Will spring be early next year? This is a question the authors ponder each fall as they prepare for a yearlong citizen science project with kindergartners. Citizen science projects naturally promote the development of science and engineering practices. These projects can be integrated at any grade level and aligned to meet other content areas as…

Children are natural engineers. Engineering design activities for preschoolers introduce practices and encourage scientific habits of mind. The "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead States 2013) highlight that crosscutting concepts and disciplinary core ideas can not be mastered without engaging in scientific investigations and…

Mary Colson is an eighth-grade Earth science teacher at Horizon Middle School, and Russ Colson is a professor of geology and Earth science education in the Department of Anthropology and Earth Science at Minnesota State University Moorhead, both in Moorhead, Minnesota. Since her first year in teaching eighth grade Earth science, in 1986,…

"Hop to It," a week-long herpetology-focused summer STEM camp for rising fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade girls, provided young females with authentic, hands-on science experiences, allowing them to develop the habits of thought and processes of action used by STEM field experts while also engaging and sustaining their interest in the…

In this article, the author describes how a partnership was established to bring science and education majors together with elementary school children in an after-school STEM program. This partnership allowed preservice teachers and science majors to have fun with science and to learn science informally, in a nonclassroom, low-stress…

Elementary science experiences help develop students' views of science and scientific interests. As a result, teachers have been charged with the task of inspiring, cultivating, recruiting, and training the scientists needed to create tomorrow's innovations and solve future problems (Business Roundtable 2005). Who will these future…

Making ice cream! Dissecting a cow's eye! Spinning glasses of water without spilling a drop! Investigating fingerprints! These are just samples of what elementary children did at the Jersey City Public Schools very first districtwide "Family Science Night." Although there was some stress in preparing for the evening, it turned out to be a…

Imagine two fourth-grade classes. Both contain students of comparable demographics and highly respected teachers each with four to five years of experience. Both classes engage in science curricula that emphasize science and engineering practices as outlined in the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead States 2013). Both classes…

With the emphasis placed on standardized testing, science education has been squeezed out. As a physics teacher, the author knows the importance of building children's interest in science early in their school career and of providing practice in basic science skills and inquiry. In order to make more time for science at her sons' elementary…

In this article the author describes the "Derby Design Day" project--a project that paired high school honors physics students with second-grade children for a design challenge and competition. The overall project goals were to discover whether collaboration in a design process would: (1) increase an interest in science; (2) enhance the…

In this article, the author presents a list of science books that will foster students' interest in science. Some books were suggested by scientists, science educators, and former students. Some came from an analogous list for science journalists compiled by Boyce Rensberger, director of the Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at MIT. Some are…

In addition to meeting National Science Education Standards (NSES) related to the history and nature of science (NOS), reading or hearing about real scientists helps students connect with science emotionally. The authors have even noticed increased student interest in science concepts during history of science discussions. Toward these efforts,…

In an integrated science/language arts/technology unit called "How Scientists Learn," students researched famous scientists from the past and cutting-edge modern-day scientists. Using biography trade books and the internet, students collected and recorded data on charts, summarized important information, and inferred meaning from text. Then they…

The kids in today's classrooms spend lots of time playing video games, surfing the net, listening to iPods, and text messaging on cell phones. Known as Digital Kids and the Net Generation, they have grown up surrounded by digital media of all types (Tapscott 1999). Because they are already knowledgeable, why not use digital technologies to capture…

Have the winter doldrums left your students wistful for summer? Why not initiate a seashell classification activity to rekindle their interest in science and learning! Children love to handle and examine shells at any time of the year--with these favorite nature objects, you often can't get kids to stop talking and sharing their observations about…