The study explores the students' engagement in the school garden through mushroom farming resulting in reorienting science pedagogy. It particularly reconnoiters the interconnection between entrepreneurship skills through mushroom farming and the pedagogy for the basic-level public schools of Nepal. Also, the study explores the science pedagogical…

Teachers from Kates Hill Primary School describe uniting the school in a vision for science and raising the profile of science through enrichment by using Explorify.

Regardless of the student population or school geography, community gardens can provide a context for teaching numerous standards across multiple grades and can help all students better understand nature. To help illustrate the versatility of community gardens, this article includes three sample 5E lessons from different grade levels and school…

Social connections are crucial for today's middle and high school students. We address this social need through a 3-H Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Cycle. Through the Three Sisters Garden activity presented here, we teach secondary school students about biodiversity and sustainability as we integrate the arts into STEM (STEAM). Students…

Scholars in science education have reported an in increase in scientific literacy due to socioscientific issues (SSI)-based instruction. While several SSI are related to agriculture, such as climate change, whether to eat organic food, land use issues, and the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), literature that connects agricultural…

Literature on school education suggests that teaching and learning science in basic level community schools in Nepal is largely theoretical. Consequently, achievement levels and the understanding of concepts of science is much below policy expectations. This paper builds on a shift from dogmatic lecturing to activity-based pedagogy using school…

This column includes activities inspired by children's literature. This month's issue has students experience nature by examining how seeds are transported from one location to another or consider what it takes for organisms to survive in an environment. Both activities allow elementary-age children to think about how outdoor spaces can be…

Teachers conceptualise inquiry learning in science learning differently. This is particularly evident when teachers are introduced to inquiry pedagogy within a new context. This exploratory study draws on semi-structured interviews conducted with eight pre-service secondary biology teachers following a day visit with university tutors to the Royal…

This dissertation begins with a description of the territory that lies between sociocultural theory, education, and the natural world. It consists of three separate studies that all focus on moments of science teaching and learning that are intentionally situated outdoors. The second, third and fourth chapters are written as somewhat independent…

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…

Creating learning environments that integrate arts, sciences, and computing in education can improve learning in these disciplines. In particular, transdisciplinary integrations of these disciplines can lead to expansive alterations or dissolutions of epistemological, ideological, and methodological boundaries. We wish to support teachers in the…

Severe flooding was prevalent within the authors' region at the beginning of the school year. Many homes and fields were affected by the amount of rain that fell within a short period of time over multiple days. Their students were concerned about the impact this natural phenomena was having on their local community. Natural phenomena can provide…

Recent science education reform has led to an increased emphasis on engaging students in inquiry and science practices rather than having them simply memorize scientific facts. However, many teachers of elementary science may themselves have had more traditional science learning experiences, and may therefore be unsure about inquiry-based teaching…

While school gardens are familiar in many Western contexts and research has reported significant pedagogical and affective is correct benefits of these resources, there is limited reporting of their use in non-western contexts. A pilot school gardening project involving a quasi-experimental mixed method design was undertaken in the Sultanate of…

Many young children come to school with prior experiences planting seeds in a garden or in a pot, watering them, and seeing them grow. These early scientific investigations are designed to help children understand that seeds need water, something to grow in (such as soil), and the right temperature to sprout--if these conditions are met, a seed…