Earth and space science in the middle school classroom are composed of intricately intertwined sets of conceptual systems (AAAS 1993; NRC 1996). Some systems of study, such as the water and rock cycles, are quite explicit and often found as stand-alone middle school science units. Other phenomena are not so apparent, yet they play an extremely…

As the United States strives to achieve energy independence, students need to be literate about energy and environmental issues. In this article, the authors present a lesson about the nation's electricity resources that is part 1 of a free, comprehensive unit on coal and energy that is available online (http://tinyurl.com/coalenergyunit). The…

Nothing brings out the best in eighth-grade physical science students quite like an engineering challenge. The wind turbine design challenge described in this article has proved to be a favorite among students with its focus on teamwork and creativity and its (almost) sneaky reinforcement of numerous physics concepts. For this activity, pairs of…

The transfer of energy from one form to another can be difficult to understand. The electrical energy that turns on a lamp may come from the burning of coal, water falling at a hydroelectric plant, nuclear reactions, or gusts of wind caused by the uneven heating of the Earth. The authors have developed and tested an exciting hands-on activity to…

Five past great mass extinctions have occurred during Earth's history. Humanity is currently in the midst of a sixth, human-induced great mass extinction of plant and animal life (e.g., Alroy 2008; Jackson 2008; Lewis 2006; McDaniel and Borton 2002; Rockstrom et al. 2009; Rohr et al. 2008; Steffen, Crutzen, and McNeill 2007; Thomas et al. 2004;…

Middle school students need to know about energy concepts and how they can reduce their energy use. New energy-monitoring tools provide powerful opportunities for students to engage in authentic investigations rich in the science practices described in "A Framework for K-12 Science Education" (NRC 2012), while at the same time advancing their…

The pitcher throws the ball and the batter takes a mighty swing. Crack! The ball is hit on the sweet spot and soars to the outfield. Or, you hear a thud! This time, the ball dribbles along the infield ground and the batter's hands sting. Everyone who has played baseball or softball has probably experienced both of these outcomes. This may not seem…

When viewing objects of different colors, you might notice that some appear brighter than others. This is because light is reflected differently from various surfaces, depending on their physical properties. The word "albedo" is used to describe how reflective a surface is. The Earth-atmosphere has a combined albedo of about 30%, a number that is…

In the project described in this article, urban students from across grade levels, schools, and abilities were brought together by four science teachers to better understand an ecosystem of their local environment, the Boston Harbor. This project comprises two main field experiences to the Boston Harbor: the first one to a nearby beach, and the…

In this solar panels and alternative energy project, students were challenged to develop a researchable question about solar energy and electronics and devise a means of answering it. Students worked cooperatively, with specific roles for each member, conducting research, conducting experiments, analyzing results, and writing the final…

It is fascinating to listen to middle school students talk about food for plants and animals and how that food is used. Some students describe ideas that are essentially correct. Some comments suggest that students are familiar with the content, but their understanding is incomplete or includes inaccuracies. Finally, some students have little…

1This article describes how, by incorporating NASA's Students' Cloud Observations On-Line (S'COOL) project into a problem-based learning (PBL) activity, middle school students are engaged in authentic scientific research where they observe and record information about clouds and contribute ground truth data to NASA's Clouds and the Earth's…

On January 29, Mars will reach opposition, a point along its orbit around the Sun where Mars will be directly opposite from the Sun in a two-planet and Sun line-up with the Earth in between. At this opposition, the Earth and Mars will be separated by nearly 100 million km. An opposition is similar to a full Moon in that the planet at opposition…

Several teachers from State College (Pennsylvania) Area School District became intrigued with helping their students better understand the science associated with a unit on air and aviation. In particular, they observed that students often encountered difficulty with abstract flight concepts, such as lift, thrust, and drag. Content issues became…

In this article, the author shares a very successful 50-minute inquiry-based physics lesson that uses only small metal cans, a bit of string, and the inquiring minds of middle schoolers. The topic of the lesson is wave motion and energy transfer. The intent of this article is to show that tests of student-generated hypotheses can be simple, quick,…