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Planting peas—who will help students record the growth?
I’m wondering what crops your class grows—Peas? Collards? Cilantro? Zinnias? Marigolds?...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Must haves—flashlights, mirrors, and sunshine
Sometimes as a teacher leads an activity, a student verbalizes all the observations and new questions that were hoped for, making one think, “Was this child coached to say these things, or am I really eliciting all this learning!?” I like to beli...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Count the birds you see on February 13–16 for just 15 minutes!
I’ve never taken part in the Great Backyard Bird Count but it sounds like an interesting way to learn about collecting data and become part of a greater group contributing to knowledge about bird population trends....
By Peggy Ashbrook
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I have to attend a workshop on teaching reading in the content areas. Is it really the job of a secondary science teacher to teach students how to read? —Sofia, Visalia, California Short answer—Yes, it is the job of science teachers to help their...
By MsMentorAdmin
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How does cartoonist Richard Thompson do such a splendid job of channeling the thoughts of preschoolers with their questions about the order of the world? In the world of Cul de Sac, Blisshaven Preschool reminds me of Every School where the goals of...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
As mentioned in NSTA Reports, the new year has been designated Year of Science 2009 The website has many suggestions for YoS events and ideas for building interest in science....
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Remembering a snow from 1/3 of a lifetime ago
Finding a covering of the season’s first snow on their car, my 3-year-old neighbor helpfully suggested, “Use that tool, that small brush,” to her father. Was she recalling last winter? It is possible that she had seen the snow brush/scraper in ...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
I have always loved science – earth and space sciences especially. Although I’ve had a variety of jobs, since I began home schooling, I’ve discovered I absolutely love teaching. I’m thinking about getting my bachelor’s degre...
By MsMentorAdmin
Blog Post
I’ve worked with several schools that are framing their curriculum and units of instruction around big ideas, key understandings, generative topics, or themes (the terminology depends on which model is being used). The rationale for using an ov...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
In this Year of Science, this early childhood science teacher is excited to have a President who says, “When it comes to science, elevating science once again, and having lectures in the White House where people are talking about traveling to th...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Dinosaurs—a reason to draw and write
Dinosaurs! This high-interest subject is a focus for questions relating to how animals live in many different environmental niches. What evidence do we have for what we think we know about dinosaurs?...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
With the theme of “record keeping,” we might have expected the cover photo to show children writing in a notebook or typing on a computer. Instead, the editor chose a photo of a child looking through binoculars with an “Oh Wow!̶...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Vote and participate in your NSTA
Voting may not be a scientific way of answering a question but it’s the way members of the National Science Teachers Association choose among the dedicated professionals who are interested in serving on the Board of Directors. The more we participa...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
We have a new principal. She doesn’t seem to understand what it’s like to be a science teacher. For example, she wants to schedule non-science classes in the labs during our planning periods. One of my colleagues wants to give her a list of w...
By MsMentorAdmin
Blog Post
It used to be that a unit on the polar regions focused on historical explorations or cute stories about polar bears and penguins. But with the Internet, students can get involved themselves in real-time explorations and studies, such as the ones fea...
By Mary Bigelow