Although the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS) have three dimensions, the crosscutting concepts are often the forgotten dimension. One reason teachers may not emphasize the crosscutting concepts might be because they are broad, domain-general constructs that can be difficult to conceptualize in a meaningful way. Yet, when taught…

This column presents ideas and techniques to enhance your science teaching. This month's issue shares information on how students' everyday experiences can support science learning through engineering design. In this article, the authors outline a reverse-engineering model of instruction and describe one example of how it looked in our fifth-grade…

This column contains exercises to challenge content knowledge. This month's issue discusses ways to remove CO[subscript 2] from the atmosphere.

The answer to this month's question, "Can electromagnetic waves affect emotions," is yes. Wherever there are electromagnetic (EM) waves (basically everywhere!), there is the potential for them directly or indirectly to affect the emotions. But what about the likely motivation behind the originally-posed question? Can EM waves affect your…

This column focuses on promoting learning through assessment. Formative assessment probes are designed to uncover students' ideas about objects, events, and processes in the natural world. This assessment information is then used throughout instruction to move students toward an understanding of the scientific ideas behind the probes. During the…

This article presents a lesson that was designed to explore the scientific descriptions of matter through both the intensive and extensive properties that students successfully added to their vocabulary. Students' examples demonstrated that there were places where their reasoning about matter faltered as related to how the material is the same…

Bill Robertson thinks that questioning the physics behind simple machines is a great idea because when he encounters the subject of simple machines in textbooks, activities, and classrooms, he seldom encounters, a scientific explanation of how they work. Instead, what one often sees is a discussion of load, effort, fulcrum, actual mechanical…

In supporting students toward literacy, teachers must provide experiences that support the formation of informed understandings of the nature of science (NOS), as well as a structure for developing evidence-based explanations. In this article the authors describe how they guided their students through this learning cycle to answer the essential…

A rich science learning experience not only captures students' attention but also motivates them to investigate and solve problems and investigate how scientists carry out their work. This article describes how secondary science coordinator Patrick Brown's found success teaching students the nature of science by engaging them in…

With the emergence of the "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS"; NGSS Lead States 2013), it is apparent that teaching and learning about nature of science (NOS) continues to be an important goal of science education for all K-12 students. With this emphasis on NOS, early childhood teachers are asking how to design…

As Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education continues to become more visible in elementary school curricula, the need for activities that address STEM content is growing. Build-A-Buoy is one such activity. This activity was developed by Doug Levin in 2008 when he was an education coordinator for the NOAA Chesapeake Bay…

A "Framework for K-12 Science Education"'s disciplinary core idea PS1.A states that students should know by the end of grade 2 that different kinds of matter exist and many of them can be solid or liquid, depending on temperature (NRC 2012). By the end of grade 8, they describe solids, liquids, and gases by the arrangement and…

Whether playing soccer at recess, walking to lunch, or sitting at their desk, children encounter forces every moment of their lives. The connection between force and motion is absolutely amazing to children, so anyone working with them better be prepared for the battery of tough questions they ask: "What made the ball move that way? Why does a…

With the new focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education, it's important to keep an open mind about incorporating technology into science lessons. In many cases, lessons that incorporate technology are not about the technology itself. Rather, the technology serves as a tool to enhance the lesson or add a new dimension to…

One author shares the unique opportunity to be immersed in the science of "sound at work" through participation in NOAA's (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Teacher at Sea Program. A third- through fifth-grade learning outcome within the Nature of Science section of the "Next Generation Science Standards"…