This article focuses on the role of the Association for Science Education (ASE) in supporting and developing policy and practice in primary school science. It first sets the events after the formation of ASE in 1963 in the context of what went before. It then takes a mainly chronological view of some, but by no means all, of ASE's activities…

NASA and astronaut Patrick Forrester recently teamed up with Clemson University's College of Health Education and Human Development (HEHD) to promote STEM teaching and learning in the Upstate (SC) community. A goal of HEHD is to extend integrative STEM education opportunities to all teachers and their students in South Carolina. NASA space…

Interconnectedness changes lives. It can even save lives. Recently the author got to witness and be part of something in his role as a teacher of primary science that has changed lives: it may even have saved lives. It involved primary science teaching--and the climate. Robert Collins describes how it is all interconnected. The "Toilet…

Population genetics is fundamental to understanding evolutionary theory, and is taught in most introductory biology/evolution courses. Many students are unaware that understanding this topic requires pertinent knowledge of mathematics and consequently struggle with the subject. As a response to this problem, a virtual tool (Pop!World) was…

How can educators provide children with a genuine experience of carrying out an extended scientific investigation? And can teachers change the perception of what it means to be a scientist? These were key questions that lay behind "The Human Condition" project, an initiative funded by the Primary Science Teaching Trust to explore a new…

Business leaders, like education leaders, are acutely aware of what this could mean for the future of this country: Young people might be unprepared for rewarding jobs and the demands of informed citizenship, businesses may not find the talent they need to keep innovating, and the economy may stagnate with too little innovation. To turn the tide,…

How do teachers help children understand the difference between the structure of a flower and that of a root? Depending on the time of year this activity is quite easy. Get a bunch of flowers, germinate some chickpeas and raid the kitchen for carrots and beetroots--the children can experience the "real thing". But what if teachers want the…

An in-class activity is described that can be used not only to motivate hypothesis testing, but also to understand and compute the p-value and power in a statistical test. (Contains 3 figures.)

This guided inquiry activity was developed to help students "view" an equilibrium system from the particulate level and make connections to their macroscopic observations. Part I helps students observe a physical equilibrium system in which water is transferred between two larger containers. In Part II, students examine what happens to a chemical…

Formative assessment has been demonstrated to result in increased student achievement across a variety of educational contexts. When using formative assessment strategies, teachers engage students in instructional tasks that allow the teacher to uncover levels of student understanding so that the teacher may change instruction accordingly. Tools…

In the fall of 2011, Park Forest Middle School (PFMS) students approached the STEM faculty with numerous questions regarding the popular television show Myth Busters, which detailed Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, and inventor, Archimedes. Two episodes featured attempts to test historical accounts that Archimedes developed a death ray…

Students who fail to develop proficiency in math skills in the primary grades are more likely to experience difficulties in the math curriculum later on. These students may be in need of a more targeted intervention, or Tier 2 supports, in mathematic instruction. Although the instructional principles of an effective math intervention are becoming…

In this paper, the authors describe how two institutions are helping their undergraduate biology students build quantitative competencies. Incorporation of quantitative skills and reasoning in biology are framed through a discussion of two cases that both concern introductory biology courses, but differ in the complexity of the mathematics and the…

Twenty-first-century biology is inherently interdisciplinary. Every aspect of biology, from molecules to organisms to ecosystems, is richly informed by the physical, mathematical, and computational sciences. It is both an exciting and daunting time for biology educators--exciting because of the vast opportunity for important new discoveries that…

The MoE (Ministry of Education) in the state of Kuwait is starting to reform the science curriculum in all school academic stages: primary (1-5) grades, intermediate (6-9) grades, and secondary (10-12) grades. The purpose of this study was to explore the opinions of science teachers about Kuwait's new sixth and seventh grade science curriculum,…