Contrary to popular opinion, most oil is not discovered by a backwoods hunter shooting at some food when up through the ground comes bubbling crude (you younger people ask your parents what silly TV program the author is referring to). Neither is it discovered simply by drilling holes randomly to see what you can find. There are several methods,…

Fall catches our attention, sometimes in subtle ways. A brisk wind, a seed pod. Consider the nondescript tree that you never notice until its golden or garnet leaves flutter to the ground. For those of us who don't like cold weather, the beauty of fall makes up for the pain that is coming. But despite the riot of color, fall is more than a pretty…

Diversity in habitats on Earth is astounding--whether on land or in the sea--and this is in part due to symbiosis. The lesson described in this article helps students understand how symbiosis affects different organisms through a fun and engaging game where they match hosts and symbionts based on their respective needs. This 45-minute lesson is…

The students at Crestwood Primary School proved that they have what it takes to exercise their bodies and their minds. In an effort to support their teacher's scientific expedition to Antarctica, students from kindergarten to second grade pledged to read books and do physical activity that equated to the 12,900 km (8,000-mile) journey to the…

This is an abridged version of the "Science Framework for the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress." The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and its reports are a key measure in informing the nation on how well the goal of scientific literacy for all students is being met. The framework reflects the nature and…

This article discusses how blogging helps elementary students communicate and reflect on their science practice. In early 2011, the author found the Teacher Challenge. Offered through Edublogs, the Teacher Challenge offers teachers step-by-step guidance to create their own professional blogs to reflect on their practice, all the while connecting…

Cloud software enables children to engage with their work across and within subjects, not least in science. Bradford College in the UK and the University of Aveiro in Portugal were funded by an Anglo-Portuguese research programme, "The treaty of Windsor", to look at how new web-based technologies are embedded within pre-service and…

The authors' school's second-grade science curriculum has always focused on trees and their role in the ecosystem during the first half of the year. Curricular goals have largely emphasized what students ought to "know" by the end of the semester, such as identifying the parts of a tree, describing the process of photosynthesis, and…

Although literacy plays a large role in elementary science classrooms, one thing that offers a challenge for educators is meeting the linguistic needs of English language learners (ELLs) while also meeting their content needs. An additional challenge is ensuring that academic literacy extends beyond the classroom. This article presents ways of…

As a science adviser, the author visits many schools and experiences many approaches to teaching and learning and the curriculum. Over the years, he has developed a very close working relationship with a very "special" school, Marjory Kinnon School, in Bedfont, Middlesex. The pupils present moderate and complex learning needs or autism,…

This article examines the role of argument in the science classroom and how it can be used to help students develop science process skills (e.g., using evidence to defend a point of view) and literacy process skills (e.g., using language precisely to express a particular point of view and extending these understandings through the use of…

The authors explain why integrating the teaching of science and French is not as ridiculous as it may at first sound. They describe how this innovative integrated approach works in a primary school in Oxfordshire. The project involves Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). CLIL is a method whereby a curriculum subject is planned and…

The theory of "immaculate insulation" is prevalent among students. Research indicates that students often believe that some materials and objects, such as blankets or mittens, are intrinsically warm. Likewise, they believe that some objects and materials, such as metals, are cold. One effective way to gain insight into how students understand…

Many elementary teachers encounter science lessons with a hands-on component that requires very little engaged thinking by the students. The good news is that any teacher can create successful minds-on inquiry opportunities by adding key instructional strategies to a typical "cookbook" activity. The authors discuss some of these strategies using a…

In standards-based science fairs, children learn more about what they are interested in. They deepen understandings of how science works and improve inquiry skills--including the ability to communicate and share research results. Parents learn more about science inquiry and their child's science abilities. The standards-based science fair builds…