JoinAll Blog Posts
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Administrators: Be Intentional ‘For All’
As academic institutions strive to create stimulating learning environments where students embrace the “sciences” to become critical thinkers and ecologically productive citizens, more and more employers are recognizing they have an essential rol...
By Guest Blogger
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Ed News: Can STEM Camps For Girls Really Make A Difference?
This week in education news, there’s no way of knowing whether summer STEM camps help nudge more women into STEM careers; education in STEM fields can be the road to economic empowerment for women; Missouri Governor calls on state legislators to t...
By Kate Falk
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Summer PD for Teachers in National Parks
At Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park in Paterson, New Jersey, students work on a physics activity as part of Batter Up!, an event—developed by TRT Christine Gish and colleagues at Paterson’s JFK High School STEM Academy—that incorpo...
By Debra Shapiro
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Ephemeral art exploring properties of matter, natural materials
I had fun this summer spending 4 days over 2 weeks “enriching” preschool teachers and children in their program by collaboratively exploring ephemeral art projects....
By Peggy Ashbrook
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Ed News: If Students Aren’t Trying On International Tests, Can We Still Compare Countries’ Results
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By Kate Falk
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Seasonal Connections to Nature in the Outdoor Environment
I love to ask teachers, “Who are our best scientists?” You can see them shuffling through the list of outstanding scientists in their minds. But, quickly their faces light up and they enthusiastically respond with “Kids are!” And, they are ri...
By Korei Martin
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What are the most successful experiments and activities to do with students when covering the human body? — K., West Virginia Here are a few of my favorite demonstrations and activities. Look online or in the NSTA Learning Center for most of these....
By Gabe Kraljevic
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Ed News: Summer Programs Increase STEM Learning Opportunities For Visually Impaired Students
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By Kate Falk
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StEMT: A New Process for Designing Meaningful STEM Lessons
A simple, practical, and methodological process for elementary and middle school teachers to implement meaningful STEM activities in the classroom that are not labor intensive, can be used with existing lessons, correlate with “A Framework for K-12...
By Carole Hayward
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Chemical Safety Training for Science Teachers
Academic science laboratories can be unsafe places for teaching and learning due to risks associated with biological, chemical, and physical hazards The OSHA laboratory standard (29 CFR 1910.1450) requires all employees working in laboratory settings...
By Kenneth Roy
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There’s More to Math than Drills
“As a teacher it frustrates me when drilling is proposed as the remedy to society’s mathematical struggles.” —Patrick Honner, Math Teacher and 2018 NSTA/NCTM STEM Teacher Ambassador I like practicing. I’m weir...
By Kate Falk
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I can see and appreciate how science is really an awesome subject. How can I make science more fun and exciting yet effective for my students? —D., Philippines “It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowled...
By Gabe Kraljevic
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Myths about Science, with an early childhood focus
The National Science Teachers Association website has a section for families titled, “Help Your Child Explore Science.” Here’s my adaptation of the “Myths about Science” page in that section, giving it an early childhood focus.&n...
By Peggy Ashbrook
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You can’t believe everything you see in social media, but when something’s popular on Twitter/Facebook/Snapchat, it’s sure to be something you can use to catch students’ attention. The stories that caught our eye this week ru...
By Lauren Jonas, NSTA Assistant Executive Director
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Ideas and inspiration from NSTA’s August 2018 K-12 journals
The August issues are ready for back-to-school! Regardless of what grade level or subject you teach, as you skim through the article titles, you may find ideas for lessons that would be interesting your students or the inspiration to adapt/create/sha...
By Mary Bigelow
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First-Graders Modeling Day and Night: Making Sense of a Phenomenon
As a first-grade teacher in Detroit with predominantly Latinx students and English language learners, I worked for several weeks at the end of last school year with a doctoral candidate in science education and former elementary teacher, Christa Have...
By Cindy Workosky
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Recently, my colleagues and I had an exchange with some teachers in one of our professional development programs. One teacher said, “I think I do a lot of modeling in my class. I have my kids draw pictures of the science ideas they are learning all...
Blog Post
Modeling in Science Instruction
With the shift toward three-dimensional teaching and learning that the Next Generation Science Standards requires, the Crosscutting Concept of Modeling has become a major focus of my instruction. I use a process that involves revisiting the sam...
By Cindy Workosky
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Ed News: New Girl Scout STEM Badges & Back-to-School Spending Hits $82 Billion
This week in education news, the Girl Scouts have added 30 new badges in STEM to encourage more female involvement; back-to-school spending will hit $82.8 billion for K-12 and college combined, and more teachers are digging into their wallets; and m...
By Kate Falk
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Freeze! We're doing science!
I have accumulated a large number of the freezer gel packs from a meal service. I’d like to find a way to use them in a classroom activity. —P., Georgia The best thing about these freezer packs is that they provide a constant that will help ...
By Gabe Kraljevic
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Moving water involves using the practices of science and engineering
Sometimes the discovery of materials on a play area inspires children’s exploration and use of the NGS...
By Peggy Ashbrook
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Do you have any advice for creating bottle ecosystems with my seventh grade class? I would like them to do two-tier systems with terrestrial and aquatic organisms. —S., Missouri...
By Gabe Kraljevic
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CTE Bill Signed & Making STEM a Priority in FY2020
President Trump Signs Career and Technical Education Bill Congress finally passed, and President Trump signed into law, a reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act on Tuesday, July 31....
By Jodi Peterson
Blog Post
Fire Air Dephlogisticated and the Vernier Go Direct Wireless Oxygen Sensor
Oxygen is one of those very cool elements that can both save a life and kill whether in absence or abundance. Oxygen is necessary for life as we know it, but yet it oxidizes one of the most common elements in the universe. Oxygen, to most students, i...
By Martin Horejsi
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Science and Children: an August issue?!!!
Did you know that there is an August issue of Science and Children? Yes!!!! (fist pump, happy dance, big smile)....
By Peggy Ashbrook
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Camp has a culture that is different from school, partly due to the season and partly due to the temporary relationships as campers and teachers are together for shorter lengths of time. As the teacher of an “Art Lab” camp class for children in K...
By Peggy Ashbrook
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Ed News: Science Centers Play Role In Boosting Children’s Interest In STEM Fields
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By Kate Falk
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What are some of the best practices for teaching science vocabulary? —D., Florida Science has a language unto itself; it is not surprising that many students struggle with vocabulary much like English language learners (ELLs). Because of this, I us...
By Gabe Kraljevic
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Keeping Labs Safer With Engineering Controls
Engineering controls can help isolate people from hazards and make the lab safer, according to the OSHA/NIOSH “Hierarchy of Controls.” Laboratories require specific engineering controls to address biological, chemical, and physical hazards. Appro...
By Kenneth Roy
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Ed News: Virtual Reality Could Help Students Remember Better, New Research Says
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By Kate Falk
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Is there a way to engage those who struggle with chemistry and help them do well? — M., Utah ...
By Gabe Kraljevic
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Ideas and inspiration from NSTA’s July 2018 K-12 journals
Regardless of what grade level or subject are you teach, as you skim through the article titles, you may find ideas for lessons that would be interesting your students or the inspiration to adapt/create/share your own....
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
FY2019 Appropriations, Janus, and $ for Your District Science and STEM
House Appropriations Committee Approves FY2019 Appropriations Bill After several delays the full House Appropriations Committee approved their Labor, Health and Human Services, Education (LHHS) FY2019 Appropriations bill on Wednesday, July 11 and ...
By Jodi Peterson
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How can I teach science when my school only allots 15-20 minutes per day to teach it? This usually comes at the end of the day when students are worn out. —N., Louisiana It can be very frustrating to have only tiny chunks of time to teach. One thin...
By Gabe Kraljevic
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Ed News: Got STEM Funding? Here’s How To Use It
This week in education news, Pennsylvania needs to get serious about STEM education; personalized learning has broad appeal, but may be more revolutionary than people think; and to properly integrate coding and computer science into the education sy...
By Kate Falk
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Summertime, and the livin’ is…
I am looking for recommendations on how to spend my summer preparing to implement the science program our school district adopted. —C., Illinois Without knowing the specifics of your district’s program I can’t say precisely what to do, but I ha...
By Gabe Kraljevic
Blog Post
Introduction The Go Direct Respiration Belt measures human respiration rate. While using the Go Direct Respiration Belt, you can measure human breathing patterns with a wireless Bluetooth connection or by plugging-in the device with a USB cord. It wo...
By Edwin P. Christmann