STEM family e-learning involves increasing the engagement in STEM home learning activities. STEM home learning activities range from exploring subjects such as science technology, engineering, and maths through a fun play based K-6 STEM curriculum. The family are trained to act as teachers, mentors, and coaches to the K-6 members. Families from…

"Energy" is a term often used in everyday language. Even young children associate energy with the food they eat, feeling tired after playing soccer, or when asked to turn the lights off to save light energy. However, they may not have the scientific conceptual understanding of energy at this age. Teaching energy and matter could be…

Where the author teaches is far from the ocean, bordered on one side by forests of ponderosa and by the High Desert on the other. So when his first graders walked into class on the Monday morning after the 2011 earthquake and subsequent tsunami along the coast of Japan--and their usual light conversations about the weekend included some sobering…

This dissertation presents research that investigated how first grade students' ability to construct solutions and to plan through drawing for engineering design problems is related to their participation in a LEGO-based engineering curriculum with two variations on the instruction for planning. The quasi-experimental design engaged two first…

How can young pupils get "An effective introduction" to technology and design at the primary level in the Norwegian context? This question is highlighted with examples based on case studies at five classes in two schools doing their first technology and design project at grades 1 or 2 (age 6-8 years). The project was about air rockets.…

Research Findings: This article describes major theories and research on math cognition across the fields of neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and education and connects these literatures to intervention practices. Commercially available math intervention programs were identified and evaluated using the following questions: (a) Did neuroscience…

Insects are fascinating creatures--especially when you and your students get up close and personal with them! To that end, the authors facilitated an inquiry-based investigation with an emphasis on identification of the different types of insects found in the school yard, their characteristics, their habitat, and what they eat, while engaging the…

We focused on young, low-income, African American children in first- to third-grade classrooms where they experienced varied forms of interactive, participatory, and dialogic pedagogy in the context of yearlong, integrated science-literacy instruction. Using conversations that started around children's own science journals, which were an important…

This study explores young children's images of science and scientists, their sources for scientific knowledge, and the nature of their science-related experiences. A cross-sectional design was used to study how students' ideas differ over the first three years of elementary school. A modified version of the Draw-a-Scientist Test (DAST) and a…

This study explored the nature of science (NOS) assessments K-4 classroom teachers developed for measuring students' understandings of NOS elements. We used the Views of Nature of Science Questionnaire-Form VNOS-D2 (Views of Nature of Science Elementary School Version 2) and interviews to verify that teachers' conceptions of NOS were sufficient to…

Richard Louv's "Last Child in the Woods" (2008) added to a growing consensus to get children outside and experiencing nature. Using ideas from place-based education, the authors present a simple year-long project that brings science, nature, and other curriculum standards to life right in your school yard. With a focus on journaling, this project…

This paper describes a subset of results from a large-scale two-year independent evaluation study conducted with the "Scientists in School" (SiS) outreach program and two large school boards in Ontario, Canada. Specifically, it explores the responses of elementary students (n= 811) from typically underrepresented groups in science…

This document was developed to provide primary level school teachers in New York City with specific materials and suggestions for organizing effective learning experiences in the science area. The program is designed to emphasize both science knowledge and science processes. An introductory section presents ideas related to the overall philosophy…

This handbook consists of 60 science activities, 20 each for kindergarten, grade 1, and grade 2. Each activity has five parts: (1) a science concept; (2) behavioral objectives; (3) motivational activity; (4) suggested class activity; and (5) questions. Activities are selected from the biological, earth, and physical sciences. The handbook is…

This textbook is the first in the official science series developed by the Ministry of Education in Saigon and used in all public schools in Vietnam. The books in this series have been reprinted in their entirety from the original editions for use in American schools where there are Vietnamese students. The grade one text contains the following…