As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many professional development programs have been canceled or postponed. Many teachers are working from home, at least in part, limiting how frequently they can interact with colleagues and interrupting the ease of popping in on the teacher next door. Because these common resources are out of reach, teachers…

This article is organized around describing a pair of resources developed to support student and teacher use of the instructional model Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning (CER) in the classroom and incorporate writing as a meaningful part of their science instruction. Project LISTO developed and put the Scaffolding Scientific Explanations (SSE)…

An open-ended assignment to "make something" out of cardboard was a good fit for a half-day camp class of children in kindergarten, first, and second grades where the first goal was to have fun while learning. Given the opportunity to make something of their own design for their own purposes out of cardboard, the children persisted while…

A "Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS") are intended for all students, hence "all standards, all students" (NGSS Lead States 2013). To make this vision a reality, the "NGSS" highlight three key instructional shifts: (1) explain phenomena or design solutions…

Today, elementary school teachers continue to revisit old lessons and seek out new ones, especially in engineering. Optimization is the process by which an existing product or procedure is revised and refined. Drawn from the authors' experiences working directly with students in grades K-5 and their teachers and preservice teachers, the…

We all experience firsthand many of the phenomena caused by Earth's Place in the Universe (Next Generation Science Standard 5-ESS1; NGSS Lead States 2013) and the relative motion of the Earth, Sun, and Moon. Young children can investigate phenomena such as changes in times of sunrise and sunset (number of daylight hours), Moon phases, seasonal…

Blowing bubbles is not only a favorite summer activity for young children. Studying bubbles that are grouped together, or "foam," is fun for children and fascinating to many real-world scientists. Foam is widely used--from the bedroom (mattresses) to outer space (insulating panels on spacecraft). Bubble foam can provide children a…

With the release of the "Next Generation Science Standards," many schools are reexamining the science materials they are using. Textbook companies and kit developers are eager to meet the demand for "NGSS"-aligned teaching materials. Teacher may have been asked to serve on a science curriculum committee, or to evaluate current…

Pill bugs, also called roly-polies, are small terrestrial isopods that are abundant in temperate areas throughout the world. Because they are engaging, harmless, and easily collected, they provide an excellent opportunity for children to learn about invertebrate body parts, behaviors, and information processing. This column includes activities…

This column provides background science information for elementary teachers. When the author was young he used to think that the ideal design for a concert hall would contain walls that were composed of sound-absorbing material, like foam or egg cartons or such. He noticed, though, that this was not the case. Most concert halls contain curtains…

Inquiry-based active learning in science is helpful to all students but especially to those who have a hearing loss. For many deaf or hard of hearing students, the English language may be their second language, with American Sign Language (ASL) being their primary language. Therefore, many of the accommodations for the deaf are similar to those…

In the past, teachers have used chalkboards for "chalk talks," a strategy where a teacher wrote words and drew images to demonstrate reflecting, document generating ideas, and explore knowledge. Out with the old-school version and in with the "Marker Sparker" method, which uses whiteboards or poster paper and colorful markers to achieve the same…

All writing begins with ideas, but young students often need visual cues to help them organize their thoughts before beginning to write. For this reason, many elementary teachers use graphic organizers or thinking maps to help students visualize patterns and organize their ideas within the different genres of writing. Graphic organizers such as…

A "Framework for K-12 Science Education"'s disciplinary core idea PS1.A states that students should know by the end of grade 2 that different kinds of matter exist and many of them can be solid or liquid, depending on temperature (NRC 2012). By the end of grade 8, they describe solids, liquids, and gases by the arrangement and…

This article introduces students to the world of digital microscopy. Looking at small objects through a digital microscope is like traveling through a foreign country for the first time. The experience is new, engaging, and exciting. A handheld digital microscope is an essential tool in a 21st century teacher's toolkit and the perfect tool to…