Infographics present information or data in an accessible and concise manner to help a viewer understand a phenomenon. Creating infographics requires students to make sense of multiple sources of data and synthesize these data into a compelling visual form to make a central claim. Unlike posters, which tend to be purely informational with…

This article describes a five-lesson curriculum that introduces students to the primary cause, multiple predicted impacts, and possible solutions to ocean acidification. It builds upon the strengths of over 90 existing teaching resources on the topic while also contributing new ways to teach about the impacts and solutions to this pressing…

Teaching socio-scientific issues (SSIs) allows students to explore science ideas and practices intertwined with complex social phenomena, which can promote significant growth in critical thinking. Sadler, Barab, and Scott (2007) suggested specific critical thinking competencies associated with the negotiation of SSIs that capture the complexities…

The "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS") emphasize integrating engineering design into the science classroom (NGSS Lead States 2013). Inventing is an authentic and relevant classroom approach, regardless of content area, located at one end of a design continuum opposite from routine problem solving. Invention, at the…

This paper highlights learning supports associated with genetics lessons that were implemented in a urban high school biology classroom. The supports provided access to science content for ELLs [English language learners], students with IEPs [individualized education programs], and struggling readers during an introductory unit on genetics. Due to…

The "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead States 2013) lay out an ambitious agenda for students to simultaneously engage with disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and scientific practices. This does not just mean new expectations for teaching; it also requires new formative assessments. In contrast to summative…

Important science phenomena--such as atomic structure, evolution, and climate change--are often hard to observe directly. That's why an important scientific practice is to use scientific models to represent one's current understanding of a system. Using models has been included as an essential science and engineering practice in the "Next…

Understanding how scientific conclusions are drawn from data is central to learning about the nature of science. Many students struggle with aspects of reasoning from data, including identifying relationships among variables, interpreting graphs, coordinating theory and evidence, and not allowing personal beliefs to outweigh the data when forming…

Species richness, migration, habitats, ecological niches, adaptations: Concepts such as these come alive when students explore and analyze landscapes, environmental characteristics, and related biological features represented on digital maps. Most students are familiar with navigation tools integrated into smartphone apps but may be surprised to…

This study has two purposes: the first is to explore experienced science teachers' perspectives on inquiry teaching, and the second is to categorize these perspectives into patterns. Fifteen junior high school science teachers experienced at inquiry teaching were selected, and a semi-structured interview was conducted to collect the teachers'…

The "Framework for K-12 Science Education" (NRC, 2012) and "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead States, 2013) stress that in addition to disciplinary core ideas (content), students need to engage in the practices of science and develop an understanding of the crosscutting concepts such as cause and effect, systems,…

"Deep Knowledge" is a book about how people's ideas change as they learn to teach. Using the experiences of six middle and high school student teachers as they learn to teach science in diverse classrooms, Larkin explores how their work changes the way they think about students, society, schools, and science itself. Through engaging case stories,…

Despite decades of research regarding best practices for the teaching and learning of chemistry, as well as two sets of national reform documents for science education, classroom instruction in high school chemistry classrooms remains largely unchanged. One key reason for this continued gap between research and practice is a reliance on…

The term "open educational resources" (OERs) was first coined by UNESCO in 2005 and refers to "teaching, learning or research materials that are in the public domain or released with an intellectual property license that allows for free use, adaptation, and/or distribution." OERs offer educators what might be termed "value neutral" online…

To encourage individuals to enter and remain in the teaching profession, the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program grants loan forgiveness of up to $17,500 for teachers in certain specialties, and up to $5,000 for other teachers who teach for five years in low-income schools and meet other requirements. This brochure provides information about how…