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It’s interesting in this issue to see how teachers can incorporate inquiry learning into topics such as Bernoulli’s Principle, bridge design, photosynthesis, a beach clean-up program, rocks, paper airplanes, maple seeds, and ponds....
By Mary Bigelow
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As a preschool teacher I try to be aware of how my work might introduce or reinforce misconceptions in my students’ understanding of concepts. In the Perspectives column in the September issue of Science and Children, Michele H. Lee and Deborah L. ...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
At our inservice last month, we learned several strategies for writing in science classes. But when I tried one in my classroom, it went over like a lead balloon. What was I doing wrong? —Rosalind, Denver, Colorado...
By MsMentorAdmin
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The big fish died. The constant silent presence of the plecostomus—now hiding in the cave, now sucking algae off the aquarium wall—is gone. Donated by a parent who has moved on to high school PTSA duties, the odd fish taught 10 years of prescho...
By Peggy Ashbrook
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Who hasn’t looked into the night sky and wondered about the stars and the universe? But upper elementary and middle school may be the last chance for many students to study or be exposed to concepts in astronomy. Earth and space science is not offe...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
The S&C astronomy issue article Sky Observations by the Book (NSTA membership required) presents lessons specifically for teaching young children astronomy concepts with picture books....
By ManagingEditorSC
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Walking fieldtrips to draw nature
A walking fieldtrip can bring much needed outdoor time and opportunity for scientific observation to a class schedule. The objective can be to view the sky, look for birds, find seeds, or to inventory the surrounding environment. Whether just a walk ...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Planting flower bulbs in the fall
Planting spring-flowering bulbs connects the seasons of Fall and Spring in the minds of young children as they wait all winter for the bulbs to sprout and to see the flowers blooming in the spring. Following the growth of daffodils or tulips reinforc...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
No child (or teacher) left inside, and we're having a ball!
OK, it’s almost October and it’s time to celebrate science. Get ready for Earth Science Week this year (October 12-18, 2008). The theme is “No Child Left Inside.”...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Formative assessments: real-time responses
My principal is talking to us about using “formative” assessments. Does this mean taking time away from instruction for more tests? When will I have time to teach? —W.S., Overland Park, KS...
By MsMentorAdmin
Blog Post
Displaying children's science learning
One way I like to show the science learning that goes on in school is by posting my photos or children’s work under headings borrowed from, or inspired by, Barbara Lehn in her book What is a Scientist? (1999....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Scientific literacy comes in handy
The importance of being scientifically literate, that is, being able to sift through the information and decide what seems likely to be true, was brought home (literally) to me this month when I discovered a “colony” of bed bugs in our house. Col...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
“Don’t smile until Thanksgiving.” When I started teaching, that was the advice from a few veterans on the staff. Fortunately for my students, I disregarded that advice and followed the example of my advisor: “Be fair, firm, an...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Scoring objective tests is easy: the answer is either correct or incorrect. But with essay questions, lab techniques, writing assignments, reports, cooperative or group work, presentations, or other projects (including multimedia ones), it gets more ...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Finding materials for science activities
So many times I wish I had everything I need to do an activity with my five classes of two to five-year-olds—all in a kit. Managing materials in a way that doesn’t distract from the concept being explored, but keeps it foremost in the children�...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Each chapter in my science textbook is loaded with new vocabulary. How can I help students to deal with this specialized vocabulary? —Dan, Ramapo, New Jersey This task can be overwhelming. High school texts may have more than 3,000 specialized ...
By MsMentorAdmin
Blog Post
Some of you may remember the pre-Internet days when if you didn’t subscribe to a mailed publication, you had to trek to a public or university library to catch up on your reading on science topics. I must confess that for me back then, it was diffi...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Using science notebooks with young students
Science Notebooks can be useful tools, even with young students who are just learning to read and write. See how kindergarten teacher Kathryn Kaatz incorporated science writing and drawing as she took her students on “A Walk in the ‘Tall,...
By ManagingEditorSC
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Weekly Wondering: What Are You Doing to Get Ready for the New School Year?
August is here, and that can only mean one thing: The new school year is right around the corner! Teacher Vision offers some tips for starting off the school year, such as organizing portfolios for students and designing bulletin boards. There is al...
By ManagingEditorSC
Blog Post
As the new school year is getting underway, are you looking for some experiences to get students focused on scientific thinking and research skills? How can we show students what scientists actually “do” and how they communicate?...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Send us your teacher's picks
Each Early Years column features resources selected by real teachers–and we want yours! We’re seeking Teacher’s Picks on the following themes:...
By ManagingEditorSC
Blog Post
The Summer Early Years column An Invertebrate Garden featured Teacher’s Picks from science resource teacher Fred Arnold of Spencerport, New York, who helps teachers and students raise Painted Lady butterflies, mealworms, super mealworms, and m...
By ManagingEditorSC
Blog Post
To a science teacher, an ideal summer day might include a stroll through a zoo or botanical garden, a cool afternoon in a planetarium or aquarium, a hike in a state or national park with a pair of binoculars and a guidebook, or a visit to a museum. O...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Predator finds caterpillars indoors
Last August I had four monarch butterfly larvae chewing up milkweed leaves on my kitchen windowsill as fast as I could provide them. The caterpillars were borrowed from the elementary school habitat as eggs to show to children in a workshop in a few ...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Who needs a slug? was the question this week at a program I gave at the public library. The children, ages 6-10, carefully picked through habitat-like containers I had compiled the day before from my yard....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
An invertebrate garden and …
It feels like summer will be over before we know it! Many of you—those who actually had a summer off that is—are busy preparing your classrooms and projects for the coming school year....
By ManagingEditorSC
Blog Post
Welcome to the new Early Years blog
Early childhood science educators: this is your place! We’re starting simply but hope to expand this site with your help. Here are a few plans for the blog. We hope you’ll chime in with your suggestions. Science and Children editors wi...
By ManagingEditorSC
Blog Post
The solar system, the metric system, the circulatory system, the system of checks and balances, transportation systems, broadcasting systems, information systems, the Dewey Decimal system – we see the word “system” every day in a variet...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
I’m getting ready for a two-week camping trip to upstate New York for a family reunion, sightseeing, and hiking/birdwatching. I’m also looking forward to propping up my feet and reading in the fresh air. As I add to my bag of reading mate...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
In the ideal world, every school would have whatever materials it takes to provide quality learning experiences. But our world is not ideal and we teachers have learned to be quite ingenious....
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
It’s always amazing to me that there is just about anything you’d want to know (and even things you didn’t know you wanted to know) on the Internet. Just a few clicks in your favorite browser and you’re off on a flight of sere...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Whether it’s a riverbank, a lakeshore, or along an ocean or bay, the water is a popular vacation place in the summer. But what if your classroom could be extended to study these places during the school year?...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
For many teachers, the word “notebook” conjures up an image of a folder or binder in which students attach lab reports, homework, class handouts and notes, tests and quizzes, and/or completed worksheets. The students are given a list of r...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
It’s summer and maybe some of us are involved in writing/revising the science curriculum for our schools. Rather than just creating a laundry list of topics to be “covered” based on a textbook table of contents, you might be looking...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Teachers (and administrators) love so see the word “free.” FREE in this case stands for Federal Resources for Excellence in Education. This website, maintained by the U.S. Department of Education, has links to hundreds of web-based resour...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
The ocean's hidden worlds
What do you get when you combine knowledge, passion, experience, and some fantastic graphics? A friend sent me the link to a TED video of Robert Ballard’s talk on Exploring the Ocean’s Hidden Worlds. I thought I was fairly knowledgeable, ...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
In previous entries, I’ve mentioned the online, collaborative projects that are part of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s (CLO) Citizen Science program. Well, they’ve done it again!...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Doesn’t it seem like there’s always something new in technology? How can we keep up with what’s going on? I’ve found a resource that can be very helpful: TipLine – Gates’ Computer Tips. This award-winning blog is w...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
A different kind of assessment
Several issues of NSTA journals this year have had an assessment theme, including the April/May issue of Science & Children and the January issue of Science Scope. I recently became aware of another assessment project called MOSART, which stands ...
By Mary Bigelow
Blog Post
Assessment to guide instruction
“I don’t have many grades for this quarter, so I better give a few quizzes soon.” “I don’t have time for assessments – just let me teach.” I’m sure we’ve heard comments such as these (or thought them ourselve...
By Mary Bigelow