Student-Centered Learning in an Earth Science, Preservice, Teacher-Education Course

Journal Article | June 2009

In an effort to get elementary teachers to teach more science in the classroom, a required preservice science education course was designed to promote the use of hands-on teaching techniques. This paper describes course…

Using a Systems Thinking Approach to Figure Out Why a Ball Drops, Bounces, and Stops

Journal Article | October 2018

This column provides how-to strategies and practical advice for the science teacher. In this issue, learn how to develop students’ systems thinking skills and have them apply these skills to discover and explain the…

Chicken Eggs

Lesson Plan | June 2021

The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about food, transformation of matter, growth and development, conservation of mass, and systems. The concepts underlying this probe are complex. It is…

Will It Form a New Substance?

Lesson Plan | June 2021

The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about chemical change. The probe is designed to find out how students determine whether a new substance with a different chemical makeup is formed when…