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  • Scientific literacy comes in handy

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    The importance of being scientifically literate, that is, being able to sift through the information and decide what seems likely to be true, was brought home (literally) to me this month when I discovered a “colony” of…

  • Starting the year off right

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    “Don’t smile until Thanksgiving.” When I started teaching, that was the advice from a few veterans on the staff. Fortunately for my students, I disregarded that advice and followed the example of my advisor: “Be fair,…

  • Rubrics

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    Scoring objective tests is easy: the answer is either correct or incorrect. But with essay questions, lab techniques, writing assignments, reports, cooperative or group work, presentations, or other projects (including…

  • Finding materials for science activities

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    So many times I wish I had everything I need to do an activity with my five classes of two to five-year-olds—all in a kit. Managing materials in a way that doesn’t distract from the concept being explored, but…

  • Boosting science vocabulary

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    Each chapter in my science textbook is loaded with new vocabulary. How can I help students to deal with this specialized vocabulary? —Dan, Ramapo, New Jersey This task can be overwhelming. High school…

  • The resource-full teacher

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    Some of you may remember the pre-Internet days when if you didn’t subscribe to a mailed publication, you had to trek to a public or university library to catch up on your reading on science topics. I must confess that…

  • Using science notebooks with young students

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    Science Notebooks can be useful tools, even with young students who are just learning to read and write. See how kindergarten teacher Kathryn Kaatz incorporated science writing and drawing as she took her students on…

  • Weekly Wondering: What Are You Doing to Get Ready for the New School Year?

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    August is here, and that can only mean one thing: The new school year is right around the corner! Teacher Vision offers some tips for starting off the school year, such as organizing portfolios for students and…

  • Thinking like a scientist

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    As the new school year is getting underway, are you looking for some experiences to get students focused on scientific thinking and research skills? How can we show students what scientists actually “do” and…

  • Send us your teacher's picks

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    Each Early Years column features resources selected by real teachers–and we want yours! We’re seeking Teacher’s Picks on the following themes: Investigation Skills Literacy Development Physical…

  • Summer teacher's picks

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    The Summer Early Years column An Invertebrate Garden featured Teacher’s Picks from science resource teacher Fred Arnold of Spencerport, New York, who helps teachers and students raise Painted Lady butterflies,…

  • Informal science education

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    To a science teacher, an ideal summer day might include a stroll through a zoo or botanical garden, a cool afternoon in a planetarium or aquarium, a hike in a state or national park with a pair of binoculars and a…

  • Predator finds caterpillars indoors

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    Last August I had four monarch butterfly larvae chewing up milkweed leaves on my kitchen windowsill as fast as I could provide them. The caterpillars were borrowed from the elementary school habitat as eggs to show to…

  • Who needs a slug?

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    Who needs a slug? was the question this week at a program I gave at the public library. The children, ages 6-10, carefully picked through habitat-like containers I had compiled the day before from my yard. For some…

  • An invertebrate garden and …

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    It feels like summer will be over before we know it! Many of you—those who actually had a summer off that is—are busy preparing your classrooms and projects for the coming school year. In the summer Early Years…

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