Thematic topics offer tremendous potential for science learning in the early grades and beyond. One second-grade class explored honeybees, a subject their teacher found both fascinating and easy to connect to a number of learning standards and science concepts. Her unit, "Honeybees and Apple Trees: A Close Look at Nature's Balancing Act," explored…

In this article, the author describes several activities in personal care chemistry that provide middle school girls with opportunities to learn firsthand about science and engineering technology. These activities--the preparation of lip balm and hand lotion--are fun, easy to do, and make use of relatively inexpensive, safe, environmentally…

With the convenience of fast-food restaurants on almost every corner, many young people are consuming these foods too often. This article describes how high school students designed investigations to provide evidence that would help people make better dietary choices. Students investigated the ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in French…

In this article, the author discusses how drawing exercise can be an invaluable tool in teaching Biology classes. The author uses drawing exercises and requires students to sketch everything from prepared slides of mitosis and plant anatomy to field sightings of birds and protists. His primary goal in integrating art into science is to hone…

Chromatography is a process by which mixtures can be separated or substances can be purified. Biological and chemical laboratories use many different types of chromatographic processes. For example, the pharmaceutical industry uses chromatographic techniques to purify drugs, medical labs use them to identify blood components such as cholesterol,…

Children are naturally curious, and try to make meaning of the world around them. They love to watch things grow and take note of dramatic changes in science and nature. The authors discuss how one can support children's investigations, as well as their growing capacity to notice and understand growth and change. The authors present some exciting…

This article develops a situative approach to explaining the transfer of learning, illustrating it using a challenging-to-explain case from a Fostering Communities of Learners classroom. The case involved a group of 5th graders who learned and then transferred a more sophisticated way of explaining species survival and endangerment despite…

This elementary activity follows the 5-E Learning Cycle as described by Bybee et al. (1989) and integrates literature from Dr. Seuss. Students observe and identify characteristics of several slime substances and must make comparisons to determine which one most closely resembles the slime substance described by Dr. Seuss. To maximize this…

Although every student must take some science courses to graduate, understanding the process of science is important, and some students never seem to really grasp science. The National Science Education Standards stress process as a major component in science instruction. The standards state that scientific inquiry is basic to science education…

Land snails are common invertebrates that fascinate children. Unfortunately, they are seldom used for activities in the science classroom. Snails are inexpensive, take up little space in the classroom, and require only low maintenance, and their learning dividends can be enormous. For example, students can use them in inquiry-based activities that…

A two-dimensional weather map is actually a physical representation of three-dimensional atmospheric conditions at a specific point in time. Abstract thinking is required to visualize this two-dimensional image in three-dimensional form. But once that visualization is accomplished, many of the meteorological concepts and processes conveyed by the…

The "Countryside Live!" events, organised by the Countryside Foundation for Education (CFE), provide a unique opportunity for urban children to explore a whole new area of possibilities and learning, through becoming aware at first-hand of what goes on in the countryside. The event at Staunton Country Park, Havant, Hampshire, which took…

Good primary science is about children being engaged in questioning, exploring and interpreting--and enjoying the experience. Good ICT is where appropriate software, hardware and activities complement and support science activities. It is all too easy to see only the whizzes and bangs of the latest technology and forget about the learning…

The purpose of this study was to describe how three primary teachers attempted to overcome incomplete content knowledge when teaching an astronomy unit. Daily observations of science activities were videotaped and transcribed from each classroom to determine the influences on the changes in teacher and student ideas of astronomy. Teachers' ideas…

An activity involving parallel electrical circuits was modified to incorporate an open inquiry approach. Both the original and revised versions of the activity were tested in the middle school classroom. We present a comparison of the two versions of the activity in terms of facilitating learning and engaging students' interests.