The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) engage students in the epistemic, or knowledge building, components of science through three-dimensional learning. Each scientific domain has its own epistemic aspects that result from different social groups going about science in different ways to conceptualize different bodies of knowledge; education…

Here's a fresh way to help your students learn life science by determining how you can help them learn best. "Uncovering Student Ideas in Life Science, Volume 2," offers 30 new formative assessment probes--engaging questions that can reveal what students already know (or think they know) about a core science topic. Armed with that…

The 2019 "Minnesota Academic Standards in Science (Standards)" set the expectations for achievement in science for grades K-12 students in Minnesota. The standards are grounded in the belief that all students can and should be scientifically literate. Graduates should be prepared for career and college opportunities. The…

It can be a struggle for early childhood teachers to create hands-on, engaging lessons about animals. This is especially true of units that require exposure to a wide range of animals from a variety of habitats. The authors' describe how they shook up their traditional animal unit by creating a Kindergarten zoo! Herein they summarize their…

"Problem-Based Learning in the Life Science Classroom, K-12" offers a great new way to ignite your creativity. Authors Tom McConnell, Joyce Parker, and Janet Eberhardt show you how to engage students with scenarios that represent real-world science in all its messy, thought-provoking glory. The scenarios prompt K-12 learners to immerse…

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are composed of three intertwined dimensions--disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts--that provide a foundation for what students should know and be able to do at various grade levels. The eight science practices outlined in the NGSS are critical components…

This article explains four kinds of inquiry exercises, different in purpose, for teaching advanced-level high school and college students the hypothetico-deductive (H-D) method. The first uses a picture of a river system to convey the H-D method's logic. The second has teams of students use the H-D method: their teacher poses a hypothesis…

Using the life sciences, this article first reviews essential features of the "NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education" that provided a foundation for the new standards. Second, the article describes the important features of life science standards for elementary, middle, and high school levels. Special attention is paid to the teaching…

The National Science Foundation funded a synthesis study on the status, contributions, and future direction of discipline-based education research (DBER) in physics, biological sciences, geosciences, and chemistry. DBER combines knowledge of teaching and learning with deep knowledge of discipline-specific science content. It describes the…

The nature of moral values has occupied philosophers and educationalists for centuries and a variety of claims have been made about their origin and status. One tradition suggests they may be thoughts in the mind of God; another that they are eternal truths to be reached by rational reflection (much like the truths of mathematics) or alternatively…

In this study we compare university teachers' and first-year students' conceptions of teaching and learning at the Faculty of Environmental and Biological Sciences. The conceptions were analysed using data from open-ended questionnaires. The results showed that at the beginning of studies the gap between teachers' and students' conceptions of…

Given that each child learns differently, it makes sense that one type of science instruction does not fit all. Best-selling author Douglas Llewellyn gives teachers standards-based strategies for differentiating inquiry-based science instruction to more effectively meet the needs of all students. This book takes the concept of inquiry-based…

Amongst the challenges that elementary teachers may often face as they introduce their students to science is the need to maintain a solid understanding of the many scientific concepts and details themselves. This indispensible resource, intended for pre- and in-service elementary school teachers, provides concise and comprehensible explanation of…

This valuable and entertaining compendium of Bill Robertson's popular "Science 101" columns, from NSTA member journal "Science and Children," proves you don't have to be a science geek to understand basic scientific concepts. The author of the best-selling "Stop Faking It!" series explains everything from quarks to photosynthesis, telescopes to…

American science teachers in elementary and middle school face a dilemma as they prepare students for high school physics and advanced placement classes. The dilemma lies in ensuring that these students are equipped with the high-level science content they need to thrive in such classes. Aside from life sciences and chemistry sciences, how are our…