Lab safety begins with the teacher. Teachers must make learning how to be safe an integral and important part of their professional development and work. Teachers who are unfamiliar with laboratory instruction should take whatever steps necessary to prepare for the unique challenges associated with safety in conducting laboratory investigations…

Science teachers often have two different curricula--the ideal framework on paper and the real, day-to-day instructional program that occurs in the classroom. A number of factors can affect how much of that ideal framework is accomplished. For example, how a facility is designed and how space is used can affect student achievement, classroom…

This article discusses the rules science teachers need and how to implement these rules in the class. What should my science classroom rules be? Ideally, this question is asked prior to the teacher's entry to the classroom during their teacher training and revisited throughout their coursework preparation and student teaching. A science teacher…

With each passing year, the public expects more of schools and teachers. Curricula become more complex, student populations become more diverse, responsibilities are added, and, except for resources, very little is taken away. Fundamentally, teachers are held responsible for everyone and everything that goes on in their classrooms, an awesome…

Laboratory experiences as a part of most U.S. high school science curricula have been taken for granted for decades, but they have rarely been carefully examined. What do they contribute to science learning? What can they contribute to science learning? What is the current status of labs in our nation s high schools as a context for learning…

Research indicates that students with exceptionalities such as visual impairments are more academically successful when they are included in the regular classroom setting and have opportunities to engage in active learning. Therefore, science educators must address their needs by motivating visually impaired students in science and making…

Just as high school science is more complex than it is at lower grade levels, so are the safety issues teachers face in their classes and labs. Reduce the risks to people and place with Investigating Safely, the third and most advanced and detailed volume in NSTA's unique series of safety guidebooks for science teachers. Some of the guides 11…

Chemistry occupies only a small portion of the Papua New Guinea science curriculum in grades seven to ten. Science itself occupies only a small proportion of the total curriculum. Nevertheless the existing syllabus, and previous and planned future revisions of it, give considerable prominence to environmental, health and safety issues. There is a…