In an increasingly digital world, the elementary school students of today who learn to program will be positioned to re-imagine and build the future. As educators, it is essential to consider how such an important skill is made accessible for a diverse range of students, including those diagnosed with learning disabilities. In this article, the…

This article describes a project that integrates English Language Arts (ELA) and coding into environmental science. For this project, students researched science content about human impact on the environment, communicated their findings through a traditionally formatted narrative story, and then used a coding program called Scratch to create an…

In an ever-increasing technological society, teachers have now, more than ever, a vast offering of educational technologies made available for classroom use. However, the time necessary for vetting and developing rigorous lessons with the usage of such technologies can be overwhelming for a classroom teacher. Still, teachers need the opportunity…

This article describes how two teachers implemented a 5E lesson in a third-grade classroom where the students had been working with forces/motion and investigating things that move like pendulums, swing sets, and various toys. The lesson was included as part of a larger unit on motion. The desired outcome for this lesson was for students to…

With a belief in the need for a reform in education that prepares students for life, work, and citizenship in a globalized economy, leaders were determined to connect students across the district, state, country, and globe in global collaborative STEM projects. These projects were aligned to the standards but also afforded students the opportunity…

This article describes an unit that was created for first-grade students using both the "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS") and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in a student-centered, problem-based approach. The multifaceted classroom unit combined with a take-home field study provides students…

This column discusses resources and science topics related to students in grades preK to 2. This month's issue discusses how digital media and robotics fit into the early childhood curriculum, and how time on devices supports learning goals and developmentally appropriate practice.

This article is a follow-up to previous articles on the August 2017 Great American Eclipse. The author discusses what totality is when viewing the eclipse and the spots across the United States where totality will take place.

Investigating real-world phenomena in a playful, exploratory setting is a natural process for young children. Teachers can capitalize on children's curiosity to foster their understanding of science ideas and their engagement in science practices, such as predicting, experimenting, observing, comparing, and contrasting. Force and motion…

Students of today are digital natives who for the most part come to school with experiences that may surpass those of their teachers. They use tablet computers and other devices in their personal lives and are eager to use them in the classroom. For teachers, this means they must integrate technology in ways that allow their students to learn with…

For the last several years, the authors have implemented an integrated Mars Colony project for their third-grade classes. Students explored several considerations related to colonizing and inhabiting a new world, including food sources, types of citizens, transportation, and housing design. Nearly everything about the project was open-ended, full…

This column presents ideas and techniques to enhance science teaching. In the "Talking Window Garden" project, students create "smart" plant pots that use sensors to collect and analyze data on the health of their plants. The Talking Window Garden project was a collaborative effort between an elementary teacher who wanted to…

The idea of notebooking is not new in the science classroom. Since the mid-1970s, writing has been found to facilitate students' critical thinking and learning across a variety of content areas. For science educators, notebooks have become an essential tool for supporting students' scientific inquiry in and across concepts. Scientific notebooks…

Photography is a creative art that continues to advance through technological innovations. Smart phones have made photography a nearly daily occurance, and people have become quite accustomed to zooming in and taking photos. This article explains how elementary teachers can harness a much "bigger" technology application--GigaPan--to help…

As computational models are becoming more widely used with the release of "A Framework for K-12 Science Education" (NRC 2012) and the "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS"; NGSS Lead States 2013), these models are reshaping the way science is practiced in increasingly diverse classrooms. For students classified…