Because students have often been conditioned as passive learners and receivers of knowledge, it can be difficult for them to persevere in solving authentic problems. Nevertheless, teachers must persist in preparing students as problem solvers and critical thinkers. In an urban inner-city neighborhood school in the southeast, students embarked on a…

This column discusses resources and science topics related to students in grades preK to 2. In this month's issue students study landscape surfaces to recognize changes due to human impacts or natural phenomena.

Children enjoy water play, and kindergarten children can learn about the water cycle. Teachers are already introducing elements of the water cycle when discussing weather and bodies of water. The water cycle also can be a springboard for teaching children about plants and animals and the importance of water for sustaining life and shaping our…

This column focuses on promoting learning through assessment. The formative assessment probe in this month's issue can be used as an initial elicitation before students are introduced to the formal concepts of weathering and erosion.