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Students at Chillicothe Women’s Correctional Center in Chillicothe, Missouri, examinelunar rocks from NASA in Mary Haskins’ environmental science course. Photo credit: SHONA SIMPSON, CCC STAFF...
By Debra Shapiro
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What happens in your block area?
When playing and building with blocks, children experience the way the properties of matter, shape, weight, and proportionality affect balance, stability, and position within their structures. Beginning with open exploration, children measure as th...
By Peggy Ashbrook
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Why must we meet so much as a physics team when I need time alone to prepare for my classes? —M., Indiana ...
By Sharon Delesbore
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Teacher Cohorts to Support Science Instruction
Written by Debbie Ericksen ...
By Korei Martin
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Safety Training for Non-Science Instructors
Unlike science teachers, non-science educators have little to no training in hazard analysis, risk assessment, or safety-related issues. As a result, non-science employees, such as teachers of other subjects or special education and paraprofessionals...
By Kenneth Roy
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My third-grade class created models of plant and animal cells with various items that they found around the house. Many of the kids did a great job, and their projects were very colorful. I brought samples to my Professional Learning Community (PLC)...
By Sharon Delesbore
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Making Cooperative Learning Groups Work
How can I keep my students more engaged in their science cooperative learning groups? —A., California...
By Sharon Delesbore
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Sample new science lessons from NSTA Press books
NSTA Press authors offer a rich selection of fresh lessons and strategies in their newest books, and you can download samples from each of them through the ...
By Claire Reinburg
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When informal science institutions (ISIs) offer professional learning opportunities to teachers to support science in schools, they create the potential for dynamic science educators and classrooms that can support high-quality science learning for s...
By Dr. Vanessa Lujan
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Out-of-School Time (OST) organizations play a vital role in our education system by providing youth with ways of discovering and exploring the world of STEM that complement the learning they experience during the school day. But OST programs often fa...
By Dr. Irene Porro
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The Wade Institute for Science Education has long valued the power of informal institutions to create precisely the kind of student-led inquiry-based learning and real-world problem solving envisaged by the three-dimensional learning of NGSS. Through...
By Angela Damery
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Helping Educators Develop Young Ocean Problem-Solvers
Myrtle, the green sea turtle. Photo credit: W. Chappell Informal science centers are in perfect alignment to provide rich NGSS supports using three-dimensional learning and real-world connections....
By Corrine Steever
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House Leaders Introduce The College Affordability Act
Democrats Introduce Bill to Reauthorize Higher Education Act House Democrats introduced a long-awaited bill earlier this week that would update the Higher Education Act for the first time in more than a decade....
By Jodi Peterson
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Media literacy week, October 21-25, 2019
A shared reading experience is one of the most powerful strategies for building children’s literacy skills according to the International Library Association (ILA pg 3) and in my experience as a reader, educator, and parent. Once a week I am a gue...
By Peggy Ashbrook
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Does my Administrator Trust Me?
I am a first-year teacher at a high school listed as a priority to the district (i.e. school improvement needed). I like the school and the students but it seems like the administration is in my classroom all the time. I’m concerned that they do no...
By Sharon Delesbore
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Join NSTA Press book authors for workshops at NSTA area conferences in Fall 2019
NSTA Press book authors will lead workshops at NSTA fall conferences around the U.S....
By Claire Reinburg
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Sylvia Shugrue award winner 2019
Lori NelsonRoger B. Chaffee Elementary School, Huntsville AL...
By NSTA Web Director
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Teaching Agriculture to Elementary Students
Students at Moss Haven Elementary School in the Richardson Independent School District in Dallas, Texas, learn about agriculture at Moss Haven Farm, located on the school’s campus. Most students “are pretty interested [in agriculture] because it...
By Debra Shapiro
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Learning About STEM and Preventing Fires
During a state-mandated earthquake drill held by Wilson High School in Los Angeles, California, and the Los Angeles Fire Department, students learn how to properly move an earthquake victim....
By Debra Shapiro
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I am a preservice teacher planning some lessons on how to group plants and animals according to observable features. I am struggling to think of different activities. — V ., Maryland...
By Gabe Kraljevic
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According to the NSTA Position Statement titled “The Integral Role of Laboratory Investigations in Science Instruction,” there must be adequate storage space for all materials. From a safety and environmental regulation standpoint, proper storage...
By Kenneth Roy
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An image gallery of ideas for learning centers
Setting up science learning centers for young children in early childhood programs sometimes means just grabbing what you have at hand because your teaching partners have been out sick all week, and the materials you ordered haven’t arrived yet, ...
By Peggy Ashbrook
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Connecting with the education community online to find resources
To support my science teaching practice I look for information about teaching young children, and about the science content I think is important for the young children in my program. I have a lot of questions about both these areas:...
By Peggy Ashbrook
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Appropriations Update A lot is going on in both chambers of government; let’s start first in the U.S. House of Representatives: lawmakers last week passed a stopgap spending measure (continuing resolution) that provides continuing appropri...
By Jodi Peterson
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How would a science teacher intertwine DNA and Mendelian genetics into lessons to younger audiences? Could elementary school teachers introduce this field by having different colored beads on a string to represent DNA and build on from there? How sho...
By Gabe Kraljevic
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Phenomena-driven Instruction in the Elementary Classroom: A Lot Like Herding Cats?
Guest blog post by Jen Brown-Whale ...
By Korei Martin
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Encouraging Students to Engage in Argument With Evidence
When I first began to shift my curriculum to support the Next Generation Science Standards, I was a bit overwhelmed!...
By Michelle Monk
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Arguing From Evidence to Discover the ‘Why’
In my science classroom, students look at evidence all the time. Sometimes it is in photos or videos; sometimes in charts and graphs; and sometimes we generate our own data through investigations. A more traditional approach previously used is asking...
By Rebecca Schumacher
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Pairing Literacy and Science to Effectively Teach Argumentation
Most elementary teachers, have many opportunities to learn best practices in English Language Arts (ELA), but few in science....
By Judine Keplar and Carrie Launius
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Get students hooked on real-world science
When students see the real-world applications of science, their interest levels soar. Teachers are experts at guiding students through the wonders of how science helps us answer questions and engineering helps us solve problems. This month, stock up...
By Claire Reinburg
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Launching the PocketLab Voyager
Intro Exploring motion, light, temperature, altitude, and magnetic fields can be taken to new interactive heights with the PocketLab Voyager by Myriad Sensors. Subsequently, by using a wireless sensor, the PocketLab Voyager records and sto...
By Edwin P. Christmann
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I am a preservice biology teacher and was hoping to get some insight on labs. What are some of your favorite labs that you have done with your class and what made them a success? How do you typically assess labs? —D., Virginia I believe biology bec...
By Gabe Kraljevic
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I’ve been having trouble getting students willing to talk, answer questions, or share their ideas in class. What strategies/activities do you use to help kids feel more comfortable talking and sharing in your class? —C., Arizona...
By Gabe Kraljevic
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Educating Students About Aerospace Careers
Students in William Ervin’s aerospace class at Dubiski Career High School in Grand Prairie, Texas, gather around the flight simulator used in the class. Cindy Hasselbring reads from the Boeing Pilot and Technician Outlook report: “804,000 new...
By Debra Shapiro