Makerspaces are collaborative workplaces equipped with a variety of high- and low-tech tools and materials that individuals can use to create physical and digital products. In this article the authors take the perspective that integrating a makerspace into a school is a proactive, thoughtful, and time-consuming process. To help meaningfully…

This article provides an overview of the instructional activity implemented to introduce the authors' first-grade students to the concept of measuring, collecting, and recording temperature data as part of a unit on weather. The activities introduced involved approximately one week of instructional time. However, the application of the skill…

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…

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…

In this article, the author describes a series of lessons that focuses on observation and documentation of organisms and that is appropriate for the second through fourth grades. By giving students the necessary initial support, they will have the ability to observe details and the skills and confidence to make realistic scientific drawings and…

Suggestions are presented for 23 different hikes appropriate for school grounds and other similar settings. Topics which focus on science processes and skills include, among others, motion, color, shape, size, smells, sounds, trees, litter, and snow. (DC)

Offers suggestions for activities that demonstrate the principles of osmosis. Explains how decalcified chicken eggs can be used to give students practice with measurement, experimental procedures, and science principles. (ML)

Discusses how activities focusing on food can give preschool children practice in using science process skills and also can provide experiences in the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains. Lists activities which aim to develop thinking skills, to address health habits, and to foster art and music skills. (ML)

Suggests ways to teach science while young children are actively involved in art, construction, reading, and music. These suggestions are listed for learning centers which focus on art, blocks, homemaking/dramatics, water/sand, manipulatives, language, outdoors, and music. Also indicates that "moments" for teaching science occur in many places…

Suggests how simple hikes can be integrated into the elementary school curriculum. Presents nine topic areas that can serve as themes for schoolyard hikes. (ML)

Describes the origin, development, and activity options of the Hands-On-Science Program. Explains the program's process-oriented, interdisciplinary approach, its staffing procedures, and activity format. Lists the current and future locations of the program. Also provides an example of an activity on solar energy for primary level students. (ML)

Describes several consumer science activities useful for introducing process skills for the middle/junior high school student. Activities described include testing laundry detergent effectiveness for stain removal, comparison of quantities in fast foods, and various activities concerning tests of product claims. (DS)

Describes a collaborative effort involving art, earth science, and computer lessons in teaching the theory and practice of contour mapping. Discusses the approaches and activities contained in the unit for seventh-grade students. Includes the computer program which was written for use with Terrapin LOGO on an Apple II. (ML)

Describes a simple field trip taken by fourth-grade students to a local park. Aided by volunteers, students go through four learning stations dealing with rock studies, tree identification, following directions (mapping), and observation skills. Presite and postsite activities are discussed. (TW)

Offers various strategies in which students use fingerprints to help sharpen their science process skills. Includes directions for making fingerprints using just ink and paper and suggestions for additional activities. These include making "prints" from other body parts and from such objects as automobile tires. (JN)