Throughout the country, there are many bodies of fresh water affected by algal blooms. By focusing on a water source near their school, students can become scientists, too. Situating science content in real and meaningful learning experiences encourages students to be invested in their own learning, construct deeper understandings, and apply those…

How do you inspire students to keep records like scientists? Share the primary research of real scientists and explicitly teach students how to keep records--that's how! Therefore, a group of third-grade students and their teacher studied the work of famous primatologist Jane Goodall and her modern-day counterpart Ian Gilby. After learning about…

In this "O-"fish"-ial" research project, third-grade students use multiple resources to research several fish species, write a research paper and develop a PowerPoint presentation to communicate their findings. In addition, students actually examine these species up close with samples from the local market, and then conclude the project with a…

If the organisms in a prairie ecosystem created a newspaper, what would it look like? What important news topics of the ecosystem would the organisms want to discuss? Imaginative and enthusiastic third-grade students were busy pondering these questions as they tried their hands at "ecosystem journalism." The class had recently completed…