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Book Chapter
This Isn't English Class! Using Writing as an Assessment Tool in Science
Writing is a huge part of science. It is the way scientists communicate ideas, results, conclusions, and opinions to other scientists. Thus, the author uses writing in a number of ways to have students demonstrate knowledge and as an assessment tool....
Book Chapter
Making Thinking Visible: A Method to Encourage Science Writing in Upper Elementary Grades
Writing, in conjunction with other activities such as reading and hands-on experiences, contributes to greater critical thinking, thoughtful consideration of ideas, and better concept learning. This chapter discusses a comprehensive approach toward s...
Book Chapter
By using the writing process to explore science, students and teachers can find new ways of clarifying, revising, and consolidating knowledge. To achieve this goal, try using The Writing in Science Wheel activity described in this article. The Writin...
Book Chapter
Helping Students Write About Science Without Plagiarizing
Most students don't plagiarize just because they are lazy. Most of them simply do not know how to write about science. As teachers, we can use planning strategies to help make some of the process of writing automatic, which frees working memory to fo...
Book Chapter
Learning to Write and Writing to Learn in Science: Refutational Texts and Analytical Rubrics
Most middle school science teachers are familiar with the idea of reading and writing across the curriculum. We, as science teachers, understand that our students need time, practice, and lots of encouragement in order to learn how to read and write ...
Book Chapter
In this activity, students will make a series of liquid layers with different densities using nontoxic chemicals. This free activity includes the Teacher Pages and Student Pages for this activity and the Table of Contents, Introduction, and Index...
Book Chapter
Building Models in the Classroom
In this chapter, the author will go into more detail about using MBST in the lab and field, focusing on the practical concerns and techniques of model building in the science classroom. ...
Book Chapter
The Creative Processes of Science
In this chapter, the author examines a way to create new problems for your students to solve in the lab and field. Also looks at ways to stimulate our students to think creatively about the meaning and structure of scientific models in general. Creat...
Book Chapter
MBST and the Scientific Worldview
In this chapter, the author outlines the elements of a model of science in several operational social and personal contexts. Once you developed a model for these contexts, you will look at ways you might ways might contextualize science in your class...
Book Chapter
Can science really provide us with the ultimate answers to life, the universe, and everything? To answer this question and others, we first have to understand models. What are they? How do they work? Why do we use them? Once we have this background, ...
Book Chapter
Mental models provide us with a framework for understanding Models-Based Science Teaching (MBST), as well as some of the tenets and limitations of science suggested by philosophers of science. This chapter is background reading for anyone who wants t...
Book Chapter
This chapter will provide you, as a teacher, with an overview of science: where it comes from, what it is, and how it relates to the MBST model. The chapter begins by defining science and exploring its relationship with its first cousin, technology. ...
Book Chapter
In this chapter, the authors take a look at the three most common forms of communication used in science: verbal, written, and graphical. They will also discuss general guidelines for using communication in an inquiry-based science classroom so that ...
Book Chapter
Because measurements are an important part of inquiry-based science, teachers need to teach measurement skills to their students. Doing so requires a basic understanding of measurement theory and must take into consideration students’ levels of dev...
Book Chapter
Observation is frequently called the most basic of all the scientific skills. Ideally, observations should not include any assumptions, interpretations, opinions, or conclusions on the part of the observer. You should never attempt to explain why som...