The concepts of "culturally relevant pedagogy" and "culturally responsive teaching" have been interpreted and enacted in various ways for over two decades. Informed by this research, the author shares a critical approach to teaching and learning using "sociotransformative constructivism" (sTc). This framework merges…

At any point during the school year, a teacher may find out the gap between what students know and need to learn is not large at all. In fact, formative assessment data may show a handful of students already have mastered the content for a specific unit of study. While some learners will achieve grade-level standards at the pace outline by a…

Model Eliciting Activities (MEAs) are pedagogical approaches that allow teachers to integrate multiple subjects into creative multi-day learning experiences that captivate students' curiosity and engage them in real-life problem solving. MEAs are known in the fields of mathematics and engineering (Gilat and Amit 2014), but despite their ability to…

We all "do"--that is, participate in--science in some way. Everyone participates in science as part of their activities of daily living, such as using soap to make hand-washing more effective, using heat to cook food, and closing windows and doors to slow the movement of heat. We may not always identify our actions as a part of…

The "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead States 2013) have placed a special emphasis on engineering, raising engineering design to the level of scientific inquiry. Therefore, it is important for teachers to integrate engineering processes into their teaching. Students should experience engineering design in their science…

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 article describes one participating teacher's reflections on the generalizable strategies and structures from the professional development (PD) sessions that enabled her sensemaking, and how she translated these generalizations into her own second-grade classroom. Readers will be able to make their own useful generalizations from these…

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…

The Maker Movement (Dougherty 2012) highlights innovation and creativity through "activities focused on designing, building, modifying, and/or repurposing material objects, for playful or useful ends, oriented toward making a 'product' of some sort that can be used, interacted with, or demonstrated" (Martin 2015, p. 31). When engaged in…

In this article, the author describes an activity using physical models -- each a clear plastic box enclosing a miniature coastal town, complete with real water in the "ocean." This activity shows students a natural cause-and-effect relationship that is scientifically simple, yet even many adults don't grasp the worldwide implications:…

Science and engineering practices (SEPs) and crosscutting concepts (CCs) constitute a significant part of "A Framework for K-12 Science Education" (NRC 2012). As teachers, the role of the authors is to highlight the pivotal role that both scientific knowledge and the practices used to generate knowledge play in learning. This article…

The "big bad wolf" chased the squealing children around the playground as they looked for a place to hide. Because Mr. Lòpez and Ms. Kim had introduced the work of engineers and the engineering design process into their unit on The Three Little Pigs, they knew their preschool students would choose a structure that could withstand any…

Representation in science is anything that stands for something else--drawings, pictures, graphs, or other representational forms (Danish et al. 2020). Representations serve as public displays of phenomena that make aspects of those phenomena explicit (Gilbert 2008). They can serve to make the invisible visible, communicate ideas, display…

Visual data--or visual sources of information--are a crucial part of helping students understand STEM concepts, improve their reading skills, and engage in science and engineering practices (Finson and Pedersen 2011). Indeed, many science and engineering practices require students to make meaning from visual data. When students are developing and…

It is well established that drawing upon students' Funds of Knowledge (FoK) supports powerful learning outcomes, especially for youth whose life experiences are not always valued in dominant classroom spaces. Yet, teachers can struggle to find ways to do so (Gonzalez, Moll, and Amanti 2005). In this article, the authors introduce an…