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Celebrate imagination! This NSTA Kids book has been selected for the Children’s Book Council #ImaginationCelebration Showcase! Full book list: Imagination Celebration Showcase

Named an Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students K-12!
Winner of the REVERE Award from PreK-12 Learning Group, Association of American Publishers!

“Next time you see a sunset, stop and sit down for a while.”
Celebrate imagination! This NSTA Kids book has been selected for the Children’s Book Council #ImaginationCelebration Showcase! Full book list: Imagination Celebration Showcase

Named an Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students K-12!
Winner of the REVERE Award from PreK-12 Learning Group, Association of American Publishers!

“Next time you see a sunset, stop and sit down for a while.”
In this funny fairy tale, it takes a village to figure out the height of Milton the friendly giant. The townspeople’s attempts to gauge just how big he is will entertain young readers as they learn the importance of standard units of measurement. How Tall Was Milton? even accounts for the real-life origin of such silly-sounding units as feet.
In this funny fairy tale, it takes a village to figure out the height of Milton the friendly giant. The townspeople’s attempts to gauge just how big he is will entertain young readers as they learn the importance of standard units of measurement. How Tall Was Milton? even accounts for the real-life origin of such silly-sounding units as feet.
An Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students K-12!
Winner of the REVERE Award from PreK-12 Learning Group, Association of American Publishers!
An Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students K-12!
Winner of the REVERE Award from PreK-12 Learning Group, Association of American Publishers!
In this funny fairy tale, it takes a village to figure out the height of Milton the friendly giant. The townspeople’s attempts to gauge just how big he is will entertain young readers as they learn the importance of standard units of measurement. How Tall Was Milton? even accounts for the real-life origin of such silly-sounding units as feet.
In this funny fairy tale, it takes a village to figure out the height of Milton the friendly giant. The townspeople’s attempts to gauge just how big he is will entertain young readers as they learn the importance of standard units of measurement. How Tall Was Milton? even accounts for the real-life origin of such silly-sounding units as feet.
Children don’t have to be botanists-in-training to discover the message of this book: “All plants are interesting. Even the weeds.” Young readers are sure to be intrigued by the wide variety of shapes, sizes, and functions in flowers, fruit trees, and all sorts of other flora. How Does a Plant Grow? will inspire children to be newly alert to the many wonders of the plant world, from how seeds sprout to why leaves turn to the light to the vital roles of stems and roots.
Children don’t have to be botanists-in-training to discover the message of this book: “All plants are interesting. Even the weeds.” Young readers are sure to be intrigued by the wide variety of shapes, sizes, and functions in flowers, fruit trees, and all sorts of other flora. How Does a Plant Grow? will inspire children to be newly alert to the many wonders of the plant world, from how seeds sprout to why leaves turn to the light to the vital roles of stems and roots.

What Does an Animal Eat?: I Wonder Why

Kids who want to know all about animals will find this book fascinating. What Does an Animal Eat? offers insights into two special aspects of hungry animals: how their teeth and beaks offer clues to what they eat and the food chain’s role in helping to make sure there’s enough for all. Illustrated with detailed drawings, the book’s simple explanations lay the foundation for a deeper understanding of animal adaptation and the need for human help to protect the food chain.
Kids who want to know all about animals will find this book fascinating. What Does an Animal Eat? offers insights into two special aspects of hungry animals: how their teeth and beaks offer clues to what they eat and the food chain’s role in helping to make sure there’s enough for all. Illustrated with detailed drawings, the book’s simple explanations lay the foundation for a deeper understanding of animal adaptation and the need for human help to protect the food chain.

On their walk home from school, twins Jane and Jim explore why sounds can be startling (like sirens), soothing (like music), or mysterious (like eerie creaking in an empty house). By coming along, young readers of What Makes Different Sounds? can learn as the twins do. They’ll be introduced to the roles vibration, pitch, and volume play in how rustles, rumbles, and rat-a-tat-tats are made and transferred to their own ears.

On their walk home from school, twins Jane and Jim explore why sounds can be startling (like sirens), soothing (like music), or mysterious (like eerie creaking in an empty house). By coming along, young readers of What Makes Different Sounds? can learn as the twins do. They’ll be introduced to the roles vibration, pitch, and volume play in how rustles, rumbles, and rat-a-tat-tats are made and transferred to their own ears.

"The changing safety legal standards and professional best practices affecting academic laboratories are efforts to match the rise of modern science's discoveries and applications. Unfortunately, teacher preservice preparation and inservice professional development have not kept pace with these changes. This volume helps bridge the gap by raising awareness of safety issues and how to develop a safer learning and working environment in secondary schools."
—Author Ken Roy on The NSTA Ready-Reference Guide to Safer Science
"The changing safety legal standards and professional best practices affecting academic laboratories are efforts to match the rise of modern science's discoveries and applications. Unfortunately, teacher preservice preparation and inservice professional development have not kept pace with these changes. This volume helps bridge the gap by raising awareness of safety issues and how to develop a safer learning and working environment in secondary schools."
—Author Ken Roy on The NSTA Ready-Reference Guide to Safer Science
“Over the years, the Science and Children editorial team has received a significant number of manuscripts that focus on inquiry. …But no matter how many articles we publish on the topic, the interest in inquiry has not diminished. In fact, our readers have clamored for more. …With interest high and an understanding essential, we designed A Year of Inquiry: A Collection for Elementary Educators, a book structured around an entire year of support, instruction, and learning through inquiry.”
—From the introduction to A Year of Inquiry
“Over the years, the Science and Children editorial team has received a significant number of manuscripts that focus on inquiry. …But no matter how many articles we publish on the topic, the interest in inquiry has not diminished. In fact, our readers have clamored for more. …With interest high and an understanding essential, we designed A Year of Inquiry: A Collection for Elementary Educators, a book structured around an entire year of support, instruction, and learning through inquiry.”
—From the introduction to A Year of Inquiry
 

Systems thinking

By Mary Bigelow

Posted on 2012-10-14

A system is more than a collection—each component is related to others, and changing one component affects the others. The featured articles in this issue describe how students can learn systems thinking (as well as content concepts).
The authors of Modeling Earth’s Climate describe a model that shows the interdependence and complexity of the components that affect climate. The suggested computer model (the URL is provided) lets students study feedback loops and test their hypotheses. [SciLinks: Global Warming and Global Climate Change]
Why Do I Crave That Cookie? is a question I often ask myself (although usually in the plural). The authors of this article have designed a set of activities in which students explore the relationships among body systems. A set of questions that drive the unit is suggested—for example: How do I know I’m hungry? Where is the cookie? What happens to food in my stomach? How do nutrients get to other parts of the body? This makes more sense than the typical lessons on each system.  [SciLinks: Body Systems]
A study of introduced species can exemplify what happens when an ecosystem is disturbed with, for example, a species with no native predator. Nonnative, Invasive, Exotic, Oh My! describes a such a study. [SciLinks: Invasive Species]

Classification systems are important in science. Engaging Students in Classifying Matter has ideas for helping students learn chemical and physical changes and properties. [SciLinks: Physical/Chemical Changes]
Many students view computer science as game-playing, without understanding the system behind the applications they use. The activities described in A Computer Story: Complexity from Simplicity use electric circuit construction, digital systems, base-n number systems, and truth tables to examine the decision-making that is the basis of computing. [SciLinks: Electrical Circuits]
All Things Being Equal describes an investigation into factors that affect the equilibrium of a system and includes questions that can be used as an assessment of student understanding. [SciLinks: Chemical Equilibrium, Factors Affecting Equilibrium, Le Châtelier’s Principle]
Scientific Discoveries the Year I Was Born doesn’t exactly address systems thinking, but the activity does show students that science isn’t just something that happened in the time of Galileo or Newton. By researching more recent discoveries and inventions, students can see that science and engineering are not just the domain of old folks. I must admit I looked up events from my birth year, including the use of radiocarbon dating and  the first recorded snowfall in Los Angeles.
Don’t forget to look at the Connections for this issue (October 2012), which includes links to the studies cited in the research article. These Connections also have ideas for handouts, background information sheets, data sheets, rubrics, etc.

A system is more than a collection—each component is related to others, and changing one component affects the others. The featured articles in this issue describe how students can learn systems thinking (as well as content concepts).

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