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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
Blog Post
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
Blog Post
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
Blog Post
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
Blog Post
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
Blog Post
Ed News: Science Centers Play Role In Boosting Children’s Interest In STEM Fields
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By Kate Falk
Blog Post
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
Blog Post
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
Blog Post
Ed News: Virtual Reality Could Help Students Remember Better, New Research Says
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By Kate Falk
Blog Post
Is there a way to engage those who struggle with chemistry and help them do well? — M., Utah ...
By Gabe Kraljevic
Blog Post
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
Blog Post
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
Blog Post
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
Blog Post
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
Blog Post
Incorporating art into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has been a natural consequence for many teachers; for others, a more deliberate process. Art has been intrinsic to the STEAM Lab in the Millstone Township (New Jersey) Sc...
By Lynn Petrinjak
Blog Post
Science centers—effective and engaging
While handling and examining objects from nature, such as sea shells, pinecones, rocks, and plant leaves, children may encounter patterns and experience properties of different materials....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
For the STEAM Fair at Doane Academy in Burlington, New Jersey, upper-school students “complete projects in any field as long as they [relate] in some way to science concepts,” says Michael Russell, STEAM coordinator and mathematics and science de...
By Debra Shapiro
Blog Post
What Does 3-Dimensional Space Look Like
When transitioning my classroom instruction to three dimensional learning, I decided to start with one or two areas in each unit or lesson set where I felt the most need. I was already purposeful in selecting activities that I carefully sequenced to ...
By Korei Martin
Blog Post
Digital Technology in the Early Childhood Classroom: When is a child ready?
Guest blogger Carrie Lynne Draper shares resources and discusses the use of digital technology in early childhood programs....
By Peggy Ashbrook
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Global Thinking Inside and Outside the Classroom
Dynamic Equilibrium. These two words represent what is essential in teaching Earth science: the idea that forces are constantly working against one another, but often do so in ways that nearly counteract one another....
By Cindy Workosky
Blog Post
Cereal to Stream Tables: Putting Stability and Change in Students’ Hands
Stability and Change is one of the seven Crosscutting Concepts (CCs) that can be difficult to convey in a lesson. Other CCs like Patterns, Cause and Effect, and Systems and System Models can be easily incorporated in the structure of a lesson. With a...
By Cindy Workosky
Blog Post
Meet the 2018 NSTA/ NCTM STEM Teacher Ambassadors!
We are proud to be working with 2018 NSTA/NCTM STEM Teacher Ambassadors, who are here at NSTA’s headquarters this week participating in an intensive communications, media, and policy training designed to expand the classroom teacher voice at the lo...
By Korei Martin
Blog Post
Within 20 Years, These 8 Inventions Could Become Reality
Imagine if you were asked what technology would look like in two decades. Through our ExploraVision science competition, that very same question has fueled over 400,000 young minds in the U.S. and Canada for 26 years. This year, nearly 5,000 student...
By Korei Martin
Blog Post
How can you check for understanding during a lecture to make sure it is engaging? —S. Ohio Although I hated lecturing, I often felt the need to do so, particularly in advanced grades. My advice is to keep direct instruction short and avoid mindles...
By Gabe Kraljevic
Blog Post
The power of phenomenon based learning
Guest blogger Anne Lowry teaches preschool in Reno, Nevada. She has been teaching for over twenty years, drawing on her undergraduate background in archeology and geology, and her masters in early childhood education, to create a classroom full of in...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
I was wondering how other teachers implement technology in the classroom? I think that simulations have the ability to encourage student inquiry, but often their presence seems to distract students from the learning. What are your thoughts? —K., W...
By Gabe Kraljevic
Blog Post
I’m a pre-service teacher who is a little scared about teaching inquiry-based science in the classroom! What are some things you wish you knew before teaching elementary school science? —K., New Mexico ...
By Gabe Kraljevic
Blog Post
Each month in NSTA’s Science Scope journal, Bob Riddle writes Scope on the Skies, an informational article on topics related to astronomy....
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
The Safety Component in Lab Renovations and New Construction
As states continue to adopt the Next Generation Science Standards and STEM curricula programs, science teachers will be asked to engage students in a way that requires specific lab facilities. The demands of three-dimensional teaching could...
By Kenneth Roy