This study investigated how student participation in an authentic scientific investigation may shape underrepresented students' views of science and support students in learning science. The research centered on the instructional approach used in a fifth-grade classroom to engage English language learning students from Latino backgrounds in a…

Earthquakes "have" been in the news of late--from the disastrous 2010 Haitian temblor that killed more than 300,000 people to the March 2011 earthquake and devastating tsunami in Honshu, Japan, to the unexpected August 2011 earthquake in Mineral, Virginia, felt from Alabama to Maine and as far west as Illinois. As expected, these events…

Numerous and varied methods are used in introductory Earth science and geology classes to help students learn about rocks and minerals, such as classroom lectures, laboratory specimen identification, and field trips. This paper reports on a method using online social networking. The choice of this forum was based on two criteria. First, many…

This syllabus begins with a list of program objectives and performance criteria for the study of three general topic areas in earth science and a list of 22 science processes. Following this information is a listing of concepts and understandings for subtopics within the general topic areas: (1) the earth's surface--surface features, rock…

As members of the faculty of the same college, the State University of New York at Potsdam, the fifteen contributors to this book have the unique experience of working from the same pool of students in order to explore how to improve teaching, enhance learning, and make the classroom more interesting. Together professors from thirteen different…