With a belief in the need for a reform in education that prepares students for life, work, and citizenship in a globalized economy, leaders were determined to connect students across the district, state, country, and globe in global collaborative STEM projects. These projects were aligned to the standards but also afforded students the opportunity…

To show students how engineering design practices reduce the impacts of a natural hazard, the authors--two science educators and an elementary teacher--taught a three-day 5E lesson that focused on hurricanes. They specifically focused on hurricanes because their students are located near a coastal area and are familiar with the effects of this…

While most of us probably don't think of teachers as scientists, the truth of the matter is that teachers actually follow many of the scientific processes that scientists use to help them be effective. Teachers have to find ways to measure student learning and to use that measurement to inform their teaching practices. They need to know what…

Engaging children in authentic investigation opens the doors for them to gain deep conceptual understanding in science. As students engage in investigation, they experience the practices employed by scientists and engineers, as highlighted in the Next Generation Science Standards (Achieve Inc. 2013). They also begin to understand the nature of…

What happens in the first week of school could very well set the stage for the rest of the school year. Setting high standards for science activities based in inquiry can start on the first day of science class and develop as the year unfolds. With the use of simple, readily available, inexpensive materials, an efficient mystery box lesson can be…

In the STEM classroom, students can work in collaborative teams to build those essential skills needed for the 21st-century world. In project-based learning (PBL), teams of four to six students are often randomly selected to describe a realistic situation that may occur in today's workplace; this may be done by counting off in fours, fives,…

The "Testable Question Relay" was created as part of a fourth-grade unit on conducting science experiments. In the relay, student teams raced to "outfit a scientist" by correctly categorizing questions as testable or untestable and earning scientific tools. This activity assists upper-elementary students in recognizing the components of good…

Students love a mystery. So what do America's most majestic bird, a bag of habitat clues, and a soft-shelled egg have in common? This easy-to-do inquiry activity engages students as they connect clues to problem-solve how the bald eagle reached the brink of extinction in the 1960s in the lower 48 states. It was designed to give students an…

As argumentation is weaved into classroom lessons, students know what to ask, how to analyze the given information before forming a conclusion, and are able to support their reasoning with solid evidence. They will hold firm to their conclusions until proven wrong. Whether it's a discussion about whether air is matter or how speed and friction are…

The WebQuest is a four-step process integrated at appropriate points in the Animal Studies unit. Through the WebQuest, students create a series of habitat maps that build on the knowledge gained from conducting the various activities of the unit. The quest concludes with an evaluation using the WebQuest rubric and an oral presentation of a final…