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Book Chapter
Pseudoscience in the News: Preposterous Propositions and Media Mayhem Matters
The nature of science (NOS) is to rely on empirical evidence, logical argument, and skeptical review, versus pseudoscience (e.g., astrology), which fa...
Book Chapter
Scientific Reasoning: Inside, Outside, On, and Beyond the Box
Direct observation, measurement, indirect evidence, and inferential reasoning are used to uncover nature’s patterns and their underlying logic. Scie...
Book Chapter
Magic Bus of School Science: “Seeing” What Can’t Be Seen
Scientists use direct empirical and inferential evidence, logical argument, and skeptical review to formulate and evaluate hypotheses and tentative, p...
Book Chapter
Reading Between the Lines of the Daily Newspaper: Molecular Magic
Although there is no single scientific method, scientists use the triple tests of empirical evidence, logical argument, and skeptical review to discov...
Book Chapter
Pondering Puzzling Patterns and a Parable Poem
Students and teachers need playful experiences where they can develop the scientific inquiry skills of observation, pattern recognition, and inferenti...
Book Chapter
Astronomical rules are not always correct, especially when they use the word “always.” Students should learn that unless they live on or very nea...
Book Chapter
What's the Moon Like Around the World?
A great deal of confusion arises from the lack of understanding about the Moon’s journey around the Earth and its apparent shape changes. This inves...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about infectious diseases. The probe is designed to reveal whether students recogn...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the smallest parts of living and nonliving things. The probe is designed to ...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the plant structure where photosynthesis takes place. The probe is designe...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about living things. The probe is designed to determine whether students recognize...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about “plant food.” The probe is designed to reveal whether students recognize...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the flow of energy in a trophic relationship that children are most familia...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the transfer of matter and energy in ecosystems. The probe is designed to re...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about adaptation. The probe is designed to reveal whether students hold Lamarckian...