Not all students with disabilities receive special education accommodations in science class. Without special education support, students with disabilities are unable to comprehend and apply science concepts. Implementing a co-teaching model could be a remedy for this lack of supports. Framed by constructivist theory, this study sought to…

Formative assessment, assessment used to inform subsequent learning, can have a powerful positive impact on student achievement, but little empirical work has been conducted to investigate the role of teachers' knowledge in its practice. This study investigated reciprocal relations between elementary science teachers' formative assessment…

The demographic changes in Greek schools underline the need for reconsidering the way in which migrant pupils move from their everyday culture into the culture of school science (a process known as "cultural border crossing"). Migrant pupils might face difficulties when they attempt to transcend cultural borders and this may influence…

For the past five years, teachers from four Houston-area school districts have joined together in a professional learning community (PLC) to improve their science teaching. Through the University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL) Regional Collaborative for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching, the teachers strengthen content knowledge and…

The knowledge children bring to the classroom or construct in the classroom may find expression in a variety of activities and is often not measurable with the traditional assessment instruments used in science classrooms. Different approaches to assessment are required to accommodate the various ways in which learners construct knowledge in…

This mixed-method, dual-phase, embedded-case study employed the Social Cognitive Theory and the construct of self-efficacy to examine the contributors to science teaching self-efficacy and science teaching practices across different levels of efficacy in six pre-service elementary teachers during their science methods course and student teaching…

The purpose of this qualitative case study research was to ascertain the significance of the professional development programs workshops organized by a science museum and a science center in two Midwestern cities. The research investigated the effect the workshops had on the instructional practice of the participating elementary science teachers.…

The Marine Education Society of Australasia (MESA) Inc. is a national organisation of marine educators that aims to bring together people interested in the study and enjoyment of coastal and marine environments. MESA representatives and members organise education and interpretation activities in support of schools and communities during a number…

Studies of learning in school settings indicate that many students frame activities in science classes as the production of answers for the teacher or test, rather than as making new sense of the natural world. A case study of an episode from a class taught by the first author demonstrates what productive and unproductive student framing can look…

I describe three activities that allow students to explore the ideas of evolution, natural selection, extinction, mass extinction, and rates of evolutionary change by engaging a simple model using paper, pens, chalk, and a chalkboard. As a culminating activity that supports expository writing in the sciences, the students write an essay on mass…

For a science teacher in a city, it can sometimes be a challenge to find curricula that are geared specifically toward urban students. The author tackled this dilemma by creating a unit that focused on the urban surroundings experienced by his second-grade students in New York City. The inquiry-based unit centered on unifying concepts such as the…

In observation of Earth Day, third-grade students were invited to examine what they contribute to the landfill and learn new ways they could help protect the environment. In this lesson, students collected, evaluated, and displayed data comparing the trash generated by home-lunch versus school-lunch students. Students interpreted their findings…

The Food, Math, and Science Teaching Enhancement Resource (FoodMASTER) Initiative is a compilation of programs aimed at using food as a tool to teach mathematics and science. In 2007 to 2008, a foods curriculum developed by professionals in nutrition and education was implemented in 10 3rd-grade classrooms in Appalachian Ohio; teachers in these…

The ocean provides humanity with many services and goods, including clean air, minerals, and food. Sustainable use and management of our marine resources are important to ensure that these resources are available for future generations. The turn-based activity presented in this article teaches students the challenges of managing a sustainable…

This project examined the words selected for instruction from fourth-grade English/Language Arts (ELA) and science programs with the goal of describing the unique words in these two text types. Seven features of the words were established: (a) length, (b) frequency, (c) frequency of a word's morphological family, (d) familiarity, (e) dispersion…