The authors represent the life cycle of the butterfly through writing, drawing, dance, and math. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) (NGSS Lead States 2013) emphasize college and career readiness as well as critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Students must develop a deep understanding of science concepts and engage in scientific…

Through the science curriculum, teachers can use students' passion for screen content to motivate them to explore innovative new ways to bring their science learning to life through video making. Communicating science concepts using multimodal literacies can be a particularly powerful way for students to learn about science, especially when they…

In this article, Amanda Poole looks at how the science capital teaching approach can be used to build science capital when teaching electricity in primary schools. The science capital teaching approach is a reflective framework that builds upon good practice in the classroom. The teaching approach builds upon a foundation of "broadening what…

Elementary school children spend less and less time outdoors in nature. In this way they will neither become familiar with plants and animals in their environment, nor will their environmental awareness develop. The solution for them would be to spend more quality time outdoors. In this work 170 teachers from Hungary and 170 teachers from Serbia…

Students can find elements from life in one of the elementary school courses, life sciences. For this reason, it is important that the quality of the activities in this course. The aim of this study is classification of activities in textbooks of primary school life sciences taught in 2016-2017 academic year in our country. Document analysis…

The NRC (2012) Framework and the ensuing Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) have brought crucial shifts in the goals for students' science learning. Teachers bear the responsibility of translating the three-dimensional vision of student learning articulated in these documents in classrooms through instruction. Central to the idea of…

Teachers are the critical component of students' success in the classroom (NRC 2001), but families are the critical component of student success at home. When families and teachers develop strong relationships and build trust with each other, students benefit (Henderson and Mapp 2002). This is especially true in communities where home culture is…

Science process skills (SPSs) play a significant role in science education. This research aimed to determine the acquisition level of 5th-grade students in SPSs with classroom activities. The research was a case study, and the data were collected by focus group interviews, document analysis, and observations. The sample of the research was six…

The author, a reception/year 1 teacher at Maesycwmmer Primary School in South Wales, considers the holistic learning experience and his reflections on grouping and its impact. He says if primary science practitioners want science to be open and available to all, they need to think about how they make the subject accessible and subsequently…

The scientists of the future will need to begin studying science to great depth, much earlier in life, in order to keep up with the accelerating pace of discovery and technological innovation. For this to be possible, engaging and child-friendly pedagogical approaches need to be developed that leverage the natural enthusiasm of young science…

In this article, Helen Spring explains how a 'wow' activity is a great place to start learning outside the classroom. It will enthuse both children and staff. Teachers new to outdoor learning can start with something simple like having students use double-sided sticky tape to collect as many colours as they can from the school grounds. Then look…

The aim of this research was to examine if a set of three science and technology workshops would promote first-grade pupils' science-related competence beliefs. The first workshop dealt with electric circuits and related handicraft tasks. The second workshop involved programming with Lego Mindstorms robots. The third workshop was related to…

This chapter investigates the impact and relative advantages of two engagement models for delivering science-specific PD: school-led partnerships and external-led PD delivered by STEM experts. Traditionally professional development (PD) led by professional education experts has been used to improve the quality of science teaching and learning in…

Are you interested in using argument-driven inquiry (ADI) for elementary instruction but just aren't sure how to do it? You aren't alone. "Argument-Driven Inquiry in Third-Grade Science" will provide you with both the information and instructional materials you need to start using this method right away. The book is a one-stop source of…

Learn how to incorporate rigorous activities in your math or science classroom and help students reach higher levels of learning. Expert educators and consultants Barbara R. Blackburn and Abbigail Armstrong offer a practical framework for understanding rigor and provide specialized examples for elementary math and science teachers. Topics covered…