JoinAll Blog Posts
Blog Post
It’s almost October and it’s time to celebrate science. Get ready for Earth Science Week this year (October 9–15, 2011)....
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
It all started with the zebrafish…
photo by Elizabeth Zimmermann, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs Students in Roc...
By Debra Shapiro
Blog Post
Professional Learning Communities and You!
The question for this issue of the Leaders Letter focused around professional learning communities people are involved in as well as the benefits that each person has received. In Professional Learning Communities for Science Teaching the definitio...
By Christine Royce
Blog Post
I’ve recently been asked to mentor a new teacher in the science department. I’ve never had this role before. I want to help her, but I don’t want to be too intrusive or judgmental. What should I do? —Erica, Abilene, Texas...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Oil Spill, Gulf of Mexico (NASA, International Space Station Science, 05/04/10)...
By admin
Blog Post
Are your high school students WORTHY?
photo courtesy of Northrop Grumman Corp....
By Debra Shapiro
Blog Post
The July 2011 release of the Framework for K-12 Science Education, from the National Academies, places new emphasis on the topic of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in the discussion of K–12 education priorit...
By Claire Reinburg
Blog Post
Chemistry of soap and detergents
Slippery, slathery, sparkly soap. We squirt a dollop on our hands, rub it in timed to the birthday song, rinse off, and our hands are squeaky clean. But what is soap, and why does it work?...
By admin
Blog Post
The American Jobs Act and science labs
NSTA Executive Director Francis Eberle...
By Francis Eberle
Blog Post
Science of natural disasters, for young children
With ten-plus inches of rain, even fenceposts sprout with fungus....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Models, and maps, and spatial understanding
Teaching spatial awareness is part of most early childhood standards, such as the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework (Understands directionality, order, and position of objects, such as up, down, in front, behind.), and it is p...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
I just started my first teaching position (middle school Earth science) and already I feel overwhelmed. It seems like I need 36 hours in a day. What can I do to get everything done? Does it get any easier? —Ted, Fargo, North Dakota...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
How will you implement your professional development learning this year?
Professional development strengthens teaching skills and introduces the latest research about learning....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
— The Scientific Process Berkeley’s Understanding Science website is a great resource for learning more about the process of science. The resource goes much deeper than the standard “PHEOC” model of the scientific method by emphasizing ...
By Eric Brunsell
Blog Post
Welcome back for the 2011–2012 school year!
NSTA Executive Director Francis Eberle...
By Francis Eberle
Blog Post
Benefitting from undergrad research experience
photo by Karolis Panavas...
By Debra Shapiro
Blog Post
I’m an elementary teacher and I’m thinking of taking the Praxis test to be certified to teach science in middle school. It has been many years since I was in high school and college, and I only took the basic science classes. Could you sugges...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
It’s a challenge for science teachers to design activities and investigations that fit into the time periods we have. But science research and investigation doesn’t always fit neatly into 45- or 60- or even 90-minute packages. (One of my ...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Authentic experiences in microscopy
OK—you’ve seen the adventures that students have to explore living things, but you don’t have the funds for a field trip and your school is not close to a park or other greenspace. What to do?? Or, you’d like to have your studen...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
YouTube is an amazing resource, with videos on just about any topic. There are animations, videos of demonstrations that you might not be able to do in your classroom, and records of talks by famous scientists....
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Our district has a goal for every teacher to reinforce student literacy skills. We’re struggling with this at the secondary level. Most of our students seem to have decent reading levels, and the reading specialists provide extra help for those...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Shrinking budgets, saving energy
photo by Stevie Rocco “Schools, once known as energy wasters, are embracing conservation in increasing numbers....
By Debra Shapiro
Blog Post
I’ve applied for several teaching positions, and the thought of an interview (assuming I’m lucky enough to get one) makes me nervous. How should I prepare? What kind of questions will the committee ask? —McKenzie, Columbia, Missouri...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Tips for the first days of school
The first days of school offer teachers an opportunity to set a positive tone and convey to students that their classrooms are supportive learning environments for all. Free chapter excerpts offered in the August 2011 issue of NSTA’s Book Beat incl...
By Claire Reinburg
Blog Post
I once worked with a principal who encouraged us to check off the comments boxes on progress reports and report cards. Most of these were rather generic and impersonal. We thought—wouldn’t it be great to have database of comments to choos...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
My neighbors just drove off, heading towards the first day of kindergarten for their daughter. I love to see the excitement on children’s faces as they go to “the big school” for the first time....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
What do students already know?
Last year, I started giving pretests at the beginning of each unit. The students were upset because they didn’t know many of the answers, even though I explained I didn’t expect them to know everything and the pretest wouldn’t count as ...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Teaching with technology (revisited)
In case you haven’t seen it yet, the July issue of Science Scope is themed around technology....
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
I’ve been reading about the revised Bloom’s taxonomy, with “creating” now being at the top. The examples I saw for this level included things such as posters, puppet shows, songs and dances, or skits. These may be enjoyable fo...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Back in the 1990s, when I was a technology director, a school board member asked me “What technology should our students use to prepare them for the workforce?” I responded that what our current elementary students would use in college or...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Summer can be a time of rest and renewal and an opportunity for teachers to fit in professional pursuits like reading that new book, taking a workshop, or conducting an in-depth study. In the July 2011 issue of NSTA’s Book Beat, we invite readers t...
By Claire Reinburg
Blog Post
Connecting with families over the summer
At the end of the school year I gave each preschool student’s family (about 58 of them) a note and a self-addressed stamped envelope in the hopes that they would write to me to let me know about any explorations their child experiences o...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
I was recently at a workshop where the presenter used the term “bell-to-bell teaching.” As a student teacher, I was embarrassed to ask what this means. —Cory, Mobile, Alabama...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
What can I do on the last few days of school? This year (my first as a teacher), my exams were over, projects were completed, and my grades were turned in. But after that it was hard to keep the students focused. —Angie, Salt Lake City, Utah....
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Find support and share resources at the Learning Center
As I was packing up materials and readying the classrooms for summer storage I reflected back over the year and thought about the next. Developing an on-going inquiry (or overlapping inquiries because more than one class uses the space at this school...
By Peggy Ashbrook