NSTA's award-winning, peer-reviewed practitioner journal for elementary-level science teachers. Browse recent articles below or click the Journal link to view current and past articles.
Read articles on science-related topics organized by subjects like Atom & Cosmos, Body & Brain, Matter & Energy, Life & Evolution and more in this online magazine. For more advanced readers, look for corresponding articles in Science News.
Ambitious Science Teaching outlines a powerful framework for science teaching to ensure that instruction is rigorous and equitable for students from all backgrounds. The practices presented in the book are being used in schools and districts that seek to improve science teaching at scale, and a wide range of science subjects and grade levels are represented. The book is organized around four sets of core teaching practices: planning for engagement with big ideas; eliciting student thinking; supporting changes in students' thinking; and drawing together evidence-based explanations.
Science in the City examines how language and culture matter for effective science teaching. Author Bryan A. Brown argues that, given the realities of our multilingual and multicultural society, teachers must truly understand how issues of culture intersect with the fundamental principles of learning. This book links an exploration of contemporary research on urban science teaching to a more generative instructional approach in which students develop mastery by discussing science in culturally meaningful ways.
Research shows that that children learn science and engineering subjects best by engaging from an early age in the kinds of practices used by real scientists and engineers. By doing science and engineering, children not only develop and refine their understanding of the core ideas and crosscutting concepts of these disciplines, but can also be empowered to use their growing understanding to make sense of questions and problems relevant to them. This approach can make learning more meaningful, equitable, and lasting. Using cases and shorter examples, Rise and Thrive with Science shows what high-quality teaching and learning in science and engineering can look like for preschool and elementary school children.
Here's good news: With this practical book, you can learn from experienced elementary school educators about how to make physical science both challenging and accessible for a diverse range of students. Written by teachers for teachers, Universal Design for Learning Science will inspire you to reframe your lessons to reflect how students learn and to support the success of all students.
It's Still Debatable! encourages scientific literacy by showing you how to teach the content and thinking skills K-5 students need to explore real-world questions like these: Is football too dangerous for kids? Do we need zoos? Should distracted walking be illegal? At the core of the exploration is the Socioscientific Issues Framework. It uses debatable, science-related societal questions, or socioscientific issues, to address science content, help children learn to apply the content, and encourage them to become informed citizens.
Next time you need quick answers about the Next Generation Science Standards, turn to The NSTA Quick-Reference Guides to the NGSS. Each book provides the appropriate performance expectations; disciplinary core ideas; practices; crosscutting concepts; connections to engineering, technology, and applications of science; and connections to nature of science.
The NSTA Atlas of the Three Dimensions is your user-friendly guide to understanding how ideas build on one other and relate to each other. With the NSTA Atlas, you' ll be able to trace the prerequisites for understanding science in every grade, make the appropriate connections to support science content, and show the way to the next steps in your students' science education-- all in the context of today' s standards.
With the Novel Engineering approach, "students become excited about what they are reading, writing, designing, and building! This excitement in turn helps them make strides in engineering and literacy, as well as in their abilities to work together, think creatively and analytically, and communicate their ideas."
Your dream resource comes to life in this revised and expanded edition of A Head Start on Science: Encouraging a Sense of Wonder. It builds on children's innate curiosity through 89 developmentally appropriate, teacher-tested activities in life, Earth, and physical science. But here's what sets this book apart: It's an all-in-one resource for caregivers and teachers from preK to grade 2. Each lesson includes a follow-up activity, connections to centers and children's literature, assessment guides, and bonus activities written in Spanish and English that let families continue the fun-and the learning-at home.
There' s a lot to love about this newly expanded book in the Picture-Perfect Science series: You can combine STEM and reading through lively lessons that are just right for your kindergarten students. Also, reading-comprehension strategies are embedded in all 10 ready-to-teach lessons, some updated and some that are brand new.
There' s a lot to love about this newly expanded book in the Picture-Perfect Science series: You can combine STEM and reading through lively lessons that are just right for your first-grade students. Also, reading-comprehension strategies are embedded in all 11 of the ready-to-teach lessons, six of which are updated and five that are brand new.
A supplemental book of just the student activity pages in the Picture-Perfect Science series are available for each of the five Picture-Perfect teacher books. All of these activity pages are classroom-ready and written in Spanish.
Here's proof that STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) isn't just for the big kids! This book's 10 chapters are a mini-course on blending authentic, phenomena-driven, integrated STEM teaching and learning into busy K-2 classrooms.
What ideas do young children bring to their science learning, and how does their thinking change as they engage in "science talk"? Find out using the 25 field-tested probes in the newest volume of Page Keeley's bestselling Uncovering Student Ideas in Science series, the first targeted to grades K-2.
Instructional Sequence Matters, Grades 3-5 is a one-stop resource that will inspire you to reimagine how you teach science in elementary school. The book discusses two popular approaches for structuring your lessons: POE (Predict, Observe, and Explain) and 5E (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate). It also shows how simple shifts in the way you arrange and combine activities will help young students construct firsthand knowledge, while allowing you to put the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) into practice.
The 14 field-tested lessons cover motion and stability, molecules and organisms, heredity, biological evolution, and Earth's systems. Your students will explore questions ranging from why wolves live in groups to how the climate changes as one moves from the equator toward the poles.
The 15 field-tested lessons cover energy, waves and their application in technologies for information transfer, molecules and organisms, and Earth's place in the universe and systems. Your students will explore questions ranging from how you can make an electrical car move faster to why big waves block the entrance to some New Zealand harbors.
Are you interested in helping your elementary students learn the practices of science, including constructing explanations and engaging in argument from evidence? Argument-Driven Inquiry in Fifth-Grade Science will provide you with both the information and instructional materials you need to get started right away.