For the last several years, the authors have implemented an integrated Mars Colony project for their third-grade classes. Students explored several considerations related to colonizing and inhabiting a new world, including food sources, types of citizens, transportation, and housing design. Nearly everything about the project was open-ended, full…

Achieving widespread scientific literacy has been a longstanding goal of US science standards, requiring that students and teachers possess contemporary nature of science (NOS) conceptions. However, NOS conceptions are repeatedly found to be wide-ranging or 'naive', resulting in regular efforts by science education researchers to hone, or…

Limited research has been done on the implementation of experiential learning to align with science and engineering practices. This research project developed an instrumental case study to examine the efficacy of an experiential education framework for teaching and learning water science and engineering practices in the elementary science…

Assessment is often used to hold schools and teachers accountable for student learning. Assessment instruments are used as tools to guide curriculum choices and lesson plans, from districts to individual students. In any discipline, knowing what students know and what they have learned following a lesson is important on multiple levels. This is…

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation's universities and colleges required online learning and shelter-in-place/stay-at-home protocols for the end of Spring 2020 semester. This new reality resulted in the fact that my undergraduate elementary science methods course would not be held in our Title 1 urban elementary professional…

Satellite remote sensing has been largely adopted in all kinds of environmental applications as it has proved to be an excellent tool for research and decision-making purposes. It has also been recognized as an important educational tool in the past years. However, it has been insufficiently incorporated in school practice, especially at the…

Research Findings: This study examines the complexities of enacting an explicit content-rich curriculum in a large urban school district. Thirty-six teachers from 12 elementary schools, preK through Grade 1 were recruited to teach the "World of Words," an integrated science and literacy supplementary curriculum. Prior to the start of the…

Recent reform efforts in science education have brought scientific literacy to researchers' attention. Researchers have been searching for new instructional models to engage students' variety of scientific practices to fulfil the requirements of scientific literacy. Argument Driven Inquiry (ADI) is a novel instructional model that integrates the…

This study explored the effects of scenario simulation games and e-textbooks on the learning outcomes of elementary school students. The study subjects were 60 primary school students classified into two groups: The experimental group was provided with scenario simulation course materials, and the control group received e-textbook materials. The…

This study presents a new technique, the "Which plant am I?" game, which helps to increase pupils' plant knowledge, while motivate them to become familiar with more plants. On the other hand pupils' plant knowledge was tested in Serbia. The "Which Plant Am I?" game was tested with two groups of pupils (in average 11 years old).…

Textbooks remain as major learning aids in all levels of education worldwide. Thus, textbooks must constantly be subjected to critical analysis in order to establish their curricular usefulness. This paper analyzed four commercial science textbooks designed for third grade Filipino learners. The four textbooks were analyzed according to…

There are not many teachers who would argue against effective leadership for learning as a fundamental skill, necessary to ensure that all students are provided with high-quality teaching and learning. In this article, the author discusses the impact of shared leadership in primary science and how the practice was developed in her school setting.

The Science Notebook in a Universal Design for Learning Environment (SNUDLE) is a digital notebook that uses the Universal Design for Learning framework to support active science learning among elementary school students, particularly those who struggle with reading and writing or are unmotivated to learn science. Preliminary findings from the…

There is increased attention in the science education community on the importance of engaging students in the practices of science. However, there is much to be learned about "how" students enter into and sustain their engagement in these practices. In this paper, we argue that "epistemic affect"--feelings and emotions…

In research on the development of a nineteenth-century "science for the people", initiatives by scientists or people well-trained in science has been emphasised, while the writings, roles and initiatives of elementary teachers are normally just mentioned in passing. In this study the development of nineteenth-century elementary science…