Recent science education reform has led to an increased emphasis on engaging students in inquiry and science practices rather than having them simply memorize scientific facts. However, many teachers of elementary science may themselves have had more traditional science learning experiences, and may therefore be unsure about inquiry-based teaching…

One tried-and-true way to hook students' attention and promote long-lasting understanding is to sequence science instruction in an explore-before-explain instructional sequence. In these lessons for the second through sixth grade band, elementary students investigate the interaction between "cold" and "hot" substances and…

Solar eclipses occur several times a year, but most people will be lucky if they see one total solar eclipse in their lifetime. There are two upcoming total solar eclipses that can be seen from different parts of the United States (August 21, 2017 and April 8, 2024), and they provide teachers with an amazing opportunity to engage students with a…

More than 60 years have passed since the work of Rosalind Franklin, James Watson, and Francis Crick led to the discovery of the 3D-DNA double-helix structure. Nowadays, due to the simple and elegant architecture of its double helix, the structure of DNA is widely known. The biological role of the DNA molecule (e.g., genetic information), however,…

Basic solutions are an indispensable part of our daily life. Basic solutions are commonly used in industries such as the textile industry, oil refineries, the fertilizer industry, and pharmaceutical products. Most cleaning agents, such as soap, detergent, and bleach, and some of our foods, such as chocolate and eggs, include bases. Bases are the…

Discrepant events are often used by science educators to incite interest and excitement in learners, yet sometimes their results are farther-reaching. The following article describes how one such event--dissolving packing peanuts in acetone--led to a change in the course of a college-level elementary science teaching methods class and to the…

This investigation-based lesson is geared toward third through fifth grade students. The lesson presented in this article was the first of three lessons designed and taught by us for our first preservice teaching course. UTeach is a teacher preparation program for undergraduate STEM majors, which originated at the University of Austin, Texas. The…

In this article, we describe a fourth-grade inquiry unit on soil. The unit was designed and taught by preservice elementary teachers as part of a university science methods course. Using a student-driven inquiry approach to designing curriculum, the unit engaged fourth graders in learning about the physical properties soil, erosion, worms, and…

A class activity has been designed to help fourth grade students to identify basic insect features as a means of promoting student creativity while making an imaginary insect model. The 5Es (Engage, Explore, Explain, Extend [or Elaborate], and Evaluate) learning cycle teaching model is used. The 5Es approach allows students to work in small…

This standards-based science lesson introduces young learners to scientific inquiry and critical thinking by using activities to demonstrate three phases of matter (solid, liquid, and gas). By learning about the states of matter through a 5E instructional approach, students are encouraged to observe changes in the states of matter and to discuss…

This article describes a series of inquiry-based lessons that provide English language learners (ELLs) with opportunities to experience science and engineering practices with conceptual understanding as well as to develop their language proficiency in elementary classrooms. The four-lesson sequence models how various types of instructional…

This project describes a fourth-grade unit that integrated science and language arts using the book "The Capture" as a focal point. During the unit, students engaged in science activities and language arts lessons that focused on owls. Students conducted investigations that helped them develop a deeper understanding of the adaptations of…

This article presents an authentic writing opportunity to help ninth-grade students use the writing process in a science classroom to write and illustrate picture books for fourth-grade students to demonstrate and share their understanding of a biology unit on cells. By creating a picture book, students experience the writing process, understand…

"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…

We successfully integrated science and language arts in a third-grade classroom. The students used "scientist's eyes" and "poet's eyes" to write original poetry. In addition, they created habitat posters about a swamp organism. Scoring guides for the habitat poems and posters are also included. (Contains 5 figures and 2 tables.)