National science reform documents recommend several nature of science (NOS) elements to introduce to children early in the science curriculum. A researcher developed questionnaire was used to gather information from a random, national sample about early elementary teachers' perceptions of the developmental appropriateness of 12 NOS aspects for the…

The topic 'Animals including humans' runs through the primary science National Curriculum in England (DfE, 2013). Ideally, topics such as inheritance will lead onto adaptation, natural selection and evolution across key stages 1 to 2 (ages 5-11). This article provides nine engaging activities to support the teaching of adaptation and improve…

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 current research is to give an example to the inquiry-based science teaching implementations for facilitating knowledge acquisition and retention in a short period of time. Thus, the aim of the research is to transfer of acquired knowledge into different situations using sequential inquiry activities, which have challenging questions for…

This study explored how four elementary teachers assessed the developmental appropriateness and importance of nine nature of science (NOS) aspects after participating in a yearlong professional development program. A multiple-embedded case study design was employed. The primary data sources included (a) Views of Nature of Science Elementary School…

This article presents rationale for an enhanced inquiry approach to science education that authentically integrates content knowledge and application skills in a middle school science curriculum. Such pedagogy ensures students' attainment of national and state standards for learning science and multiple literacies (e.g. language arts and…

Although most elementary students have had experiences with magnets, they generally have misconceptions about magnetism (Driver et al. 1994; Burgoon, Heddle, and Duran 2010). For example, students may think magnets can attract all metals or that larger magnets are stronger than smaller magnets. Students often confuse magnets with magnetic…

Science content integration, or the simultaneous teaching of science with other subjects during learning activities, has been explored by multiple studies. However, due to a lack of consensus on its definition, it was difficult for educators in a local school district to discuss and evaluate the effectiveness of this instructional technique. This…

Although teacher educators have successfully helped K-12 teachers' develop adequate views of NOS, their views have not been transferred to their students. It is evident that K-12 students' understanding of NOS still does not align with the recommendation of the reforms document, indicating that holding an adequate view of NOS is…

A researcher-developed questionnaire regarding the importance and developmental appropriateness of 12 specific elements of the nature of science (Alshamrani, 2008) for early elementary (kindergarten through fourth grade [K-4]) science instruction was mailed to a random sample of U.S. K-4 teachers. At least half (N = 377) of the respondents…

One of the biggest present challenges for teachers, especially in primary classrooms, is the need to address the content standards in all subject areas with the same amount of instructional time. While curriculum integration continues to be a powerful strategy to meet this challenge, teachers often find it difficult to bridge the gap between…

An investigation was conducted to determine whether the level of social studies interview questions second graders formulate and use can be increased with questioning instruction in terms of quality, which is defined as depth of response, and in terms of quantity. This was a quantitative study using both qualitative and quantitative data in which…

The movement toward inclusion has affected classrooms greatly. Now, more than ever, teachers are addressing a broader range of academic needs in every classroom. But, how can teachers can reach "all" students when students are so academically diverse, have special needs, and/or are English learners? One way is through differentiating instruction.…