Lisa Nyberg believes the education of science core ideas and practices must begin as soon as possible with children. She imagines never teaching letters, words, sentences, or reading skills to young children, and then handing a book to a fifth grader who is expected to read, understand, and perform immediately. With the current language arts and…

The authors present a program where students and family members were involved in a taste-testing to select the items to be planted in the school's garden at Stephenson Elementary. A simple rubric of facial recognition is used. Smiles for the favorites; frowns for the disqualifiers. With the help of the school's leadership team consisting…

How do teachers ignite a fire that kindles a love for books and produces a sense of wonder in the science classroom? What do teachers know and do that lights that spark in their students (Cummins 2012)? In this article, science and mathematics professor Sally Mayberry highlights a number of trade books that have made a fantastic difference in the…

While most of us probably don't think of teachers as scientists, the truth of the matter is that teachers actually follow many of the scientific processes that scientists use to help them be effective. Teachers have to find ways to measure student learning and to use that measurement to inform their teaching practices. They need to know what…

In this article, Sandra Wentworth invites science teachers to ask a group of students to write the names of three famous scientists on a piece of paper within one minute. Chances are that most students will mention Einstein and be unable to name another scientist, specifically a woman, except for an occasional Marie Curie response. This article…

Donnelly, Idaho, is a small town surrounded by private ranches and Forest Service property. Through the center of Donnelly runs Boulder Creek, a small tributary feeding into Cascade Lake Reservoir. Boulder Creek originates from a mountain lake north of Donnelly. Since 1994 it has been listed as "impaired" by the Environmental Protection…

This article provides ideas and techniques to improve science teaching, while providing tips for planning and executing field trips. Discussed here are practical planning suggestions for choosing an appropriate destination months before the trip, the cost per student, availability of restroom and lunch facilities, transportation arrangements,…

The lesson described herein is the result of a partnership between a teacher and an entomologist brought together by a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded grant that paired teachers and researchers to impact K-12 STEM education through partnership and innovation. This collaboration resulted in five lessons featuring live insects such as…

In this article the authors share advice from the viewpoints of both a formal and informal educator that will help teachers identify the right Informal Science Institutions (ISIs)--institutions that specialize in learning that occurs outside of the school setting--to maximize their students' learning and use informal education to their…

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…

In this article, Bill Robinson describes the three main classifications of gait for animals: (1) Plantigrade--animals that walk on their entire foot; (2) Digitigrade--animals that walk on their "toes"; and (3) Unguligrade--animals that walk on the tips of their toes or hooves. Robinson explains each gait in great detail, but leaves his…

This article describes a family-friendly science day event that encourages scientific discovery through hands-on activities, while also providing an opportunity to learn about scientific careers from actual research scientists and science educators, thereby raising awareness of the importance of STEM in our society. The one-day event bought…

Defining friction and asking what causes it might seem like a trivial question. Friction seems simple enough to understand. Friction is a force between surfaces that pushes against things that are moving or tending to move, and the rougher the surfaces, the greater the friction. Bill Robertson answers this by saying, "Well, not exactly".…

This article describes a lesson taught in a designated English Language Learner (ELL) classroom in an elementary school in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, using a sheltered instruction approach. Eighty one percent of the students at this school are from diverse ethnic backgrounds where 25 per cent of them receive ELL services. A variety of languages are…

"Framework for K-12 Science Education" states that "children are natural engineers … they spontaneously build sand castles, dollhouses, and hamster enclosures and use a variety of tools and materials for their own playful purposes" (NRC 2012, p. 70). The "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS") also…