JoinAll Blog Posts
Blog Post
Activities that focus on food and cooking can help students see how relevant and fascinating science can be in everyday life. In a recent illustration of the enduring appeal of food’s scientific underpinnings, one of the most sought-after classro...
By Claire Reinburg
Blog Post
All you earlybirds out there are in for a treat this month if you look eastward just before dawn (and the weather is clear). Four planets will be engaged in a slow-motion dance, aligning themselves differently day by day in a tight segment of the s...
By NSTA Web Director
Blog Post
For the past few years, I’ve had a self-contained fifth-grade class, and my students and I enjoyed doing many hands-on science activities and investigations. Next year, I’ll be teaching science to all of the sixth-graders....
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
While reviewing some materials from a workshop, I came across a few online gems this week to add to the SciLinks keyword assessment. Even some of the experienced teachers in the workshop had to stop and think about the differences between analytic an...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Family science: ideas and resources for activities
Towards the end of the school year we often think of resources we can share with families to use over the summer....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Chemistry Now, week 13: chemistry to dye for
Reds and pinks, oranges, yellows, greens, blues, purples, browns, even grays and blacks, these represent a spectrum of colors that we take for granted thanks to synthetic dyes, but once weavers and fabric makers took great pains to extract these colo...
By admin
Blog Post
Next semester, I’ll be student teaching and I’m currently in the midst of my Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment classes. However, I really don’t have any insight into the life of a student teacher yet. I’m curious what I should d...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Will the science education plan work in the knowledge economy?
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan shared his views on the direction of Science Education in the Knowledge Economy in the May 2011 issue of NSTA Reports....
By Lynn Petrinjak
Blog Post
The last few days of the school year are a challenge—the time in between the final projects/assessments and the last day of school. Students assume that the year is over, and to stay “busy,” they are sometimes inundated with videos ...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
This is my first year of teaching in a middle school, and I am really struggling with paperwork. Currently I am spending all my time checking papers to make sure my students are actually doing their homework and grading worksheets, lab reports, and t...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
What are STEM activities in your school, district or state?
In this month’s Leaders Letter, some of the questions posted connect to STEM related activities in your area. To start the topic off, I’d like to highlight some upcoming possible STEM initiatives that people can attend and hope that oth...
By Christine Royce
Blog Post
Chemistry Now, week 12: clean chemistry: under the sink
Ammonia is one of the chemicals that feeds the world....
By admin
Blog Post
Spring, and moving on towards summer
In my neck of the woods we are enjoying a consistently cool Spring with cherry blossoms and daffodils lasting longer than in most years. The sugar snap peas that the children planted in a large pot outside are about 7cm tall and while we’ve seen Ca...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Giving students opportunities to explore and observe plants, birds, or bugs on the school grounds or in nearby gardens and parks can bring multiple benefits....
By Claire Reinburg
Blog Post
I’m interested in finding some science assessments to supplement the state tests at the high school level. I’m especially looking for ones that will help me understand students’ thinking. —Lisa, Fort Myers, Florida...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Chemistry Now, week 11: condiments
Salads, sandwiches, and, of course, hamburgers feature condiments for flavor and texture. Tuna and chicken cling to onions and celery with the aid of mayonnaise. A teaspoon or so of mustard might add some bite to the salad. And if you’re feeling in...
By admin
Blog Post
Sharing research results of play dough comparison
Children in my preschool love to cook, and in some ways cooking is much like science learning. We feel the ingredients, measure them, follow a procedure to (hopefully) replicate the results of others, and make observations as we mix and apply heat....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Should science instruction before grade 3 be eliminated to make more time in the school day for Language Arts and Math instruction?...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Spring is a great time to focus on botany! This issue has many ideas to enhance traditional plant activities to make inquiry “bloom” in the classroom. I’ve noted the SciLinks topics that would support the content or include addition...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
I just sat through another full day of “professional development.” As a middle school science teacher, I’m interested in many topics related to my subject, but this day was a series of generic presentations to the entire faculty. I ...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Thomas Nelson Hubbard (1931–2011)
Long-time NSTA exhibitor Thomas “Tom” Nelson Hubbard died Monday, March 21, 2011, in Santa Barbara, California from cardio-respiratory failure. Born February 22, 1931, in Rockford, Illinois, Tom attended Rockford schools, Hotchkiss Scho...
By NSTA Web Director
Blog Post
Chemistry Now, week 10: pickles
Pucker up, it’s time to talk pickles. Pickled peppers, cukes, onions, eggs, really anything that can be preserved by tossing it in a brine solution and letting nature take its course. In the case of pickling, its about establishing the right co...
By admin
Blog Post
Astoria High School in Astoria, Oregon just became an experiment in the future of student computing. The tech company Google put an experimental laptop into the hands every one of the school’s 700 students....
By Martin Horejsi
Blog Post
A teacher's responsibilities
I will have a student teacher next semester. In addition to her leading my physical science classes, I’d like her to experience some other responsibilities that teachers have. Any suggestions? — Kimberly, Providence, Rhode Island Many people ...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
The children whom I see once-a-week in an hour-long afternoon science enrichment class show growth in their exploration of building using ramps and blocks to create pathways for balls. These materials have been available each session for about four m...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Switching from cookbook labs to full inquiry
Click here for the Table of Contents...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Chemistry Now, week 9: the chemistry of green
It’s so simple, it almost seems magical. Leaves take in sunlight, convert it to sugars and starches, and the plant feeds itself and becomes the first link in a food chain that reaches all the way to the apple you chew and swallow on the way to ...
By admin
Blog Post
An interesting example of 21st century technology
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFV9FDLrV0g[/youtube]...
By Martin Horejsi
Blog Post
Teaching resources for the Japanese earthquake and tsunami
The devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan is on the minds of all of us, including our students. The event and aftermath is tragic and the continuing nuclear emergency is a reminder of how fragile society can be. As educators, we can help our st...
By Eric Brunsell
Blog Post
Graphing in early childhood classrooms
The two comments on an earlier post on Collecting Data were about graphing in early childhood classrooms. My curiosity got the better of me so I investigated what some of the standards have to say about when it is appropriate to teach the concept ...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Chemistry Now, week 8: cheeseburger chemistry: tomato
Tomatoes…fiery color and cool completeness How does a tomato go from green, marble-like sphere to juicy red brilliance? Chemistry, that’s how. In the case of tomatoes, the plant bathes the fruit in ethylene molecules when the fruit reache...
By admin
Blog Post
High tech highlights: NSTA 2011
Here’s a taste of NSTA San Fran. More on this later, but many of the tech tools are open-ended allowing for student/teacher defined uses. Overall, the future looks like a fun place to teach! [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_mT8D0eKjk[/...
By Martin Horejsi
Blog Post
Imagine—you submit a proposal for a session at the NSTA conference, and you’re ecstatic when it’s accepted. And then you learn that you have an 8:00 AM Sunday morning time slot, in competition with early departures, church services,...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Putting the "teacher" in NSTA
Congratulations to all of the teacher-presenters at NSTA—to those who were willing to share their ideas and experiences. It’s a quantum leap from the classroom to the national stage, but in the sessions I attended, my colleagues rose to t...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
The NSTA conference was featured in blogs from Edutopia:...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
NSTA Emeritus Executive Director Gerry Wheeler shared his thoughts on the challenges facing science education in the coming decade in the Robert H. Karplus Lecture. He noted that although students’ lives outside the classroom are changing drama...
By Lynn Petrinjak