Inquiry learning pedagogies have not only been proposed as a successful teaching methodology to draw students into science, they are also rich with possibilities for creativity. The particular focus on investigations and problem-solving provides opportunity for educators to embrace this. The primary curriculum explicitly values creativity in this…

Large numbers of U.S. students lack proficiency in science, and students from different racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups show disparities in science achievement. Science knowledge and skills are important for both academic and workplace success, and a variety of interventions have been developed to improve student achievement in science.…

Large numbers of U.S. students lack proficiency in science, and students from different racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups show disparities in science achievement. Science knowledge and skills are important for both academic and workplace success, and a variety of interventions have been developed to improve student achievement in science.…

As the Science Co-ordinator at St Paul's RC Primary School, the author has been involved in producing and trialling resources for the Teacher Assessment in Primary Science (TAPS) project over the last four years. This article explains how St Paul's has used the Focused Assessments (FAs). The author has always tried to promote enquiry-based…

Science teachers often use visual images to help students visualise the abstract concepts of science. Yet, they may not support students in making sense of these visual representations, wrongly assuming that the students can intuitively do it on their own. Pre- and in-service teacher professional development programmes also seldom explicitly teach…

The present study examines the pedagogical use of reading aloud of science trade books as an effective tool for teaching nature of science (NOS) to elementary students. To this end, we explore elementary teachers' and students' dialogic negotiation of NOS during interactive science read-alouds, as well as potential interactions between their…

'Wow' is a teaching tool. It is not just a way to grab attention but, correctly used, a means to enhance children's understanding and improve retention. Wow leads to why. In this why state pupils experience the 'vacuum of ignorance': they know they don't know, they know that the teacher does know (usually) and they want the teacher to fill that…

The National Curriculum in England states that science is considered a core subject, but there is a great deal of evidence that suggests it is considered differently. The Wellcome Trust (2017b) reports that many schools are spending less than the two hours per week on science recommended by the Association for Science Education (ASE), and studies…

This multiple-case study examined constraints encountered by early career elementary school teachers as they try to deliver high-quality science instruction. Four first-year teachers, who expressed confidence in their preparation and enthusiasm for teaching science, were asked to reflect on the most effective strategies for teaching elementary…

This article describes an inquiry science lesson that was sparked by a child's question. In this school a science specialist (author 1) team teaches science with the kindergarten class teacher (author 2) for 1 hour per week. The class teacher integrates science at other times during the week. To foster the kindergarteners' interest about a science…

Across the country, states are adopting and implementing either Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) or new state standards inspired by NGSS. Educators and researchers play a key role in the reform process as we design professional development (PD) and curriculum to support teachers in transitioning to NGSS. In this time of transition, close…

Using an example of a grade 3 science unit about population changes during competition for resources, we describe how we integrated computational thinking (CT) into existing curriculum identifying three levels of depth of integration: identifying connections that already exist, enhancing and strengthening connections, and extending units to…

This research clarifies how a collaborative team teaching model (CTTM) can support both pre-service and in-service teachers' professional development in using inquiry-based science teaching in primary schools. The data were collected via a questionnaire-based survey approach after inquiry projects implementation at public schools in four Finnish…

In this article, the author describes her early fascination with the natural world, and how this directed her through school and university into a scientific career. She talks about how she combined her previous experiences into one fabulous job, running the educational outreach for a pharmaceutical company, before the teaching itch led her to…

Our goal in this article is to provide research-based strategies for embedding Nature of Science (NOS) into science instruction at the elementary level. We thus intend to aid researchers, professional developers, and teachers in noting that not only is it important and possible to teach NOS at the elementary levels, but also that elementary…