Structural engineering can be a rich and exciting context for exploring and learning about the properties of materials. Even a structure as commonplace as a house requires careful consideration of important properties such as strength, stability, and insulation. As a former engineer and current elementary science teacher educator, the author has…

In this article, the authors focus on an Engineering is Elementary unit that emphasizes students' understanding and application of properties of materials in the context of an engineering design challenge. Students build understanding through a series of hands-on activities, then apply their knowledge to solve a materials engineering problem:…

"Great Explorations in Math and Science[R] (GEMS[R]) Space Science" is an instructional sequence for grades 3-5 that covers fundamental concepts, including planetary sizes and distance, the Earth's shape and movement, gravity, and moon phases and eclipses. Part of the "GEMS"[R] core curriculum, "GEMS[R] Space Science"…

The study reviewed in this paper examined three separate methods for teaching the "control of variables strategy" ("CVS"), a procedure for conducting a science experiment so that only one variable is tested and all others are held constant, or "controlled." The study analyzed data from a randomized controlled trial of…

What do people mean when they say they "know" something in science? It usually means they did an investigation and expended considerable intellectual effort to build a useful explanatory model. It means they are confident about an explanation, believe others should trust what they say, and believe that their claim is testable. It means they can…

Children often associate the study of bones with dinosaurs or crime scenes. This unit introduces students to "zooarchaeology," the study of animal remains from archaeological sites. Students in grades 3-5 engage in hands-on activities examining bones, shells, and other "hard parts" of animals. They use their observations as a starting point for…

"I Wonder" boards are a teaching strategy that can be used in the classroom, as well as during science learning opportunities in nonformal settings, such as after-school science programs or summer camps.This simple strategy has led to deeper science exploration in 4-H, as young people learn alongside program staff, teachers, or…

This project describes a fourth-grade unit that integrated science and language arts using the book "The Capture" as a focal point. During the unit, students engaged in science activities and language arts lessons that focused on owls. Students conducted investigations that helped them develop a deeper understanding of the adaptations of…

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' (NCTM's) "Principles and Standards for School Mathematics" (2000) outlines fi ve Process Standards that are essential for developing deep understanding of mathematics: (1) Problem Solving; (2) Reasoning and Proof; (3) Communication; (4) Connections; and (5) Representation. The Common Core…

To help explain the differences in students' performance on internationally administered science assessments, cross-national, video-based observational studies have been advocated, but none have yet been conducted at the elementary level for science. The USA and Germany are two countries with large formal education systems whose students…

This study explored the effects of a modified argument-driven inquiry approach on Grade 4 students' engagement in learning science and argumentation in Taiwan. The students were recruited as an experimental group (EG, n?=?36) to join a 12-week study, while another 36 Grade 4 students from the same schools were randomly selected to be the…

This study explores how elementary teachers and students use hedges (tentative words such as "maybe") and boosters (expressions of certainty such as "clearly" and "obviously") during science inquiry discussions. Drawing upon semiotic theory, we examine explicit thematic patterns (semantic meaning relations among science concepts) as well as hidden…

The purpose of this study is to reveal the metaphors of primary school students (n = 362) relating to the concept of global warming. Data collected by completing the expression of "global warming is like..., because..." of the students were analysed by use of qualitative and quantitative data analysis techniques. According to findings of…

The results of Romanian students at international comparative TIMSS and PISA tests have constantly proven to be unsatisfactory. The present paper aims at analyzing the school syllabi "Mathematics and Environment exploration", "Environmental Education" and "Natural Sciences" studied during primary education in Romania…

The ubiquity of mobile devices makes them well suited for field-based learning experiences that require students to gather data as part of the process of developing scientific inquiry practices. The usefulness of these devices, however, is strongly influenced by the nature of the applications students use to collect data in the field. To…