Permafrost is any soil or surface deposit in an Arctic or alpine region at some depth below the surface at which the temperature has remained below zero degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) continuously for a long period of time. The amount of carbon dioxide and methane stored in permafrost is nearly twice the amount in the atmosphere and, as…

Model-based inquiry (MBI) is an instructional framework designed around the construction, revision, and testing of models by students to make sense of and explain a phenomenon (Windschitl et al. 2008). Focusing on explaining natural phenomena provides a specific context for students to learn and apply scientific understandings to and can help…

The manufacture of metal alloys is ubiquitous, yet infrequently discussed in high school coursework as concepts related to them are often too complex or abstract for beginning science students. However, earlier introduction to metallurgy in classroom settings could promote interest in practical applications of chemistry, physics, and geology due…

Thanks to the development and deployment of federally funded satellite-, buoy-, and aircraft-based remote sensing instruments, continuous streams of Earth and space data are publicly available via online databases. This accessibility provides flexibility to explore geoscience data that are interesting and relevant to students--keystone components…

Access to quality science and math instruction remains a civil rights and social justice issue as the scientific and technological divide widens (Tate 2001; Moses and Cobb 2001). Students without access to rigorous science instruction have been and will continue to be left behind. This inequality is salient for students in marginalized communities…

The unequal distribution of natural resources is the direct result of past geologic processes. Once a promising region is located, geologists use a variety of techniques to find the materials and energy that society consumes. Their tools can be as simple as a hand lens or as sophisticated as a satellite. Along the way, exploration geologists and…

Most likely a large number of students have heard of the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis), and know that they are a phenomenon in the sky. Although they may not have seen the Northern Lights, most have probably seen other phenomena in the sky, such as a rainbow, shooting star, or super moon. These experiences provide an opportunity for students…

Although the existence of and access to clean water are essential for sustaining life on Earth, multiple studies have demonstrated students' nascent understanding of basic water principles. Students have misconceptions related to the water cycle (Ben-zvi-Assarf and Orion 2005), groundwater (Dickerson and Dawkins 2004; Covitt et al. 2009), and the…

Minerals are commonly taught in ways that emphasize mineral identification for its own sake or maybe to help identify rocks. But how do minerals fit in with other science content taught? The author uses mineral formulas to help Earth science students wonder about the connection between elements, compounds, mixtures, minerals, and mineral formulas.…

Understanding the spatial nature of the world is necessary in everyday life. Not only do people move about in 3D space, but spatial thinking is also important in many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. This may be especially true in the geosciences, where learners often encounter unique spatial reasoning…

Constructing scientific arguments is an important skill, and is specifically addressed by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) science and engineering practice of Engaging in Arguments From Evidence. To ensure that students understand the significance of a scientific argument, they need experiences that will help them understand, use, and…

For many students, the first--and sometimes only--chance to look through a microscope is in high school biology class, where they observe plant and animal cells up close. Even in college, few students use a microscope for a subject other than biology. Thus, it can be a surprise to learn that microscopes are a primary tool used to understand the…

December 26, 2004 was one of the deadliest days in modern history, when a 9.3 magnitude earthquake--the third largest ever recorded--struck off the coast of Sumatra in Indonesia (National Centers for Environmental Information 2014). The massive quake lasted at least 10 minutes and devastated the Indian Ocean. The quake displaced an estimated…

Fall 2020 presented myriad challenges for teachers trying to plan curricula to meet students' social-emotional and learning needs following an unprecedented spring and summer of isolation and loss due to the pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 (Rivera and Wallace 2020). The result of creative planning and adjusting of curricula for remote instruction…

With the widespread adoption of the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead States 2013), science teachers now aspire to integrate engineering into science instruction, as the standards suggest, yet many do not know how. The first steps are to define engineering and identify tasks that incorporate engineering, which can be…