Matter is an essential science topic that is often challenging to teach at the early elementary levels. Learning about matter helps students develop a solid foundation for more complex concepts that are taught in later years. Make this abstract concept developmentally appropriate for children by engaging them in investigations that focus on…

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) bring new attention to the role of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) in the preK-3 curriculum. However, research indicates that early-childhood preservice teachers feel ill-prepared to teach STEM due to a lack of content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. The goal of teacher…

This article describes the kindergarten unit on environmental awareness, "Who Wants to Live and Grow in a Garbage Dump?," which integrated life science, health and nutrition concepts, and relationships around the topic of "soil." Science Technology Education and Mathematics (STEM) activities used in the lesson plans were…