As schools work to implement the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), a team at Stanford University found that project-based learning is an effective framework for engaging students. The team used project-based learning, group activities, and performance-based assessments to design an effective, engaging curriculum. Over a three-year period,…

How can an engineer design a bird feeder that attracts many birds? This question resulted from kindergarten students' observations of the bird feeders in their school's bird sanctuary. The challenging question is the heart of project-based learning (PBL), a teaching strategy in which students tackle real-world problems and design projects to solve…

Engaging students in elementary science is often done within the confines of the classroom. Citizen science projects, however, bring students, families, teachers, and communities together to help scientists with their research. Students become active participants in real research, use their three-dimensional understanding of science, and…

The purpose of this action research study is to help students alleviate their anxiety and stress symptoms using activities based on Olivia Gude's postmodern principles. The activities included are the participants own take-along visual art journal kit and classroom projects. Professional learning outcomes include the knowledge to equip teachers…

In this lively and groundbreaking book, arts educator Marit Dewhurst examines why art is an effective way to engage students in thinking about the role they might play in addressing social injustice. Based on interviews and observations of sixteen high schoolers participating in an activist arts class at a New York City museum, Dewhurst identifies…

As a culminating activity in their study of optics, my students investigate polarized light and the Brewster angle. In this exercise they encounter a situation in which it is impossible to measure the Brewster angle for light reflecting from a particular surface. This paper describes the activity and explains the students' observations.

We present results of an investigation of preservice secondary mathematics and science teachers' conceptions of project-based instruction (PBI) and their enactments of PBI in apprentice (student) teaching. We evaluated their thinking and implementations within a composite framework based on the work of education researchers. We analyzed survey…

This design research describes the development of a student inquiry project in which upper-secondary school chemistry students learn domain-specific concepts by doing inquiry in a simulated inquiry community. The design of the inquiry project is based on the extended procedural and conceptual knowledge in science (PACKS) model; the student…

Periodic Table Target, a game for middle school or high school students, familiarizes students with the form of the periodic table and the biological significance of different elements. The Periodic Table Target game board is constructed as a class project, and the game is played to reinforce the content. Students are assigned several elements…

This article discusses a project about birds and their nests undertaken by 3- to 5-year-olds in a preschool class in Florida. After a description of the center and the goal of the project, the three phases of the project are presented. Reflections of the teachers and photographs taken for documenting the project are also included.

Part of a series for 4-H members between 9 and 19 years of age, this age-graded guide to the development of 6-, 7-, and 8-year-olds aims to help 4-H members who are children and adolescents themselves: (1) understand the physical, mental, social, and emotional development of children in middle childhood; (2) learn to care for a child in middle…

Part of a series for 4-H members between 9 and 19 years of age, this age-graded guide is designed to help children and adolescents: (1) understand the toddler's physical, mental, social, and emotional growth; (2) learn to care for a toddler; and (3) choose types of play that toddlers enjoy. Contents include suggestions on projects that 4-H members…

This booklet for 4-H members who elect to undertake projects in child caregiving provides guidelines and information that help children and adolescents between 9 and 19 years of age: (1) understand infants' physical, mental, social, and emotional growth; (2) learn to care for a baby and promote feelings of security and safety; and (3) choose types…

Intended for 4-H participants who plan and implement activities in the area of child development, this booklet provides a study guide to help young learners: (1) gain understanding of a preschool child's physical, mental, social, and emotional growth; (2) learn to care for a preschooler and promote preschoolers' feelings of security and safety;…

Recounts a series of teaching exercises designed to develop a critical awareness of attitudes toward gays and lesbians. The first set consists of short, active-listening exercises between students. The second involves observation and comparison of public displays of affection between heterosexual couples and gay couples. (MJP)