"Science Education Through Multiple Literacies" explores how the use of project-based learning in elementary science education fosters a lifelong scientific mindset in students. The book provides educators with the teaching practices to help students develop an overall science literacy that aligns with Next Generation Science Standards.…

Science teachers face an incredible challenging task of combining research on how students learn best, the three-dimensions of the Science Education Frameworks that in themselves are complicated to understand, and instructional sequences that lead to deeper learning. "Activating Students' Ideas: Linking Formative Assessment Probes to…

Children often have very stereotyped views of science and scientists, far removed from their own lives. Getting children to 'become' scientists and feel that they are actually "doing" science, being involved in something pertinent to them and their environment, is a goal of modern science teaching. This article aims to illustrate how…

A lot of the activities of daily living require energy, playing video games, making dinner, turning on the lights, using a computer, and perhaps even brushing our teeth requires energy. In this unit students discover what energy is, think about where it comes from, analyze options for making energy evaluate feasibility in different parts of the…

Investigating stars can be difficult. The five-day unit presented in this article is designed for fifth graders to work toward Next Generation Science Standard (NGSS) performance expectation 5-ESS1-1, with each lesson lasting about 30 minutes. Students investigate the relationship between the brightness of light and distance, apply their…

This article demonstrates how the authors used a 5E lesson about food webs as a context to embed speaking and listening standards. This 5E lesson partially addresses 5-LS2-1 in the "Next Generation Science Standards" and focuses primarily on predator/prey relationships. Future lessons focus on decomposition and other relationships. To…

While reading digital texts requires many of the same foundational literacy skills as reading printed texts, it also requires skills that go beyond print-based reading. In this article, we argue that the skills children need to read, understand, and communicate about digital texts is a Core Disciplinary Practice that should be addressed in the…

This research investigates the Models of eighth-grade students in Turkey pertaining to magnets and magnetic interactions, while also examining the consistency of these models within themselves. Additionally, a comparative assessment is conducted by comparing the current data with data collected from eighth-grade students a decade earlier. The…

Even though the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS) were released over a decade ago, science is still infrequently taught in early childhood and elementary classrooms. A lack of teacher confidence due to inadequate content knowledge may be a contributing factor, making access to high-quality elementary science methods courses even…

High quality science teaching builds pupils' curiosity and critical thinking, helping them to develop a coherent understanding of the world around them. Primary science teaching plays a crucial role in shaping pupils' attitudes toward the subject, nurturing participation that can support future pathways into science, technology, engineering, and…

This article introduces a science game which can be used for innovative teaching and as an assessment tool. The Shadow Races Game is designed for first and second grade students to learn the phenomenon of shadow through inquiry-based activities and questions that require the children to apply inferences from those activities. In this amusing board…

When exploring and introducing sound, students need to understand that there are multiple aspects that work together to create sound. In this single class lesson, students work through an inquiry-based challenge to discover how sound can be manipulated and altered through these elements. By investigating how to manipulate sound, students are able…

Traditionally, electricity and circuits are taught using alligator clips, lightbulbs, batteries, and wires. Although these circuits engage students in building, they don't always provide opportunities for students to deeply explore energy, electricity, polarity, and circuitry. Multimedia Circuits is a curricular unit made up of three projects that…

In this article, trainee teacher, Lisa Fox, outlines some of her successful activities pulling science and art together while on her teaching practice. The activities were planned for nursery-age children through Grade 6. The purpose was to show that all ages can develop phase-related science knowledge and explore and demonstrate this through art.…

One plausible method for ensuring students are truly understanding science fundamentals beyond being actively and intellectually engaged is to consider how informal learning environments can provide meaningful relevancy by connecting to real-world instances. Transforming traditional science centers into informal learning centers will ensure that…