The application of 360° videos raised the attention of educators and researchers, as it appears to be an approachable option to mediate complete environments in educational settings. However, challenges emerge from the perspective of educational psychology. Learning irrelevant cognitive strains might be imposed because it is necessary to navigate…

This small study reveals the value of story writing as a pedagogical technique in environmental education. The qualitative research conducted in 2020 examines 14 Indian children's place-ecological meaning as expressed in the story books they authored. Thematic analysis of the story books, interviews, journals, creative writing assignments &…

The Puppy Love problem asked fifth and sixth grade students to use their prior knowledge of measures of central tendency to determine a data set when given the mean, mode, median, and range of the set. The problem discussed in this article is a task with a higher level of cognitive demand because it requires that students (1) explore and…

This rich, arts- and spatial-thinking-integrated project examined the effects of making three-dimensional dioramas of traditional African cultures on Black fifth graders at an urban school on students' racial identities, knowledge of cultural universals, and spatial thinking skills. Pretest and posttest attitudes measured with the Multidimensional…

"Prey Play" is an interactive role-play activity that provides fifth-grade students with opportunities to examine predator-prey interactions. This four-part, role-play activity allows students to take on the role of a predator and prey as they reflect on the behaviors animals exhibit as they collect food and interact with one another, as well as…

This research examined the influence of contrasting instructional approaches on children's decision-making competence. A total of 764 fifth graders, mostly African Americans and Hispanic Americans, from 36 classrooms in eight public schools serving children from low-income families completed a six-week unit on wolf management, using either direct…

When studying informal science programs, researchers often overlook the opportunities enabled and constrained in each program and the practices reinforced for participants. In this case study, I examined the normative scientific practices reinforced in one-week-long "Herpetology" (the study of reptiles and amphibians) program for…

The aim of this qualitative case study was to explore the use of stories as tools for learning within formal and informal learning environments. The design was based on three areas of interest: (a) the story as a tool for learning; (b) the student as subjects engaging with the story; and (c) the context in which the story learning activity takes…

This article describes a two-day lesson in which fifth-grade students took on the role of marine biology scientists, using their critical-thinking and problem-solving skills to explore human impact on the blue crab ecosystem. The purpose of "Crabby Interactions" was to help students understand the impact of human activities on the local…

Teaching students to enjoy reading is important in middle level education; however, middle school students with emotional behavioral disabilities (EBD) frequently struggle with reading skills and frequently display motivational deficits during reading instruction. The purpose of this study was to examine if the presence/absence of a classroom pet…

Children often associate the study of bones with dinosaurs or crime scenes. This unit introduces students to "zooarchaeology," the study of animal remains from archaeological sites. Students in grades 3-5 engage in hands-on activities examining bones, shells, and other "hard parts" of animals. They use their observations as a starting point for…

This article reports on a mixed methods evaluation of an indoor garden-based learning curriculum for 5th and 6th graders which incorporated aquaponics and hydroponics technologies. This study provides a better understanding of the extent to which indoor gardening technologies can be used within the formal curriculum as an effective teaching tool.…

The authors combined content-driven and inquiry-based lessons into the framework of problem-based learning (PBL). They did this in eight third- through sixth-grade classrooms--two each from grades 3-5, one from sixth grade, and one mixed-grade special education. These older elementary students explored a local problem of lobsters infected by…

The setting: the science classroom. The characters: you and your students. The scene: Your students acting out scientific discoveries, modeling a frog's life cycle, mimicking the transition from liquid to solid. This is "dramatic science", a teaching approach that uses acting techniques to explore and develop young children's ideas about…

Most people are familiar with the concept that animals come in all shapes and sizes and that the body plan of some animals can completely transform during their lifetime. Well-known examples of such complex life cycles of terrestrial animals include butterflies and frogs. Many people are unaware, however, that complex life cycles are exceedingly…