By bringing everyday phenomena into the classroom, teachers can more readily engage students in authentic scientific inquiry. When working with young children, the best phenomena are those that students can directly experience and investigate. Meaningful phenomena can be identified by watching children at play, listening to the conversations they…

Discovery sessions are usually based around a stimulus that the teacher has set up. When children are all doing something similar, watching what happens, talking about the science that is going on, the teacher has a way in to learn about their understanding, but then the teacher can take it deeper into exploring their skills in working…

Keeping a log of scientific investigations, discoveries, and notes is a process that scientists have used throughout history. Elementary-age children engage in similar types of documentation when they perform investigations and sketch, label, or provide details about their work and findings. This column includes activities inspired by children's…

There is a movement afoot in the nation--one that goes against the trend toward more testing, less recess, and too many standards to fit into the school day. This movement does not ignore standards; rather, it weaves the standards with the places and meanings that are ever-present outside of the classrooms. Place-based education connects students…

A lesson plan is provided for a formative assessment probe entitled "Is It a Rock?" This probe is designed for teaching elementary school students about rocks through the use of a formative assessment classroom technique (FACT) known as the group Frayer Model. FACT activates students' thinking about a concept and can be used to…

A notebook is perhaps the single most important piece of equipment a naturalist takes into the field. But notebooks are not only for use by field scientists: They are also excellent tools for helping students record observations outdoors, develop communication skills, and mirror the work of real scientists. They may contain observations and…

Presents an imaginative story to be used to introduce elementary school students to the different properties and uses of "Polyox." Various ideas for using "Polyox" in elementary science are given. (MDR)

Reports on a part of a report on primary schools in England. States that science instruction tends to be superficial, and that the teaching and the content require more planning. (GA)

Describes activities for the elementary school classroom to increase observational accuracy of children. (CP)

Discusses inquiry and discovery methods in elementary school science education; emphasizes the importance of teachers knowing whether they are using the inquiry approach and to what extent. Presents a chart listing the steps involved in problem solving, indicating whether a step is teacher- or student-controlled. (BC)

Describes some of the advantages of an elementary science activity in which students discover that blowing through a straw into a bromthymol blue solution changes the color to yellow. Directions are provided for preparing the bromthymol blue solution. (JR)

Discusses the goals of science teaching in general. States the results of certain research reports with respect to the effectiveness of some newly developed instructional programs. Contends that the teacher's behavior, and the classroom experiences provided are ultimately responsible for the success of the program. (GA)