By bringing everyday phenomena into the classroom, teachers can more readily engage students in authentic scientific inquiry. When working with young children, the best phenomena are those that students can directly experience and investigate. Meaningful phenomena can be identified by watching children at play, listening to the conversations they…

This 5E cycle of lessons takes students through a fun and thorough study of Silly Putty's properties, progressing from an initial observation of a "melting snowman" toy in the Engage phase to making and "marketing" their own homemade putty in the Evaluate phase. Along the way, students use evidence to construct their own…

A lesson plan is provided for a formative assessment probe entitled "Is It a Rock?" This probe is designed for teaching elementary school students about rocks through the use of a formative assessment classroom technique (FACT) known as the group Frayer Model. FACT activates students' thinking about a concept and can be used to…

In this article, the author shares her experience in successfully teaching elementary students how to create a tornado using a guided-inquiry approach. The guided-inquiry approach is a form of teaching in which the teacher poses the question, but lets the students decide how to answer the question. Students were so excited about the process they…

Describes an activity for introducing elementary school students to the surprising Mobius band. Incorporates elements of experimentation and exposes the deceptively simple Mobius band as a rich resource for discovery. Provides an opportunity for young learners to participate in the process of scientific inquiry within a mathematical framework.…

Explains that in teaching scientific concepts in the elementary school the focus should be on observations and inferences, that can be drawn only from observation, suitable to the childrens' mental maturity, and carried out in an environment that reinforces discovery learning. (GA)

A lot of good elementary science involves studying solids, liquids, and gases, and some inquiry-based activities that are easy to set up and do. In this article, the author presents activities pertaining to simple phase change. Using water as the example, these activities introduce upper-grade students to the idea of the arrangement of molecules…

Describes a unit on magnetism that utilizes hands-on activities in which students make hypotheses for discrepant behavior, discover whether a magnet attracts one object through another, measure the strength of magnets, explore levitating paper clips, and play a game dependent on magnetic attraction. (MDH)

Discusses strategies to facilitate children's explorations that include supporting open-ended inquiry, supervising safely, seizing the moment, offering a place for discovery, providing access to information, sharing respect for life, seeking community involvement, and celebrating wonder. (JRH)

A program is described in which parent volunteers assist in science instruction at the kindergarten/first grade level. Examples of activities within the mini-units are given. (SA)