Background: This dissertation examines the pervasive influence of the white and colonial imaginary in shaping educational narratives that promote neoliberal success and capitalism, impacting the minds of successive generations. Contemporary youth perceive these narratives as detrimental, contributing to racial violence, climate-induced…

This column focuses on promoting learning through assessment. The formative assessment probe in this month's issue can be used as an initial elicitation before students are introduced to the formal concepts of weathering and erosion.

In this article, the authors focus on an Engineering is Elementary unit that emphasizes students' understanding and application of properties of materials in the context of an engineering design challenge. Students build understanding through a series of hands-on activities, then apply their knowledge to solve a materials engineering problem:…

How could a rock formed by volcanic activity get to this shoreline, surrounded by sedimentary rocks? That was the question a group of third-grade students asked--and answered--during an inquiry-based summer camp. Over a two week timeframe, the students practiced basic inquiry skills such as observing; measuring; describing and drawing; sharing…

The understandings of properties that children develop in the context of rock and mineral identification point to the challenges of observing in a manner authentic to the discipline of geology. The notebook entries of 34 third graders written during the enactment of a commercial unit on earth materials were investigated for their descriptions of…