place for young students to start constructing their own understanding of living and…

One way to encourage students to interact with science content and materials is to make science relevant and meaningful. By focusing on the school yard as the context for science lessons and activities, teachers can incorporate students' interest in learning outdoors and help students make connections between science content discussed in…

By now, we are all aware of the effect of super-sized food portions. Very young children regulate their food intake by internal cues (when they feel full) rather than by portion size. As children age, external cues have more influence than internal cues. Hence, larger portion sizes promote more energy intake in older children, leading to caloric…

Teaching students to make daily weather observations is one way educators assist them as they learn to dress appropriately. In addition, it provides a natural and developmentally appropriate link between science and other curriculum areas, such as literacy and language development. The "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead…

Teachers in districts with high rates of poverty and low-achieving schools often lament the lack of resources for instruction. However, when a teacher in a third-grade inner-city classroom began a lesson about natural resources by saying, "We will find out what we know before we start," she used a precious resource--students' ideas.…

Ensuring science for all in the classroom requires that all students are afforded ways to grasp key science and engineering practices; however, we know that the practice of "obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information" can be a challenging task for children with high incidence disabilities (NGSS Lead States 2013, p. 15).…

Because of the "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS"), all of Emily Miller, Hedi Baxter Lauffer, and Paula Messina's students needed to learn the practice of scientific argumentation within the context of sense-making about core ideas in science. The goal, to meet the "NGSS," enabled them to simultaneously…

The nature of science (NOS) describes what science is and how knowledge in science is developed (NSTA 2013). To develop elementary students' understandings of how scientists explore the world, the authors--an education professor and a third-grade teacher--endeavored to integrate NOS into a third-grade life science unit. Throughout the lesson,…

With the emergence of the "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS"; NGSS Lead States 2013), it is apparent that teaching and learning about nature of science (NOS) continues to be an important goal of science education for all K-12 students. With this emphasis on NOS, early childhood teachers are asking how to design…

This lesson addresses the three dimensions of science learning as laid out in the "Next Generation Science Standards"--science and engineering process skills, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas--in addition to embedding practical exposure to NOS tenets in an inquiry-based activity. In addition to the efficiency component,…

Language is the way students and teachers communicate in the science classroom, but language of science is not always the language children and adults use in their everyday life. As Michaels, Shouse, and Schweingruber put it, "In science, words are often given specific meanings that may be different from or more precise than their everyday…