Creative thinking is important to scientists and engineers as they frame their work and engage in the practices of their fields. Elementary-age children need opportunities to think about and develop an idea from its inception through to its conclusion to expand their thinking and engage in scientific processes. Generating and expanding on ideas…

This article reports on the usage of Interactive read-alouds to help students decode science diagrams and other visual information. Three short vignettes are featured from a second-grade teacher, illustrating the research-based recommendations for introducing students to the graphics of science within an authentic classroom activity--the…

Establishing classroom routines that provide students with the opportunities to learn and successfully apply the language of science is a daunting task. With minor variations, research has shown that effective and comprehensive vocabulary programs share four common elements: they are rich and varied language experiences; they teach well-selected…

This article reports that as the need for students to be able to construct and critique scientific argumentation as emphasized in "A Framework for K-12 Science Education" (National Research Council 2012), teachers are wondering how to support students in this process. Scientific argumentation is defined as the interplay between…

This article describes how first-grade students create meaningful communication with families and help build the student-teacher-parent relationship through journaling. Journals are a useful tool to bridge school and home. A journal can communicate learning goals, develop scientific vocabulary, and create dialogue through oral and written…

Teachers often have questions about how the strategies they learned at a professional development (PD) workshop will work with their students. Wouldn't it be great if teachers had the opportunity to practice implementing new strategies during PD so that they could hone their skills before returning to their classrooms? That's what 35 teachers got…

How can a teacher simultaneously teach science concepts through inquiry while helping students learn about the nature of science? After pondering this question in their own teaching, the authors developed a 5E learning cycle lesson (Bybee et al. 2006) that concurrently embeds opportunities for fourth-grade students to (a) learn a science concept,…

This inquiry-based lesson was inspired by Denise Fleming's book entitled, "In the Tall, Tall Grass" (1991). The author used the book and a real study of prairie grasses to teach kindergartners how to make careful observations and record what they see. In addition, they learn how to "draw as scientists." Here the author describes her class's yearly…

This article presents a lesson plan in which students learn about water in solid, liquid, and gaseous phases through trade books, demonstrations, and artwork. The author illustrates the stages of the lesson plan in the sequence they were conducted in the classroom with a group of students in grades one and two. Each stage targets specific learning…

By changing the venue from festival to a required academic exposition, the traditional science fair was transformed into a "Science Expo" wherein students were guided away from cookbook experiments toward developing a question about their environment into a testable and measurable experiment. The revamped "Science Expo" became a night for students…

Presents an integrated approach that helps students understand difficult science concepts. Involves counteracting children's confusion over certain concepts, confronting children's misconceptions through inquiry, and presenting a multitude of experiences that challenge children's erroneous beliefs. Presents an example of applying this approach to…

Described is an interdisciplinary unit on animal care for elementary school students. Included are research strategies; a semantic map; ideas for integrating reading, writing, and science; and a discussion of the benefits of using imagination in learning. (CW)

Describes how discrepant events can be employed as a viable teaching strategy. Reviews the theory of cognitive dissonance and provides examples and approaches in its resolution. Offers samples of discrepancy events and unexpected situations. (ML)

Discussed is the management of cooperative learning groups in an elementary school science classroom. Rules for classroom behavior and benefits that can be derived from using this method are suggested. (CW)

Discussed is the teaching method called the learning cycle and how it can be incorporated into science activities. Included are examples of how teachers and students can use the learning cycle to produce instructional materials. (KR)